Devotionals on Hope

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• They had a great hope in their coming Saviour.

• But a man that entirely reflects God’s moral nature – to God’s own satisfaction. A corporate man after God’s own heart – walking in loving obedience… A body, communicating His perfect character to a dying world in sin. And the goal of that corporate body is, “Christ in you - the hope of glory.”

• But we are also made to be His heritage so that He will be glorified in all His saints. He will be regarded with wonder on that day by all who have believed, including you, because you believed. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 We, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, are to be to for the praise of His glory.

• And Peter urges us to:- sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you..

• on hope and peace, and on patient endurance.
• Simeon had hope in his heart that his promised pledge would come to pass.

• Christ In You This perfecting of the Body into the likeness of Christ is a godly mystery “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Col.1:27.  But know this – that when we see Him we shall be like Him..

• Though he saw no evidence of hope, he must watch and wait for God, for though it appeared to the contrary, God was in control – that all was being worked out according to God’s preordained and perfect plan.

• The Spirit of God has laid out in the Word of God how to live the Christian life – not in the Law nor in the works of the flesh– but through Christ in us – Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• For Thine is the power… Matthew 6:13 Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, for you shall be the miracle – which is: Christ In You – the hope of glory Colossians 1:27

• or be double-minded and be disturbed. FOURTHLY: Don’t worry about anything, and just cast all concern on Him. Those that wait and hope and trust the Lord in all things are renewed in alll-ways.
• Those that won’t wait and hope and trust the Lord – try to sort out their own problems – and the result is insecurity, fretfulness, depression, panic, and sleeplessness.

• Flesh Versus Spirit The stark contrast between the Law- in which he trusted, and Grace- his only hope, started to register in the mind of Nicodemus – for the law, has its roots in the flesh.

• Spiritual Eye When through the workings out of His purpose in the depth of your inner being, He takes you to an end of yourself, and gives you your own Job experience… then He will draw you with His cords of love to the very extremity of your hope and you will say – in the understanding of your own 'Job' experience….

• In disappointments, He would be their abiding hope.
• Christian’s Hope And down through the past twenty centuries, His words have comforted many.
• Down through the church age, abiding in Him has been the Christians’ hope.
• Timely Acquaintance It was in Nice, in France, where his life journey was ended - but some of the final words to his little flock in his hometown were these:- O brethren, I stand here among you today, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely acquaintance with the death of Christ.

• Assured Acceptance Newell continues by pointing out how to live: 1)  To believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy – is the great secret. 2)  To refuse to make ‘resolutions’ and ‘vows’ – for that is to trust in the flesh.  3)  To expect to be blessed – though realizing more and more ones lack of worth.  4)  To rely on God’s chastening (His child training hand) – as a mark of His kindness.  5)  To ‘hope to be better’ ( i.e.
• You are accepted in the Beloved. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, Who has loved us and given [us] everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17. For you are accepted in the Beloved.

• Underlying Hope Perhaps there is no greater yearning in the heart of everyman than to love and to be loved..  to be accepted, truly accepted – to be really and truly and honestly accepted.
• It is underpinned by a hope that no matter what we say or do..

• I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you. (Ephesians 1:18 NIV)

• It is not just life; acceptance; redemption and righteousness that are in Him, but the creation; our hope; spiritual blessings; consolation… and consummation – and Peace and Effectual Prayer and Strength and Riches are all “In Christ”.

• Living in sin?Feeling the effects of our sin?No hope?No future?No promise of eternal life?In condemnation?
• Yet Father God’s grace was sufficient for me, it covered all my past, my sins, my hurts – and assured me of a sure, and certain hope for my future.

• Loving Words As she stood in anguish and pain, gazing at her dying son, a sword indeed pierced through her own aching soul, leaving her heart bloodied and bruised, and probably bereft of hope.  Despite the sins of all humanity that weighed so heavily upon the shoulders of our blessed Lord; despite the bitter pain, affliction and anguish He bore, for your transgressions and for mine, He saw His own dear mother, in her deep and gaping grief, and His own breaking heart of compassion reached out, in love, to her.
• A Godly Love In His heartache, torment, suffering, and distress, He stretched His arms of love – a reach from eternity past to eternity future.  The anguish, desolation, loneliness, and rejection poured on Him was the totality of humanities amassed evil – and the outflow from Him was forgiveness; hope; compassion – love.  All Satan’s tempestuous fury was concentrated and condensed into one brief breath of time.  All the Father’s undiluted wrath and rage was poured out in full measure upon His sinless head – and in the midst of this, He called out, Woman, behold thy son!

• They sat with Him for a few hours, but they came out with new hope and new motives.
• a woman lost in trespasses and sins – a woman without God and without hope.
• He was her hope; He was her one hope; He was her one and her only hope.

• Strong in the Faith While his enemy sought to do their worst, Paul discovered the inexhaustible supply of the peace of God, the joy of the Lord, the sufficiency of His Master and the blessed hope..

• The creative power of God gives light and life and hope to a believing soul, and God points to Jesus, when He declared: hear Him, from His fiery throne.

• Why does He seemingly turn His back and apparently walk away from our despair? Why does He delay when His word overflows with contrary pledges of deliverance? Why tax His dear one’s trust and exhaust His precious child’s hope of deliverance? Why does He allow faith to be torn to shreds due to His apparent, uncaring delay?
• Greater Purpose But lips that have pleaded in agony of heart for years do not go unnoticed. Eyes that wept tears of pleading, until numbness replaces hope do not go unheeded..

• Plan of God Jesus gives beauty in exchange for our brokenness. He gives light in exchange for our thickest darkness. He gives hope in exchange for our deepest despair.

• Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists.Hebrews 11:1
• Biblical faith is not some airy-fairy fingers-crossed hope – or based on legalistic laws.

• Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

• Christian Completeness Paul knew that full, Christian completeness is: Christ in you the hope of glory.

• There are so many of the Lord's people today over whom Satan is lording it; lording it along the line of accusation, bringing them under a sense of condemnation and judgment, robbing them of their peace, of their assurance, rest, hope; and you will find these people are everlastingly talking about their own short-comings, their sinfulness; they are forever circling round themselves, all that they are that they would not be, all that they are not that they would be.

• Hope in Him And your desires… ?
• and to experience add hope.
• And bind hope tightly to loving trust..
• and intertwine hope with trusting love.
• Hope thou in God: and you shall yet praise Him, for He is the health of your soul.
• Hope with certainty..
• for hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.

• Example of Nature As as we gaze upon His loveliness and inhale the perfume of His person; the eyes of our our understanding are enlightened; the hope of our calling becomes secured; the riches of His splendour and His exceeding greatness becomes our reality – and the wonders of the glory of His inheritance in us is recognised and accepted as truth.

• He has “That Blessed Hope,” and he has trial itself, which is sure to be somehow “precious”.

• Crucified Life In writing this verse Paul is stating what should be true in the life of all believers. This should not be seen as an unattainable hope, but as the norm of all Christians. This is not something to strive for but something that we should accept in essence, but the life that is lived by most believers is not the life that God wants us to live. The Christian life should be a crucified life – until it is no longer I – but Christ.

• What happens when faith grows paper-thin and hope in God’s promises dissolve?
• as I watch life and hope crumble beneath the feet of those who dearly love the Lord..
• Critical times smash hope as rampant sin and instability increases exponentially.

• Spiritual Bliss How many of us, like these shepherds, have been in the very presence of God?  How many of us, recall that wonderful transfiguring time, and long for its return?  How many even question the glorious promises, bestowed on us from earlier days? How many start to wonder if the closeness, once discovered, when in His Presence..  was but an illusion; a dream; a forgotten hope; a lost delight – as they also leave that high point in their lives and walk away (leaving their first love).

• when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans, and lost hope bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat.

• They wait for some vague time when they hope they will have reached a more satisfactory position in regard to the lusts of the flesh, and will feel more confident about attempting a walk in the Spirit.

• Non-dispensational teachers have endeavored to bring over the many promises of the physical and material aspects of kingdom salvation into the present dispensation, giving hope of material prosperity and physical health, as well as political peace.

• Follow His Lead He will guide our footsteps and protect our paths. He will open for us a door of hope in Valley of Achor, and bring us from the desolate place into the promised land: Beulah..

• Rest your hope on false ideas and relativism’s hypotheses of Him..

• Sadly, there are many kind-hearted saints that pathetically lack maturity, Let us not criticise their ‘lack’ nor commend our ‘spirituality’!  But let us earnestly and steadfastly press towards the high calling of God, which is Christ in you the hope of glory Colossians 1:27

• Security Issue Eternal security is not a case of, let’s all believe what we think or hope is the case..

• Second Man  Just as sin entered the world through the disobedience of one man, and death came through sin, causing condemnation and separation from God to be the inherited status of all people – so also redemption came to the world through the obedience of one Man, resulting in the forgiveness of sins for all humanity – and light and life and hope and peace and renewed fellowship with the Father – to ALL who would believe on His name. It was divine grace that provided a second Adam to redeem the fallen race of man.

• Secured in Christ These blessings from God circumnavigate all we could think, imagine, or hope.

• You advance spiritually by finding out what you really are (in Christ), not by trying to become what you hope to be.

• One Foundation There is but one foundation on which true faith can be built. 'Examine yourself,' Paul encourages, 'examine yourself to see if you be in the faith…' 2 Corinthians 13:5  'Faith is the substance of the hope set before us in Christ….
• Substance of Hope Faith is the substance of the hope set before us in Christ..

• Does our confidence in the Father become shaken and our hope prove uncertain?
• When we have no word from the Lord except to wait and everything seems to be at a standstill, does the certainty of hope remain undimmed? -A.H.
• Faith possesses all things, and hope stretches on to the fulness of the possession, yet in no restless mood, for patience sits by the side of hope in the believer's soul, and teaches him to wait for the glory of the Father.
• If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.' (Rom. 8:25). -H.F.W.

• I only hope that Paul knows of all that has sprung from his ministry, all that his ministry means to us.

• We can never hope to overcome them unless we remember that there is in the presence of God for us a Savior who suffered the full agony of these things, but accepted them as part of the cup which the Father had given Him to drink.

• Sinner or Saint There is no more hopeless and helpless state than to be an unbeliever in this world, but there is no more eternally glorious hope than to be a believer in Christ Jesus.
• Without God We were without Christ; without God; without a future and without hope in the world.
• Without Hope We were without the adoption into son-ship – with no hope of an eternal inheritance. We were in all ways hopeless and helpless – enslaved in the evil kingdom of Satan.
• Great Exchange Our hopeless depravity was exchanged for the hope of glory and adoption to sonship. We were translated into the kingdom of Christ and covered in light and life eternal.

• We are born at enmity with God, dead in trespasses, and without hope in the world.

• Trials work patience, experience, hope - and these are abiding qualities.

• I pray... that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. (Ephesians 1:18 NIV)

• To receive from Him the gifts of salvation – the gift of hope, the gift of love, the gift of joy.

• Accept the staggering truth contained within the following astonishing verses. The eyes of your understanding are being enlightened; that ye may know what is the Hope of His calling, and what are the Riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (and that includes you – beloved child of God), according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 1:18-20

• But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!

• STUDY - God, All I Need Lay hold on the hope set before us: which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entering into that within the veil.Hebrews 6:19-20
• Secured in Christ Christ and His coming kingdom is the hope set before us.
• Satan seeks to shipwreck the soul who is not securely anchored in Christ – but the Anchor of the soul is indeed sure and steadfast… so we must lay hold on that hope set before us – for our hope is secure in Him.
• Our Eternal Rock Peace – Be Still – Rest in Him and Hope in Him.
• We are going through the process of sanctification – and in this life we must lay hold of that hope that is set before us – by abiding in Him, resting in Him – relying on Him to keep us amidst the storms of life - trusting Him, day by day by day.
• Future Hope Our anchor was secured heaven at the point of salvation, but in this life, we also have a responsibility.
• We are to mature in the faith or we will find ourselves drifting amidst the storms of life. In this life, we must lay hold of the hope that is set before us – or shipwreck is inevitable.
• If we lay hold on any other 'hope'  we will be ruined – eternally saved but having lost a precious reward.
• The hope set before us is to gain a kingly inheritance – the hope of reward that is given to that good and faithful servant.
• Secure in Christ Are you anchored on Christ and is your hope in Him or have you fastened your anchor to the things of this life? Will your anchor truly hold in the tumultuous tempest of this life by resting and remaining in Christ, body, soul, and spirit?
• Will you lay fast hold of that hope set before you?
• Will you anchor your hope on Christ, or will you allow the pain, problems, and disappointments of life to overwhelm you?

• There are many complex vicissitudes for the sojourner through this mortal coil, victory and defeat; honour and humiliation; hope and despair; respect and scorn.
• He both defends me from the externals of life that pervade my peace and hope – and His truth becomes my defence when the world’s finger points accusingly at me.

• All We Need God in very truth is my Friend and my Comforter. He is in my Companion and Courage, my Joy and my Hope, My Defence and Defender – my Provider and Benefactor.

• Study - GOD, All I Need Hope Deferred Hope is one of the abiding essentials in the plan of God - along with faith and love.
• How often we should remind ourselves that 'hope in Him' should be preeminent – and yet how often I tend to become downcast when things just seem to go wrong… when friends fail or misunderstand; when life’s problems just seem to multiply.
• Hope deferred makes the heart sick – sometimes to the point of failure and death.
• Hope lost is the saddest expression of the human heart – often leading to despair.
• Fulfilled hope warms the heart, delights the soul, and makes the countenance shine.
• Hope Realised J.C.
• Hope is the anticipation, with the possibility of realisation.
• Hope is the chord which strikes pleasant desires for the future.
• Hope is everyone’s sunshine, the rainbow in the storm.
• Hope is the silver lining to the present cloud.
• Hope is a star set in the firmament of our lives to brighten and lighten – to show the way and encourage us along.
• Hope differs in magnitude and brightness according to the occasion.
• Hope is cordial for the desponding.
• Hope is a chain with many links.
• Tokens of Hope But how God loves one that is cheerful and gracious, thankful and long-suffering.
• How precious are the many tiny pearls of hope – scattered through the Word of God.
• Precious promises and messages of hope, from the God and Giver of all hopefulness.
• Hope thou in God, the psalmist reminds us: hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him Psalm 42:5 Who is the health of my countenance.
• Paul expounds this cherished word – “hope” in his famous chapter on love..
• and now abideth faith, hope, and love 1 Corinthians 13:13– hope being one of the three precious graces.
• A Practical Training But it is not a hope in fanciful feelings and imagined ideals… but hope in Him.
• Hope in Him invigorates us to rise above life’s obstacles and discouragements.
• Hope in Him prods us to progress to the uppermost pinnacle of the Hill Difficulty.
• Hope encourages us to press forward despite critical knock-backs that we receive.
• Hope disciplines us to press on to the mark for the high calling of God in Him.
• Hope trains us to submit to long and arduous child-training and patient-endurance.
• Hope recognises chastisement as the love of the Father toward His child..
• A Powerful Promise Every great achievement for the Lord has the dynamic of hope underpinning it..
• so shred the encumbrances that mar hope in your life – however, they are clad - whether a covering of fear; a cloak of disappointment, or a stronghold of Satan.
• If we permit ourselves to weaken in hope..
• Love fails and faith falls, if hope is deferred or if hope is lost.
• So day by day and minute by minute let us hope in the Lord..
• Oh, that the God of hope may so supply us with the brimming fullness of Himself – that we will be complete in Him – with all joy and peace in believing – and that we may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Hymn of Hope Through the night of doubt and sorrowOnward goes the pilgrim band,Singing songs of expectation,Marching to the promised land.
• One the object of our journey,One the faith which never tires,One the earnest looking forward,One the hope our God inspires.

• Let your reflected light so SHINE before saved and unsaved men of the world (and so reflect the beauties of the Lord – the lovely Jesus Christ) Let your reflected light so shine before men that the people of the world may SEE your good works (not the works of your own flesh or the Law which are produced through self-effort) Let your reflected LIGHT so Shine before men that the people of the world may see your good works (the works which came from Christ)  Christ Who is the Light of the World and Christ, Who is the Hope of the ages…until CHRIST be formed in you……Let your reflected light so shine before men that the people of the world may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

• I will be PATIENT, LordTrustful and stillI will not doubt Thy WordMy hope fulfilHow can I perish, clinging to Thy side?My Comforter, my Saviour my Guide – and my Patience

• For my own reason will sink my boat. My own reason will bite my own hand. My own reason will bury my desired hope.

• Though he saw no evidence of hope, he must watch and wait for God was in control.

• Indisputable Fact This is no speculation or vague hope.

• A Study:- Man’s Nature and Destiny And now abide these three – faith – hope – love.1Corinthians13:13
• I remember you always for these three things: your work of FAITH, your labour of LOVE, your patience of HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father .1Thessalonians 1:3
• The permanent, indwelling Holy Spirit became the gift to the church – an irreversible gift to you: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• But that trusting faith is built on a hope of salvation..
• the saving of the body – a future hope, where there is no more pain or disappointments, hurt or distress.
• Faith in His word translates into Hope in His word: for if in this life only we have hope in Christ, then we are of all men most miserable. 1Cor.15:19
• Blessed Hope Not one of the promises of scripture have ever failed in the past.
• And now in this darkest history of the world, we wait a second time – in hope.
• And that Hope has a name – it is “The Blessed Hope” – the Lord Christ Jesus: looking for that blessed hope – looking unto Jesus.
• This is an attitude of life and health, and inherent in this attitude is a salutary effect: for every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure. 1John.3:3.
• This hope in the coming of Christ cleanses the soul of the sinner saved by grace.
• Holding Fast This is a crazy world, and we know it is shattering into a billion fragments, but we do have a hope, and we are exhorted: not to sorrow as others who have no hope. 1Thess.4:13 – but to look for that Blessed Hope – Christ the Firstfruit..
• We are to hold fast to our hope.
• Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord – rejoicing in hope and patient in tribulation.

• Future of Hope God has also given us the gift of hope – a kingdom hope reaching into the eternal future.
• A future hope – an expectant hope when God’s promises reach their climax.
• That future hope is a time that the believer looks towards, through a lifetime of pain.
• That blessed hope..
• Love is preeminently a grace bestowed, just like faith and hope and all other fruit.
• Love is primarily a holy adhesive, uniting faith, and hope in all that Christ is.
• Three Gifts Yes, there are three amazing gifts that have been bestowed on all that believe – Faith, and Hope, and Love – these three gifts – these three promises, but the greatest of the three is LOVE.

• We are born physically alive but spiritually dead – without God and bereft of hope.
• We were drowning in the slippery 'Slough of Despond' without God and without hope.

• It is vital to trust in the promises that flood through the Holy Scriptures for they are indeed food for the soul; refreshment for the weary; hope for the dejected and sufficient for all our needs in the day of trouble.

• God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Colossians 1:27
• Christ In You What glorious riches there are in this profound mystery of Christ and the church, – which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.Romans 15:13

• Infinite Fullness God is continuing to work out His eternal purpose in each of our lives. We may not know what our role is now – but we all have a part to play. His dealings may be beyond our understanding but let us trust Him and live by faith, for the infinite fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ is the wonderful purpose of God. Christ in you the hope of glory – until Christ is all in all.

• Great Salvation The Salvation that is given as a free gift of grace to all Who trust in the name of God’s only begotten Son, is a great Salvation that was given to man by God; announced to the world by angelic beings; confirmed by all Who heard and received the glorious gospel of Christ and recorded for our learning – to guide us into all truth and to give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

• How can we hope to fathom the unfathomable depths of His understanding?

• It seems today as if a set is being made in some way to remove all the offence and all the difference, and to get us near to people without anything that clashes, in the hope of winning them.

• We should know that it is God’s grace that imparts peace and hope and removes all fear.
• Sufficient Grace Grace and truth came through the Lord Jesus – as does love, joy, peace, and hope, and we have access to all the grace of Christ..

• plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope, for He knows and He loves and He cares.

• Future prophecies, in Scripture, secures our hope in Christ and develops our faith.

• Hope in Christ It was God’s purpose to redeem us through the blood of Jesus and to forgive our sins, and He purposed this heavenly blessing in accordance with the riches of His grace.
• God willed to break down the wall of separation between His holy Self and fallen sinners,  that we, who are the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.
• We may be surrounded by trouble, but our hope in Christ is guaranteed by God.

• This Psalmist rejoiced at this similar hope for the future.

• This was the vital truth of  'Christ in you, the hope of glory.' Colossians 1:27 What an important thing to know.
• Hope of Glory The teachings of Christ cannot be copied unless the cross is the basis.
• It is to do works of the flesh without acceptance by the Father – and herein lies the miracle of Christ in you the hope of glory 2Corinthians 13:5
• Christ in you – and your old self on the cross. 'Christ in you - the hope of glory'.

• And many who respond to such schemes become more embittered and disillusioned and thus another layer of mistrust is added, until a soul is choked of hope.

