Hope

Encounter,

Every person who has ever lived has pondered the question, “Is there any HOPE for me?”
It’s asked every day by thousands of people in thousands of different ways:

  • As you sit in the doctor’s office awaiting test results.
  • When a couple has tried to reconcile, and counseling gets them nowhere.
  • When dealing with a tax accountant in a bankruptcy court or trying to meet a tax deadline. 
  • When a family hears their child is missing or in a accident.
  • When you hear the words I don’t love you anymore or I never did, and I’m leaving you. 
  • When you get the pink slip and you lose your job. 
  • When you doubt if your life will get better? 
  • Can I ever be set free from these chains that keep me in bondage? Is there any HOPE? 

So where do I turn to find real hope? The Apostle Paul said in…

Romans 15:13 says, “May God, the source of HOPE, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit” (GWT).
Have you noticed that there are always 2 alternatives in life when you are in need of hope? 

  • You can panic or pray. 
  • You can worship or worry. 
  • You can meditate on God’s word or you can listen to the voices of others. 
  • You can obey God and be blessed or disobey and forfeit that blessing. 
  • You can quit before the miracle happens or let hope keep you coming back. 
  • You can spend time in God’s presence or waste your time with people who can’t help you. 
  • You can be bitter or get better.
  • You can be grateful or resentful. 
  • You can build others up or gossip about them. 
  • You can think the worst about a person or give them the benefit of the doubt. 
  • You can operate in faith or you can operate in fear.
  • You can trust God or you can trust in yourself.
  • You can believe God or believe the lies in your head. 
  • You can take your thoughts captive or you can let your thoughts keep you captive. 

And prayer is typically the last resort instead of a first response when we feel hopeless. 

Real hope is based on God’s word and his promises that are all yes and amen to those that are in Christ. 

That means that God is faithful to His promises and there are thousands of them found in scripture but we have to pray for them. That’s what the yes and amen mean. 

You see real hope is based on God’s word and praying his promises until we see them come to pass in our lives. 

Rick Warren said, “Real hope is not based on your wishes, your feelings. It is not based on your emotions or even your imagination but on God’s obligation.”

Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. 

Be Blessed and Encouraged

Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor
bill@thehopeencounter.org