December 30

Written by Bill Grandi on December 30th, 2018

The Bible is a hope story. It is about hope misplaced and hope found. It’s about hope that cannot deliver and hope that gives me everything I need. It’s about where not to look for hope and the only place where true hope can be found.

The truth is no one can live without hope. Men sunk in the depths of the earth by a coal mine collapse can fight if they have hope. A person living in the worst of places can survive to get out if they have hope. Hope gives life. Hope breeds life. Hope get rid of the empty feeling. Hopelessness is a killer. That’s one of the reasons corporate worship is important. True worship is one of vertical hope. It is designed to replace the flimsy horizontal thread so many cling to.

In Romans 5:1-5 Paul says 5 things about hope:

  1. It is connected to my justification.
  2. It is connected to the glory of God.
  3. It is connected to my sufferings.
  4. My vertical hope will never put me to shame.
  5. It is connected to the Holy Spirit who lives inside me.

My hope is not in the flimsy thread of horizontal hope but that which is strong and ever lasting. That’s the kind of hope that will sustain through the New Year and gives hope for the past.

“Father, living hope. That’s what I want! The hope you give. For now. For the future.”

 

2 Comments so far ↓

  1. Placing all my hope in God . . .
    Blessings, Bill!

  2. Ryan S. says:

    Hope… When hope is in God, it will not fail. Hope in anything created will eventually fail…. it is not eternal.

    Corporate worship helps to recalibrate my hope compass. Instead of spinning in circles looking for hope in an equally sin damaged creation, my hope compass recenters on God. Even if only until my next distraction. But for a moment, I know where I should be looking

    Ryan S