{"id":5204,"date":"2014-07-29T04:09:57","date_gmt":"2014-07-29T04:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5204"},"modified":"2014-07-29T04:09:57","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T04:09:57","slug":"the-power-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5204","title":{"rendered":"The power of hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026hope does not disappoint<\/em>\u2026<\/em> Romans 5:5a<\/p>\n

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for<\/em>\u2026 Hebrews 11:1a<\/p>\n

A guest speaker recently preached at my church and exhorted us about hope. Hope is second of the 1 Corinthians 13\u00a0\u201cfruit\u201d trio\u2014faith, hope, and love<\/em> (see verse 13); and unfortunately, like the proverbial middle child, hope is often underestimated, under-recognized, and easily brushed aside as less significant. After all, without faith<\/em> it is impossible to please God; and the greatest of the three is love<\/em>. Where does that leave hope?<\/p>\n

I wish you could have heard the message; it was a life-changing, revolutionary spark which ignited the forgotten kindling of hope in my heart, fueling the dormant furnace within me. Hope. It must<\/em> be guarded. It must<\/em> be nurtured. It must<\/em> be fueled. It must<\/em> be fed.<\/p>\n

The man of God spoke from Hebrews 11, the famous chapter about faith. \u201dNow faith is the substance of things hoped<\/strong> for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony<\/em>\u201d (Hebrews 11:1-2, NKJV; emphasis added). He pointed out that mighty faith in God exists only because hope<\/em> existed first. If a man has no hope, he will not have faith. Hope must<\/em> be present first because it gives faith something to give substance to.<\/p>\n

When you are under attack, you know to resist the devil (see James 4:7). However, if he can get you to believe that your situation is hopeless <\/em>by wearing you down (which is<\/em> his goal), your faith will diminish because it has nothing with which to work. \u201cFaith is the substance\u2026<\/em>\u201dmeans that your faith undergirds, supports, and gives substance to something\u2014that for which you hope<\/em>. But if hope<\/em> is gone, faith undergirds nothing<\/em>. If hope is gone, faith supports<\/em> nothing. If hope is gone, faith gives substance to\u2026nothing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but I was shocked to realize how insidiously the enemy had been chipping away at my hope reservoir, using all kinds of methods and angles in his evil hope-erosion strategy. The man of God posed this question to us: \u201cDo you expect <\/em>as much as you used to?\u201d Then he bluntly stated, \u201cIf we\u2019re honest, we really don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do nagging limitations, fears of what others might think, or past disappointments loom larger in your mind than expectations based on the Word of God and the Holy Spirit\u2019s leading? If you find you are managing expectations so as to protect yourself against disappointment, then you are granting \u201copen season\u201d to the enemy of your soul to chip away at your hope without any restriction.<\/p>\n

Give yourself permission to hope again. Give yourself permission to pull out those dreams, blow off the dust, and let the Lord reinstate them however He desires. Let that smoldering ember of hope deep down in your belly burst back into flame, warming your heart, enlightening your eyes, and reestablishing your vision.<\/p>\n

The man of God described hope this way: it keeps the avenue open for tomorrow to be better. Think about it. Tomorrow can<\/em> be better! Next week can<\/em> be sweeter! Next month can<\/em> be an improvement on this month! Next year? Better than this one! You<\/em> are the gatekeeper of your hope, not the devil, not your friends, not the people in the pew across the church. And as gatekeeper, you have the authority not <\/em>to allow them or the world or even your past to steal your hope from you any longer.<\/p>\n

If you\u2014like most of us\u2014are facing a delay in the fulfillment of your vision, dreams, or desires, you<\/em> are the gatekeeper of your hope, nonetheless. You cannot<\/em> allow delay\u2014however long it may be\u2014to bring disappointment and discouragement into your soul any longer. You\u2019ve got<\/em> to guard your hope; therefore, choose to view\u00a0every delay you face as God’s opportunity to work behind the scenes, heaping up blessings to pour out upon you at just the right time.<\/p>\n

Always be willing to believe \u201ccrazy\u201d things\u2014impossible things that align with the Word of God. Be willing, like Caleb and Joshua of old, to possess the land\u2014whatever that land is for you. Let God lead you\u2014He is the author of your hope (as well as your faith)\u2014and He will awaken the slumbering vision He once implanted within you and will reignite the dreams lying dormant in your heart.<\/p>\n

Never\u00a0surrender to hopelessness. Don\u2019t give it place any longer. But my hope has been deferred and now my heart is sick<\/em>, you may think. Granted, the Word does <\/em>say \u201chope deferred makes the heart sick<\/em>\u201d (see Proverbs 13:12); but that\u2019s a far cry from saying \u201cstuff <\/em><\/strong>deferred<\/em>\u201d or \u201csituations<\/em><\/strong> deferred<\/em>\u201d make the heart sick! You see, you <\/em>are the gatekeeper of your hope. You<\/em> determine whether hope stays or goes; not<\/em> your circumstances, not<\/em> your unmanifested dreams\u2014and not<\/em> the devil!<\/p>\n

Because your faith grabs hold of what you\u2019re hoping for, you must guard your hope with vigilant watchfulness. Don\u2019t let anything<\/em> steal it. Stand your ground and allow your heavenly Father to\u00a0rekindle hope for your future. Believe again that all the fruitful purposes God has planned for you will <\/em>come to pass.\u00a0Believe again that by His grace you will<\/em> see the manifested blessings of\u00a0God\u00a0abound day by day for the rest of your life\u2014starting today<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Let your hope spring forth again!<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the <\/em>Lord<\/em>, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.<\/em> Jeremiah 29:11<\/p>\n

Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God\u2019s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.<\/em> Romans 5:5, Amplified Bible <\/p>\n

\n
buying valium online<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026hope does not disappoint\u2026 Romans 5:5a Now faith is the substance of things hoped for\u2026 Hebrews 11:1a A guest speaker recently preached at my church and exhorted us about hope. Hope is second of the 1 Corinthians 13\u00a0\u201cfruit\u201d trio\u2014faith, hope, and love (see verse 13); and unfortunately, like the proverbial middle child, hope is often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-walk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5204"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5221,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5204\/revisions\/5221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}