• His thoughts towards you are for peace and hope and rest.

• Multifaceted Peace His is the peace that enabled Him to be silent when so grossly misrepresented. His is the peace that spoke calmness and authority to stormy seas and lashing waves. His is the peace that comforted the widow and restored hope in a distraught Jairus. His peace, He gives gladly and generously and continuously.

• The frothy, superficial world of material things helps to tarnish foundational truths, and a Christ-rejecting sinful world exhausts the soul’s hope through its ongoing harassments.

• imparting to you, faith and hope and trust and love for Him.

• Things that mar our vision and endanger our hope.

• The Scriptures are flooded with examples of saints, taken to the hope’s extremity.

• Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.1Thessalonians 5:8
• for when we are covered with Christ we have put on faith and hope and love.
• Protective Peace The third grace of this harmonious trio of protective peace – is the hope of salvation.
• The helmet of hope should protect our thoughts and flood through our minds, for hope is that sure anticipation of the glory of Christ that is to be fully revealed.
• The helmet of the hope of our salvation protects our minds from the darkness of this age.
• Let us put on the breastplate of faith and love, for we are covered in His righteousness, and for a helmet – let us wear the hope of eternal salvation in Him.

• We were without God and without hope – chained by Satan and bound for hell.

• You shall find hope for your hurting heart.

• A life of quiet and calm; a life of hope and fulfilment: a life of peace and rejoicing... a life of unbroken fellowship with the Lord; a life of love and joy and hope; a life nestling in the bosom of the Father; a life where darkness has melted away; a life where sorrows of the night have softened into joy of an eternal morning.

• Heirship with Christ We share in a joint-HEIRSHIP with Christ, reserved in the heavenlies that’ll never fade God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading - kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4-5  And the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ - provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:17

• Ditties of Grace Some use little catchy ditties or rhymes to remind themselves of God’s grace: Given by God mercifully, Riches in Christ bestowed freely, Atonement sacrificially, Christ in us the hope of glory, Evermore undeservedly.

• We have the Spirit of unity in the body of Christ:- there is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling.

• Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).    

• My dearly Beloved, my Joy, my Hope, my Delight.

• This one small act of trust brings us out of sin and into salvation; out of darkness into His perfect light; out of Satan into Christ in God; out of death into life; out of despair into hope – out of ashes into beauty.

• His Hope And He gives us hope.. even though the way is strewn with impossibilities, for tribulation worketh patience..
• hope' and hope makes not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.
• Through Suffering He is indeed our hope, and faith develops through patient endurance.

• STUDY in PRAYER God wanted to make known among the gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.Colossians 1:27
• It is Christ within and among you; Christ, Who is the hope of realising the glory.
• Hope of Glory This is not our own striving – this is Christ working in us the hope of glory: 'for I want you to know how great is my solicitude for you how severe an inward a struggle I am engaged in for you and for those believers at Laodicea, and for all who like yourselves who have never seen my face, or known me personally.' Col.2:1

• Faith is not an airy-fairy hope; nor a fingers-crossed type of daydream.
• Faith is not dependent on positive thinking or a hoping against hope.

• Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet do so with gentleness and reverence.1 Peter 3:15
• Let us in our hearts revere, Christ Jesus, as Lord and God, and always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

• Universal Episode Where love is wounded to its core; where trust is tried to its bitter limits; where hope seems dashed to the stony ground; where joy seems ground to the dust of ashes; where patience screams forgive!
• That 'Last Night'  hope seemed dashed to the stony ground.
• Night of Hope But on that night..

• Faith, hope, and love are its characteristics.

• He prayed that they might be endued with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding so that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened – to know the hope to which they had been called and the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in his holy people.

• Life’s Paradox The Christian walk is one huge paradox: Success comes through failure. Life springs out of death. Hope arises out of despair. Joy is born out of pain: For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” 2Cor.4:11

• Hope in God Our hope is not eternal life..
• Our hope is to live this life, as unto the Lord.
• Our hope is that our life comes forth as gold, silver, and precious stones – not as wood hay or stubble.

• Christ in you and Christ in me – the hope of glory.

• But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.Romans 8:25
• In Isaiah 40 we read these words: The grass withers, the flower fades, heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

• It is not that He Himself in His heart accepts the wrong things, but He sees through them, He sees differently from ourselves.... You can see there is no hope of building up unless there is love and love for all men.

• In order to stop you looking for any ground of hope in yourself; that you should not trust in yourself, but in God Who raiseth the dead.

• And down through the long years, each young woman dared to hope that she… O, that she might be that favoured one, through whom the Saviour would be born. Young hearts must have burned with expectant hope, with each newborn babe.
• Fading Hope Years came and years went.
• To some, it must have become a whisper of a forgotten hope – a myth of yore!
• To the few, it was expected… anticipated. To the small, tiny, declining remnant alone, that hope remained truly alive. Oh, how much like those waned, failed hopes of believers in this day and age. How similar to the way the promises of His return has been dismissed today – faded like the morning mist..  evaporated like a dry, dusty, desert puddle. How indistinguishable from the apathetic body that awaits Christ’s glorious appearing.
• at the expense of securing His promise in their hearts – instead of His anticipated arrival – and our wise spiritual preparation. 'Hope deferred makes the heart sick…..' we read in Proverbs 13:12.
• A delayed expectation can cause the strongest believer to question his hope.
• Hope of  Salvation Yet Mary the virgin was given the honour of honour among all women.
• But how few recognise and trust in the hope of their Salvation..
• But how few – how very few recognise this and continue to rejoice in our hope..
• Saving of the Soul Paul writes in First Corinthians 15: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 1Cor.15:19. 'But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul'.
• Heb.10:39 'Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ', Titus 3:13 Jesus questioned: 'when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?' Luke 18:8.
• strengthen your brethren.' Luke 22:32 'Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the Desire comes, it is a tree of life'.

• Have not some given up hope that words like I have been crucified with Christ,' the world is crucified to me,' baptized into His death,' dead unto sin and alive unto God in Christ Jesus' should have become truly intelligible and helpful?

• That ye may know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Eph. 1:18).
• The true hope makes all the difference to us in our ministry.

• But He lifted me out of the miry clay and raised me up out of the putrid filth and scum of my life – and clothed me in righteousness and put a ring on my finger, and hope in my heart.

• Casting out upon the sea of humanity gifts of salvation;a gift of hope; a gift of love; a gift of joy.

• The inner need of man is sweet fellowship with God. He is my peace. He is my guide.  He is my strength.  He is my hope.  He is my all in all. They who have never drawn close to Him, see no beauty that they should desire Him.

• The mystery among the Gentiles, is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”Colossians 1:27

• Purposeful Life The new nature wants us to put away anger that flares us in the heat of our flesh, for such behaviour gives the roaring lion an opportunity to devour our hope.

• The power of the world, the spirit of its literature, and temptations of business and pleasure, all unite to make up a religion in which it is sought to combine a comfortable hope for the future with the least possible amount of sacrifice in the present. -A.M.

• As in the apostolic days so now the desire exists for the manifestation of the Spirit in marvelous ways; but a life sober, righteous, holy, lived in the hope of the glory to come, is the more excellent way of the Spirit's manifestation and undeniable proof of His indwelling.

• Their cry has been, 'My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God....' Their longing after God all but consumed them; it propelled them onward and upward to heights toward which less ardent believers look with and entertain no hope of reaching.

• Life of Hope Remember – you must not see as the world sees.
• They are plans for good and not for disaster –to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 So remember... ONE day at a time

• There are things in life that are irreparable and there is no going back… his children, his property, his reputation, his hope – all had evaporated.

• Spirit of God He is the Spirit of truth and of love – He is it Who illuminates the word of God. He is the Spirit of power and peace – He it is Who convicts and converts the soul. He is the Spirit of grace and joy – and He is the Spirit of righteousness and hope.

• Total Righteousness And His gift to all who trust on His name is a justifying righteousness:- regeneration; sanctification; glorification; a new creation in Christ, and the grace of God and peace with God, and faith and hope and love and joy, and the indwelling Spirit and a heavenly inheritance – and eternal life: for He washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

• Presence of Sin And the wonderful hope that is set before us is that the presence of sin in our lives will be forever removed in the ages to come, when the Lord Jesus Christ – the last Adam, comes to take us to be with Himself into our eternal home – and we shall see Him as He is and we shall be clothed in glorified bodies – like unto His glorious body.

• Heirship We share in a joint-HEIRSHIP with Christ reserved in the heavenlies that’ll never fade.  God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4-5  And the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

• It is Finished This is not a future hope... although it’s final manifestation is indeed future. It is a completed and finished fact in your life and in mine – as a child of God. Just as Christ defeated death and Satan, as once and for all he cried, It Is Finished… so these truths are accomplished and finished in your life and in mine.

• that the glorious Father may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation - that you may know Him better, that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in His holy people and His incomparably great power for us who believe.
• Great Salvation We are to know more fully the vast extent of the hope of His calling.. a hope that Paul spilled out like a casket of jewels in the verses that went before.. a great hope that is not yet fully realised in our experience until the day of Christ..
• an eternal hope that God wrote in the past tense, which speaks of utter assurance - the full vista of our great Salvation when we are transformed in His very presence.
• Unveiled Inheritance We are to know more fully the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.. not only the actual inheritance that is held in trust, but its considerable GLORY - the riches of grace, peace, hope, and love, that are ours to live by in the present, and its full and final and unveiled inheritance, when we see Him as He is.

• that the glorious Father may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better, that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in His holy people and His incomparably great power for us who believe.
• Great Salvation We are to know more fully the vast extent of the hope of His calling..
• a hope that Paul spilled out like a casket of jewels in the verses that went before..
• a great hope that is not yet fully realised in our experience until the day of Christ..
• an eternal hope that God wrote in the past tense – which speaks of utter assurance – the full vista of our great salvation, when we are transformed in His very presence.
• Unveiled Inheritance We are to know more fully the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.. not only the actual inheritance that is held in trust, but its considerable GLORY..  the riches of grace, peace, hope, and love – that are ours to live by in the present, and its full and final and unveiled inheritance – when we see Him as He is.

• I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those he called—His holy people, who are His rich and glorious inheritance.
• Blessed Hope What a joy for Paul that these Ephesians believers had such a love for their Lord, and how he longed that they fully appreciate the blessed hope they have in Christ.
• Spiritual Freedom Paul prayed that the church would be given spiritual wisdom and godly insight. He wanted all believers to be able to remain confident in the hope of their calling. He did not want them to be tossed hither and thither by every wind of doctrine –  but to know the truth of their union with Christ – for that truth will set us free.
• Spiritual Understanding Paul not only prayed for revelation and insight but enlightenment and illumination. Paul not only prayed that we understand our position in Christ but our future hope.
• He prayed this light would saturate our understanding of our blessed hope in Christ.
• He prayed passionately that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the glorious future hope to which we are all called, which is laid up for us in heaven, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints – His holy people.
• I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of HIM – that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those he called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.

• Be perfect, is a command for today, not only a hope for the future.

• Pinnacle of Faith The book of Ephesians must be the pinnacle of faith, hope and love for the believer. The book of Ephesians has rightly been called the Holiest of all Holy Scripture, and we would do well to read its content; reflect on its glory and rely on its truth – for it reaches beyond man’s creative vision and peeps into the mind of the Creator. It touches into the heavenly realms and glimpses the likeness of the glory of God.

• Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23 NIV)

• Faith is not hoping against hope that something is going to happen, nor is it hiding behind an ‘airy-fairy’ belief system.
• YAHAL – In Psalm 119 we read: remember Your word to Your servant, in which You have made me HOPE.. (yahal) and this too refers patient endurance as we wait for God in the trials of life and trust His promises.
• We must TRUST (yahal) the Lord as we patiently endure and hope in Him.

• Commands to Pray Pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 1 Timothy 2:8 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer Romans 12:12 Build up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost Jude 1:20 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit Ephesians 6:18 Night and day praying exceedingly.. 1 Thessalonians 3:10 Pray in spirit, and truth, John 4:24 Pray without ceasing.. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Brothers, pray for us..2 Thessalonians 3:1

• Pray for Understanding How we need to pray for the good news of Calvary to take root in their hearts.. that Satan won’t be permitted to steal the precious seed of the gospel sown in their hearts – that God would open their hearts to understand the hope of Christ’s salvation: for when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. Matt.13:19

• Israel was to be head of the nations and not the tail… a new day of hope was dawning. But Zacharias did not know of the glory of the cross nor the mystery of the Church.

• Hope does not disappointRomans 5:5
• whose hope is the LORD.Jeremiah 17:7
• Flame of Hope But in the bleak darkness of this fallen world, shines the steady flame of hope.
• Hope that consoles the heart of the distressed believer; hope that brightens the steely skies; hope that uplifts the downcast spirit; hope that ministers to the wounded soul. Let there be hope today.
• Let your heart be glad:  for blessed is the man whose hope is in the Lord.
•  Root of Hope But hope is not an optimistic outlook or positive thinking.
• And hope is not a vain desire, an empty wish, or self-induced feeling.
• Hope is the believer’s grace that is founded upon certain stable facts.
• Hope has its roots entwined in the truth of God’s holy Word.
• Hope has its foundation firmly set on the Rock of our Salvation.
• Foundation of Hope Hope rests on the nature and name of almighty God. Hope stands on the promises and character of the Lord Most High. Hope believes in His fundamental goodness and eternal wisdom. Hope reflects back over His never-failing goodness and His immeasurable mercies. Hope looks steadily ahead to the promised fulfilment of His word of the Kingdom.
• Prophecies of Hope Hope believes the prophecies of the judgment of the wicked.
• Hope trusts in His love for the blessing of the godly.
• Hope promises of a creation, subdued under the kingship of the Lord of glory, and hope rejoices in a heaven where sorrow and distress flee away, and where the Lord shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
• Lord of Hope Oh believer, make Him your hope. Find your trust and your hope in Him. Fix your heart unstintingly on the Lord, if you will to discover your hope in Him, and you will not be shaken with the passing events, and you will not be overwhelmed by the abundance of human failures – and you will not sink down into the miry clay of the 'Slough of Despond'. For He has confirmed His sovereign word with an oath. He has bound Himself to us with an everlasting covenant.
• Eternal Hope He has established the eternal love of the Father towards us, in that while we were yet sinners… Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 Yes, and He placed us in Christ, and He seated us together with Him in heavenly places..
• Hope rejoices, for my expectation – my hope is from Him.
• Hope does not disappoint, Romans 5:5  for blessed is the man…whose hope is in the Lord. Psalm 146:5
• Word of Hope Let us lift up our voice and sing with the sweet Psalmist of Israel who reminds us to hope in God, and to hope in His Salvation, and to hope in His Word. Let us delight in the reassuring words of the apostle to the Gentiles, who excites us that our hope, our joy, and our crown of rejoicing, is rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming to set up His kingdom. Our rejoicing is in Christ – in Christ alone.
• God of Hope We read: Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews.6:17-20
• Gift of Hope Eternal Life is not the hope that we may or may not receive. Eternal Life is not an inheritance which we may or may not obtain. Eternal Life is not it is not a reward a prize….
• Heavenly Hope But remember, He is soon coming to set up His kingdom, and has indeed set a hope before all believers - the hope of His heavenly kingdom, where overcomers will one day rule and reign with Him… The promise of an earthly kingdom, with Israel as the head and not the tail of the earthly nations..
• whose hope is the LORD.

• Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace (2 Thess. 2:16).

• To the believer who has been taught by the Holy Spirit something of his own utter, inbred sinfulness, it comes as a message from God full of hope and encouragement.

• Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad, moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope.Acts 2:26

• When circumstances seem impossible, when all signs of grace in you seem at their lowest ebb, when temptation is fiercest, when love and joy and hope seem well nigh extinguished in your heart, then rest, without feeling and without emotion, in the Father's faithfulness; abide in the fact that He loves you infinitely, and even now is working in you faithfully; and honor Him, and put the enemy to flight by taking to yourself the words of Job: Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.' I have prayed for thee' (says the One who ever lives to make intercession for us) that thy faith fail not.' -D.T.

• When death has exceeded every other evil power sin, suffering, sorrow, and destruction, then God's unique and exclusive answer is the only hope, and the one answer.

• We sorrow not as those who have no hope.
• What is our hope?
• Our hope is that the whole Family will be together with not one missing.
• The hope is that we have not lost any.

• that crooked serpent called the devil, has dominated this realm. God is using the rebellion of Satan and the fall of Adam to teach man a vital lesson. God is teaching man that only submission to Himself brings joy and peace and hope. God rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will, and sets up over it the basest of men.

• Christians today, in the church age should know, understand and apply this royal law of Christ, as we abide in Him and He in us, for: it is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
• Mountain Top to Valley And a crescendo of hope and excitement builds as we pass from the ministration of Law and death to the ministration of life, freedom and grace.

• Our hope for freedom from the power of sin is not Christ plus my efforts,' but Christ plus my receiving.' To receive victory from Him is to believe His Word that solely by grace He is, this moment, freeing us from the dominion of sin.

• This great adversary of God is in a bloody battle – to scupper the hope of the glorious gospel of Christ’s glorious return.
• Hope’s Extremity Yes, they had reached the very limit of their endurance.
• They had arrived at the extremity of their hope and then they trusted Him, but His own kith and kin restricted His power by their lack of faith in Him.

• and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5:8
• Living faith, divine love and patient hope are the three essential garments of protection.
• This combination of faith, love and hope is our essential protection from this evil day.
• Let us be like the Thessalonian believers, who Paul remembers with affection for... your work of Faith, your labour of Love, and your patience of Hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,” 1 1Thessalonians 1:3
• Work of Faith There can be no acceptable work of God in our lives that is not a work of faith. There can be no work of faith, which is not a labour of God’s agape love in us. There can be no end-time endurance without the patience of hope resting on Him.

• and seek to recompense their former indulgence – by generous gifts to the poor, in the hope that God will be pleased with their good effort and kind deeds.
• in the hope that God will be pleased with their worthy work and kindly activities.

• We are those who accept Christ as their only hope for deliverance from sin and death.

• Jesus is the Alpha and Omega - the Beginning and End of our hope.
• the Beginning and End of our Hope. He is the Start and Ending..

• Let him put his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope..Lamentations 3:28, 29.
• Let him put his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
• This is not because he hates us, for He knows the plans He has for each of us: plans for good and not for evil – to give you a promise and a hope of salvation.

• and disillusionment grows and love wanes and hope dies – but above the cloud of unknowing – the Son continues to shine on you.

• I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you. (Ephesians 1:18 NIV)

• Should we not similarly stand in the gap for brothers and sisters in Christ, who like the world are being overwhelmed with the cares of this life – who seem to have lost hope in the Lord’s return to claim His precious bride.

• And another hymn-writer, pens in his famous stanza, that God provides:- Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow…
• God’s Grace Like each and every gift of grace, His strength is ministered to each of us according to our need. We have no need of a bank deposit of $upply, No spiritual battery from which to draw our spiritual £trength. His supply is a continuous flow, received by faith as need requires. Life is divided into days – and day after day after day, He provides and supplies the strength. Down through the weeks which flow into months and years, He continues to provide ‘Strength for the day and bright hope for the morrow!’

• He needs no hope of Glory to rest in.

• We may get help from one another, but I do hope that you are not going to build your position upon what I say now because I say it.

• A helping hand is often needed, to raise the helpless to courage; to faith;  to patience; to endurance; to hope – to love.

• Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

• Paul an Example Paul was describing a situation in which there was no hope… nothing.
• He should have died – the ‘sentence of death’ was upon him- he was beyond all hope.

• If Christ is not God, there is no Christian faith – no Salvation – no hope – no future.
• humanity’s hope would be shattered.
• Whole Hope One godly saint of old wrote these words for posterity: With all possible conviction and faith I confess my Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, on Whom my whole hope of eternal life and present rest and strength depends – in the proper and ultimate sense, we say – He is God… eternal; all-holy; almighty; One from eternity and to eternity, with the Father and the Spirit… forever and ever Amen.

• It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.Lamentations 3:26
• Waiting Soul Wait for God; Wait for the Father; Wait on Me – Wait I say on the Lord I said:- I will wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope.  Psalm 130:5

• Were this untrue He would be a blasphemer and His life and our hope would be a sham.
• If the deity of Jesus Christ were to be false, man’s hope of salvation would be over.

• How we all would hope to be like this wise, trustworthy, and dedicated steward.

• Born to Die He was born to die – that men might live. He was born to be made vile sin – that sinners might be made pure and perfect. He was born to be broken – that sin-shattered man might be made whole. He was born to be wounded – that damaged, traumatised man might be made new. He was born to bring the despairing, comfort, hope and joy that was lost in Eden’s realm. He came to bind up and to heal the broken, bloodied, wounded heart.

• He is our joy and hope and He is the lover of our soul.

