Hope Rising

Have you ever felt hopeless?

Hopelessness is terrible, it's mind numbing, it can be debilitating... it will make you desperate...

During one of the roughest stretches in my life, I found a way to be bound TO hope instead of bound BY hopelessness. If you're interested in how this happened, you should read on.

Here's what I know for sure about hope

1 - Hope is Desperately needed. 

Hope in our world can seem rather fleeting - "here today, gone tomorrow". In the Bible, it was more concrete. Hope in the Bible had the connotation of earnest expectation.

John 1... In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

...10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Jesus' HOPE is stronger than hate. 

…came to his own and his own rejected him (John 1:11)

2 - HOPE is divine in nature.

One of the most known verses in the Bible is John 3:16... for God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God... so loved! It started with Him... it's who He is... it's His nature.

3 - Hope is active 

God, SO LOVED the world. God's love initiated a plan to save us.

4 - Hope is Universal in scope

God so loved THE WORLD...

If you live on the planet you can be a recipient of God's active hope. Because Jesus paid the ultimate price for my sin and yours - a cruel death on the cross - we can receive His Hope. I'm so glad that Jesus is a better Saviour than I am a Sinner.

God's hope is amazing and wonderful and fantastic and, and, and ... there really are no adequate words to express how great His hope is.

Let me conclude with Zachariah 9:12:

...

 Return to your fortress, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.

The phrase "prisoners of hope"

became words of freedom for me. I realized that God did not want me to become a prisoner to hopelessness and despair. He did not want me chained and bound by fear and confusion. But he wanted me to be imprisoned in His jail of hope, shackled by his chains of hope, tied with His ropes of hope. 

And let assure you - He can and will do the same for you if you ask Him to.