The Meaning of HOPE:
1. As is written in God's WORD: Confident CERTAINTY that God will fulfill all He has promised.
2. As is used in today's WORLD: A wishful FEELING that wants and expectations might be met.
1 Peter 3:15-16 15But Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts (“set apart Christ as Lord in the heart”): and be ready always to
give an answer to every man who asks you a reason of the hope that is in you (every Believer must know the Word of God); with meekness and fear (never from a Holier-than-thou stance): 16Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of
you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed who falsely accuse your good
conversation (Godly lifestyle) in Christ. (Irrespective of what people may say, the Righteousness of Christ
will ultimately prevail. In other words, those who falsely accuse will
ultimately be proven wrong.)
Please
understand Biblical HOPE is a gift from God -- given to those who have put
their faith in Him and received His Life through His Spirit. Listen in Verse
15 "'To give a reason for the hope that is in you"
is not at all the same things as convincing by rational argument why that
hope is in us. The work of the Spirit of God in us transcends reason, but never
contradicts it. And when a Christian says 'the
reason I am so-and-so is because I have received the Holy Spirit,' or
'I have received from God something
which has made this possible,' it doesn't contradict reason. It
transcends it, and is an answer concerning the hope that is in you. The line we
are continually apt to be caught by is that of argumentative reasoning out why
we are what we are. We can never do that, but we can always say why the hope is
in us.
"Reason is the faculty of mind by
which man draws conclusions. Every man is always striving after a true
expression of what he is. When a man is
born again, his personality become alive to God as the Source of inspiration!
Paul's words in Galatians 2:20: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" are the expression of the only worthy
rationalism...."
Listen: As long as we use the image of our
own salvation, our experience, the image of our feelings, or answers to prayer,
we shall never begin to understand what Paul meant when he said, 'Christ lives in me.' The exercise of
man's essential reason is drawing on God as the Source of life.
Those who don't know God can't
understand the wonders of the hope that God has put in our hearts. It makes no
sense to the secular mind! The world's finite reasoning and "rational"
understanding clashes with the reality of God's plan and eternal Kingdom! The
key to understanding -- God's Holy Spirit -- is missing!
The only real gift at Christmas is
Jesus.
Merry Christmas
Everybody!