• Hope of Glory Oh yes… the full, multi-dimensional yet single Gospel is indeed a glorious mystery.. a mystery which has been hid from all ages and generations, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

• All are without hope and without God in a world of sin.
• The Bad News The bad news of the biblical gospel is that all have sinned and are deserving of death. All have missed the mark – all are separated from God – all are sinners to the core. All are spiritually dead – all are without hope and without God in a world of sin. But only when the bad news of the gospel is seen in its proper context – where sin separates man from God forever – does the good news of the gospel come into view. So what is the good news of the gospel of salvation that is open to every man? What is the good news for those that believe in Jesus Christ – the Son of God?

• First Evangels It was an angelic throng who were the first evangels that proclaimed the good news of a Saviour, as they abruptly burst through the blackness of night with their joyful news – the Light of God was in the world to bring peace and life to all who would believe. The world needed to know that the Prince of Peace had come to earth to bring hope to a dying race and peace to men of goodwill…  peace to all who trust Him as Saviour.
• Insignificant Arrival Christ’s own humility can be witnessed in His insignificant arrival on earth for He emptied Himself of the eternal glory He shared with the Father and came to earth as a helpless babe with nowhere to lay His head but a feeding trough in a borrowed cave. The shepherds instant obedience to the angelic message can be identified through the haste with which they sped to Bethlehem, to see the thing that had come to pass. But the gospel was not for them only – but a message of hope and joy to all people.
• Specified Peace The race of man to whom the angels had been sent were ‘children of wrath’, who were at enmity with the Creator – dead in their sins and without any hope in the world. The peace of which the angels sang was not a universal peace, with goodwill to all men, but a specified peace for men of goodwill – peace with God – through His Son. The peace that was proclaimed by the angelic host was the perfect peace of God, which is the right of those that trust in Christ – the only begotten Son of the Father.

• So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three..

• My soul, wait thou only upon God — for my hope is in Him, my expectation is in Him, my assurance is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation – my fortress where I will not be shaken.Psalm 62:5
• Assured Hope To hope in Him is to disallow any circumstance that dictates hopelessness.
• To hope in Him is to trust Him to finish the good work that He has begun – to expect, with full assurance, that He Who promised is faithful and true.
• So hold fast, for my hope is in Him, my expectation is in Him, my assurance is in HIM.

• May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)

• To know Christ as Saviour is the single most significant component of life – Christ in you the hope of glory.

• Our love and hope often waxes and wanes, like the phases of the moon.

• Three things will last forever faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT)

• Our spiritual blindness has gone and God’s wrath is removed for there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus – for we are accepted in the Beloved. We were once spiritually alienated from God and without hope in the world, but all enmity with God is washed away and we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Thanks be to God for His indefinable gift!

• Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.Proverbs 3:12
• For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.Galatians 5:5
• when clouds of hopelessness seem to linger in a thundery sky. These are often times when one needs to wait in hope… until the longed-for deferred fulfilment of a precious promise is at last rewarded.
• Deferred Hope But sometimes waiting in hope, has its own singular pain..
• Even though there seemed to be no glimmer of precious hope, Habakkuk summed up deferred hope in his astonishing prayer: Though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat..
• Testings in Hope This is the point where hope is deferred. This is the state where hope is put through the testing mangle.
• This is the place where the greatest patience and trusting hope must be exhibited… where Love and Faith support the weary arms of Hope..  just as Joshua and Hur held up the weary arms of Moses, until the precious desire blossoms forth as a Tree of Life..
• for Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes it IS a Tree of Life.
• Patience in Hope So refuse to despair.
• Deferred hope is not something that only you are facing today; it is Job – in his tempest; it is Abraham, on the long and dusty road to Moriah; it is Moses,  in the blistering deserts of Midian; it is Elijah, beside the evaporating brook of Cherith. It is Habakkuk, trembling in his Shigionoth. It is the Son of Man, prostrate in the Garden of Gethsemane. There is no patience so hard to bear as hope that has been deferred. This is waiting for a delayed hope, which requires endurance, patience, perseverance.
• Rewards of Hope For hope deferred maketh the heart sick – but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. How glorious that little word BUT.
• Examples of Hope Job’s eyes were opened, discovering, Thou canst do everything.
• Our Blessed Hope The Son of Man Who for the joy that was before Him, prostrated Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane..
• When deferred hope makes your heart sick..
• when the desired hope at long last appears, remember it is a Tree of Life.

• We may in His death have to lay our treasure in the dust, we may have to let go much that is very precious to us of hope and expectation and ambition and outlook.

• It trains us to renounce ungodly living and worldly passions so that we might live sensible, honest, and godly lives in the present age, as we wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus the Messiah.Titus 2:11
• He also reminds us of our future blessed hope and the expected return of our Lord – and it is all connected with the grace of our wonderful, loving, gracious God.
• Expanse of Grace It is God’s grace that warns of the dangers of unrighteous living and worldly lusts. It is the grace of God that trains us into righteous living and worthy, godly conduct. It is His grace that bestowed upon us our Blessed Hope and the riches of His glory, as we wait for the glorious appearance of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
• It trains us to renounce ungodly living and worldly passions so that we might live sensible, honest, and godly lives in the present age, as we wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus the Messiah.

• The mystery that demands our reverence, is God with us, the hope of glory.

• God's hope is in His own Life, not in ours, and He puts the basis of His hope within at new birth, and on that basis He proceeds to the development of all His thought, and the realization of all His intention.

• Message of Hope But also – that all who sleep in Jesus shall rise.

• Where would be our hope?

• The only hope is that it may be true of us, as of Paul: The love of Christ constraineth (2 Corinthians 5:14).

• Love and Mercy And over those twenty years of struggle and joy, pain and hope, He has graciously shown me the other side of the coin from the Sacrifice of Praise.

• I will put my hope in Him.

• And sometimes He will take us to the extremity of hope to test our faith in Him, for sanctification is: “being conformed into the image and likeness of Christ“.

• created in God’s image is a trinity of spirit, soul and body. But since Adam’s fall his progeny are fallen creatures, born into a fallen world, and the only hope for mankind is to be reborn, as a new a creation in Christ.

• To neglect or oppose any one of this trio is to resist the Spirit of God, to grieve the Spirit of God – to quench the Spirit of God, but until we draw our last breath, we can change and there is always hope.

• Dashed Expectation Hope must have died in their breast as they saw His precious body bound in grave-clothes.
• Though expectations may fail of their realisation, and the blossom of hope may fall and die – still cling to Him, the Lover of your soul Remember, our deepest disappointments can often prove to be the richest of blessings in His sweet timing – only rest in His arms of love.
• But true hope in Christ the Lord explodes into true glory of unimaginable joy – a true acceptance of the father-heart of love, births into inconceivable blessings.
• The Faith of Hope It is always so when faith’s hope appears to perish through our imperfect understanding... for God exchanges immortal beauty for the ashes of despair.
• Hope of Faith Bring Him the very finest and richest offering of loving trust and trusting love..

• And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself now – (sanctification) just as He is pure.1 John 3:3
• And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself (through practical sanctification, during the present age) – just as the Lord Jesus Christ is pure.

• we are to exhort, to encourage, to urge and become united in hope, one with another.
• Education, politics, news – unrest, uncertainty disorder and chaos all combine..  and fear of the future and a loss of hope is the inevitable outcome – and lack of faith is the insidious bedfellow of hopelessness and despair… UNLESS… Unless we can hold fast that what is good – hold on to the promises of God.

• His living streams bring the glorious hope of salvation to all who drink of Him, just as redemptive salvation flooded into the life of the woman of Samaria, the moment that she believed His Word and obeyed His command.

• destroying faith and hope – God knows how much we can all bear: For no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1Corinthians 10:13

• This current world system is not where we should be placing our hope – for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Saviour – the Lord Jesus Christ Philippians 3:20.  Scripture informs us that the love of many believers will grow cold. The Bible tells us that many Christians will forsake Him for alternative truths. The Word of God warns that the Church will be leavened at the time of His return.

• Revelation 2:26 tells us: he who overcomes, and he who keeps My works until the end..  Rev,2:26.  I take comfort in the following words today – and I hope that you do too.

• People long gone have fretted and feared and planned and hoped – just as today people fret and fear and plan and hope.

• The Ten Commandments require no life of prayer, no Christian service, no evangelism, no missionary outreach, no Gospel preaching, no life and walk in the Spirit, no union with the Lord Jesus Christ, no fellowship of saints, no hope of salvation, and no hope of heaven. -L.S.C.

• The hope which is laid up for you in heaven.Colossians 1:5
• Heavenly Hope Remember..
• the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.

• Meditate on the mystery of the triad of his gifts: faith, hope and love – and you will discover the all-inclusive, all-comprehensive depth of His love – His deep love for you.

• Always guarded by the power of God through faith.... In such a hope keep on rejoicing, although for a little while you must be sorrow-stricken with various trials (1 Peter 1:5, 6, Wms.).

• Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle… – for you shall be the miracle – Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• It is despair of MY life and no hope in MY-self that God is waiting to discern in me, When we discover we can do nothing of ourselves, His Life starts to be formed in us.
• It is vanity to set your heart and hope on things that pass in the twinkling of an eye.

• And from the moment he received the Spirit illumined pledge to see the Anointed-One, Simeon knew!  Simeon had hope in his heart that his promised pledge would come to pass.
• Many anticipated His return would be this year and placed their hope in calculations. Many seek answers in many places, through many teachings with many tears! Many have set dates in the coming year or in a future year yet to be identified! Many have simply changed their mind or altered their eschatological thinking.

• My soul doth wait, and in His Word do I hope.Psalm 130:5
• For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

• It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait, for the salvation of the LORD.Lamentations.3:25
• Elijah’s Hope Elijah refused to allow them to come between himself and the promise of God: thou shalt drink of the brook, and the ravens will bring you food. 1 Kings 17:4 And Elijah sat still and watched the streamlet become a sliver thread. And Elijah sat still and watched the silver thread reduced to a standing pool. And Elijah sat still and watched the standing pool shrink to nothing on the dusty earth. And Elijah trusted God, and Elijah waited.

• It is not striving to live a life that you hope will be good enough to please God.

• Are you looking forward into the future, with dreams of what you hope will be – or what you long to be?
• Lessons to Learn Learn the lesson the Lord has to teach you, in your past joys and foolish mistakes, and don’t be tempted to crave some pot of gold, at the end of some future rainbow – and all memories of the past and hope for the future will be beautified for your benefit.
• Future Perspective And as He pours His love and hope and blessing and joy through you, to others..

• They had been entrusted with the oracles of His coming. They had the prophets, the law, the word of truth, the hope of salvation. And yet we read that: He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own people received Him not.

• we have found the Christ, the Son of God… John 1:46, 41. Born again in Him. New life and new hope. Eternal life and eternal hope.

• Gracious Words The words of Christ ministered to an exact point of need – speaking the truth in love. His speech was seasoned with salt – cleaning and impacting hurting, damaged lives – addressing the need, while touching the truth, with gracious words of love and hope.

• The Blessed Hope The hope of those, 'blesseds' of the Lord, is beyond the present, physical world, – His blessed blessings reach deep into the love-heart of Himself. – His Blessed hope stretches forward to the coming kingdom.
• “This Blessed Hope” is in a Person – the One upon Whom all hope rests… “…the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour – Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13  “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when He comes.” Luke 24:43  “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” Rev.19:9  “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.” Rev 22:14

• God is faithful, and not only has he already delivered us from the consequences of sin and eternal separation from Himself by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on Calvary's Cross, but He has also promised to deliver us from the evils of this world as we travel through this earthly life: Our hope is in Him, knowing that He Who has already delivered us, will deliver us again.
• We have put our hope in Him, knowing that His Word is true and that His promise to deliver us again rests upon His Word of truth.

• Paul encourages us to be patient in affliction and to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, while James instructs us to consider the trials and suffering we go through as a great joy, knowing the testing of our faith produces endurance, which brings our hope and trust in the Lord to its completion.
• God's chastening hand may be corrective when we are at fault, but it can also be a refining fire which strengthens our faith in the Lord and establishes our hope in Him.

• He urged them to fix their hope completely on the grace they received when they first heard, believe the glorious gospel of grace, and understand their salvation was through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

• How vital to mature in the faith and feed on the meat of the Word of God - so that we may progress in the faith, share the good news of the gospel with others, and be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have - to all that are interested.

• The revelation of the mystery hidden from long ages past, which was made known through the prophetic writings and which has now been revealed, is Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, the Redeemer of mankind, the hope of glory.
• But even though we now see through a glass darkly, we have the blessed hope that we will one day see Him face to face, when the mystery of the ages shall be fully known.

• Paul's spiritual ambition, earnest expectation, and eager hope was to enhance and elevate Christ in the heart and mind of others.
• Paul may have been confined to a prison cell, but his hope remained founded on Christ.
• The future hope of fallen man is tied up with the things of this world and death is seen as the spoiler of life But the sting of death is removed for the believer, and life becomes an opportunity to serve Him, while death is the occasion to be translated into His presence and be with Him forever.

• He wrote to remind them of the hope of rewards at Christ's return.Paul's epistles are filled with wise instruction on how to live the sanctified life of a normal Christian, and often include the names of other brothers and sisters in the faith who laboured with him in spreading abroad the gospel of grace.

• Not all of us may be called into the office of evangelist or preacher, but every one of God's children has a commission to be light in this darkened realm, salt in a putrefying world, God's witnesses to those that are lost in their sins, a testimony of God's grace to those who are dead in their trespasses, and a messenger of hope to those that are without hope in the world.

• God is our Saviour, and our hope is in Him throughout the day and night.

• There is something very edifying and encouraging in glorifying God and singing praises to Him, even when faced with problems and pain, for it not only lifts our heart and give hope to the soul, but causes us to trust Him in our helplessness and gives great glory to our Father in heaven.

• He told us the end from the beginning so that everyone who has this hope in HIM, will purify themselves, even as HE is pure.

• No wonder their hearts burned within them and their hope was reignited as Jesus taught them: And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scripture.

• They were to learn of the hidden mystery, which was given to Paul: Which is Christ in You the hope of glory.  YES, there was much that they would have to learn from the apostle Paul in the early years of the Christian Church, but they could not bear it at this time as the Cross loomed ever closer.

• Paul and his companions were obviously pleased with the spiritual development of these believers, and referred to them as 'OUR hope; OUR joy; and OUR crown of rejoicing.' For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? was his rhetorical question.
• Paul described these believers, who had been born again through his ministry as his hope, his joy and the Crown of Rejoicing he would receive at Christ's return.
• Gold, silver, precious stones and crowns are identified as the rewards which are given to celebrate the work of faith, the labour of love or the steadfastness of a believer's hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, and each crown is received in the presence of God the Father.

• And although we should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in Christ, we are not bound to respond to any contentious comments... nor should we feel obligated to answer some inane question, which is designed to instigate an argument.

• But it is also a book of hope that proclaims restoration for a faithful remnant, prophesies of the coming Messiah, and implores God's people to be obedient to His Word and to look for the coming of Elijah, who was to be the forerunner of God's anointed King.

• He also reminds us that we have a living hope in Christ, for when we finally see Him we shall be like Him... and this glorious hope keeps us pure, even as we are pure through faith in Christ - for by faith in Christ we are forgiven of our sins and covered in His own righteousness.

• How important therefore that we are alert, and watchful against the enemy of our soul - not only for ourselves but on behalf of all our brothers and sisters in Christ - so that together we keep looking to Jesus - our blessed Hope.

• However, in his distress hope was revived as Jeremiah looked away from himself to the Lord, and called to mind the loving-mercies, deep-compassion, and long-suffering of God for all His rebellious people.

• Those who wait on the Lord are those who have the assurance and inner confidence that the promises He has made to His people, and the things for which we hope, are a matter of fact and a present reality that cannot be contradicted by senses, emotions, reason, or fear.

• But we are to be ready and willing to stand up for the truth and to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ.

• Hebrews 7 systematically sets out the need for God's former administration through Israel, (the Dispensation of the Law), to be superseded with the next dispensation through the Church (the Dispensation of the Grace of God). For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness, for the Law made nothing perfect. With the advent of Christ, the Law was fulfilled on behalf of all who believe, bringing us a better hope and a better High Priest, through Whom we draw near to God.
• Christ Jesus the Righteous, is that Blessed Hope.

• Although his writing was not laid out chronologically as one would expect... nestled between his pronouncements of great judgement are little sections of comfort and hope which promise restoration to the people of Israel and a full and final fulfilment of God's promise, to their forefather Abraham.

• In Christ is all that we need for life and godliness; in Christ we become a new creation and part of His Body, with a new life and new hope of glory; in Christ we have peace with God and access to the peace of God in our hearts.
• Christ met this Samaritan woman on His long, three-year trek to the Cross, when His shed blood would become the means of grace and the hope of glory for her, as it is for all who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

• It is incumbent upon us to know what takes place after we have left this mortal toil so that we do not grieve inconsolably as those who have no future hope in Christ.
• It is good and right to mourn with those that mourn and we certainly miss those that have gone before, but we should never be as grief-stricken at the passing of a saved loved one as those that are unsaved and who have no hope...
• We have a hope in Christ and an assurance that weeping will one day turn into laughter, sadness will be overtaken with joy, and God Himself will wipe away every tear from our eye.
• We do not grieve as do those that have no hope because our hope is in the Lord.
• Let us seek to share the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ with those that are dead in their sins and without hope in the world, knowing that every day that passes is a day of grace when lost souls may come to a saving faith in Christ Jesus our Saviour.

• When He walked by the way He was hungry and tired, and our Great High Priest was not exempt from the human emotions of hope and fear, of joy and pain, of anger and grief, nor was He free from suffering and sorrow, but lived a life of humble obedience to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

• He is the Word of Life, the Word of Truth, the Word of Peace, and the Word of Hope.

• The recollection of God's past deliverance and the hope of future glory was insufficient to bring Judah to its knees in repentance.

• The breath of God's Holy Spirit, imputed divine light, life, power, and hope into that sacred text.

• We are also encouraged to bear with one another in love and to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, knowing that we are one in Christ and united together in one faith, one hope, one baptism, and one Lord.

• And yet the stark and serious warning broke into a comforting song of hope, that one day God would return, revive and restore His erring nation and pour out His blessings upon them like dew onto a parched desert, or as spring showers over a dry and dusty land.

• David had proved that God is a faithful and forgiving God, and whether in prayer, praise, or petition, his song of worship and thanksgiving testifies of his trust in God and his acknowledgement that God is the Lord, and his hope is in Him alone: For there is no God like unto our God, nor are there any works that compare with His wonders.

• We don't want you to grieve like unbelievers who have no hope.

• Our faithful God is the one who fed the hungry multitude, provides comfort for the broken-hearted, gives succour to the weak, strength to the weary, hope to the afflicted, and salvation to all who trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins - for while we were yet sinners, God in His grace provided a Kinsman-Redeemer to save His people from their sins.

• He is our Peace and our Hope, He is our Provider and Protector, He is Life and Light, He is Shepherd and Shield, and in Him is salvation.

• And so we trace a tiny scarlet thread of hope of heaven from of our merciful God..

• He explains that having been eternally saved by grace, we should glory in the trials and tribulations of life which God uses to develop in us perseverance, a godly character, and an unshakable and eternal hope in the loving promises of God.
• The precious promises of God are poured into our hearts by the Spirit, and Paul cements his argument with the assurance that while we were weak and ungodly, without strength and without hope – Christ, the good and gracious God, died for us ungodly sinners who were dead in trespasses and sins.

• BUT GOD Who is loving, gracious, long-suffering, and faithful, pronounced His bitter rod of severe chastening due to their apostasy, which would also prove to be a blossoming staff of sweet comfort and peace, grace and mercy, love, and hope, and joy.
• He gave them a promise of future peace and wonderful hope, not a pledge of punishment that would result in their ultimate disaster and destruction.
• Jeremiah's letter to the Babylonian exiles encouraged the people and brought with it a beautiful promise: 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'
• His plan of redemption is designed to give all who believe a future filled with hope and not with calamity.
• His plan for His children is to give us a future and a hope.
• We have an assurance that whatever we may have to face today, God's thoughts toward us are only good continually: 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD. 'They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.'

• He is the everlasting Light that gives life and hope to all.

• His desire is that they grow in grace and mature in the faith, explaining that when the Word of God abides within their heart, they will overcome the evil one and mature in their faith as they advance in age.Paul reminds us that although physical fitness is good, we should not only strive after bodily discipline and physical health, but rather engage in our spiritual development by fixing our hope on the living God and trusting in His Word, by faith.May we all recognise the benefits of a grey head or sagging muscles, knowing that it is a crown of glory when found in the way of righteousness.

• We discover the wonderful hope we have in our eternal God, as the antithesis of man's devastating despair in this fallen world system.
• At times, the contents of this book sound like the ramblings of a depressed man, interspersed with little glimmers of hope and injections of joy here and there.
• The little pockets of hope, glimmers of joy and infusions of encouragement that percolate throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, suggest that..

