"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)
The God of Israel is the God of Hope _ Elohei HaTikvah. Our God is the true source of hope. He is the one that fills us with joy and peace that we may abound in hope through His Holy Spirit. Hope is the very nature and character of God. We are created in His image to be a people of hope with the capacity to have dreams and visions. Without hope something dies in us; we are alive yet dead, living a life that seems meaningless.
Hope, however is the expectation of good and with it the future seems bright. The Bible is full of magnificent promises that provide real substance for our hope. God Himself has given us these promises and we can expect Him to fulfill them.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." (Psalm 62:5-7)
Hope is powerful. It brings creativity, energy and life. When hope is activated and made alive in our hearts, it opens our heart to the Kingdom of God; a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
That is why satan, the accuser, wages war against our hope. He will try to steal the hope, the dream, and the vision by bringing in fear. Fear is an expectation of something negative. Fear shuts the door to the Kingdom of God and saps our soul of creativity and energy.
It is God's will for us to be filled with the Spirit, and there is a correlation between a hopeful attitude and being filled with the Spirit.
When we cultivate an attitude of hope and expectation in God, the Holy Spirit gets involved.
God wants us to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to filled with hope so that we can be visionaries and have prophetic anointing. He wants to show us things to come.
There are four significant characteristics of an attitude of hope or expectation in God.
1. Positive Expectation
In the Lord we have a positive picture of the future, no matter what our circumstances are.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can have a positive attitude because of who God is. He is our rock; our salvation; our defense. Our expectation is from Him. And God is light; in Him there is no darkness. Our attitudes have tremendous impact on our lives. Attitude is more important than facts; more important than education, appearance, talent, or skill. Attitudes can make or break our lives. Each day we must choose what attitude we will embrace for that day.
2. Possibility Thinking
An expectation and hope in God helps us to see what is possible. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to see possibilities.
"But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
Though all things are possible with God we must understand that God works through our faith. In order to grasp possibility we need to have a spirit of hope; a positive attitude of hope to see the possibilities in life and to believe..
"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)
With our expectation grounded in God let us be expansive in our vision and increase our faith to believe all things are possible! Expectation in God engenders a "can do all things" attitude. Let us not limit the God of Israel. He who has promised is faithful and will fulfill what He has promised.
3. Prosperous Attitude
A hope in God will bring a prosperous attitude; an expectation of success, victory and abundance. An expectation in God will cause us to prosper (increase),
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
We must have an expectation of success and victory. This is the attitude we need and can have when our hope is in God. This is God's will for our lives. It is this victory that overcomes the world. Joseph was called a dreamer but he waited on the Lord and God gave him phenomenal success; from dungeon to the throne room!
Many of us carry, a negative self-image that chains us to the person we were before we met Jesus. The Word of God however says that in Jesus we are "new creations". We have been raised up in the image off Jesus the One who is alive from the dead and seated at the right hand of God. "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Me." (Mt. 28:18) We were not created to fail but to succeed!
4. Profound Expectation
Finally in God we can have a profound expectation. Since our God is bigger than we can ever imagine, we can expand our vision: think bigger and think more profoundly
The Gospel we have is revolutionary. It has power to change society forever.
We can have a profound impact in our generation if we think and believe for big things in God. Just think ---if we win just one soul, that is for eternity. And that person can reach their family and friends for eternity. And each of those people can reach many others for eternity.
We must never despise the day of small beginnings because small seeds eventually yield large crops.
Then He brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5)
Abraham and Sarah were both advanced in age and they had no children. They were strangers in a strange land with no natural inheritance and no natural hop. Yes Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. His hope was in God. Just as God used Abraham to bless all the nations, God is able to use each one of us to profoundly impact the world around us if we will believe. This hope we have in God is powerful; it is positive, it opens the door to possibilities, it is profound. May the God of hope fill you today.
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)
The God of Israel is the God of Hope _ Elohei HaTikvah. Our God is the true source of hope. He is the one that fills us with joy and peace that we may abound in hope through His Holy Spirit. Hope is the very nature and character of God. We are created in His image to be a people of hope with the capacity to have dreams and visions. Without hope something dies in us; we are alive yet dead, living a life that seems meaningless.
Hope, however is the expectation of good and with it the future seems bright. The Bible is full of magnificent promises that provide real substance for our hope. God Himself has given us these promises and we can expect Him to fulfill them.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." (Psalm 62:5-7)
Hope is powerful. It brings creativity, energy and life. When hope is activated and made alive in our hearts, it opens our heart to the Kingdom of God; a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
That is why satan, the accuser, wages war against our hope. He will try to steal the hope, the dream, and the vision by bringing in fear. Fear is an expectation of something negative. Fear shuts the door to the Kingdom of God and saps our soul of creativity and energy.
It is God's will for us to be filled with the Spirit, and there is a correlation between a hopeful attitude and being filled with the Spirit.
When we cultivate an attitude of hope and expectation in God, the Holy Spirit gets involved.
God wants us to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to filled with hope so that we can be visionaries and have prophetic anointing. He wants to show us things to come.
There are four significant characteristics of an attitude of hope or expectation in God.
1. Positive Expectation
In the Lord we have a positive picture of the future, no matter what our circumstances are.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can have a positive attitude because of who God is. He is our rock; our salvation; our defense. Our expectation is from Him. And God is light; in Him there is no darkness. Our attitudes have tremendous impact on our lives. Attitude is more important than facts; more important than education, appearance, talent, or skill. Attitudes can make or break our lives. Each day we must choose what attitude we will embrace for that day.
2. Possibility Thinking
An expectation and hope in God helps us to see what is possible. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to see possibilities.
"But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
Though all things are possible with God we must understand that God works through our faith. In order to grasp possibility we need to have a spirit of hope; a positive attitude of hope to see the possibilities in life and to believe..
"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)
With our expectation grounded in God let us be expansive in our vision and increase our faith to believe all things are possible! Expectation in God engenders a "can do all things" attitude. Let us not limit the God of Israel. He who has promised is faithful and will fulfill what He has promised.
3. Prosperous Attitude
A hope in God will bring a prosperous attitude; an expectation of success, victory and abundance. An expectation in God will cause us to prosper (increase),
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
We must have an expectation of success and victory. This is the attitude we need and can have when our hope is in God. This is God's will for our lives. It is this victory that overcomes the world. Joseph was called a dreamer but he waited on the Lord and God gave him phenomenal success; from dungeon to the throne room!
Many of us carry, a negative self-image that chains us to the person we were before we met Jesus. The Word of God however says that in Jesus we are "new creations". We have been raised up in the image off Jesus the One who is alive from the dead and seated at the right hand of God. "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Me." (Mt. 28:18) We were not created to fail but to succeed!
4. Profound Expectation
Finally in God we can have a profound expectation. Since our God is bigger than we can ever imagine, we can expand our vision: think bigger and think more profoundly
The Gospel we have is revolutionary. It has power to change society forever.
We can have a profound impact in our generation if we think and believe for big things in God. Just think ---if we win just one soul, that is for eternity. And that person can reach their family and friends for eternity. And each of those people can reach many others for eternity.
We must never despise the day of small beginnings because small seeds eventually yield large crops.
Then He brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5)
Abraham and Sarah were both advanced in age and they had no children. They were strangers in a strange land with no natural inheritance and no natural hop. Yes Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. His hope was in God. Just as God used Abraham to bless all the nations, God is able to use each one of us to profoundly impact the world around us if we will believe. This hope we have in God is powerful; it is positive, it opens the door to possibilities, it is profound. May the God of hope fill you today.
