Hope

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American poet and essayist

God could have let Abraham stay in the comfort of Ur in the Chaldees; He could have let Moses stay in the comfort of Pharaoh’s court, and Aaron stay in the safety of the crowd. He could have kept David away from Goliath; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego out of the fiery furnace; Daniel out of the lion’s den; Elijah away from Jezebel; Nehemiah out of captivity; Jonah out of the whale; John the Baptist away from Herod; Esther from being threatened; Jeremiah from being rejected; and Paul from being shipwrecked. But he didn’t. In fact, God used each of these trials to bring people closer to himself, to produce perseverance, character and hope.

Source: John Ortberg, The Me I Want To Be, 2010, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, p.236

Bill Johnson says, ‘To illustrate what it looks like to be full of the Holy Spirit, I often take an unopened water bottle: I then ask the question, “Is this water bottle full?” And, of course, the answer is “yes”. It is full by the acceptable standards of the manufacturer. But it isn’t really full, at least, not as full as it could be. I then open the bottle and pour into it from another bottle until it overflows. Everybody seems to get the illustration quickly. It is only full when it is overflowing – fullness is measured in overflow. It’s the same for us. Being filled with the Spirit does not point us to an experience we might have had a number of years ago. It’s not measured by what I contain but by what flows from me.

In John 7:38-39 Jesus said, ‘Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit… The Holy Spirit is like a river flowing from us. It couldn’t be clearer. He flows from us. And this time, the picture is not of a water bottle to contain Him. He is in us as a river. He lives in us, but He wants out – He is in us as a river, not a lake. He is a flowing presence, carrying the heart of the Father, desiring to saturate the land with the works of Jesus.’

Bill Johnson, God is Good, 2016, USA, Destiny Image Publishers, p.206-207

Attitude is everything: John Maxwell tells the story about a newly hired travelling salesman who sent his first sales report to the home office. It stunned the brass in the sales department because it was obvious that the new salesperson was ignorant! This is what he wrote:

“I seen this outfit which they ain’t never bort a dim’s worth of nothing from us and I sole them some goods. I’m now goin to Chicawgo.”

Before the man could be given the heave-ho by the sales manager, along came this letter from Chicago: “I cum here and sole half a million.”

Fearful if he did, and afraid if he didn’t fire the ignorant salesman, the sales manager dumped the problem in the lap of the president. The following morning, the ivory-towered sales department members were amazed to see posted on the bulletin board, above the two letters written by the ignorant salesman, this memo written by the president:

“We ben spendin two much time trying to spel instead of trying to sel. Let’s watch those sails. I want everybody should read these letters from Gooch who is on the rode doin a grate job for us and you should go out and do like he done.”

HUMILITY

Source: Developing The Leader Within You, by John c. Maxwell, 1993, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, p.8-9

HOPE/VISION: A while ago, there was an experiment conducted with some rats to test their ability to survive under stress. One rat was placed into a container of water in a room, which was then made devoid of all light. The rat swam for some three minutes before giving up. Denied of light and not being able to see anything, it surrendered to hopelessness. Another rat was then placed in the same situation, except that this time there was a tiny beam of light allowed to filter into the room. The second rat swam for almost a day and a half (nearly 36 hours) before eventually giving up! The ray of light gave it hope (albeit false hope), which motivated the rat to continue in its struggle. Now I absolutely do not condone such cruel experiments on animals, however, I share this example with you to prove a point: Having something to focus on inspires and motivates you into action.

R. Ian Seymour, excerpt taken from Discover Your True Potential, p.86

May there always be work for your hands to do,

May your purse always hold a coin or two.

May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,

May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

May the hand of a friend always be near you,

And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

an old Irish blessing

If you make a habit of jumping off tall buildings, the law of gravity will win every single time, and it will pull you straight down to the ground. The same is true with sin’s hold on your life. It leads to death. But through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has set you free from the power of sin. For example, if you were to jump off a tall building but were strapped to a hang glider, you would not be pulled down. In fact, depending on the air currents, you may soar two or three times higher than the top of the building. This isn’t because the law of gravity no longer exists. Rather, it is because another law – a higher law, the law of aerodynamics – has trumped the law of gravity.

The Spirit can make you soar because He is the [air current]; the wind that carries you during tough times. But in order for Him to do that, you need to hang out with Him. You need to abide in His presence, meditate on His Word, speak His thoughts, sing His songs and show gratitude in faith for all that God has done and will do for you.

– Tony Evans

HOPE

Tony Evans, Victory In Spiritual Warfare, 2011, Oregon: Harvest House Publishing, p.188-189

After the bombs of World War II ravaged downtown Warsaw, only one skeletal structure remained on the city’s Main Street. The badly damaged structure was the Polish headquarters of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the words on its only remaining wall were clearly legible from the street… ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’ This is a picture of the Christian hope. Though the world may collapse, the work of Christ will endure.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado, 2009, Fearless, Nashville Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, p.158

‘Jesus got into a boat, and His followers (disciples) went with Him. A great storm arose…’ (Matthew 8:23-24 NCV). There’s an important lesson here. Getting on board with Jesus doesn’t mean you will never go through a storm. Jesus said, ‘… In this world you will have tribulation (John 16:33 NKJV). In spite of God’s promise to protect and prosper us, you’ll still have to deal with things like disease, lack and fear. The difference is: the unbeliever faces the storms without Christ, but as a believer you go through the storm confident that all will be well because Jesus is on board. Does that mean you will never experience panic? If only it were so! But it isn’t. Looking at the swelling waves and the sleeping Saviour, the disciples asked, ‘do you not care that we are perishing? (Mark 4:38 NKJV). This is why fear costs so dearly. It corrodes your confidence in God’s goodness. It unleashes a swarm of doubts. It deadens your recall. By this time the disciples had witnessed Jesus ‘…healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people’ (Matthew 4:23 NKJV). Fear creates a spiritual amnesia. It dulls your miracle memory. It makes you forget what Jesus has done and how good God is. That’s why you must starve your doubts and feed your faith on God’s Word, for faith is what will take you through the storm.

Source: The UCB Word For Today devotional, 27/4/2015

‘Our world is wondering; will darkness and evil prevail? Will poverty just increase? Will violence and war persist? Will marriages keep breaking up? Will depression continue robbing people of joy? Does it have to end like this? In Christ, it most certainly doesn’t have to end like this.’

Nicky Gumbel writes: ‘We steward the only message on planet earth that can give people what their hearts need most, which is hope. Hope that sins can be forgiven. Hope that prayers can be answered. Hope that doors of opportunity, that seemed locked, can be opened. Hope that broken relationships can be reconciled. Hope that diseased bodies can be healed. Hope that damaged trust can be restored. Hope that dead churches can be resurrected … Of all people, we must claim that hope, and live in it and radiate it to others. And we must proclaim that message of hope to everyone God gives us the opportunity to influence.’

[Note: Source: Nicky Gumbel, Bible in One Year – Alpha, accessed 23/12/2014]

Quote by Bill Hybels