• Luke wrote of all that Jesus started to do from the beginning of His earthly ministry until He ascended into heaven from a mountain, close to the little town of Bethany, leaving His disciples to rejoice in hope while giving praise to God for all His goodness and grace to them.

• Together with the disciples and apostles, we rejoice in the sure promise of the hope of God's glory, when our bodies will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye, to become like unto His glorious glorified body. 
• How we celebrate this wonderful hope that has been laid out before us in the unbreakable, written Word of Almighty God, signed in blood by His Beloved Son, the living Word of God, and sealed by the eternally abiding Spirit of God.
• Our hope in the glory of God is the earnest desire and joyful expectation of the consummation of God's rich promise to us, which is grounded on the sure foundation of His eternal Word and His unchangeable character, for then we shall see Him face to face in the fullness of His glory, when still more abundant blessings will be showered over our heads.
• It is because of this sure hope of the glory of God that Paul can continue with the words: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident HOPE.
• If suffering causes us to set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth - if suffering causes us to fall on our knees crying out to the Lord; if suffering causes us to put our hope in the Lord and the sure promise of His return, then shouldn't we also rejoice in our sufferings?
• Paul encourages us to live every day for Christ, redeeming the time, and eagerly awaiting our Lord: Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus.
• This confident, future hope of the glory of God is the eternal fruit of today's patient endurance in our present sufferings – and so let us rejoice in our suffering KNOWING the glory that will be revealed.

• More often than not, students of Revelation are looking for the events that take place in Revelation and spend their energy trying to make sense of them, while missing the most important truth - that every event that takes place in this book is written to reveal more and more of the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last - the Author and Finisher of our faith, without Whom we would be without hope, forever lost, and eternally damned.

• The Law cannot forgive the sins of a sinner, but is a school-master that points lost sinners to Christ, in Whom is life and light, hope and salvation.It demonstrates that godly living emanates from an inner attitude of a changed heart that trusts in God for salvation.

• Like Paul, we can also commend ourselves as servants of God as we face our own afflictions, hardships, distresses, and poverty in the power and sufficiency of the Spirit, with patient endurance and rejoicing in the hope set before us.

• While the story of Samson is a stark example of unfulfilled potential in the life of a servant of God, it also gives us great hope... for despite his deeply flawed life, Samson is a man who is named in the great chapter of faith in Hebrews 11.

• Paul reminds the Corinthian believers of our blessed hope in Christ and opens our understanding to the resurrection of the dead and the certainty of our own resurrection, because Christ rose from the dead.

• But their hope in the earthly kingdom had blinded their understanding that Calvary's Cross must precede Christ's kingdom, and that it was necessary to first establish the heavenly (spiritual) kingdom (currently under the dominion of Satan), before those earthly promises to Israel could finally be fulfilled.

• It is only by God's abundant mercy that we have come to this living hope in Christ and, by God's grace, have been endowed with an inheritance that is incorruptible and will never fade away.
• The mystery of our call to glory is that we can rejoice greatly despite our trials and losses, because we have an unfailing hope in our eternal inheritance and the glorious redemption of our bodies, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

• He is the Alpha and Omega of our hope for He is our resurrected Lord Whose soon return floods us with that blessed hope which quickens the heart of all who trust in His name.

• We now have a more-sure Word of prophecy which informs us of our unshakable hope in God's plans and purposes for our future.
• This precious truth that our Lord and Saviour will return in the clouds of glory for us; to take His Body, the Church, to be with Himself, should be of tremendous comfort, glorious encouragement, and an assured hope.

• But it is also a message of hope to those who believe, for it was only after Lot was rescued out of the city of Sodom, that judgement fell on its unbelieving inhabitants. 

• As such, we await that day when hope will be translated into sight and we shall be clothed in our eternally redeemed bodies.

• Let us study the Word of truth to discover the riches of the glory of this mystery that has now been made manifest to the saints through Paul: Which is Christ in you the hope of glory, a mystery revealed for our learning.

• But his suffering only caused his faith to grow stronger, as he set his mind on the sure and blessed hope of Christ and of eternity to come.

• May we come to the unshakable knowledge that our times are in His hands, and at His appointed time and in His designated way, we will one day step into His eternal presence, when faith will vanish into sight and hope be emptied in delight.

• The central theme in the book of first Peter is HOPE for the Christian in the midst of tremendous suffering.
• The apostle Peter wrote his encouraging letter, to remind us of our position in Christ and the living hope we have in Him.

• However, that which was given to Paul for us in 'the dispensation of the grace of God' gives us a perspective on salvation that was kept hidden in earlier times, but how we praise God for the ministry of Paul who became a minister to the Church to make God's message fully known: Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• A living faith in God's Word and the confident hope in His promises are two graces that embrace each other in love at the foot of the Cross.
• This is not a 'Que sera sera, fingers-crossed and-hope-it-happens' type of faith.
• It believes God's Word of truth in the pages of Scripture, which was written for our learning, instruction, encouragement, and hope.
• May the hope we have in Christ and the faith we have in God be built on the truth, of His Word and grounded on a sure conviction.

• Although he responds to Zophar accusations with blistering sarcasm, Job silences his insults and embarks on a magnificent declaration of God's sovereign authority, before he rehearses the time-honoured words adopted by many who trust in God even when they don't understand: Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him.
• May we maintain our hope in Christ and protect ourselves with the armour of God.

• Hope in His God was to David a soothing ointment that eased his flagging spirit.
• It became a refreshing, heavenly hope that ministered to his mind, calmed his emotions and revitalised his fainting heart.
• The strength of hope is to believe in the reality of the promises of God - promises that we cannot yet see with our physical senses, but facts we discern with the eye of faith.
• We too have great hope in the God of our salvation and like David, we too will please Him when we unreservedly trust in His Word and believe that he is a God Who rewards those who diligently seek Him and obey His Word in spirit, in truth and out of love for Him, Who loved us first.
• Let us hold fast to the joy that is set before us and watch and wait for that Blessed Hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

• And just as Sarah honoured her own husband's sovereign, leadership position in the home, so we, as members of Christ’s mystic Body, should live in humble submission to His righteous authority – for He truly is our Lord and Saviour.Sarah was one of many holy women who, in former times, hoped in God, believed His Word, and adorned herself with a submissive spirit and a humble heart – to the honour and glory of God.All these holy women of God, radiate a richness of beauty and grace that surpasses the superficial allurement gained by any outward adornments or surface level charm.May we, who are members of His Body, adopt the same submissive spirit and hope in the Lord, and may we honour God's Word by applying His divine order and rule in our own lives and homes.

• The eyes of the Lord are forever on those that hope in His unfailing love, and God dispatches ministering angels to protect His children who trust in His name.

• Only in Him can we find eternal consolation and a bright hope, for His yoke IS easy, His burden IS light, and we WILL find eternal rest for our soul in Him.

• A day arrived when He was required to trust God to provide for all his needs during a terrible time of famine, instead of placing his hope in his Egyptian neighbours.

• In like manner, the faith of a Christian needs to be pure, unblemished, and perfect, and the trials of life are designed to purify our hearts, increase our dependence upon the Lord Jesus, deepen our love for our Saviour, enrich our spiritual lives, strengthen our hope in His many precious promises, and increase our faith in the Word of God.

• We are to be covered completely in Christ's own perfect righteousness and peace, and as we live for His glory and wait in hope and expectancy for His soon return; Whom to know is life eternal.

• May we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God so that we too may be comforted and encouraged: May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
• Let us be those who comfort and strengthen others by our words and our works, as we draw our strength and hope from the Lord Jesus.

• David's hope is in the Lord his God and this magnificent truth is a celebration of God's almighty power to save and His faithfulness to deliver the people of His pasture.

• Let us pray for our leaders, support the weak, help the afflicted, love and serve all men, and let us read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God, knowing that we are living in perilous times - and our only confidence and help lies in Jesus Christ, our Blessed Hope.

• And it is the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father Who have given us a good hope by His grace, and in the world to come, life everlasting.

• The wonders of salvation and mercy of God that forgives us our sins and imputes us with Christ's righteousness is joy indeed, as is the glorious hope of our eternal home that God has prepared for all those that love Him. 

• They can provide hope and encouragement.
• For just as a gentle, controlled, thoughtful, or caring word can calm the troubled breast, bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the injured, or grace to an offender, so a harsh, hateful, cruel, or careless comment, can as easily be used to wound or discourage, hurt or hinder, harm or handicap, or speedily stir up strife and anger.

• We know that in this world we will have troubles, but may we, like Paul, rejoice in our sufferings knowing: Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
• And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

• Love is the peak and pinnacle of a life that is hid with Christ in God: And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.

• We do not know the interval of time between Job's two trials, but we do know that this wealthy man, who had been so blessed of God and who was held in high esteem by his neighbours, was reduced to the status of an unclean beggar overnight, which caused his wife's spirit and hope to be shattered.

• Man was without hope in the world, walking according to the ways of this world and under the power of Satan - the prince of the power of the air whose influence permeates every aspect of life around us.

• But we discover within these terrible proclamations, a little oasis of hope with a fountain of refreshment: For the one who trusts in God, will be like a tree planted by rivers of water.

• He thanked God for their work which was energised by faith, their service which was motivated by love, and their unwavering hope in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• And Paul constantly bore in mind the Thessalonians work of faith, their labour of love, and the steadfastness of hope they had in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The third virtue of the Thessalonians was the steadfastness of their future hope in the Lord Jesus. His many precious promises and the blessed expectation of His soon return was not founded on empty optimism or a fingers-crossed-wishful-thinking attitude.
• When with patience, we steadfastly hope in the Lord and stand firm on the promises of God, we have an inner-assurance in His Word of truth, for God has placed His Word above His holy name.
• Our steadfast hope in the Lord is the unshakable conviction that the Bible is sure.
• May we follow in the footsteps of the Christians of Thessalonica whose good works were energised by faith, whose service was motivated by love, and who maintained an unwavering hope in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• May our labour of love become a living sacrifice that honours our Father in thought, word, and deed, and may the steadfastness of our hope in Christ Jesus our Lord, stimulate others to work the works of faith, to labour in love, and to remain steadfast in the blessed hope we have in the Lord Jesus, in the presence of our God and Father.

• Ten of these Laws are known as the 10 Commandments, but there were many more, which gave the people a hope and a future.
• He knew the plans HE had for her were for good and not for evil - to give her a future and a hope.

• Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.There is only one way to be saved, and God Himself proclaimed this to the nations: I have sworn by Myself, was His sovereign challenge, the Word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back – that to Me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance.God in His grace, extended His hand of salvation to the Gentiles, if they would turn away from their idols of wood and stone, and trust in the Lord for the forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation.That same gracious hand of reconciliation continues to be extended today, to whosoever will hear, answer, and believe in the One Who paid the price for the sin of the world – the shed blood of a perfect sacrifice – Jesus Christ the righteous.In the light of New Testament revelation, we know: At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.The message of salvation is one of hope and blessing to those that believe, and one of condemnation and eternal separation from God for those that refuse to confess His name.May we be ready and willing to go into the world, whether at home or abroad, and tell the good news of salvation to the lost – to Jew and Gentile alike: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

• There are times that we become overly familiar with terms such as 'born again', 'a new creation in Christ', 'made the righteousness of God in Him', 'accepted in the Beloved', 'ministers of reconciliation', 'ambassadors of Christ', 'seated with Him in heavenly places', 'hid with Christ in God', ' Christ in you the hope of glory' or 'bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh'.

• It is only after we have exhausted all the natural, worldly avenues of hope that we finally look to the Lord as our last resort.

• Faith and love are two of the principle graces that are the hallmark of the saint, and along with hope they combine into a trio of Christian attributes that are so beloved of the Father.
• Paul goes on to say: Faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven, the fruit of which is the gospel growing throughout the whole world.
• And in these last days, may the blessed hope that is stored up for us in heaven overflow in our loves so that we will tell all we meet the glorious gospel of grace.

• He is our hope and strength and He will be exalted, for it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves, for we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
• Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertakeTo guide the future as He has the past.Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;All now mysterious shall be bright at last.Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still knowHis voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

• Chapter 9 reminds us of Israel's past history, their tremendous privileges, and precious promises, while chapter 11 rejoices in their election by grace, their future hope, and eventual salvation.

• May we be ready and willing to be used by Him as He chooses and may we rekindle the hope we have in Christ and re-examine our hearts to see if we are walking in spirit and truth and honouring His name in the choices we make.

• The godly are called to trust in the Lord and to hold fast to the faith once offered to the saints, for our hope is in Christ.
• When we are quietly resting in His presence and secure in the hope that is set before us, the peace of God which passes understanding will flood the heart and soul of all who walk godly in Christ Jesus.

• The blessed hope we have in Christ is that this natural, physical body, will be raised a supernatural, spiritual body.

• This enables us to grow in grace, mature in our Christian life, and rejoice in the established hope we have in Jesus.
• Not only do the glories of our justification result in peace with God, a firm standing in God's grace, and a rejoicing hope in Him, but we can allow His peace to reign in our hearts so that we can even exult in our tribulations, knowing the trials of life and the difficulties we endure bring about perseverance which develops strength of character and a solid hope in the Lord.
• Man's natural desire in life is to live in ease and to avoid life's problems and pain, but Scripture reminds us that only those who face the distresses of life through His sufficient grace, develop the patient endurance and proven character that is so acceptable to the Lord, which in turn results in a mature faith and a hope that is firmly established in Him.
• As we consider this truth and apply it in our lives, we know that the pressure, affliction, and hardship we may be called upon to face, will produce in us a patient and unswerving endurance, a proven character, and a hope that is rooted and grounded in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
• How we praise and glorify our Heavenly Father for the blessed hope we have in Christ which will never disappoint us, because God's over-abounding love has been poured in our hearts through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit Who took up residence in our heart the moment we trusted in Christ.

• Well, it is not that God favours poor people by making them rich in faith, but He knows that the riches of this world can become an obstacle to faith, because the wealthy man too often places his hope in his bank balance or trusts in his wealth to get him out of difficult circumstances, instead of relying on the Lord to provide what is needed according to His riches in glory.
• God also knows that a poor man living in needy circumstances, a destitute widow without hope in the world, or a penniless orphan, is much more likely to grasp hold of God's great gift of salvation which is given freely to all, rather than a self-sufficient, affluent man, whose super-abundance of material possessions and worldly wealth renders him independent of God's provision and can even cause him to become disdainful of God's free gift of salvation.
• Poor, poverty-stricken people more ready to respond to the gospel of grace with an open heart, ready acceptance, and trusting faith, than prosperous persons who too often find difficulty in casting all their cares on Christ - preferring to centre their hope on cryptocurrencies, commodity markets, and their capital assets.

• Opening-up of the pages of Scripture will brighten the path we take, re-energise our hope in Christ, and provide understanding to the one who walks humbly before the Lord.

• May we be ready and willing to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ and pray that through our ministry, some may be plucked from the brands into a saving faith in Jesus.

• Isaiah moved from warnings of imminent punishment for the unrepentant masses of apostates and blessings for a believing remnant in chapters 1-39, to future prophecies of comfort and hope, with deliverance and national restoration for those who believe, in chapters 40-66.
• Nevertheless, words of comfort and hope were given to a faithful remnant 'the Israel of God' as Paul calls them: Do not fear, for I am with you in the storm, were the Lord's reassuring words to this tiny remnant: I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'do not hold them back.' 

• But even when we were spiritually dead in sin, totally alienated from God, and without the slightest hope in the world, God provided access to Himself.

• To praise God for the deep faith, generous love, and patient endurance that is exhibited by those who hope in the Lord, and to pray impassionedly for evangelistic doors to be opened so that the gospel of grace may be proclaimed far and wide, to those who do not yet know Him.

• Following a beautiful chapter on faith, which reminds us of our privileged position in Christ and the glories that are yet to be realised in Him, Hebrews 12 exhorts the Church to maintain our hope in Christ; the Author and Finisher of our faith.
• How necessary to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, and to pursue peace and holiness for our God and Saviour Whose promises are faithful and true.

• Our outstanding joy, eternal hope, and unassailable victory is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• And once again we are reminded that when faith is founded on this One, sure Foundation, nothing can destroy our hope, demolish our faith, disturb our peace, or disrupt our fellowship with the Lover of our soul, for when we remain in Christ and He in us, we become irrepressible conquerors and overwhelming victors.
• This is a godly principle of faith – that when we abide in Christ during the inevitable disasters that flood our lives, faith increases, trust is amplified, hope is expanded, and our love of Jesus reaches even greater heights, as we grow in grace and in a knowledge of Him.Oh, such life victory has nothing to do with our own great strength, intellectual ability, or healthy bank balance, for of ourselves we would be overwhelmed by all these things rather than becoming a conqueror through Christ.

• Although the return of Christ is the blessed hope of all who believe on His name (first, to rapture the Church and then, to return in power and great glory as earth's rightful King), the psalmist reminds us, in verse 2, that the establishment of the long-awaited Millennial Kingdom will be accompanied by the awesome judgement of the wicked: Clouds and thick darkness surround Him - righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

• They became sinners by nature, estranged from God, and without hope in the world.

• But not only does He desire a vertical oneness of each of His children with Himself, but He also yearns that we have a horizontal oneness with our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ; that we become one in principle and purpose, one in thought and word and deed, one in faith and doctrine, one in love and hope.

• But praise God that the verse continues with redemptive words of hope: But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• At His first coming, it was a Roman sword that pierced His side, from which poured redemption's blood-red stream over the sinful race of fallen man - as a dying, sin-cursed earth, groaned beneath the weight of sin, waiting in hope for this special day of redemption.

• The Lord Jesus is the One and Only hope of the world and the only way to gain salvatio.
• Here, He is clearly identified as the believers HOPE.
• As Christians who have been born from above, we know that His Spirit lives in us, for He is Christ in us, the hope of glory.
• We also look to the Lord Jesus as our blessed hope Who will return one day to take those who have trusted in His finished work at Calvary to be with Himself forever.
• Jesus Christ is man's only hope and He is given the title 'Saviour', for He it was Who set aside His glory and was born into the very race that He created in His own image.
• And Paul was called and commissioned to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the commandment of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus, Who is our hope.

• Whether this is Christ's encouraging response to the pleading prayer of those Tribulation Saints that are thirsty for the water of life (at the end of the Tribulation) OR whether it is the fulfilment of His precious promise to Church-age believers, who are longing for His any-day appearance at the Rapture (before the Tribulation) or both; these final words in holy Writ should be our daily prayer and our blessed hope.

• And God saw all that He had done was good, very good: For every good and perfect gifts comes from our Father above, Who alone is our Light, our life, and our hope of salvation.
• The light of Christ is the true light that shines in the darkness, giving light and life and the hope of salvation to whosoever will.

• We were born with a sin nature. We were conceived in sin; we came into the world enslaved by sin; we were estranged from God and we were without hope in the world. 

• However, his writings contain much that offers comfort and hope to those that are called by His name.
• But the prayer of this little remnant does not reflect despair, dejection, and demoralisation... but rather a spark of hope that God will certainly hear and answer their cries for help.

• We who were once living in the kingdom of darkness, enslaved to sin, and steeped in shame, have been forever transported into His kingdom of light and received life, grace, glory, forgiveness, and hope.

• Paul's illustration follows a section on Christian suffering that encourages us to hold on to our blessed hope in Christ.
• Let us never forget that we have a blessed hope in Christ and full assurance that we will one day be clothed with a new, immortal, resurrected body; our eternal dwelling place from heaven, and we will be like unto Christ.

• Although their expectations were shattered with Christ's crucifixion, there is a hint of hope in their conversation, for they told their new companion how certain women had a vision of angels and said He was alive. 
• Did they have a glimmer of hope when they told the stranger what Jesus had said on the way to Jerusalem, when He took the twelve disciples aside and told them that the Son of Man would be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, who would condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and that on the third day He would be raised-up from the grave? Maybe!
• Was their hope increased when, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, their fellow-traveller started to explain many things concerning the Lord Jesus in all the holy Scriptures?
• It seems that there was a small measure of hope in the heart of these two disciples because they had been counting the days since the crucifixion and knew that NOW it is the third day.
• The fluctuating hope and teetering trust of the two disciples was shortly to be transformed into factual faith, when they invited Jesus to come into their home and sup with them.

• We are charged in many places to seek after wisdom and to ask the Lord for wisdom; to rejoice in wisdom and to get wisdom, for wisdom brings with it strength and shelter, help and hope.

• At His First Coming, He came to bring the hope of salvation to His people and proclaim liberty to those enslaved by sin.

• For Rahab, the crimson thread represented life and hope.

• The hope of the world was born into the family of Joseph, the humble carpenter.

• Paul goes on to list seven key elements of Christian unity in the verses 4 to 6, where we read There is ONE body and ONE Spirit, just as also you were called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
• Just as we have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, we have also been called into one hope of that calling - which is founded on the ONE Lord - Jesus Christ.

