Hope

Hello everyone,

How are you doing on this day? I hope well and bubbling in the Lord.

Primary Text

“PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;” 1 Timothy 1v1 (KJV)

We thank God for the hope that we have not only in this world but in that which is to come. Outside of Christ, we do not have any hope - there is no wonderful eternity to look forward to. Ephesians 2v12 (TLB) aptly puts it this way “Remember that in those days you were living utterly apart from Christ; you were enemies of God’s children, and He had promised you no help. You were lost, without God, without hope.” But now, we who have come to the Lord have Christ and we have hope. Colossians 1v5 (KJV) tells us “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;” Indeed the gospel brings us a message of hope that we hold onto by faith. We wait with expectation for our risen Lord to come back for a pure and undefiled church that will reign with Him for all eternity. “For the grace (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind. It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world, Awaiting and looking for the [fulfillment, the realization of our] blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One), Who gave Himself on our behalf that He might redeem us (purchase our freedom) from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people [to be peculiarly His own, people who are] eager and enthusiastic about [living a life that is good and filled with beneficial deeds” (Titus 2v11-13, AMPC).

Supplementary Text

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15v13-20 (NIV)

Prayer

Lord, we thank You for the hope we have not only in this world but in that which is to come. We thank You for Christ in us the hope of glory. God of hope, we pray that You will continue to fill us with all joy and hope as we believe in You and hold fast to You o God. We love You and honour You, in Jesus name we pray, amen.