Issue 1689 – More Hope – March 18, 2025
Kathy has a large travel mug with a butterfly pattern and part of Psalm 39:7 quoted on it. This morning, I drank my coffee from it and pondered the message of hope.
It inspired this morning’s “Gleanings.” Since I wrote on the subject of hope yesterday, I’ve chosen to call this one “More Hope.”
What is hope? One online dictionary defines it as an intransitive verb, meaning “to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true.” Hope is a verb, which means it describes an action. It is a choice.
Sometimes, hope is nothing more than a wish or dream. We want something to happen, but our hope has no foundation. For example, I could hope to win a million dollars in a lottery. Since I don’t play the lottery, my hope is nothing more than a fanciful dream that can never come true.
Then, there is the biblical idea of hope, which is grounded in God’s nature and character. We know the Lord is perfect, loving, merciful, generous, and faithful. We know He always delivers on His promises.
We know that we can hope in Him, provided that our desire is in accordance with His will and character.
He doesn’t promise that life will be easy this side of eternity. He doesn’t say we will get everything we wish for. Our struggles are often the tools the Lord uses to grow our faith and test our character.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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. Not only that, but 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 5:1-5
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:19-23
Our hope, peace, and joy transcend the circumstances of life. Our hope and faith are not some vain wish but grounded in the King of kings.
Hold fast. He is faithful.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
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All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).