• He also gave certain Messianic gifts to His apostles and many of His disciples, whom He sent out in His name, teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and the hope of salvation to none but the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the Jew, first.

• As sinners saved by grace, we understand that the lavish liberality of the grace of God has been poured out on all those that trust in His name, for though we were dead in our trespasses and sins with no hope in the world, God sent His Son to die for us on the Cross and gave us a gift at enormous cost to Himself; a free gift of grace to all who believe, a gift which has eternal consequences.

• Our hope in Christ is securely anchored to the Word of God, which contains His will and His purposes so that we are not tossed about by every wind of uncertainty, nor destabilised by the stormy trials of life.
• We have a blessed hope that is laid up for us in heaven.
• Abraham is the supreme example of a man of faith whose life bears witness of the never-failing faithfulness of our good and gracious God and whose life experience encourages us to maintain the hope we have in Christ; our sure and steadfast anchor, on Whom to secure our soul.
• The centre and circumference of our hope is in Christ.
• Our hope is in the Lord our God Whose Word can never be broken nor altered, for to do so would be contrary to His nature and would contradict His will.
• It is His gracious assurance to those who are His own blood-bought children and heirs of the promise, and our blessed hope in Christ is the immovable mainstay of our soul.
• Christ is our great High Priest, and His finished work has established forever that blessed hope which is set before us in His Word.
• The hope we have is a sure and steadfast anchor to our soul, and it is a hope that is eternally secure for all who are in-Chris, our Kinsman-Redeemer and heavenly Advocate.

• He saved us so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, with the hope of eternal life.

• It is not an empty hope, but an ability to keep trusting the Lord in a situation that others have rendered as hopeless.

• But in a world that is at enmity with God and has rejected the good news of the glorious gospel of Christ, this is no easy matter, and we are likely to come up against much resistance to our message of hope and personal rejection from our fellow-man, and even hatred, abuse, or death.

• A worldly hope is founded on irrational thinking, empty vanity, a humanistic philosophy, and man's deceitfully-inspired prospects, resulting in disappointments, frustration, confusion, and shame.
• But Christian hope is founded on an altogether different principle, which is rooted in God's trustworthy goodness and the gracious promises of our Heavenly Father.
• Christian hope is centred on the never-failing Word of God and His many precious promises, which are all 'yes' and 'amen' in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Christian hope shines from the eternal flame of God's burning love for us and does not rest on the flickering candle-light of our scant love for Him.
• Christian hope is an ever-flowing fountain of the unfathomable love of God, cascading into our hearts and washing through our lives.
• Christian hope is the highest expression of glorifying God, for it springs from a trusting heart that believes God's Word of truth by faith.
• It is the assurance that what we hope for in Christ will happen, and the certainty that what we cannot see exists.
• It is the hope of God's love in our heart that is confirmed through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who was given to us.
• We will discover many disappointments which may even trigger feelings of shame or disgust if we invest in the empty hope of this deceitful world, but our hope in God cannot disappoint or deceive, for He has already stamped His seal of irrefutable proof and unquestionable certainty on His written Word, through His Holy Spirit, Who has taken up permanent residence within the heart of all believers and Who was given to us as a down-payment for the eternal hope that is living within each of His children.
• The gracious gift of hope is secured on the unchangeable and unconditional love of God, which He poured into our hearts by His Spirit, when we first trusted Christ's finished work on Calvary.
• The hope we have in Christ will never disappoint nor put us to shame, no matter what we may be called upon to face, for God has poured His abundant and overflowing love into our hearts and that love remains sealed in there, until the day of Christ Jesus.
• And the hope that comes through faith in Christ does not disappoint, because the supernatural love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who was given to us, through time and into eternity.

• But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

• They speak of the hope of the Resurrection and the certainty of an eternal heaven and everlasting hell. 
• The Psalmist is David, the shepherd king of Israel, who rejoices that his hope and strength in the Lord.

• Believers are encouraged to stand fast and not to lose hope in the promise of our heavenly rewards.
• We are to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.
• And we are to patiently endure the inevitable sufferings of this life and not throw away the glorious hope that is set before us, knowing that: In just a little while, the Lord Jesus is coming in the clouds to take us to be with Himself.

• From the fall of Adam, every man inherited an empty life, devoid of all that is good and pure, perfect and holy; a life without hope and a life without God.

• But then comes Israel's response to God's call: Behold, our bones are dried up, they mourn, Our hope has perished.
• She was cut off from God and without hope in the world.

• However, when he addressed Jesus as 'Rabbi' and identified Him as 'The Son of God' and 'King of Israel' his words showed great respect and a heart of faith and hope in the truth of Scripture.

• The indescribable greatness of our Heavenly Father finds stark contrast with the insignificant and inconsequential role of sinful man who is dead in his sin, at enmity with God, and without hope in the world.

• As fallen creatures, we were without hope in the world, but the eternal Son of God came to earth as the fundamental life-principle: In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

• He will bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things, for Christ's sake.

• And God in His grace has equipped us with His holy Word and filled it to overflowing with light, life, and hope.

• His earnest expectation and hope, was that his message and ministry would not be discredited or put to shame in any way, but that he would be able to continue speaking out the marvellous message of salvation freely, openly, and boldly so that whether he lived or died, the lovely Lord Jesus Christ would be magnified by his imprisonment.

• This is indeed a message of hope and encouragement for all who have trusted Christ for their salvation.

• It is a great and a glorious hope.
• It is a certain hope and positive hope.
• It is a hope anchored on God's unchangeable promises and steadfast name, written by the Lord's dear disciple, Peter.
• Though we delight in John as the apostle of love and Paul as our chief apostle of faith, we identify Peter as our great apostle of hope.
• In this chapter, Peter reminds us about our great inheritance that is being kept for us in heaven, and that this life is our one opportunity to prove our faith, as we walk by the Spirit to the praise and glory of the Father, eventually resulting in praise, glory, and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. And the reason we can so confidently walk by faith today is all because of Christ, our living hope: Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
• Today we are strangers in a hostile world and sojourners in a place that is passing away, but our hope is securely grounded on Christ, Who is our Chief Apostle and our Great High Priest.
• Let us live upright and godly lives in this present age as we wait for that blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, in Whom we trust.

• Her profession of faith has shone down centuries of time and ignited hope in the hearts of many.

• Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, we discover a few chinks of hope and some sound advice.

• But Peter gives us wonderful hope that the cruel, mocking voices will one day cease.

• The joy of the Lord was John's hope and strength, and he was writing his epistle for a particular purpose: These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

• Fear, guilt, and shame cannot coexist alongside faith, hope, and love.
• Nor should they fear what lies beyond the grave, for our hope is in Him.

• Our hope is in Christ alone Who is our righteousness, our peace, our hope, and our endurance.

• They knew Him to be the resurrection and the life, and that He alone can give light in this dark world and hope to a lost and dying race.
• The hour for Christ's betrayal and crucifixion arrived, and so He prayed that we would be united together in doctrine, in faith, in hope, in truth, and in love.

• And through their faithful witness, we who were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, might be brought near by the blood of Christ, to the praise and glory of God.

• And although we should always be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ, no one has a right to insist that we comply with their every demand. 

• Nevertheless, we have our Lord's assurance that the sufferings of this present life cannot be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us, for we have a blessed hope that is anchored in Christ and an inheritance that is secured for us in heaven.

• Thomas' hope in Christ was reignited, and he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ because he saw Him with his own eyes and worshipped Him when He came and stood among His followers in the upper room.

• Make Him the cornerstone of your hope and linchpin of your life, and He will give you the desires of your heart.The Lord Jesus is the perfect example of a Man Who delighted Himself in the Lord.

• They came as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God to bring them hope of salvation.

• The valley of deep darkness and gloom is flooded with light and hope, for the Son of Righteousness illumines the path of all Who have become sons of light.

• We were born dead in trespasses and sins, at enmity with God and without hope in the world; and the soul that sins shall die, for the wages of sin is death.

• How foolish, therefore, to go against God's will for our lives, in order to hold on to the fading things of this fleeting world system that are to transitory in nature, rather than doing God's will by holding fast to the truth of His Word and looking for our blessed hope and life everlasting. 

• This does not mean he must have the gift of 'pastor-teacher', but that he is a good communicator to those in his charge and is able to provide biblical answers for the hope he has in Christ.
• And may we study to show ourselves approved unto God, be willing to share the good news of the gospel of Christ with others, and be ready and able to give a biblical answer to anyone who asks us about the hope we have in Christ.

• Jesus is the well-spring of Life and the Light that has come into the world to give hope to all who will trust on His name for salvation, and His invitation to 'COME' is for whosoever will.

• He is speaking of a time in Israel's future history, when all hope seems to have evaporated.
• He is prophesying of the time that Christ is about to return to earth, for Zechariah is delivering a message of great hope to God's people, as well as a warning... for he says, THEN the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.  And today we are seeing things being set up for the coming Day of the Lord.
• Having gone through terrible times of trouble and great tribulation, and despite seeing their Holy City captured, it's wealth taken, it's people enslaved, and the rebuilt temple of God desecrated by the man-of-sin, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship - Zechariah gives God's people a wonderful message of hope.
• Amidst all the wrath of God being poured out on the Godless people who refuse to believe - this prophet of doom delivers a message of hope.

• And as we go through life, we are even called to rejoice in our adversities, knowing that adversity and suffering works endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

• He is our Good Shepherd and our Blessed Hope.

• Part of the message Isaiah proclaimed to Israel was one of sin and judgement, which was fulfilled at Christ's first coming, but another part was a message of hope and restoration which will be played out on the world stage at His second advent.

• The unnamed author of Psalm 43, can be identified as a man who discovered that the antidote to discouragement and despair is hope in the Lord.

• He will restore Israel's hope in God's promises and reignite faith in their Messiah.

• However, there is no hope for those who deny the Son of God, in Whom are the redeeming words of eternal life and hope.

• He reminds us that there is one Body of believers (the Body of Christ), one Holy Spirit Who indwells and seals each believer, one hope of our calling which is reserved for us in heaven, and one Lord, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

• The prayers and praises of the aged believer who has walked with the Lord throughout his days and trusts in the Lord with childlike faith, is a source of encouragement and hope for all who are blessed to be in their company and for generations to come.

• We are to place our hope in Him completely and trust Him to direct our path and lead us along the road of righteousness.

• But because of Adam's sin, every man is born into this physical world spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, at enmity with God, facing eternal separation from his Creator, and without hope in the world.

• From the glories of the gospel of grace flow love, joy, peace, hope, and salvation.
• Grace and truth came to us through the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the transforming light that streams into the inner recesses of man's bitter soul, bringing new life and new hope and new joy into the inner recesses of man's spirit.

• This is a hymn of hope - not only for the people of Israel and the nations of the world, but also for the Church of God.

• Now faith is a well-grounded and sure assurance of that for which we hope for, in Christ.

• Christ's response to His fearful followers was instantaneous and designed to fill their hearts with hope, for He called out to them saying, Be of good cheer!

• Paul's passion was to reinforce the good news of the gospel with clarity and remind us that as part of God's new creation, we are aliens in a foreign land; living in deteriorating earthen vessels with a heavenly hope.
• In this verse, he made it clear that he was ready and willing to undergo all kinds of suffering, sadness, difficulties, and dangers, for the certain hope we have in our glorious resurrection from the dead; when this mortal will put on immortality and this perishable body, that is progressively decaying and wasting away, will put on the imperishable.

• Every other good thing that pertains to spiritual life; eternal life, eternal love, eternal hope, eternal joy, eternal peace, eternal prosperity, and eternal grace, is also given.

• They have submitted to a yoke of slavery rather than cherishing our freedom in Christ, and rejoicing in the hope of our salvation.

• The message of the gospel is one of hope and joy, but it does not come without great adversity and many pressures.
• Yet the Thessalonian Christians were ready and willing to receive and follow the teachings of Paul with joy and hope in their heart.
• The fact that these believers displayed the work of faith, labour of love, steadfast hope in the Lord, and joy in the Holy Spirit, despite the many tribulations they underwent, is something we should seek to emulate.
• We are to be joyful in hope, patient in tribulation, and persistent in prayer.

• Many witnessed the angelic messengers of hope that were sent to the empty tomb, and early Church-age saints were also aware the Lord sent an angel to bring Peter out of the Roman prison.

• He reminds us that in Him we have been born again to a living hope and have an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.
• But since we have been partakers of the goodness of God, and since we have been born into a living hope in Christ Jesus, we are called to earnestly desire the milk of the Word, to guard against the lust of the flesh, and to flee from selfish pride and a carnal life-style.

• And only in and through Jesus are we able to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endures all things.

• The one who is plagued with leprosy is diseased and dying, cursed and incurable, ostracised and an outcast, wretched and miserable, and without hope in the world.

• The hope that was placed into the hearts of the disciples on that wondrous ascension morn, kept the expectation of their Lord’s return alive in His disciples' hearts for the rest of their difficult lives.
• We do not know how many days will pass before the Church will be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, as Paul foretold. But we know that these things will happen, and that same hope that the disciples had is kept alive in our hearts.
• Let us keep watching with eager anticipation: Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

• But nothing should come as a surprise to those that trust in God and are looking for the blessed hope - the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

• We are told that there are three things that will last forever: faith, hope, and love - but the greatest of these is LOVE. 

• Is not your fear of God your confidence, was his sharp accusation, And haven't you based your hope on your own integrity?  he asked.

• But should we not first examine our own Christian walk and consider where we have placed our trust and on whom we have anchored our hope?
• Do we place our hope in our personal abilities, the achievements of man, the works of the flesh, or ungodly alliances?
• OR, do we trust in the Lord our God with all our heart and place our hope in His unfailing love and promised provision?

• The child of God is to have an eternal perspective, and the hope of a reward laid up for us in heaven should be a far greater incentive for us to live a life that is pleasing to the Father than the accumulation of things that will soon pass away in this world.

• Although David made many foolish mistakes during his lifetime, his desire was toward the Lord and his heart was centred on God, for his hope was in Him alone.

• Simeon was a righteous man who had been promised by God that he would not die before he had seen with his own eyes the promised Hope of Israel, the appointed Messiah Who would save His people from their sin.
• But Simeon kept his heart comforted and his hope in God alive by looking, day by day, for the consolation of Israel and comforting his heart knowing that he would not die before he had seen the Saviour.
• Simeon was a righteous man who had been promised by God that he would not die before he had seen the promised Hope of Israel, and his faith in God's Word was not disappointed.

• We are the household of God and we have a living hope, because an innocent Substitute was judged in our place and suffered God's wrath in our stead.

• It is when we stray from the path of trusting God by putting our hope in an alternative provision like our own flawed, human wisdom or our own accumulated wealth, that we find ourselves on a slippery slope into the proud, pagan mindset that excludes God from our thinking and places our feet on the quicksand of this fallen world system.
• We should maintain our hope in the Lord Who made heaven and earth, and be content with our lot.
• He writes: Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
• He knew that a mindset that fixed its hope on the uncertainty of this world's riches would cease to be that of a man that maintains his trust in God's provision.
• We should place neither trust in our own sufficiency nor fix our hope on that which is fading away, but maintain faith in the Word of the Lord which reminds us that our hope in today’s provision is from His gracious hand, and that our secure hope for the future comes from Jesus Christ alone.

• It is the Holy Spirit of God that imparts life into the dead spirit of man - and it is that same Spirit of life that broods over the child of God and breathes hope into the heart and life of those that trust His name.
• No wonder David was able to rejoice that those who look for the Lord are filled with joyful hope.

• He was crucified on a cruel cross to make purification for the sins of the whole world so that whosoever will may come to Him for everlasting life, everlasting light, everlasting hope, everlasting peace, everlasting joy, everlasting salvation.

• The first thing to note is that scoffers will rise up to ridicule the blessed hope that we have in Christ when He returns in the clouds to take us to be with Himself.

• He was the Blessed Hope, Who came to redeem mankind from the tyranny of sin.
• He is the King of Peace Who is coming to smash and crush forever, the corrupt kingdoms of this world system, and restore righteousness and hope to a world that is drowning in sin.

• How blessed are those that are born again in Christ in this dispensation of grace, for we are also chosen as His own inheritance - we too identify as sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ.Jesus is not only the great Sustainer of nature and the generous God of providence, but He is our peace and hope, love and joy, and He is our Comforter, Defender – our Saviour and Friend.

• He wanted them to share in the hope we have in Christ and experience the great freedoms we enjoy by faith in Him.

• He gave one, single, unified message of hope through the prophets of Israel.
• As great world kingdoms rose to power and declined into obscurity, one single, integrated, supernaturally inspired message of hope was conveyed to humanity through the chosen prophets of God's ancient people, Israel, for long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.

• As children of the light, let us not only walk in the light of His love, but be used as His channels of blessing and hope to others knowing that: To all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.

• He gave thanks for the good news of their eternal salvation and rejoiced over their work of faith, their labour of love, and the steadfast hope they had in Christ.

• The God of Hope - Oh what a glorious title and beautiful theme for the triune God Who, in singleness of purpose, is pledged to fill us with all joy, peace, love, and hope, when we simply trust in the pure gospel of the Son of His love.
• The glorious hope we have in Him is for bond and free, male and female, old and young, rich and poor.There is no one excluded from this glorious promise which already is 'yes' and 'amen' in Christ, according to His riches in mercy... and it encompasses plenteous redemption and abundance of life in the eternal ages to come.
• It is God, Himself, that has promised to fill us to the brim with a great abundance of spiritual blessings – for the joy of the Lord is our strength, the peace of God is our shield and buckler, and the fellowship of the saints is our precious portion, as our hope overflows in and through Him.All His promises, whether past, present, or future, are secured in His unchanging character and unchangeable Word, for He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
• Not only do we have an assurance of the eternal, heavenly glory that is to come – but His promises include this present age, which means that our entire life is secure in His keeping.We are safe in the arms of Jesus and nothing can separate us from our glorious God of Hope – neither the various trials of this present life nor the bitter circumstance we all have to face.
• Neither the ravages of the old sin nature nor the temptations of the enemy who seeks our destruction, can separate us from the love of God or remove the hope that is ours, in Christ Jesus our Lord.Paul’s dear desire for the Body of Christ is translated into the most beautiful, intercessory prayer: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Paul's prayer is that we all may overflow and abound with that blessed hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Such a prayer can only be accomplished through the supernatural work of the indwelling Holy Spirit within the heart and life of a spiritual man or woman.
• We have the overflowing and unfathomable peace of God within and the glorious hope that is ours in Christ, because of all He is to us, all He has done for us, all He is doing for us as we journey through life, and all that He has promised to us in the days to come.
• Oh, what a glorious privilege it is to have our hope in God.
• May we be motivated to enlarge our perspective of our glorious God of Hope and fix our hope on Him Who has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Rather, let us consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession and let us hold fast our confidence in Christ and the boast of our hope in His truth.

• Godly living which results in blessings from above, contentment within, and hope for the future, stands in stark contrast to the practice of ungodliness and compromise - which produces the fruit of sorrow and destruction and ends in a man's ruin and death.

• Following the deaths of both her husband and her two sons, Naomi found herself in a distressing situation; a widow in a foreign land with no means of support, separated from kith and kin, and without hope in the world.

• To suffer at the hands of an enemy and yet to unfailingly bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things, and to confer blessings on their heads of those that despitefully use us or threaten us, can never be achieved by a person that is not in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit of God... and is in a right relationship with the Father.

• Christ is our blessed Hope, and we have been told in both the Old and New Testaments of our hope of eternal life by faith; an expectant and excited hope; a confident and a sure hope; a certain and an unwavering hope in the never-failing Word of God which He promised long ago by His holy prophets.
• Our hope in Christ is not only a future expectation, but it is already our present possession, for when we were saved by grace through faith in Christ, we were made children of God, citizens of heaven, heirs of the grace, and joint-heirs with Christ.
• And Paul in his opening words to Titus, reiterates the sure hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago to all who trust in Christ for salvation.

• Christians have the most wonderful and blessed hope.
• It is a hope that is based on scriptural facts, and the Word of God can never be broken.
• It is a future hope that is linked to the past, and a hope that starts and ends with the Lord Jesus Christ.Paul was one of many hundreds who were eye-witnesses of the risen Lord Jesus, but Paul was also unique in the encounter that He had with Jesus of Nazareth, for Paul saw the risen Lord Jesus was in His resurrected, ascended, and glorified body.
• No surprise that the blessed hope that we all have in Christ is the most wonderful assurance which was given to us at our rebirth and is established by the Word of God, with an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.It reminds us that because Christ is risen from the dead, we too shall rise.

• Time is short and those who do not know the Lord would do well to seek Him with all their heart - while those who know the Lord should become increasingly active in sharing the gospel of salvation with all who are lost in their sins and without hope in the world.

