Hebrews 6:13-20
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Romans 8:18-27
Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Romans 12:12
Be Joyful in Hope
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
God gives us this great promise of hope...Hope is a future thing...God gave Abraham this great promise of a future hope...God would bless Abraham's many descendants, even long after his (Abraham's) death...
We wait eagerly for our hopes to be revealed...It is good to wait for hope patiently...It is good to be joyful in hope...Hope is this longing in your heart that good things will come...Hope is the anchor for your soul...Hope is something that is firm and secure, yet contains a seed of doubt...Our hopes can get weighed down in life with our troubles...So we must remember that our hope (especially when we are down) can be our very anchor for our soul...This hope for our soul was originated from God as an oath to Abraham...And this hope continues today, even though, there was this problem with Eden and our fall, when we sinned...But after the creation and Eden, Jesus came to us, and has become our Redeemer...He died on the cross to suffer the consequences of our sins...He is our Contact, our Way to God in the most intimate of places, the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary...That place, is the Most Holy Place where God meets with our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ...Jesus is our Hope...
When we have diminished hope or are losing hope it is hard to think about our entire life, and the good things we have had in it...Our negative thoughts can become magnified...Then we overlook the positive, when we lose hope...We tend to jump to conclusions, and generalize about our current and the current painful situation...When we are down in hope, we tend to think less of the two great commandments Jesus teaches, and we think more internally and about ourselves and less about God and neighbor...We can lose the context of things in our pain and sufferings...In these times of pain and sufferings, we can lose the context of our entire life, when we lose hope...When we are able to focus on God and hope in the LORD, our mood can lift...Hope, His hope can strengthen our attitude, help our mood when it needs strengthened the most...St. Paul teaches us that even when we are weak or in great pain, like as a woman in childbirth, there can be great hope...When you need and lose hope, ask your Father to give you a promise, something you can cling to and base your hope on...
Persistent prayer, is not only a demonstration of faith, but it strengthens our hope...Faith is more of a current virtue than hope...Our faith is now...Hope is wanting and longing for that desire in the future...Hope is like faith in the future...Hope is what we do not yet have...We should wait and hope patiently...Our hope and hopes should be based on the LORD...For in our hope we are saved and have salvation...
Our Father is in eternity...Our LORD always sees the Big Picture, and His Plan...He sees everything...When we can better understand this, then hope really is the anchor to our soul...The One who searches our hearts, and knows our mind, also knows our hopes...He cares for us so much that He sent His Son to earth, to see, to feel, and to experience our struggles with Him...Jesus knows our hopes...And when our hope gets low and down, we must hope in the LORD...The Spirit that the LORD has given us helps us with our weaknesses and pains, when we get down in our hopes...Without hope, and our hope in the LORD, the future is meaningless and without purpose...