Hope and faith are in my heart intertwined.  a bit like a plait. i’ve just learned how to french plait, and when completed you cannot tell what part of the plait started where and on what side and what strand.  its intertwined and a complete picture.

you have faith, you have hope.  you grow in faith, you grow in hope.  you have hope, you have faith.  you have hope, you trust God.  hope and faith together.

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

Hope isnt wishing.  i dont wish for a better year and circumstances.  i trust God with my life and belive He is good and that He works out all my life for His plan and purpose and THAT that plan is good, because He promises it.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

My hope is based on the reality of who God is.  i have hope because i know who God is, that He is faithful, just, compassionate, able, loving, kind.

Hope, like faith, comes from reading the Word and fixing our eyes upon Jesus.  it comes from not being worried about our circumstances but continues to trust God.

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP

Any hope worth talking about must refer to something within the realm of possibility – back to that its not wishing thing.  Our hope is a reality for us – not just a desirable possibility, not a dream or fantasy, but something guaranteed by promises centered in Christ and revealed in the Word.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Christian hope is the confident expectation of the future event based on the promise of God. It removes the element of doubt; it dismisses as mere superstition the suggestion of luck; it clings by faith to the divine decree when circumstances seem to give lie to it. “That by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both steadfast and sure and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order Melshizedek. Hebrews 6:18, 19.

Hope is rooted in the trust and faith that God cares for me and is providing for me and that my today and my tomorrow is His.  It is built upon the Rock that Jesus is – unshakable, able, strong, unmovable, unchanging.   It stands upon the promises of God’s love, provision, healing, help, comfort, guidance.

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  Psalm 62:1-2, 5

Hope isnt discouraged by the circumstances of today, knowing that God is at work and that we are being transformed and that even in the darkness God is light and the darkness has never had any victory over light.  God wins every time, all the time and He reigns and is King of Kings and God Almighty.

Hope stills the voice that worries and compains.  it speaks to our soul and says have faith in God, trust in Him, praise Him and honour Him.  it tells us to be still and know that God is God.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Hope sustains. Hope brings life and lightness to our souls and hearts.

Have hope.

Have hope because God is worth hoping in and upon.

He is the God of Hope.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

*** God must be talking about hope at the moment… having just posted this post i roamed and found this post Eight Reasons Why There Is Hope by All For Jesus  which i thought was fantastic and added some hopefilled faithbuilding keys!  Go and read the post for the whole text!

What follows are eight reasons why we believe there is hope even in these seemingly hopeless times.

1. God is still God.
Despite what the media reports, nothing has changed. God is still God. He is still on His throne and has everything under control. There is nothing too difficult for Him. “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?” (Jer. 32:27).

2. God’s Word is still true.
Everything around us may change, but God’s Word will never change. The greatest book ever written to the family is still the Bible. “Jesus spoke these words … ‘Father … Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth’” (Jn. 17:1,17).

3. God still answers prayer.
When God promises to respond to the believing prayers of His people, that’s what He means. No family problem lies beyond the reach of prayer. “Thus says the Lord … ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know’” (Jer. 33:2-3).

4. Faith still pleases God.
If it is impossible to please God without faith, then by faith we do please Him. If your family really wants to please God, then trust Him. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

5. The Holy Spirit still lives in us.

6. Obedience still brings blessing.

7. Fasting still moves the heart of God.

8. Satan is still a defeated enemy.

from Eight Reasons Why There Is Hope by All For Jesus


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