• He gave the sort of answer any one of us would hope to give, if placed in a similar situation, and yet we read only a few verses earlier that he had made a political alliance with Egypt when he married Pharaoh's daughter, an ungodly union which was expressly forbidden in the law of Moses.

• It is right and proper that we joyfully sing the old songs that tell out His miraculous conception and birth, His Word of truth that has rejoiced our soul, His sacrificial death, glorious Resurrection, spectacular Ascension, and the blessed hope we have in His soon return.

• As he neared the end of his second epistle, Peter expressed his deep desire that believers maintain their hope in the Lord's return, and pay heed to the signs of the times in which they live - signs which would indicate the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

• The Old Testament has many other examples of shadows and types - all of which point to one or another aspect of Christ and His sacrificial death, glorious Resurrection, and eternal reign as God of gods, King of kings, Lord of lords - and Hope of all the ends of the earth.

• He is the reviving Light Who alone gives life and hope and peace and love.

• Paul does not give us any clue as to what specific myths he was referring, but any fabricated fable, superstitions speculation, or imagination of the heart, is very detrimental to a Christian's spiritual growth, contradictory to biblical truth, and an obstacle to one's hope in the Lord.

• He lists many of the privileges that are ours in Him which include peace with God, access to the Father, His abundant grace, and the exultant hope we have in Christ.

• We have a blessed hope in Christ and a promise of eternal reward and our eyes should be fixed on Jesus.

• May we be ready to share it with the lost, to study it day by day to show ourselves approved unto God, to grow in grace and in a knowledge of Christ, to be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Him, and to look for the any day return of Jesus to take us to be with Himself.

• When he received this distressing news, he did not give up hope or 'throw in the towel'.
• We have the choice to lose hope, compromise the truth, and 'throw in the towel' OR we can grieve about our sin and the sin within the Church and repent of the apostasy into which we have fallen.

• For our hope comes from Him, alone.
• Let us read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the truth that is enfolded in the embrace of these words of wisdom that have been sent to us directly from our Father's throne in heaven: Rest in God alone, my soul - for my hope comes from Him.

• Paul touches briefly on numerous qualities and characteristics that should be the hallmark of a child of God who is walking in spirit and truth, encouraging us to be kindly affectionate to each other; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, diligent in prayer, and given to hospitality.

• Yes, Uzziah had to be removed from the scene so that the only holy One of Israel, in Whom our hope should always rest, would be seen as the only One to Whom we must always turn to in times of trouble.

• Throughout history, believers have been persecuted by those of the world because their hope and values are rooted in Christ and truth, love, and grace.

• We were born into this world as a slave to sin, and until we were saved by grace through faith in Christ, our life was governed by our fallen nature; a sin nature which was at enmity with God and without hope in the world.
• We were formally dead in our sins, at enmity with God, and without hope in the world, but since we are now alive by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit to His praise and glory.

• The armies of heaven were at His disposal, but He could never respond to the jeering crowd that taunted, If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and save Yourself, for to do so would have shut the door to paradise for everyone and slammed closed the gates of heaven forever, with no hope for mankind in the world.The mocking hatred of the crowds, the spurious lies of the leaders, the twisted testimony of the false witnesses, and the foul deeds of the Roman soldiers, were amplified with the reviling sneers of the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus, until one was deeply convicted and recognised the King that was staked at his side.

• We are all at enmity with God and without hope in the world.

• He had come to bring good tidings to the meek, hope to the poor, salvation to the afflicted, liberty for those that were bound by chains of sin, and freedom to those that were enslaved by Satan. Jesus had come to bind up the brokenhearted, comfort those that were afflicted, proclaim physical and spiritual liberty to the captives, and to free those who were imprisoned by Satan.

• What a glorious hope!
• And everyone who has this hope fixed on Christ purifies himself, just as the Lord Jesus is pure. 
• As children of the Father and joint-heirs with Christ, we have become children of light and have a glorious hope that is founded and fixed on Jesus, Himself.
• He is the Hope of our calling for He has clothed us in His own righteousness and secured for us a heavenly inheritance!
• What amazing love has been bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God, and what an amazing hope we have in Christ: Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.He is, indeed, the hope of our calling and He is our blessed hope, for there is laid up for all His children a heavenly heritage.
• Jesus is our blessed hope.
• Indeed, Jesus is the hope of all the ends of the earth, but those of us who walk in spirit and truth and have our hope fixed on Him are purified – in the same way that He is pure.
• The only way we fallen sinners can purify ourselves and be declared righteous, is to fix our hope on Christ by faith in His finished work on our behalf.
• And when our hope is in Him, and by faith we have trusted Him as our Saviour, we become increasingly like Him through the power of the Holy Spirit.Like the Lord Jesus, we too are despised by this pagan world system and increasingly have become targets of ridicule and ill-treatment by a world which does not understand what manner of love the Father has towards you and me... who by faith in Christ have become His children and been made joint-heirs with Christ.
• Let us hold firmly to this sure hope that is set before us, looking to Jesus - the Author and Finisher of our faith, knowing that those of us who have fixed our hope upon Him, purify ourselves just as Jesus is pure.

• We are to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things for Christ's sake, and by God’s grace we are to bind our hearts together in love with our brothers and sisters in Christ, for the honour and glory of our Lord, for He is the only Sovereign God.

• Throughout Israel's history, there has always been a faithful remnant who stood firm on the Word of God and trusted His plan of salvation, and from chapter 40, we discover words of comfort and droplets of hope.
• The One Who came to save them would be sent as a Lamb to the slaughter and would stand dumb before His accusers, but despite this necessary chastening, these comforting words promised that God's people would one day enjoy pardon and peace, deliverance and prosperity, revival and restoration, and a glorious future hope.

• Just before being stoned to death for his faith in Christ, Stephen (a beloved disciple of the Lord Jesus, who was full of grace, truth, faith, hope, power, wisdom, and filled with the Holy Ghost), was falsely accused by various groups of religious legalists of sedition and blasphemy, and hauled before the Jewish court; the Sanhedrin.

• The entire nation of Israel had to be punished as this was one of His covenant conditions, but there is a wonderful hope for the faithful remnant who hold fast to His Word and trust His plan.

• Praise God that we can live in hope and joy, knowing that our righteousness comes not from meritorious works we do, or works of the Law we keep, but from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• While all our sins, past, present, and future, were forgiven the moment we trusted Christ for salvation, we need to confess any post-salvation sin to our Heavenly Father in order to be returned into fellowship with Him - for sin is the cause of broken fellowship.God is love and peace and hope and joy – and God is purest light.
• When a sinner who has been saved by grace, chooses to live in the light in the same way that God is in the light, he has made a wise decision, for he will not only enjoy blessed fellowship with His Christian brothers and sisters who are also living in God’s light, but will enjoy unbroken fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, and sweet communion with the great Father of light and life and hope and love.

• Love is manifest in practical righteousness and is closely linked with truth and hope, life and light.
• Love, hope, obedience, and truth are the Christlike characteristics that identify us as God's children.

• We have already put on the breastplate of faith and love by trusting Christ as Saviour, and as a helmet to protect our thoughts and mind, we have the hope of salvation.
• Faith, Love, and Hope are three of the most important elements that are ours in Christ.
• Faith in our Heavenly Father and love for His beloved Son is our eternal protection, both inwardly and outwardly, while the blessed hope we have in our salvation will guard our minds from the wiles of the evil one who would seek to flood us with fear, ship-wreck our mission and ministry, and destroy our testimony, through worry of what is coming on the world.

• He exhorted them to honour the Lord their God and put the hope and trust in His unfailing resources, while outlining the serious consequences of continuing in sin and rebelling against their God and King.
• And as with other prophetic books, we discover that the promises God made to Israel through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David will never fail, giving hope that despite their widespread apostasy, there is a remnant of Israel that will one day receive all that God has promised for He is the Lord Who changes not and Whose promises stand fast for ever and ever.

• Only Christ's resurrected LIFE is able to keep us, for the life that I now live in this body is not my life, but Christ's life in me; it is Christ in me, the hope of glory; it is Christ's life within, working the work of God within my mortal body.

• But Scripture always encourages such parents to hope in the Lord, to pray for their repentance, and to look for the day when the prodigal returns to the fold with a penitent heart and a cry for forgiveness, for it is not God's will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

• Right in the centre of Jeremiah, is a passage which prophesies of peace, prosperity, comfort, and hope for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
• National restoration, universal redemption, and the spiritual healing of both the northern and southern kingdoms are the key elements, while echoes of God's judgement on the wicked precede and follow this message of hope for Israel.
• I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know, was a little message of hope, hidden in the middle of his prophetic writings.
• Right in the middle of his prayer, the Lord told his servant that following the destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion of His people, due to their sin, there was HOPE because He purposed in His heart to gather his scattered nation and bless them mightily.

• And so, Nehemiah records God's hand in elements of their past history, to build up their enthusiasm for the present and the future, and to revitalise their hope in the Lord.
• May we hold fast to the truth and be ready and able to give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ, for His name's sake. 

• After the pre-eminence and superiority of Christ has been systematically laid out, the reader's focus is drawn to the future and we are exhorted to hope in the Lord and be submissive to God's chastening in our lives, for the Lord corrects and disciplines those He loves so that we will grow in grace and become increasingly like our Lord and Saviour - for we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.

• May we never lose the awe and wonderment of the Treasure we have in these earthen vessels and may we look with equal anticipation for the return of Christ for His Church - our Blessed Hope and glorious Bridegroom.

• The mystery that was revealed to Paul and other New Testament apostles was: Christ in you the hope of glory.

• The Lord promised that He would never leave them nor forsake them. Do not be afraid or discouraged, was the word of hope that was given to Israel as they prepared to pass over the Jordan, and it is a promise that is equally valid for the body of Christ, in this Church dispensation.

• However, there are a number of warnings designed to prevent the spiritual believer from suffering the loss of reward, by reverting into a carnal Christianity or legalistic practices, and here we are warned: We are the Household of God, if we hold fast our confidence and the rejoicing of our hope, firm until the end.

• They reject God's gracious gift of salvation through faith in Christ, and they pour scorn on the Christian's hope in Christ’s return and the coming judgement of God on His fallen creation: What happened to the Messiah's promise to return?

• He further details our complete and unconditional acceptance by God because we are positioned in Christ by faith, and he rejoices in the hope of our calling, the riches of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power towards us which is manifest in the salvation of Jew and Gentile together in one new Man.

• And did these Greeks hope to elevate Jesus as a wise and knowledgeable teacher and a learned philosopher?
• Had Christ been crowned as the Jewish Messiah and hailed as their conquering hero before dying on the Cross, OR had He been elevated to the heights of a world-renowned philosophical thinker in Gentile regions, He would have remained alone and we would continue to be dead in our sin and without hope in the world.

• Paul exhorts us to press on - looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ: Who will change our fallen, dying body, into a glorious, eternal, immortal, resurrected, body..

• Paul used his own distressing circumstances as a testimony that God is able and willing to bring beauty out of our own brokenness so that hope will blossom in our personal helplessness.
• When we trust His Word and hold fast to His precious promises, God in His grace is prepared to replace our personal despair and deep discouragements with a bright hope of glory and an inner joy that surpasses understanding.

• He came to fulfil the righteous requirement of God's Law so that we would not remain under condemnation but be raised up into newness of eternal life.It is with a heart of humility, a spirit of purity, an unblemished conscience, and in full assurance of our hope in Christ, that we have confidence in this glorious invitation to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.We have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God Who was slain from the foundation of the world.

• Similarly, the mandatory Trespass Offering pictured Christ enduring the Cross so that we, who are dead in sin and without hope in the world, can be fully restored, by faith in Him.

• Paul spoke of many mysteries, including, 'The Mystery of Christ and the Church', 'The Mystery of the Gospel', 'The Mystery of Godliness', 'The Mystery of the Rapture', 'The Mystery of the Kingdom' and 'The Mystery of Christ in you the Hope of Glory'.

• But when our thoughts fly to the stability and grace of our Father in heaven; when we meditate upon His faithfulness, contemplate His wonderful grace, and reflect upon His Word of truth, we discover that our heart is resting on the sure foundation of peace and hope.We can keep our thoughts secret from other men, for no one can truly know the inner reflections of our mind, but the Lord looks on the heart and the Lord knows the thoughts that pass through our minds, both good and evil.

• But the glorious truth in this verse is that we have hope in Christ, for the same Spirit which raised Him from the dead will also raise us up; spirit, soul, and body.

• Peter begins his first epistle with a most glorious doxology, praising God and exalting His holy name: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he writes Who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And his wonder, excitement, and joy in the Lord is not diminished at the end of his letter, for we find him continuing to rejoice in the God of his salvation and lifting up the name of the Lord: To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
• In his first epistle, Peter reminds every believer that in Christ we have a living hope and a sure salvation.

• The shed blood of Christ as the redemptive price for the forgiveness of sin and His glorious Resurrection from the dead with its promise of eternal life and our blessed hope in Christ's soon return, is our glorious hope and our sufficient strength, for it is the power of GOD and the wisdom of GOD.

• Although we have no tangible evidence of our future hope, nevertheless we accept it by faith because God has spoken in His Word, and God is faithful to His Word for God has even set His Word above His holy name.

• During these times, the prophetic voices of warning often provided incredible comfort, and Jeremiah 34-36 contains some wonderful messages of consolation and hope for a future restoration of the united kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

• Paul was chosen to teach the Word of truth to sinners who were dead in their trespasses and sins; men and women who were without hope in the world.

• When a man or woman does not realise that they are lost and without hope in the world, they falsely consider that they can merit eternal life by good deeds or works of the Law.

• I wonder if Rahab's heart faltered as she waited with hope.
• Should we not be willing exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope?
• And hope in Christ NEVER disappoints.

• He was born into this fallen race so that the saving light of His truth and love could shine into the recesses of man's blackened heart and rekindle a spark of hope in the soul of men - so that whosoever believes on Him by grace through faith, would be removed from the kingdom of darkness, and placed into the brightness of God's eternal kingdom of light.

• The Colossian Christians exemplified a little group of believers who were walking in spirit and truth and who had brought forth the spiritual fruit of faith, hope, and love in abundance, and Paul rejoiced to hear that individually and collectively they were growing in grace and in a knowledge of their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
• Further, we discover that they rejoiced with a deep-seated hope, knowing the joy that was stored up for them in heaven, all of which was evidence of their devotion to the Lord and to one another.
• Their hope was built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection.
• Their day by day hope in God was secured to the Rock of their salvation and His faithfulness to complete the good work that He had started in each of their lives.
• But they also knew that their future hope of their glorious inheritance had already been secured for them in heaven and rested on the promises of God's unchanging Word.

• He had kept alive a living flame of hope in his heart, as he looked, each day, for the consolation of Israel.

• May we come to a deeper awareness of the beautiful attributes of our glorious God, for He is the only source of grace and truth, mercy and love, peace and hope, salvation for the soul, and life eternal. 

• But for those with ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart that is ready to understand, he gives us some of the most beautiful descriptions of the coming Messiah and the eternal hope we have in Him.

• God's wonderful plan of redemption and His amazing mercy and grace, beautifully unfolds within the pages of Scripture and streams through God's Word like a golden thread of hope; a scarlet stream of life-giving blood.
• It was through Shem that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel were born - and JESUS, the Hope of ALL nations and Saviour of the world, was Shem's descendant.

• Let us continue to sound the alarm of God's approaching judgement to those that are lost in their sin and blinded to the truth, and pray that in His wrath God will graciously remember mercy, knowing that the day is coming when those that have rejected His offer of salvation and free gift of eternal life, will have to stand before His Great White Throne of terrible judgement and have to face an eternity without God and without hope.

• How we should read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God, for it is life and health, it is peace and light, it is joy and hope.

• We who were separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise... having no hope and without God in the world, have been brought near and are beloved of the Father.

• Too often we do not fully access the hope of His calling, which are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints - in US!  Too often we do not access the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

• Finally, Paul reaches the climax of this encouraging epistle: So that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Has this really sunk into our heads?

• The spiritual fruit of the believer who shares the truth of the gospel with others and points souls to Christ, brings life and truth and hope and salvation to the lost, while in Chapter 15 we find: A wholesome tongue is a Tree of Life, while perversity is a breach in the spirit. Both verses point to Christ as Word of truth, the Nourisher and Sustainer of the soul, for in Him is Life, and He is the wisdom of God and the power of God, for all who believe.
• And here in Chapter 13, we read: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a Tree of Life.
• Without Christ there is no hope for the sinner, who is dead in sin.
• Jesus is the hope of all nations, the joy of the whole earth, and the only Saviour of mankind.
• When He comes into the heart of a sinner saved by grace, that man or woman is transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, for He is that blessed Hope.
• Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord our God.
• He is the true Vine in Whom is life eternal; He is the Bread of life; He is the living water, the Rock of our salvation, and the Hope of all the ends of the earth.

• I will hope in God, whose word I praise.
• I will hope in the Lord, in Whom I have put my trust.

• Paul's message of hope is an encouragement to all believers, but it was part of his defence against the unfounded accusations of false teachers who had set themselves up as superior saints, while denouncing Paul's teachings and accusing him of lacking integrity, because he altered his plans and failed to visit Corinth as expected!

• Israel rebelled against God's truth and treated His faithful servant abominably, but Jeremiah found hope and comfort in God's Word and was able to say amidst severe persecution and trial: Your words were found and I did eat them.

• There is much in chapter 31 that gave great hope and encouragement to the little remnant of faithful Israel, but right in the middle of the chapter, Jeremiah contrasts the shocking time when Judah's sister nation, the house of Israel, was brutally taken into captivity by the savage Assyrians: Thus says the Lord, a voice is heard in Ramah.
• Just as the women of Ramah were surrounded by promises of hope from the Lord, so too the women of Bethlehem were surrounded by the Hope of all Nations, Jesus Christ – the incarnate Word, Whom the wicked king Herod sought to destroy.
• We will all have times of weeping and bitter mourning – but we have a hope in Christ and a promise that JOY will come in the morning.
• He is the One that is coming to rule over the nations and right all wrongs and in Him shall the nations hope, for Christ is the Hope of ALL those who put their trust in Him. 

• In 2 Timothy 5, Paul provides insight into the circumstances that identify a widow in need and gives the distinctive characteristics that can be found in widows who are genuinely deserving, Now she who is a widow indeed, and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.
• But he also identified a necessary character trait in such women, She has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.
• She is a godly woman who has placed her hope in God, and devotes herself to petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving night and day.
• Whether we are in the flush of youth or in the twilight years of our life, may we determine to take to heart the instructions Paul gave to Timothy, and may we cheerfully and diligently seek to develop the godly character of the widow who has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.

• In laying out man's desperate need of salvation, Paul is able to start the next section which gives hope to all... for though the wages of sin is death, nevertheless, the gift of God is eternal life THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.

• Paul always kept the believers at Thessalonica in his prayers because he was well-aware of their work of faith, their labour of love, and their patience in hope.

• Before we were born again into the family of God, we were without Christ, without a heavenly citizenship, without a covenant relationship, without God's promises, without access to the throne of grace, and without hope in the world.

• Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  And this same assurance is given to all God's children who are seeking to serve the Lord of Peace, as we live in a world at war and a world without hope.
• Jesus promised to give us the peace of God to guard our hearts - a peace that brings comfort and rest, refreshment, and hope - a perfect inner peace that transcends humanity's comprehension - both now and forevermore.

• His plans and purposes give us hope: an assured hope; a glorious hope; a blessed hope in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• It is the Bible, the Word of the Lord, which encourages us to hope in Him, and provides the only means to salvation.
• It is Scripture that gives us the encouragement to press on for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus our Lord so that through patient endurance we might have hope in Him, for Jesus is our blessed Hope; Jesus is our only hope for today and for the future.
• It is Jesus upon Whom our hope is founded, and God's precious promises are all 'yes' and 'amen' in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• How important to read, mark, learn, inwardly digest, and rightly divide the Word of truth, for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction and our encouragement so that we might have a hope in the Lord.
• We have a hope that is founded on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His perfect righteousness, praise His holy name.

• Paul spoke of the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations, but now known to us: Which is Christ in you the hope of glory, and he laboured unceasingly to maintain the pure message of the gospel of grace and to instruct believers in godly living.
• Paul knew that we could only respond to that little word 'IF' in a positive manner, for ALL believers have found encouragement in Christ, ALL have known the consolation of God's love, ALL have benefitted from the fellowship of the Spirit which is in Christ Jesus, and ALL have access to God's grace and mercy, His affection and love, and the compassion, joy, and hope which we share in our heavenly Bridegroom.

• In chapter 11 he describes Israel's future hope, and reaffirms the plans that God will one day carry out through His people Israel.

• Among His many ministries in the lives of Church age believers, the Holy Spirit gives comfort to His people just as Christ gave comfort to the disciples, for He is the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of hope.

