A Blessed Hope
His hope is like spiritual adrenaline.
It’s pumping us with fuel to live out our purposes.
He (God) could have just given us hope but He adds blessings and a future to it (Jer. 29:11). In a sense, hope is a future. It’s expecting something beyond today.
Hope is a lifter. When we start to lose hope, we drift downward. God is so good that He can create “lift” out of your lowest low. (Ps. 3:3) But it shouldn’t always be us waiting on Him to stoop down. I think there has to be something in us that’s willing to reach up. There ought to be something in each of us that wants to go up in our way of thinking, acting, believing, and living. There needs to be something that rises in our being. Toward Heaven.
Part of our extended series together through hope, is about enlightenment. Enlightenment is when we’re freed from ignorance and misinformation. It’s like having spiritual comprehension and instruction in areas where we didn’t have it before! It’s when you say “ah-ha!” When we get into the light, we see clearer and are able to have these “ah-ha” moments.
Jer. 29:11 enlightens many people because they realize God wants them to make it. God plans to move us on from our messes despite our mistakes! People are filled with hope when they know that His plans don’t give us a minimal existence. God helps us look up. His plans are not to make us perfect. They don’t promise we’ll never have any messes. But! ah-ha! We get to use our mess in the abundant plans He’s got for us. For our future. What future are you hoping to have?
“The Blessed Hope” is a big part of our future– an event we’ll never forget. It explains that Jesus is coming back. Like Jer. 29, 2 Thess. 2:1-10 and 1 Thess. 4:13-17 teach us that He’s going to show up and bring us back “home.” The Blessed Hope is going to take place whether we believe in it or not. Some people are afraid when they hear about this event. But it isn’t called the failure of mankind. One of the greatest things about it is what it’s called…the blessed hope. Do you have blessed hope? Those who have a consecrated connection with God, have a hope that outweighs their greatest fears and insecurities. They have a hope that good things are coming. So when they hear that Jesus is coming back, it gives hope rather than anxiety. And it provides a picture of a future instead of terror about the end of what we know. God wants us to hope. Maybe this will help somebody prepare to see Christ. Get ready. Ask Him into your life. Tell Him you trust that He is who He says He is and that you need the forgiveness He offers.
It’s when we do our own thing and carry out our own plans that we feel lost, hopeless, and limited. We were meant to have a hope and a future from His plans. Where there was doubt and mystery, now there is knowledge and understanding. Where there was confusion and denial, now dreams and a knowing.
A Hope And A Future.