HOPE. Believers have hope through the grace they have received. A few years ago, there was a commercial which used the phrase “keeps on giving.” I don’t even remember the product being advertised, but I have come to realize that the topic of grace in the Word just keeps on giving - all the gifts from God are wrapped up in grace.

Hope is another gift we have received through God’s grace to us.

Paul writes in 2 Th 2:16, 17: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope. 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. (NIV)

The world searches for hope. A very common response to lots of questions that we might ask, is “I hope so.” Unfortunately, this is an empty phrase that we have come to use, because it is founded on nothing but wishes. The hope of the Christian is built on the firm knowledge that what God says He will do, He will do.

Paul writes again in Romans 5: 1 - 5, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love unto our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Because of His love, we have hope; hope for the present and hope for the future.

The hymn writer writes, “My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand – All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand."

In times of sickness or discouragement, we can carry on because we have hope in Christ.

Then a final scripture, one we often meditate on is found in Isaiah 40:31, “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.”

These have been my thoughts over the past few days as I have been sharing with a friend who is struggling through a time of turmoil and have come to realize that there is nothing in this world we can hope in. There is no point in putting our hope in people or riches, lands, or titles we might acquire in this world because they are all fleeting - they are undependable - only our hope in God is secure. Hope because of His grace to include us in His amazing plan.

Submitted by Naida