Hope is so closely linked to faith and trust as our teacher pointed out to us this morning. As Christmas approaches we remember the hope that comes from knowing our Saviour, Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, the chosen one of Israel. We are called to have our hope in Him.
How do we practically hold onto that hope, in the midst of the storms and journey of life? Our teacher reminded us of the power of the tongue that we learned about in our reading of James 3 today, in essence there is “life and death in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21) As the hymn goes we can ‘dance in advance,’ we can praise God before the walls fall down. Have expectant faith in our circumstances and for the people for whom we pray. Abraham had eyes for the future based on the promises God had given him in the past as he lived faithfully in the present. Worrying, doubt and stress are forms of unbelief and hopelessness.
There are times we feel helpless but that doesn’t mean we have to be hopeless, it means we need to turn to God, knowing of our need of Him. It means knowing God is in charge, is the same yesterday, today and forever, and loves us with an everlasting love.
We were challenged today to think about God 10 minutes each day this week, and to declare His power out loud. Here are some steps we can take to achieve this as suggested by our teacher today:
- Praise God in our homes and in our lives (out loud)
- Be steadfast
- Start releasing faith (stop sponging in despair and hopelessness)
- Proclaim Jesus is Lord (of every situation and circumstance)
- Shout and cry out in faith (as a watchman – there is a breakthrough that comes in our shout – remember Jericho)
- Declare God has power in our lives
- Pray by releasing faith and hope
- Take Jesus’ hand and believe he will lead us through
- Think about the ‘wow’ God has in store for us
By doing this we can get into God’s presence and when something breaks the big thing seems so much smaller now, we get a different mindset, new eyes and a Godly outlook.
The Lord delights in thousands who fear him, who put their hope is His unfailing love – Psalm 147:11
