This Hope In Him

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
[1 John 3:1-3 NKJV]

It is only 3rd January, but we have seen so many messages hoping that 2021 will be better than “the frightful year” that was 2020. Hope is something that is built into us. We hope a friend is feeling better. We hope you “have a nice day.” We hope that money will arrive on time. Those who have “lost all hope” give us cause for concern and upset. Hope is essential, and it is one of the three pillars of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
[1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV]

The last few years and last year in particular have been trying for us all. Our faith, our hope and our love have been tested as never before; not helped by world leaders who speak words of hope, and promise so much but cannot deliver. What they do is undermine our hope and instead spread dissent and division. Such things are bound to be, when so many turn away from God, or place their trust in man alone. The apostle Paul, who had so much to say of these things, wrote:

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
[1 Thessalonians 5:1-8 NKJV]

A helmet protects the head, or in Paul’s meaning, the mind, and it is the hope of salvation that guards our minds and keeps us from despairing; from wrong-headedness and the attacks of the evil one. So let us live in hope, putting behind us difficulties and division and instead trust in the one who answers prayer and delivers on His promises. Jesus Christ, our only hope.

The Spirit of God alters my dominating desires; He alters the thing that matters, and a universe of desires I had never known before, suddenly comes on the horizon.

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