Love hopes all things 1 Corinthians 13:7
Love..
Hopes all
things – NASB, ESV, NKJV
Always hopes
– NIV
is always
hopeful – NLT
Dictionary.com
HOPE
the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best
to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.
to believe, desire, or trust:
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear
Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
Psalm 71:5
For You are my hope;
O Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth.
As I did a biblegateway
search of the word Hope in the bible (NASB), I found something I should have
expected but for some reason didn’t. We all know to put our hope in the Lord,
but what was interesting to me was that any time in the bible it talked about
someone hoping in anything besides God or in God’s love but instead had hope in
something else, it talked about how it was going to fail or it had already
failed. There is nothing else worth putting all of our hope in but God. God is
love, so putting our hope in the love of God is the only thing worth putting
our hope in. Through that, we will have our hope in the Lord which will
overflow into how we love other people. When our complete hope is in the Lord,
we can also hope for the best in situations and people, but if they fail we will
not be crushed because our foundation, our hearts, our true hope is in the
Lord. I think it is a difference of having hope IN something (God), verses
having hope FOR something (hope for a marriage to work even when it is hard,
hope things will get better).
search of the word Hope in the bible (NASB), I found something I should have
expected but for some reason didn’t. We all know to put our hope in the Lord,
but what was interesting to me was that any time in the bible it talked about
someone hoping in anything besides God or in God’s love but instead had hope in
something else, it talked about how it was going to fail or it had already
failed. There is nothing else worth putting all of our hope in but God. God is
love, so putting our hope in the love of God is the only thing worth putting
our hope in. Through that, we will have our hope in the Lord which will
overflow into how we love other people. When our complete hope is in the Lord,
we can also hope for the best in situations and people, but if they fail we will
not be crushed because our foundation, our hearts, our true hope is in the
Lord. I think it is a difference of having hope IN something (God), verses
having hope FOR something (hope for a marriage to work even when it is hard,
hope things will get better).
Hope in
God/Lord/Him/Christ: Psalm 42:5, 42:11, 43:5, Acts 24:15, Psalm 31:24, Psalm
130:7, Psalm 131:3, Philippians 2:19, Job 13:15, Psalm 38:15, Jeremiah 14:22,
Lamentations 3:24, Ephesians 1:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:3.
But now faith, hope,
love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
“Love…It
hopes all things, why? Because Love is hopelessly optimistic, it never gives up.
It refuses to take failure as final…Just as God is not given up on Israel,
just as Jesus never gave up on Peter” – Phil Comer
hopes all things, why? Because Love is hopelessly optimistic, it never gives up.
It refuses to take failure as final…Just as God is not given up on Israel,
just as Jesus never gave up on Peter” – Phil Comer
Focus on the
positives. God is so big, so sovereign, so worthy of all of our hope. This
isn’t my commission to people to just say “welp, my hope is in God so I am
just going to sit back and let Him do all the work.” no no no, that is far
from what I am saying. What this means is that we can have confident hope in
Him that gives us the freedom to continue to walk forward in boldness towards
what God has called us to, knowing that we can trust in Him to guide us and
direct our steps. If we have to say no to something we really wanted, something
we may have had our hope in (for me that was becoming a lawyer…who knows if
God will call be to that ever, but my hope is not placed in that anymore for my
future but instead my hope is in Christ). Right now I am also raising support
for a ministry opportunity God has called me on in Washington D.C. I could get
frazzled again at the idea of raising support, but I don’t, my hope is in Him!
I have been doing my part in putting out letters and telling people about it,
but instead of getting anxious and worried if the last half ($1,700) will come
in or not, I continue to walk forward in obedience and hope in Christ. God has
been so faithful already!! Right away I had a few incredibly generous friends
give, and actually as I look at my account I saw another person gave a large
amount! One fellow believer at my church, Solid Rock, donated almost the entire
first half $1,500 in cash after he heard I was support raising, without even
hardly knowing what it was for. He felt God calling him to give so he was
obedient and gave. MAN ALIVE WAS I BLESSED! I am still insanely blessed by his
generosity. P.s. He is also my age, not some rich couple, how cool is that???
God is great! Also, one of my dear friends knows that I need more professional
clothes for D.C. and so donated a $200 gift card for me to be able to afford
these clothes!! These are 20-somethings as well as amazing parents of these
20-somethings walking out their faith in ways that just make me feel so much
love from the Lord! Even today as I sit
in this coffee shop I was getting ready to write an email I didn’t really feel
adequate to write and all of the sudden this lady sits down in the seat across
from me. “I see you have your bible out, as a fellow believer I just want
to encourage you”. She then proceeded to encourage me and speak life over
me…WOW, so cool! This fellow believer, my sister, completely encouraged me
and didn’t even know that I needed to hear it. God is so faithful, I don’t know
how I ever can doubt it! He is worthy of all of our hope!
positives. God is so big, so sovereign, so worthy of all of our hope. This
isn’t my commission to people to just say “welp, my hope is in God so I am
just going to sit back and let Him do all the work.” no no no, that is far
from what I am saying. What this means is that we can have confident hope in
Him that gives us the freedom to continue to walk forward in boldness towards
what God has called us to, knowing that we can trust in Him to guide us and
direct our steps. If we have to say no to something we really wanted, something
we may have had our hope in (for me that was becoming a lawyer…who knows if
God will call be to that ever, but my hope is not placed in that anymore for my
future but instead my hope is in Christ). Right now I am also raising support
for a ministry opportunity God has called me on in Washington D.C. I could get
frazzled again at the idea of raising support, but I don’t, my hope is in Him!
