Expectancy
Bible hope is different than the hope of the world. The hope of the world is wishing that something will happen, not really sure whether it will or not, but just somehow or other hoping it will happen, with no guarantee that it will. On the other hand, Bible hope is Godly expectancy that we embrace----the expectancy that God will do what He said He will do, according to His Word. God’s Word is the basis for Bible hope. It is an expectation in God. Bible hope is an expectancy that says: I am counting on you, God.
Bible hope is the preamble to faith. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Faith is our evidence of what we expect from God’s Word. Faith is not a visible substance in this earthly realm, but it is visible substance in God’s realm. Faith is what we use as our evidence. In the earthly realm, feelings, results, what we see and hear is evidence. We don’t need earthly, fleshly evidence when we have faith as our evidence. And what is faith based on? It is based on the Word of God, so that we can say that the Word of God is the evidence of things hoped for. It’s all about the Word of God. The Word is what builds our hope and develops our faith. Hope must be present for faith to hook to. This is the area where many people miss it. They are trying to build faith on nothing. The foundation of hope must be present for the structure of faith to be built. And the building bricks are the Word of God.
In Hebrews 6:18,19 we see that Godly hope is the anchor for our souls. We must not take this verse out of context. In verses 13-19, we are told that God made a promise to Abraham (Gen 12:13 that he should inherit the world). Then He confirmed it by the oath of blood covenant. Both of these are unchangeable---the promise and the oath. With Abraham personally, those two unchangeable things were evidenced by the blood and God’s Word. God proved to Abraham that His Word was His Truth when He cut covenant with Abraham through the shedding of animal’s blood. Abraham understood that. Today, we personally see these two unchangeable things of God’s promise and oath evidenced through the bread and the wine, which represent the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ shed to establish covenant forever with us.
The hope of God’s Word established in covenant and evidenced by the shed blood of Jesus and His body broken for us is the anchor for our souls. And we know that our souls are made up of our minds, our wills, and our emotions. Our mind is held steadfast by God’s Word of covenant. Our wills are conformed to God’s Word of covenant. Our emotions are stabilized by God’s Word of covenant. We are reminded that Jesus shed His blood and gave His body that we might be free. This hope is the anchor, the unmovable rock of our minds, wills and emotions that keeps the ship of our lives steady when the strong winds of adversity blow. It causes us to be unmoved by contrary circumstances to God and His Word of covenant----His promise and His oath. Hope makes us steadfast and sure of God----that He will do for us personally what He said He will do in His Word.
Since Bible hope is the Godly expectancy that God will do what He said He will do in His Word, that’s why the devil attempts to destroy expectancy in our lives. Without expectancy, which is Bible hope, there is nothing for faith to hook to. Bible Hope and Bible Faith go together. They both must be present, in order for God’s Word to produce earthly results in our lives.
Do not throw away hope. Hope is the thermostat that sets the temperature of your faith. Whatever you set the thermostat of hope to do, the heat pump of faith will produce. What is it you have hoped for in the past that you don’t see coming to pass? Perhaps it was not Bible hope based on God’s Word but just a fleshly, earthly wishing that things would work out. Hope and faith are deliberate choices we make based on God’s Word and tenaciously hold to. We do not let go. Time does not affect them. God’s Word will produce hope and faith. We don’t go by feelings of it working or not working. We simply believe that the Word is working in our lives, all the time. You see, when you send forth God’s Word, it never pulls back. We are the ones who pull back when satan applies his pressure to destroy expectancy.
Expect God to do what He says He will do in His Word. Expect Him to do it for you. Expect the Word to work on your behalf. EXPECT GOD TO WORK ON YOUR BEHALF! It is a choice we make every day and sometimes every hour of every day. Don’t back down from or back off from your expectancy.
Bible hope is the preamble to faith. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Faith is our evidence of what we expect from God’s Word. Faith is not a visible substance in this earthly realm, but it is visible substance in God’s realm. Faith is what we use as our evidence. In the earthly realm, feelings, results, what we see and hear is evidence. We don’t need earthly, fleshly evidence when we have faith as our evidence. And what is faith based on? It is based on the Word of God, so that we can say that the Word of God is the evidence of things hoped for. It’s all about the Word of God. The Word is what builds our hope and develops our faith. Hope must be present for faith to hook to. This is the area where many people miss it. They are trying to build faith on nothing. The foundation of hope must be present for the structure of faith to be built. And the building bricks are the Word of God.
In Hebrews 6:18,19 we see that Godly hope is the anchor for our souls. We must not take this verse out of context. In verses 13-19, we are told that God made a promise to Abraham (Gen 12:13 that he should inherit the world). Then He confirmed it by the oath of blood covenant. Both of these are unchangeable---the promise and the oath. With Abraham personally, those two unchangeable things were evidenced by the blood and God’s Word. God proved to Abraham that His Word was His Truth when He cut covenant with Abraham through the shedding of animal’s blood. Abraham understood that. Today, we personally see these two unchangeable things of God’s promise and oath evidenced through the bread and the wine, which represent the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ shed to establish covenant forever with us.
The hope of God’s Word established in covenant and evidenced by the shed blood of Jesus and His body broken for us is the anchor for our souls. And we know that our souls are made up of our minds, our wills, and our emotions. Our mind is held steadfast by God’s Word of covenant. Our wills are conformed to God’s Word of covenant. Our emotions are stabilized by God’s Word of covenant. We are reminded that Jesus shed His blood and gave His body that we might be free. This hope is the anchor, the unmovable rock of our minds, wills and emotions that keeps the ship of our lives steady when the strong winds of adversity blow. It causes us to be unmoved by contrary circumstances to God and His Word of covenant----His promise and His oath. Hope makes us steadfast and sure of God----that He will do for us personally what He said He will do in His Word.
Since Bible hope is the Godly expectancy that God will do what He said He will do in His Word, that’s why the devil attempts to destroy expectancy in our lives. Without expectancy, which is Bible hope, there is nothing for faith to hook to. Bible Hope and Bible Faith go together. They both must be present, in order for God’s Word to produce earthly results in our lives.
Do not throw away hope. Hope is the thermostat that sets the temperature of your faith. Whatever you set the thermostat of hope to do, the heat pump of faith will produce. What is it you have hoped for in the past that you don’t see coming to pass? Perhaps it was not Bible hope based on God’s Word but just a fleshly, earthly wishing that things would work out. Hope and faith are deliberate choices we make based on God’s Word and tenaciously hold to. We do not let go. Time does not affect them. God’s Word will produce hope and faith. We don’t go by feelings of it working or not working. We simply believe that the Word is working in our lives, all the time. You see, when you send forth God’s Word, it never pulls back. We are the ones who pull back when satan applies his pressure to destroy expectancy.
Expect God to do what He says He will do in His Word. Expect Him to do it for you. Expect the Word to work on your behalf. EXPECT GOD TO WORK ON YOUR BEHALF! It is a choice we make every day and sometimes every hour of every day. Don’t back down from or back off from your expectancy.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 10:31 AM
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