There is hope...

Well, following redemption was the word hope. I strongly feel this is from God. I think I even know what situation He's referring to. The more I pray, the more He speaks. This is just the tip of the iceberg...

Tonight, we had our home group. Parts of me were really tired and not so sure I wanted to venture out. But we did. Our study tonight just happened to hit the leaders today- Faithfulness. It came from a book about the attributes of God. Timely to say the least.

Back to hope. I topic searched it, just like before.

I had no idea the word could be used so many ways:
v. intr.
To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.
Archaic To have confidence; trust.
v. tr.
To look forward to with confidence or expectation: We hope that our children will be successful.
To expect and desire.
n.
A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.
Something that is hoped for or desired: Success is our hope.
One that is a source of or reason for hope: the team's only hope for victory.
often Hope Christianity The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.
Archaic Trust; confidence.

Alright, the definition doesn't do a whole lot for me, but it's part of the model I was using for studying.

I found Romans has quite a bit to say about hope.

Romans 4:20-21
20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

The Message:
19-25Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.

I was so encouraged as I read that the first time. Even more so now. Knowing that God has the power to do what he promises. Well duh! Why do I sell it short by worrying? Like Abraham, I should have it strengthen my faith. Reading what the message had to say just about blew me away (I italics the parts again). I love the point "He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions." He was ready for God.

Romans 5:5
5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Hope does not disappoint us. Amen. God enabled.

The Message:
3-5There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Ok, again, WOW! Passionate patience, steel of virtue. And again, that reminder to be ready for God to work. The trust to know he doesn't shortchange.

Romans 12:12
12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

The Message:
11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

It's so easy sometimes to get so distracted. The comes discouragement. I've made a conscious choice this last week that when worry/sadness/concern or anything else creeps in, to take it to the Lord in prayer. I have a feeling someone reading this has been prayed for a couple times this week as well. ;)

I haven't mentioned my job on here...I don't think anyway. I saw the obvioius provisions- break for me, fun for the kids (they get to play in another area), a little extra money. Well, the best provision is time to pray. There aren't a lot of demands on me and it's fairly quiet (with lots of white noise). What a perfect time to walk and talk with God.

Tonight I'll end with:
I Thessalonians 1:3
3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Message:
Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.