I have been doing my part in putting out letters and telling people about it,
but instead of getting anxious and worried if the last half ($1,700) will come
in or not, I continue to walk forward in obedience and hope in Christ. God has
been so faithful already!! Right away I had a few incredibly generous friends
give, and actually as I look at my account I saw another person gave a large
amount! One fellow believer at my church, Solid Rock, donated almost the entire
first half $1,500 in cash after he heard I was support raising, without even
hardly knowing what it was for. He felt God calling him to give so he was
obedient and gave. MAN ALIVE WAS I BLESSED! I am still insanely blessed by his
generosity. P.s. He is also my age, not some rich couple, how cool is that???
God is great! Also, one of my dear friends knows that I need more professional
clothes for D.C. and so donated a $200 gift card for me to be able to afford
these clothes!! These are 20-somethings as well as amazing parents of these
20-somethings walking out their faith in ways that just make me feel so much
love from the Lord! Even today as I sit
in this coffee shop I was getting ready to write an email I didn’t really feel
adequate to write and all of the sudden this lady sits down in the seat across
from me. “I see you have your bible out, as a fellow believer I just want
to encourage you”. She then proceeded to encourage me and speak life over
me…WOW, so cool! This fellow believer, my sister, completely encouraged me
and didn’t even know that I needed to hear it. God is so faithful, I don’t know
how I ever can doubt it! He is worthy of all of our hope!
I also want to be sensitive to those out there who feel they have lost complete hope. Those who are plagued my anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, that there is nothing worth living for. I want to first say, you are not alone and I PROMISE you there are people out there who care about you, who love you. I don’t even know you, and I love you. Why you ask, because Jesus loves you! God took the time to create you, the God of this universe, the God who made sunsets and sunrises, who made mountaintops and birds sing…He took time out of His busy schedule and said you were important enough to make and LOVE. You are not alone, there are people who want to show you love, and God loves you. Please, reach out to someone, tell them about your anxieties, fears or worries. The lead pastor at my church, Solid Rock, just wrote a book called My Name is Hope and is selling it for $7…if you can’t afford it, let me know I will buy it for you. You are loved, never forget that. There is hope!
When things
are looking impossible, when your circumstances tell you it is never going to
happen or that person is never going to come to know the Lord or you feel like
you are never going to get a job or that relationship is never going to
mend….HOPE. Hope in the Lord, and hope for the best in your circumstances. Hope for big things to happen! You know who we have lessons to learn from?…kids! They have so much hope it is crazy. Hope that there parents are super heros that can solve anything, hope that they can become a astronaut or a professional singer…they have hope. It’s been a while, but I am sure you can remember how hard it was to tie your shoes, seemed impossible right? Well if we all gave up home in that we would all just be wear TOMS. Silly parallel I know, but hope is something we must not lose! What’s your impossible task?
are looking impossible, when your circumstances tell you it is never going to
happen or that person is never going to come to know the Lord or you feel like
you are never going to get a job or that relationship is never going to
mend….HOPE. Hope in the Lord, and hope for the best in your circumstances. Hope for big things to happen! You know who we have lessons to learn from?…kids! They have so much hope it is crazy. Hope that there parents are super heros that can solve anything, hope that they can become a astronaut or a professional singer…they have hope. It’s been a while, but I am sure you can remember how hard it was to tie your shoes, seemed impossible right? Well if we all gave up home in that we would all just be wear TOMS. Silly parallel I know, but hope is something we must not lose! What’s your impossible task?
Challenge of the week: If you haven’t already, write down
your impossible prayer
list. The things where you have lost hope that it will ever happen. If you are
follow Jesus and are being obedient to Him you have the BEST ally on your side.
‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you.’- John 15:7. If you are truly seeking God, remain in His will, He
can make ANYTHING happen…it’s God we are talking about here. So the challenge
this week, hope again. See the best in people, believe the best in people, hope
that God can truly change lives, including your own. Mindset is a powerful
thing, and words are also a powerful thing. So believe the truth and speak the
truth over others and over yourself. ‘Death and life are in the power
of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit’ Proverbs 18:21.
your impossible prayer
list. The things where you have lost hope that it will ever happen. If you are
follow Jesus and are being obedient to Him you have the BEST ally on your side.
‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you.’- John 15:7. If you are truly seeking God, remain in His will, He
can make ANYTHING happen…it’s God we are talking about here. So the challenge
this week, hope again. See the best in people, believe the best in people, hope
that God can truly change lives, including your own. Mindset is a powerful
thing, and words are also a powerful thing. So believe the truth and speak the
truth over others and over yourself. ‘Death and life are in the power
of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit’ Proverbs 18:21.
Lord thank you that you are beyond faithful!
Thank you are a God worthy of putting all of our hope in, of trusting you with
every aspect of our lives. God I pray that you can help myself and my friends
hope in you. That we can speak truth, speak life, and believe in You, even when
things seem impossible. God remove any anxieties from my friends as a result of
putting their hope in anything but you, but instead help them to put their hope
in you and you alone. Love you so much Father thank you for being a faithful
Dad! Amen
