Psalm 25:1 [ Dependence on the LORD ] Davidic. LORD, I turn my hope to You.
Psalm 31:24 Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD.
Psalm 33:22 May your faithful love rest on us, LORD, for we put our hope in You.
Psalm 37:9 For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
I could go on and on, sharing scriptures that mention hope and its importance as there are many, but that in itself is the message I wish to convey to the flock this week; the importance of hope.
1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are foreigners and sojourners in Your presence as were our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
Psalm 9:18 For the oppressed will not always be forgotten; the hope of the afflicted will not perish forever.
I think that it is best described in 1 Chronicles 29:15, of how are days on earth are like a shadow without hope.
Ephesians 2:12 At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.
For those who lived before Christ Jesus’ great sacrifice for our sins, it could be said as it does in the scripture above that there was no hope for them. But also in a way, there was hope for them because there was the promise of the Messiah and his coming into the world which in itself was hope. In that way, he embodied hope for all of mankind.
Where would we be without Father and Christ, but living in the shadows without hope?
It is not so different for those of us living in these End Times and for so many who desperately need and search for hope to cling to and that will get them through the days ahead. While many have already lost hope and will lose hope as things take a turn for the worst, it’s important to remember that there is hope in Christ’s second coming.
Think back to the time in which the Israelites left Egypt. It had to have been a very frightening time for them. They did not know if the Egyptian army would let them go, or pursue them, capture them or kill them. They left everything that they knew and they did not know where they were going, or where they would find food and water to sustain them. Think about that and apply it to the world we live in today and a time in which many are without jobs, food, housing. It is not so different than it was then. And now think about how much worse it will be when total financial collapse occurs, disaster strikes, or when there is no electricity to power the things that we take for granted today. In essence we will be thrown back to this time, a time in which from day to day people wondered what was to become of them and their loved ones.
Remember in this time that it happened before and Father Yahweh, who is faithful and true, took care of those who were also faithful and true. When they stood at the edge of the Red Sea staring across the waters with the Egyptians in close pursuit after them, She provided a way out for them. When there was no water, She provided water for them. When there was no food, She provided food food for them. In every way She provided what they needed to remain alive and through their journey make it to the Promised Land. She helped them and all of us to understand that even in the most hopeless of situations, there was still hope.
Also remember this, that via the warnings, the prophecies and the signs and in Her Word we are also given reason to have hope. In remembering them, seeing them and coming to understand them we are again given reason to hold on to hope. Father has provided all these things so that we will have hope and continue to hope for our hope is in Yahweh, Her son Christ Jesus and acceptance of him as our Savior and King and The Way which conditions our hearts and makes us worthy of rescue and Salvation.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.