Explaining Hope [antikvár]

Introduction I recently did a sermon series on 'hope' in my church. As I was meditating on this subject, I realised that I did not know much about hope and I did not know in any great detail what the Bible had to say about it. I was thrilled as I began to study this subject for the first time. The Spirit of God really began to bring it alive to me and He drew my attention to much that I had not seen before. The whole concept of hope as taught in the Bible is beautiful and so applicable to our day and age. I have put these teachings into written form and I trust they will be as much of a blessing to you as they have been to me. There is tremendous power in hope. You particularly know this when you get into a hopeless situation and you do not have the power of hope to enable you to walk through it. Hope can really lift you to a new level of life. Today many people use hope in a negative sense. They say things like, T hope it doesn't rain today' (which means that it probably will!); or T hope she turns up' (which means that she probably won't!). Many a person has been left on the pavement hoping. T hope it's going to be all right.' There is a sort of negative connotation here. You hope it's going to be okay, but you really don't think that it is going to be, and as a result, you worry about it. In the Bible hope is a very strong, positive word. It means being assured. It is a word which speaks of confidence and it has the connotation of a guarantee behind it. It is not a 'well, I hope it will', but rather 'I am sure it will'. II "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:5) The apostle Paul has a lot to say about hope and he is always very positive. Hope does not make up a sham. If you hope in God, you will not be disappointed. If your hope is contained and centred on the promises of God, then you are not going to be