• Throughout His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus was ready and willing to say, Thy Will, not Mine be done. He was able to trust the Lord with every circumstance of His life, for His undivided hope was in God.

• However, Paul goes on to reveal the glorious hope of salvation for all who believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• We have been given the blessed hope of His imminent return, and we are to establish it anew in our hearts, every moment of every day.  Throughout our Christian life, our focus should always be on Christ, but as the time for His return draws ever closer we are exhorted to WAKE UP, from our spiritual sleep, and remember that our salvation... i.e.

• Just as David found himself to be spiritually parched and in need of direction, so saints down through centuries of time, have turned to these words to bring solace, sympathy, healing, and hope in this broken world system.

• Our hope is in heaven, and our treasure is in heaven.

• They are to point us to God as our sole Provider and Healer, the Rock of our salvation and the Hope of all the ends of the earth.

• In a few, short, crisp verses, Paul sums up all that is necessary to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and in verse 12, we are encouraged to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
• To rejoice in hope is to have that unfaltering assurance in God's Word as fact, knowing that our hope of glory is secured for us in heavenly places for the eternal ages to come, simply because God's Word is true and cannot be broken.
• Our hope is built on nothing less than trusting in the Cross of Christ and taking God at His Word.

• May we be ready and willing to preach the Word boldly, speak the truth in love, and be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ.

• How vital that our hope does not stand on the wisdom of men.

• God sent a message of hope to Israel despite their persistent unbelief and blasphemous idolatry: The Lord Himself would give them a sign, which would authenticate the arrival of His anointed Saviour, the Seed of the woman, the Messiah of Israel, and royal descendent of the great king David.

• We are to set our hope completely on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
• And we are to anchor our hope on this glorious truth.
• We are to rest securely on the hope of Christ promise to return for His own.

• The book of Revelation gives great hope and encouragement to the believer.

• When Paul instructs Timothy to: Honor widows who are widows indeed, he gives a very concise description of someone who would fall into this category: She who is a widow indeed, is one who has been left all alone with no family, but has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.
• These widows are no doubt women of meager means who could be looked upon by some with careless disdain, but Paul makes it clear that such ladies are to be honoured in the Church community because their trust and hope is in the Lord. 

• The peace we have WITH God through faith in Christ; the blessed hope we have in Jesus, when He comes to take us to be with Himself at the rapture; and the incomprehensible peace OF God that governs our hearts, when our minds are focussed on Him, will be unavailable to those who enter the great and terrible Day-of-the-Lord.

• Approaching God's throne of grace, for mercy for help in time of need, should not be a last hope when all else has failed - but should be our first delight and dear desire.

• Like David, we must secure our undivided confidence in the Lord our God, for He alone is the foundation upon which our hope is established, our source of supply, our fountain of grace, and from Him alone flow rivers of living water.

• He had come to save guilty sinners from their sins and to give them a measure of faith, a blessed hope, and a love that passes human understanding.

• We are called to trust His Word in all things, for His Word is life and health and peace and hope, for He alone has the words of eternal life.

• John was an eyewitness to the lovely life of Jesus Christ the righteous, and he saw and testified to the truth, that in Him was everlasting life, and love, and light, and hope.

• Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, and at the very end of his writings, just before 400 years of silent prophetic voices in Israel, we discover a tiny trace of blessing in his writings and a future hope for the little remnant of faithful Israel, while terrible judgement is the bitter chalice the wicked will have to drink:
• Healing and hope was promised to God's little remnant.

• Before the Cross, people were living under the Law and looking forward expectantly to the coming of their Messiah; the hope of all nations Who would save His people from their sin.

• May we be careful never to be swayed by the opinions of others, however influential they may appear, but remain true to our convictions, ready to give an answer for the hope we have in the glorious gospel of grace.

• The purpose of Christ's miraculous signs was to confirm that He was God's full and final message to humanity and man's only hope of salvation.

• It is in the concluding section that Malachi offers words of hope and encouragement.

• But in the midst of his mourning and great grief, John received the glorious words that must have ignited his soul (and ours) with hope and joy, for as we read in Proverbs: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, BUT when the promised desire comes, it is a Tree of Life.
• John and all of us who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ have a promised hope that can never fail, for Jesus (The Man Who is God and the God Who is Man) broke the power of Satan, sin, death, and hell, at the Cross, and although its final fulfilment is yet future, we can rejoice greatly knowing that the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and HE IS able to open the book.

• Often their hope was founded on a wealthy fortune, an esteemed lineage, one's position in society, and things like education, courage, academic debate, and physical fitness.

• And all who place their faith and hope in Him will never perish, but have life; His life; eternal life, and have it more abundantly.

• By the time the author has reached chapter 12, the need for faith rather than works has been clearly outlined and explained... and believers are exhorted to hope in Christ and to recognise that the terrors of the Law and the wrath of God, have been removed from all who believe, by faith, in the shed blood of Jesus Christ Who cleanses the heart and affords for us an eternal pardon from the God of the universe.

• Paul underlines the importance of asking the Lord to open our eyes to the things of the Lord, through the wisdom and revelation of the Holy Spirit and through the washing of water by the Word, when He writes: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. 

• It is the mystery of Christ and His Church which was given to us through Paul: Christ in you the hope of glory.

• Paul's detailed argument in support of Christ's Resurrection, and his clear description of what will take place when graves are opened, and the dead raised, engenders great hope and encouragement in the heart of every living soul.
• If Christ had not risen from the dead there could be no 'resurrection to Life Eternal', and everyone who ever lived would remain in their graves without hope in the world.

• It is through faith in Him we have access to God's amazing grace which enables us to stand fast in this evil day... and causes us to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
• In his enthusiasm to share the good news of the gospel of grace, Paul not only reminds us about justification by grace through faith and the hope that we have in Christ, but he adds, and not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance.
• Paul then explains that tribulation brings about perseverance - while perseverance develops a proven character - and godly character brings about hope.
• And our hope in the Lord will never, ever be disappointed because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who was given to us the moment we trusted Christ for salvation.

• Nevertheless, there is a message of hope and a promise of restoration in Jeremiah's challenging message to Judah.
• Only the one that rests in the Lord and trusts their lives into His hands, gaining their hope and strength from Him and placing their trust in God alone, is able to be like a well-watered tree that receives hope and strength from their Father in heaven.
• And there is a message of hope for all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour: that even when we are faithless He remains faithful, and that when we are weak and fail Him, He remains strong and His love and grace towards us is never changing.
• Blessed is the one whose confident hope is in the Lord, for he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of living water that extends its roots into His life-giving streams.
• That man or woman will not fear when problems and life's difficulties arise, but will hope in the Lord for strength and deliverance.

• He knew the importance of challenging false teachers, exposing false doctrines, contending for the faith, preaching the Word, and being ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ.

• And although we have this assurance: While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease, we also have an eternal hope, an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us in heaven.

• When we are clothed in Christ's righteousness, it is His dignified strength and His gracious love that shines through - (it is: Christ in you the hope of glory).
• May we be so immersed in Christ Jesus our Lord that we are thus enabled to glory in the God of our salvation and to rejoice in the bright hope for the future.

• We are instructed to preach or proclaim the truth of Scripture, for the Word is life and light, it is hope and it is peace, for we preach Christ crucified.

• While the Law gave some hope that one day, fallen mans relationship with God could be restored, the new and better system is an eternal administration that is designed to restore our relationship with our Father in heaven, bring us into His holy presence, and be declared righteous in His sight, through time and into eternity.
• Jesus is High Priest of an eternal priesthood; a royal priesthood that reconciles God to man: With the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
• The Bible could be described as a picture-book, where Christ is the focal point of every image on every page: Search the scriptures, He challenged the religious leaders, for they testify of ME. Scripture is the gradual revealing of the New Order, the New Creation in Christ, and the New and Better Covenant, with its limitless, eternal, and superior administration: For the Law made nothing perfect, but on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope, our hope in Christ, through Whom we draw near to God.

• Death is generally an approaching reality that most people try to defer for as long as possible, while those who wish to die, are too often overwhelmed by life's problems and pain, gripped by fear, immersed in depression, and weary of the cruelty and aggression with which they are surrounded, but Paul's desire to depart was the blessed hope of leaving this fallen world and going to be with Christ - forever.
• Let us like Paul, determine to fulfil the work that God has given us to do, while we look for that blessed hope, and watch with excited anticipation, for Christ's any-day appearance to take us to be with Himself.

• Jeremiah is a man that was well known for his desperate lamentations as his prophecies to Israel were utterly rebuffed by people and leaders alike, but throughout his life, we catch some amazing glimpses of hope.

• Having just told us the glories of our bodily resurrection and the Rapture of the Church (which is the believer's confident hope), and also having given us full assurance that we are not appointed to go through the coming period of Great Tribulation (when the wrath of God is poured out on a Christ rejecting sinful world, and Israel is restored to their God-appointed position of supremacy on earth), Paul gives us some wise instruction on how to live godly lives that are pleasing to the Lord, in this present world.

• Peter echoed these words of Paul when he said: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defence to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect.

• We are exhorted to fix our hope on God Who supplies all things lavishly for us to enjoy.
• God's plans for our prosperity are to give us a hope and future in His glorious, eternal presence.
• All believers should walk in humility of heart and rejoice that their name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, for everyone's earthly life, whether rich or poor, is as fleeting and temporal as the wayside flower or the grass of the field, but OUR hope is in Christ.

• He rejoices in our positional union in Christ and details the mystery of the Church, which had been hidden for ages and generations, but which the Lord permitted him to share with believers, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• Our parched soul has been revived and satisfied by the living water of life, which has become an inner spring of water, welling up into eternal life. Indeed, we know that we have a blessed hope and an eternal inheritance in Christ, that is kept for us in heaven.
• He has promised to be with us when life's many pressures and problems seem to blot out our hope, for I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you - cast ALL your cares on ME.

• We are to watch for our blessed hope with expectancy, and conduct ourselves with all wisdom.
• Eagerly expecting the Day of the Lord is not a vain, fingers-crossed type of hope, but a secure knowledge that God's Word will most certainly come to pass in the future.
• What a magnificent hope we have, and our hope in Christ is as certain today as it will be when it comes to pass in the not too distant future.

• He had heard of their genuine faith in the Lord, their deep love for one another, and their joyful hope in that which was laid-up for them in heaven.
• Paul's prayer was a prayer of thanks and rejoicing for their faith, hope, and love, and it was a request to their Heavenly Father that they might be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom, grace and spiritual understanding.

• They were uttered to the confused disciples as they approached their greatest time of trial and anxiety that was to shroud their lives for three days of deep dark agony of soul, as the One they loved and trusted was snatched from their sight and all hope of the coming kingdom Christ promised, evaporated like the mist of the morning.

• He came into the world as LIFE; to breathe 'new life' into the lifeless spirit of man that lay dead in trespasses and sins, and with no hope in the world.
• Only in Him is Hope, and Joy, and Life everlasting, for God the Father decreed that God the Son should come to shine the Light of God's Life and Love into the world so that all who believe on Him could be enlightened by the truth, reflect the light of His love, and be enlivened with His life, but He was rejected as a result of man's sin.
• Christ Jesus is that LIGHT that has been shining from eternity past, and it is only through Him that God's light, and life, and love, and hope, and joy, and peace will flow, for God has decreed that Christ is all in all.

• As we look back on our lives, we hope that others will remember the good things about us, and not bring up those times we would prefer to remain buried in the sea of forgetfulness.

• And in His grace, God has made us ministers of the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: For the letter kills and condemns, but the Spirit gives life and hope.
• It contains superior promises of grace, an inner change of the heart, unlimited blessings, sins forgiven, and an eternal hope laid up in heaven for all who would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ: our Prophet, Priest, and King.

• This body of believers is made up of a remnant of Jewish believers in Jesus Christ together with a multitude of Gentiles who were lost in their trespasses, dead in their sins, without God as their Father, and without hope in a fallen world.

• And so, by faith, Noah condemned the unbelieving world who mocked his message of hope and scorned his word of saving grace - and Noah was granted the righteousness that comes by faith.

• By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Micah tells how God Himself would once again gather his people from exile, emphasising a future hope for the nation and demonstrating the long-suffering grace of Israel's God and King.

• It also speaks of the promised regathering, restoration, and ultimate redemption of a remnant of righteous Israel, and despite the shocking proclamation that their King would one day be led as a lamb to the slaughter, Isaiah also trumpeted a message of hope for the righteous remnant who trusted God's Word and lived their life by faith.
• The faithfulness of Israel's remnant is likened to the breaking forth of the first rays of morning light rising from the blackness of night, heralding in the fast approaching warmth and hope that daylight brings.

• Paul is not simply laying out the hopelessness of man's destiny, but is listing this shocking truth, through these devastating statistics, as the foundational groundwork to give hope to the hopeless and eternal life to those that deserve eternal death.
• Paul is exposing the fallen nature of man so that He can announce the glorious hope we have in Christ and the amazing grace that God has shown towards us - in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so that we could have life.

• What a tremendous hope.

• He will lure many away from their only hope of salvation, which is through faith in the shed blood of Christ Jesus - the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.

• Jesus is the life in Whom we have our hope.

• 150 years earlier, Nineveh had repented of her sins and been spared God's bitter wrath when the prophet Jonah brought a message of hope from the Lord, calling them to turn from their wicked ways and trust in Him.
• But amid the destruction of the corrupt capital city of the arrogant Assyrian Empire, there are precious promises of hope and comfort, and assurance of respite and restoration for the remnant of God's people who receive a promise: The LORD is good.
• There is a reluctance in the churches of today to admit that our God of comfort, hope, joy, and love, is also a jealous God, Who avenges evil, judges the wicked, and destroys His enemies.

• This is the unshakable hope we have in Christ, that began the moment we believed; and is an everlasting assurance that continues forever throughout the eternity of eternities.
• What a glorious time awaits us, when our spirit and soul go to join the Lord in the heavenly realm, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord - Who died for us, so that whether we are awake, (still living on earth) or asleep, (physically dead and buried in the ground) we will live together with Him,- for we have an eternal hope in Christ and an inheritance - that is saved for us in heaven.

• Paul quoted David's exultant prophetic utterance from Psalm 16, which caused his heart to be glad, his tongue to rejoice, and his flesh to rest in hope: You will not leave my soul in Hades, or allow Your Holy One to see decay.

• Each one was a mouthpiece of God, who was calling out a message of repentance and hope in a desert place - in order to clear the way for the Lord and to straighten the highway for the God of Israel.

• Jesus Christ is the Anchor of our hope - and He alone is the fundamental Truth of the glorious gospel of God, for there is salvation in no one else.
• False Christs, false gospels, false hope, and false teaching comes from the father of lies.

• The hope upon which their faith was founded and their love expressed, was the mystery of Christ and the Church, which is His Body.
• This mystery was kept hidden in ages past but now has been made known to Jew and Gentile alike through the apostle Paul: Christ in you the hope of glory.
• This hope is not only reserved in heaven for these faithful, loving, Colossian believers, but for all who have heard and believed God's Word of truth; the gospel of the grace of God.
• Praise God that we have Christ, the hope of glory, in us.
• And praise God that we are eagerly awaiting His appearing: Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
• May our faith in Him overflow in love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing that our hope in Him is reserved for us in heaven, for this is God's message of truth to us all.

• When faith falters or hope is lost, it gives room for fear, but when God is in control, fear evaporates like the mist in the morning sun, as faith is exercised.
• We are to maintain trust and hope, accompanied by grateful thanks, even when surrounded by difficulties and danger.
• In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul tells us how we can be strong and how our hearts can take courage; we are to put on the armour of God and rest our entire hope in Him and Him alone.
• We are not to take things into our own hands or rely on worldly strategies, nor are we to put our hope in a bank balance or other passing fancies.

• I wonder if his thoughts travelled back to the ark of Noah, after the grueling experience of the flood, when a little dove was released through the window of the ark and was the only bird that brought comfort and hope back to Noah and his family, as they waited for the waters of judgement to subside.

• Paul calls us repeatedly to rejoice in the Lord, and does not grow tired of encouraging us to rejoice and to keep on rejoicing in Him, for he knows that there is a thief that will rob us of the peace of God, the joy of our salvation, and the eternal hope we have in our heavenly promises.
• We are called upon to rejoice and to keep on rejoicing, for in so doing we will establish a Christ-focussed attitude of heart and an ever-present antidote to all that would rob us of our faith, hope, and joy in the Lord.
• Paul views godly rejoicing in the Lord as the antidote to all that seeks to rob us of our eternal security in Christ and our blessed hope that is found in Him alone, for it is a protection against false teachers.

• He did not want believers to remain uninformed about our future destiny, but was eager to enlighten us about the blessed hope we have in Christ.
• We are not to become dependent on the things of this world, like unsaved people, but to familiarise ourselves with our blessed hope in Christ Jesus our Saviour, and look for the day of His return to take us to be with Himself.

• How necessary to look away from today's storms clouds that appear so threatening and which can so quickly cast a shadow on the eternal hope we have in our heavenly home, which is rooted in the Word of God and grounded on Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Before we were transferred into the kingdom of light with all the wonderful benefits that accompany this glorious gift of grace (which includes life eternal to all who believe in Christ), we were in the kingdom of darkness, children of Satan, slaves of lawlessness, saturated in sin, with no God and no hope in the world.

• Christ is often called the Bridegroom and the Christian Church is similarly identified as His Bride, for though we are many in number, we are one Church who, by faith in Him, have one hope of our calling.

• They are plans to give them a future and great hope.
• Despite his extensive warnings of the wrath to come and Israel's impending exile from the land, Jeremiah predicted a wonderful future for the people of God, which became to them an anchor of hope for the soul, and a rock of salvation on which to stand.

• He simply wanted to stay with the Master and the message that followed no doubt shocked Peter and must have stunned the rest of the disciples. Peter was known for his boldness and bravery and often became the spokesman for the entire group, but if Peter were to fail so terribly and so soon, what hope would there be for the rest of them?

• and may we always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in our heart.

• Paul had confidence in the fixed hope we have in the living God; that Christ died for the sin of the whole world so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

• Paul opens his epistle to the Colossians expressing his profound joy and grateful thanks for them all, because of their sincere faith in the gospel of Christ, the deep love which they showed for one another and because of the obvious future hope they possessed: Which is laid up for us in heaven.
• Paul rejoiced that in the past, these believers had come to a knowledge of the gospel of grace; in the present, they were demonstrating the love of Christ in their lives; and they looked to the future with joyful hope, knowing that one day they would: Ever be with the Lord.
• It was because of their sincere faith in the gospel, their future hope in God's promises, the abundance of fruit being produced in their lives, and the deep love they had for one another, that Paul did not cease to pray for them and to ask that they might be filled with the knowledge of God's will, in all spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
• May we live as unto the Lord - with sincere faith, godly love, and a glorious hope that is laid up for us in heaven.

• We too can trust in man governments, place our hope in a hero, leave our first Love, and wander far from the Lord Who bought us with His own precious blood.

• And yet, we are informed in earlier verses that we, who in times past were once alienated from God and without hope in the world, have now been reconciled to Him.
• Paul writes: But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

• The world is filled with people who are hurting, searching, and in desperate need to hear the blessed hope of the gospel.

• Like so many of Paul's epistles, this second letter to the Thessalonians opens with a prayer of thanksgiving and praise for the faith, hope, love, and patience of these believers, amid the serious trials and tribulation they were facing.

• We are to set our hope fully on Him: a hope that is rooted and grounded in the finished work of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
• He is not only the hope of the world and the blessed hope for the children of God, but in Christ we have a secure hope that is founded on the never-changing Word of God and a hope that rests in a mind that is focussed on Him.

• If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

• And the passages of peace and hope, when the lion lies down with the lamb and the earth is filled with His glory, refer to the 1000 year reign of Christ, following the first 7 years.

• But Joshua maintained his hope in the Lord.

• When we gain Christ, we are walking in the way of truth and life and hope and peace.

• It is our Christian duty to proclaim the gospel of grace to a world that is dead in sin and without hope of salvation.

• God is our Strength and Stay, our Shepherd and Shield, our Protector and Provider, our Defence and Defender, our blessed Hope and the God of our salvation.

• The fifteenth chapter of Corinthians is a passage that gives hope in the hearts of all who are saved by grace through faith.
• Let us rejoice and be glad as we watch and wait in holy anticipation for this blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Let us celebrate this marvellous truth from the apostle Peter: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

• How foolish therefore, to cling to religious rituals, denominational rites, and legalistic regulations in the hope that they will secure our heavenly home, rather than clinging to the Cross, and hoping in Christ - in Whom are the words of eternal life.

• This is the blessed hope that all believes have, in Christ.
• However difficult and problematic our life may be in this lost and fallen world, we have a blessed hope and a revelation from God that our future is secure in Him.
• And when those we love reach the end of this mortal coil, we should not grieve like unbelievers do, for we have a secure hope and a future inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.
• What a hope!
• What a glorious future hope, that we will be forever with the Lord in the company of all the saints of old who by grace through faith have trusted Christ for the remission of sin and the redemption of their spirit, soul, and body.

