July 21, 2021
Wednesday
Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God is the God of hope. We know His as a faith God and a God of love. But hope does not seem to get the same attention as faith and love. Hope is crucial for a healthy human existence. Our hopes should be up all the time!
“’In all of my many years living on planet earth, I have never seen a time when people seemed so full of despair and hopelessness. By almost every avenue of media, we are bombarded with news that is designed on purpose to destroy the hope of God loving people. This avalanche of bad news extends across the whole spectrum of life from the pulpit to the decisions made at the highest government levels. It seems almost everything points in the direction of hopelessness.”
Faith gives substance to that which you hope for. (Hebrews 11) Faith is of the spirit, or heart. Hope is of the soul. If you don’t have a strong image, there’s nothing for faith to give substance to. You can say all the right things all the time, but it can’t bring forth what hope does not have. If hope can’t see it, faith can’t bring it. Faith brings into reality, that which you hope for.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
You can say all the right things and have all the perfect confessions, but if you do not have the right vision, it cannot work. Hope is so vitally important. Hope is how you see; Faith is what you say. It takes both working together to produce results. Without hope there is no joy or peace. If you can’t see it, you won’t have it. You can see it! What creates hopelessness? The things you see and hear that affects your soul. If you’re hearing and seeing death, destruction and negativity all the time, it will affect you! Does bad news bring joy? No! You’ll know when you are getting into Godly hope because the Holy Spirit will release a level of joy and peace. Where there is no joy or peace, there is no hope. If you want to walk in God given health, you have to see yourself well! The vision has to be strong and alive in you! If all you see is your past, that is what you will project into your future! People won’t move toward what they don’t think they can have. The reality is that you can have anything you want from God. Until you settle that within yourself, you will never move toward it. You have to have a vision of you winning and overcoming! If all you see is your failures, that is what will wait for you in your future. If the image in your head does not line up with God, you have to change it!
Genesis 15:1-5 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
God changed what Abram was looking at. He gave them a new vision and a new image. Then He changed their names and changed what they were saying. Before He got their confession lined up right, He gave them the right image to look at. He didn’t just hear, he saw! God spoke to him in a vision on purpose! He had to change what he was looking at! Abram and Sarah had everything they ever needed in life. They were wealthy and needed nothing other than an heir. The very part of their lives that they couldn’t produce in, is the very part that God used them in. God wasn’t just thinking of Abraham and his generation. He was thinking about future generations. It affected people for generations to come. All they had ever seen in that area was failure. God knew if He didn’t change their image of failure in that area, He could never produce Isaac. Abraham had settled for second best. God has the best in store for you!
Hope has to see it before faith can bring it! You have to see yourself well, blessed, and happy. You have to see yourself as successful! You have to see yourself the way that God says you are! If God says it, that is what you have to believe. You can believe it, you can have it, and you can be it. What you see and what you say has to agree with what God says.
4 hours developing Godly hope is more effective and productive than 4 years of mindless confession apart from hope. Confession is right in its place. But it needs hope to work. If hope can’t see it, faith can’t bring it.