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(Love this meme- borrowed from Bethel Church)I woke up Saturday with a scratchy throat and stuffy nose first thought was "Dang it! I caught a cold!" How do you catch a cold? From other people! I got to thinking, If Hope were a sickness, do I have the symptoms? I’ve heard of being ‘love sick’, but I think God would have us be Hope-Sick! I would like to see us infect everyone we come in contact with this Hope!
For the believer, Hope is highly contagious! Hope has many symptoms!
It starts with God...
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Rom 15 :13 NLT
Hope Overflows! (Another translation says its radiant)
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope! (The Message)
And when our Hope spills over, it infects others!
Some of the telltale signs that someone has been infected are mentioned here: joy....peace...trust!
Think about it- when we are around people that speak trustingly and hopefully and live faithfully, joyfully and peacefully it builds us up!
The opposite is also true. When we are around people that are not in this Hope, we can fall into discouragement, despair, distrust and unrest, it's so important to stay connected to church and other Jesus followers to stay encouraged- also important to be out in the World so we can 'spill out'!
1 Thessalonians 4:18 So comfort one another with this hope, and encourage one another with these words. The Voice
After affirming the wonderful truth about being joined with our loved ones at the second coming of The Lord, Paul is reminding us to comfort and encourage each other with this Hope!
Hope is Exclusive!
Psalm 39:7
New Living Translation (NLT)
7 And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.
In our society, we've learned to trust other things... Ourselves primarily. Also in our bank accounts, careers, even our government! Interesting that our currency says In God We Trust! Almost as a reminder NOT to trust in money! God wants an exclusive!
What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 31:1
Think about examples of our celebrities that have fame and fortune but no hope- Kurt Cobain's whose death 20 years ago was remembered this week comes to mind and many others.
Hope is zealous
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. — Proverbs 23:17–18
Zealous-full of energy, effort, and enthusiasm. full of a lot of energy, effort, and enthusiasm, especially in your political or religious ideas.
Hope is Productive
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. — Romans 5:2-5 (NIV).
Hope is Immune
3 Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! Because He has raised Jesus the Anointed from death, through His great mercy we have been reborn into a living hope— 4 reborn for an eternal inheritance, held in reserve in heaven, that will never fade or fail. 1Peter 1:3-4 The Voice
(Re)Born This Way!
This verse says that the sign of a Christian is their being ‘Reborn into a Living Hope!’
When we are born - we have a unique genetic make up. We have certain immunities and also some weaknesses. When we're 'born again' we have an immune deficiency to Despair! As Hope builds in our spirit, we are stronger against defeat, discouragement and despair. The literal meaning of the word Despair comes from the French words 'down from' and 'hope'.
1.despair:
the complete loss or absence of hope.
"driven to despair, he throws himself under a train"
synonyms: hopelessness, disheartenment, discouragement, desperation, distress, anguish, unhappiness;
Hope Grows in Strength
9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chr 16:9
Giving your heart to God insures his promise to strengthen- it's one of many conditional promises- if... then....
Hope takes Courage!
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord
Psalm :32:24
I can't emphasize enough how big this is!
It is not always easy to walk in Hope- courage is standing against everything coming against you while remaining immovable in confidence in God!
Hope starts small
10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, Zec 4:10
Start with what you've got- like the mustard seed of Faith, God honors our beginnings and supplies the growth!
Hope Must Be Activated!
Put it on! Like a vaccination, putting on your hope will your best defense against discouragement and despair.
1Th 5:8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation
Maybe we can’t fix this whole broken world, but we can change ourselves and the role we play in it.
Final thoughts-
I heard a message a couple weeks ago called Little Things Big Things. The speaker told a story that I didn’t know about Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Apparently his advisors had helped him prepare a more politically oriented message. When you watch the video of the speech you see the Black Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson who is among the other people on the platform lean over and say something to him. She reportedly said, “Go with the dream, tell them about the dream…” The result is probably one of the most profound and meaningful speeches ever delivered.
One little act in Hope CAN change things! We mentioned the mustard seed last week- and talked about how a tiny seed can grow into a large tree and even bear fruit.
I believe that now, more than ever, people need hope.
I think there is a perception that the church is fading.
Sense that some feel- ‘I tried church, didn’t work for me.’
What do people need? What do you need? Want?
They/ We need Jesus people to live out Hope!
Let's really power up on Hope!
Spend the first part of your day in God's
Be intentional about inviting family and friends to come here and be encouraged in their Hope- let's infect others with this disease called Hope! Amen?