• The son looks to a glorious future with hope and eager anticipation, while the slave has no such joyful expectations.

• But our whole life should be lived in the knowledge that we really do have the most wonderful eternal hope, prepared for us in heaven.
• Assurance is not based on wishful hope, but on sure faith in our Father.
• Oh, when dear friend or a precious loved one whom we cherish dies, it is right and natural to miss them and even weep over our loss, but our sadness should never be excessive and should never be akin to the hopeless grief that is so often the reaction of the unsaved for a loved one who has died in their sins – our loss should never eclipse the glorious future hope in Christ, for all who believe.As Christians, we have firm hope and a wonderful assurance that is very different from the world, for we believe that the Lord Jesus died and rose again.

• The same blessed hope that is set before us, gives each of us an abundance of those same eternal pleasures.
• Assuredly, this is a truth that must rejoice the heart of all God's blood-bought children; a truth that each one of us can treasure in our hearts and rejoice with singing, as we look for our blessed hope and journey towards our heavenly home.
• Christ's fullness of joy is not simply contained in a future hope, but is firmly established in this present time.

• As believers, we are waiting for the: Hope of righteousness. We do not hope FOR righteousness, for we are already in right standing with the Lord.
• And we are to quietly wait, with patient endurance, for the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the glorious object of our hope, for we, through the Spirit, are waiting for the hope of righteousness, when this corruptible body shall have put on incorruption and this mortal frame shall put on immortality.
• We are to abide in Him and rest in Him, as through the Spirit of God we watch and wait for His any day return, when we shall see Him as He is and be forever with the Lord: Through the Spirit of God, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness.

• We were dead in our trespasses and sins, at enmity with God, and without hope in the world.

• We do this so that the burden of sin that lays so heavily upon our consciences, is laid, with an unshakable hope, upon the shoulders of our heavenly sin-Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ Whose blood was shed in our place.
• We are to hold fast to our confession of hope in the Lord and to remain true to our confident hope in the power of His might.

• If we, as children of God, have received His goodness and grace, comfort and hope, we are to maintain the same goodness, grace, comfort, and love, and be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the body of peace.

• Just as we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, we have also been called into one hope of that calling and exhorted to live at peace with one another.
• He was certainly zealous in stressing the importance of keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace - where by grace through faith in Christ, we are ONE Body and ONE Spirit... with ONE hope, ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism into the Body of Christ - and ONE God and Father, Who is above all, through all, and in us all.

• Sin was the cause, and the result is a race of men born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, without hope and without God.

• It is marrow to the bones, honey to the taste, the wellspring of light, life, love, and hope.

• Christ was not only to build His Church during this dispensation of grace, but He was to give each born-again believer His own resurrected life: Which is Christ in You the hope of glory.

• Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

• He was a man after God's own heart whose patient endurance and trusting faith brought him deliverance, encouragement, hope, and salvation.

• Reverence for the Lord brings with it wisdom and strength, hope and joy, while esteem for fallen man too often entraps the soul and is accompanied by anxiety and worry.

• Like all the synoptic writings, the main function of Matthew was to preach the pre-Cross gospel of the kingdom which was primarily addressed to the Jews, with a message of hope for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

• So many Christians today are searching for something outside of Christ; having a form of godliness but denying the wisdom, the power, the glory and the majesty, but our hope, our life, our light, and our truth is found in Christ and Christ alone.

• It was only then that the hope of respite from his present distressing circumstance returned.

• The unsaved man is without God and without hope in the world, but in Christ we have a living hope because our Saviour has breathed His life into our bodies.
• But the hope we have from the Lord is not only a living hope for today, but a lasting hope into the ages to come: an everlasting hope that can never fail for it is imperishable, undefiled, secure, enduring, unfading, and inextinguishable, and it is kept for us in heaven, by God's amazing grace.
• Our living hope for today and the lasting hope that is kept for us in heaven depends entirely upon the faithfulness of God Himself.
• Our hope is not based on anything we do but on the unfailing constancy and integrity of our unchanging Father in heaven.

• He was the man chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

• We were due for everlasting destruction and without one single spark of hope in the world.

• Other areas included Christ's rejection, suffering and death, His Resurrection, Ascension, and Glorification, the Rapture of the Church, the great and terrible 'Day of the Lord', His Second Coming, and our blessed hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

• How blessed are we who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, and how often we find encouragement, comfort, peace, and hope in the Psalms of David.

• All humanity has sinned, and every man needs the gospel of salvation for all are dead in trespasses and sins and all are without hope in the world.

• But it also declares many gracious promises of restoration and renewal for the tiny body of Israelite believers who faithfully maintain their trust in God's Word and hold fast to their hope in Him.

• Despite Israel's Old Testament idolatry, their rejection of God's promised Messiah, and their leader's blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Amos was moved by the Spirit of God to offer hope, and he prophesied, In that day, I will raise up the fallen booth of David.

• Scripture alone has the word of life and light, of hope and salvation.

• So troubled was Habakkuk by this knowledge, that he determined to stand guard on the rampart and keep watch to see if the Lord would provide some hope for His people.

• May we, who have been counted worthy by faith in Christ, stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, as we strive together in the unity of the faith, for the hope that is ours in the gospel of Christ.

• But we also discover him offering reproof, instruction, direction in righteousness, and hope for the future to those that survived the city's devastating destruction.
• And so we discover that the weight of his sorrow and the traumatic grief that hung so heavily on the heart of this weeping prophet, was interspersed with echoes of hope and whispers of God's amazing love and grace.
• therefore, I have hope in Him.
• And so, despite the terrible circumstances through which he was going, Jeremiah chose to place his hope and his trust in God.
• Despite the inner turmoil that grieved his soul and the outer destruction he witnessed with his own eyes, this man was able to stand firm on his hope in God - knowing that His mercies are new every morning, for the Lord is a faithful God and true to His Word - and the same holds true today.
• God is indeed faithful to His Word which cannot be broken... and so with the grieving Jeremiah, we too can trace the rainbow through the rain and proclaim, The Lord is my portion - therefore I have hope in Him.

• They knew that Jesus alone was their blessed hope and so they proclaimed the good news far and wide - with great boldness.

• May we be ready to give an answer to every high-sounding argument that exalts itself against our heavenly King, for the hope we have in Christ - for He can break down every satanic stronghold and reclaim the spiritual high-ground with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ the righteous.

• Each soul seeks some hidden wisdom or spiritual illumination that would bring in its wake light and life, salvation and peace, fulfilment, love, and hope.
• God has set out His unique way of life and salvation, peace, fulfilment, love, and hope, in His Word of Truth.
• Isaiah penned the life-changing words that have brought such comfort and hope to a world in darkness and distress: The people that walk about in darkness see a great light.

• All that are born IN Adam are dead in their trespasses and sin, estranged from God, and without hope in the world. 

• We are told that these three, spiritual fruit of God’s amazing grace will continue and will remain and abide into the eternal state - faith, hope, and love.In this earthly life, faith must remain a high priority.
• Faith is vital, for we live by faith and not by sight, and the blessed hope we have in Christ, and His soon return, does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to all who trust in Christ for salvation.
• While faith and hope will certainly continue throughout the eternal ages, for our faith and hope will always be in our heavenly Father, it is love that will increase and multiply when we see Jesus face to face - for we see Him as He is and we shall be like Him.
• Both faith and hope are a beautiful manifestation of the love of God in the life of a believer, because we live by faith and not by sight; and we live in hope of our promised, eternal state...for we live in incorruptible bodies.
• When heaven is reached, the faith and hope we exercised in this life will be brought to a beautiful completion.
• Their respective purposes will be rewarded with sight - yet we will always maintain faith in our God and hope in our heavenly Father, Who will continue to sustain us into the eternity of eternities - for He upholds everything by the might of His majestic hand.
• The loving heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.In the earthly realm, both faith and hope will last, for without faith it is impossible to please God and without hope, we could not endure, as seeing Him, Who is invisible.
• And it is by reflecting His love that we are to resemble the Lord – for God is Love and the love of God is broader than the span of our greatest imaginations, and the fondness of our Father towards us goes beyond our wildest dreams.But this life is the first step into an eternity of love with God; the love of God and our love for God, and these three graces of faith, hope and love must of necessity all continue beyond this mortal sphere, for the attributes of God are incomparable in their beauty, His perfections are unlimited in their number, His excellence is everlasting in its duration and splendour is absolute in its span.We, who have been saved by grace are to enter into the glories of the celestial sphere and our understanding and knowledge of God must continue throughout the ages to come.
• Our faith in Him will stand fast forever, and our hope in Him will be forever realised.

• Because unsaved man is enslaved to sin and Satan, death and hell... he is freed from any association with goodness and grace, life and hope.

• No doubt through the eternity of eternities, we will thank God that although we were once slaves of sin, estranged from God, and without hope in the world, His Holy Spirit convicted us of our own gross sinfulness, our need of a Saviour, of Christ's perfect righteousness, and of God's righteous judgement on all that is evil.

• In God's eyes, we were a rotting corpse, the putrefying remains of a fallen creation with no beauty that God should desire us; with no hope, help, comfort, or peace in the world.

• It was despite this failed attempt to erase the memories, transform the minds of these four youngsters, and implant an allegiance to Babylonian gods and culture, that we discover the book of Daniel to be one of hope and encouragement for the future restoration of Israel.
• As we reflect on these four boys who refused to be brainwashed by the society of the day, but courageously stood firm in their faith, may we seek to develop the same steadfast trust in God and allow their example to ignite our faith, sustain the blessed hope we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, challenge us to stand firm in the truth, and prompt us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord our God.

• The almighty Creator, Who caused light to shine out of darkness, is the One Who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ – so that His life may dwell in us and His love may shine into our hearts, so that we may be made ministers of His grace and show forth the excellency of His power to those that remain dead in their trespasses and sins.There is no merit in us that we should be so honoured, as the contrast between our frail, feeble, perishing bodies and His divine strength and eternal light demonstrates – but by His goodness and grace, this heavenly treasure has been placed in earthen vessels - our human body, which is Christ in us the hope of glory, so that the excellency of that power may be shown forth in our lives.We are the earthen vessels into which the glorious truth of the gospel of God has been poured, causing our mortal bodies to become the temple of the Holy Spirit, Who uses this gospel light to guide us into all truth and as we proclaim the glorious gospel of grace to others.

• God knows that suffering produces fortitude, builds character, and develops our faith and hope in Him.

• But the Church (which is the Body of Christ), was a mystery hidden from the foundation of the world. It was Paul to whom were given the mysteries of this Church age where, from Pentecost until the Rapture of the Church, Christ would rule and reign in the hearts and lives of all who trust Him as Saviour: The glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• However, the greatest blessings of all are the abundant, spiritual blessings we have received, through faith in our crucified and risen Saviour, for the means of grace and the hope of glory.

• We are encouraged to hope in the Lord and to walk in spirit and in truth.
• We who have been born from above, will not face the second death, nor will we stand before the Great White Judgement Throne of God, like the unsaved who have no hope.

• Following the death of her sons, Elimelech's distraught widow grieved bitterly when she discovered herself penniless and without hope.
• Naomi and her two, young, widowed daughters-in-law, set out from the land of Moab with hope and expectation.
• But we read in the following verses, that as they began their journey of faith, the call of the world enticed one young woman to stray from the path of righteousness and the highway of hope, and she returned to her pagan roots and the fleshpots of Moab.
• Three women heard the same message of hope - three women started the journey - but only two completed it.

• Mysteries that were hidden to the prophets of old include the mystery of: Christ in You, the hope of glory.

• Certain mysteries which were revealed to Paul for the Church were been hidden from the Old Testament prophets of God from before the foundation of the world, such as: Christ in you the hope of glory.
• We have a blessed hope in Christ, and God in His grace chose to give incredible detail about His message of redemption through His written Word of truth.

• He had placed his faith and hope in Christ's sufficient strength to support him through this troublous life and in faith and hope he looked forward to that wonderful day when Christ would fulfil His promise to return to take us to be with Himself, when He will be revealed in all His glory.

• This world is passing away, but our hope in Christ remains throughout eternity.

• The Psalmist contrasts the final outcome of wicked men who despise God with the future hope for those that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, and abused by their enemies.
• He highlights the end of those who oppose the Lord and rebel against His truth, and he comforts those who maintain their trust in His Word and honour His holy name: The needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
• We live in a fallen world where men of faith will always suffer trials and tribulations, but the Psalmist offers hope for all who trust in the Lord, even though there may be seasons of lack or times when we feel forgotten or afflicted.

• In this beautiful passage of Scripture, the Lord graciously invites His people to prepare their hearts to receive the Lord into their midst and to hear His message of salvation, grace, reconciliation, and hope.

• The psalmist compared the trusting hope these pilgrims had in God and their attentiveness towards Him, as they journeyed along, with the eyes of a servant, who is ready to do his masters bidding or to the watchfulness of a servant-girl towards the needs of a beloved mistress.
• He wants us to come to him in prayer and praise regularly and to expect HIM to deliver us from every eventuality in life - for He knows that the testing of our faith through the things that we experience and the afflictions that assail us, produces patient endurance, a Christlike character, and steadfast hope in God, that will never be disappointed.

• But within every believer dwells the life-giving Holy Spirit, the true source of comfort, hope, and joy.

• Jesus told His disciples to remember the word of life, the light of Christ, the love of God, and the blessed hope we have in Him - which He taught them during His sojourn on earth.
• that before our salvation we were, separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope..
• And we are to REMEMBER that before salvation we had no hope in the future and were without God in the world - but now, we have a blessed hope in Christ and have become children of God, who have the right to call Him, Abba - Father.

• By demonstrating to the disciples His almighty power over the elements, Jesus wanted to establish their hope and trust in Him, no matter what situation they might have to face.

• May our hearts be open to the promptings of the Spirit and may we be ready and willing to become bond-servants of Christ and be ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Him, for His greater praise and glory.

• Paul refers to suffering as a light and momentary affliction, which is achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs all the hardships they inflicted, and God is using all such trials to train us in all godly graces, knowing that suffering produces patient endurance, endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens the confident hope of our salvation in Christ, and His heavenly rewards.

• However, she understood that God alone was her only hope, and so decided to return to the land of her birth and trust in the Lord God of Israel.
• Childless widows had little hope of earning a living in those days, and so having arrived in Bethlehem, Ruth asked her mother-in-law if she could go into the fields of harvest, and gather the gleanings of grain after the reapers had gathered in the harvest - as the Law permitted, When you reap the harvest of your land,  the Law stated, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.
• He knew that as the story of Ruth and Boaz unfolded, He would use this very scenario to bless the two women who placed their hope in Him, and to forward His plan of redemption for the whole of humanity... and so Ruth gleaned in the fields belonging to Boaz - Naomi's wealthy relative!
• I am sure that when Ruth and Naomi were bereft of the husbands, without hope in the world, and living in the pagan land of Moab, they could not imagine the wonderful things that God had planned for them.

• Let us study the Word so that we can defend what we believe and be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in us and let us be careful neither to misquote the truth nor to add or subtract from God's Word.

• The hope of the nations had come to tabernacle with His people.

• It was to provide great hope as they looked forward to God's promised rest, when He would once again cease from His labour and celebrate and sanctify His sabbath-rest, with all the redeemed.

• We were dead in our sins and without hope in the world.

• Paul was grateful to God for the eternal hope the Christians at Colossae had in Christ Jesus - a hope that was laid up for them in heaven.

• As members of Christ’s Mystical Body, should we not joyfully identify with Christ’s earthly suffering – knowing that He lived and died so that we might be identified with His heavenly glory and live eternally?Yes, we should rejoice - exceedingly, that we as members of His Body and partakers of His sufferings – for it is by faith in His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection that we have not only been forgiven of our sin and clothed in His righteousness, but we are His blood-bought children, who have a blessed hope, a glorious future, and life everlasting - amen.

• When we turn the attention of our inner heart onto Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Sustainer of our life, and our Blessed Hope, circumstances of life and matters of living fall into their correct perspective.

• He wants to explain that God is doing a new thing in this post-Cross age of grace which, although hidden from past ages and generations, had now been revealed to us: Which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

• Let us keep our eyes on Jesus and watch for that blessed hope and His any day return.

• It appears that the love that was exhibited by the Colossian Christians was a godly love that honoured the Lord, a love that would bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.

• He is our hope, and He alone is our salvation.

• Without the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no forgiveness of sin and without trusting in His death, burial, and resurrection to save... we remain dead in our sin and without hope in the world.

• Our suffering becomes a testimony of the hope of salvation we have in Christ Jesus, and the peace that comes through faith in Him.
• We have a firm hope in Christ and the expectation of His soon return to take us to be with Himself, and so in this verse, we find Peter offering comfort, encouragement, courage, and instruction, to all who endure suffering for the sake of Christ.
• We are also called to undergo the wise correction of our heavenly Father, and to endure hardship, in a world that is lost, and whose only hope is to hear the good news of the gospel of grace.

• We are one Church with one truth, one life, and one blessed hope.
• The gospel of salvation we proclaim is a wonderful message of hope to those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
• We are a fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and we share a message of hope, encouragement, and life.
• However, to the unbeliever who rejects God's offer of salvation, our message of hope is a stench of death.

• It is for that reason we should live in the light of this confident hope.
• Praise God that we DO have a sure hope and an eternal inheritance that was laid up for us in heaven, from the moment that we placed our trust in Christ.

• May we be faithful in the work that God has given us to do and be prepared to give an account of the hope we have in us.

• Would God go back on His Word of Truth and fail to deliver our longed-for Blessed Hope?
• Let us hold fast to that blessed Hope that is set before us, for the Words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

• The details of the blessed hope for Christians and the second advent for Israel had yet to be revealed to these men - through the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who would guide them into all truth and inspire them to write the New Testament Scriptures, for OUR learning.
• The hope that was placed into the hearts of the disciples on that wondrous ascension morning, kept the hope of their Lord’s return alive in their hearts, for the rest of their difficult lives, knowing that one day their Lord would return in like manner to take them to be with Himself - for we are not appointed to the wrath that will be poured out during the Great Tribulation.
• We too have that hope in our hearts and with each passing day we are one day closer to that time when the trumpet will sound - the dead in Christ shall be raised first and we that are alive and remain, will be caught up together into the clouds of heaven to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord, forever.
• Let us keep the hope of His imminent return for His Church alive in our hearts from this day forward.

• The words of Jesus bring peace and hope, and His words keep us from stumbling.

• Christ's glorious Resurrection from the dead is the unfailing assurance of our hope of glory in Christ.
• Paul is very clear that without the Resurrection, we should be pitied more than anyone for believing in a false fake hope: For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
• If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 

• These words of consolation and succour were to bring reassurance and support, strength, hope, and courage to the disciples and to generations who have trusted in Christ as Saviour: But take heart!

• This was a God-given, aide-mémoire to help Israel obey and honour Him and not rely on their own understanding, or place their hope in human strength.

• He rejoices that his human spirit has been enlivened by the Holy Spirit and instead of being enslaved to sin, at enmity with God, under eternal condemnation, and without hope in the world, he becomes part of God's new creation in Christ, and is promised joy in the eternal ages to come.

• We are to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering so that we may stimulate one another to love and good deeds as we seek to develop the love of Christ in our heart to His praise and glory.

• God the Father will firmly, finally, and fully establish the hope we have in the gospel of Christ, on the day of His return, so that we may be presented to Himself as His pure, spotless bride, a glorious church, without blot or wrinkle or any such thing. We are guiltless, by faith in Christ - not sinless, for all have sinned and fall short of His glory. But through identification with Christ, we are covered in His righteousness, blameless in Christ.
• But in another aspect, we are being established amidst all the trials and difficulties of this present age (which are designed by the enemy to shake our faith), for the kingdom of heaven is within, as well as a future hope.

• He was chosen to be a minister or a servant of this mystery: Which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

• that in Christ we have the sufficient strength to stand firm in the evil day, knowing that our hope is in Him.

• Faith is having the assurance that what we hope for in Christ will certainly come to pass.

• Christ's return for the Church is our blessed hope, and we have been instructed to watch with joyful anticipation, and wait expectantly for His return in the clouds.

• Standing firm in the faith and holding fast to sound doctrine does not mean tenaciously clinging to one's own private interpretation of a passage or reading into a section of Scripture what you want it to say, hope that it says, would like it to say, or think that it says.

• Paul knew that He had been called to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery: Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• The Father's gracious promises towards His children and the surpassing greatness of His mighty power towards all who believe in Him, is the confident hope that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, which was accomplished when God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand on heaven's glorious throne.

• Only believers have a living regenerated spirit that can have fellowship with the Father and abide in Christ, for unsaved man remains spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, without God and without hope in the world.

• She was ready and willing to commit the desires of her heart to the Lord, and God not only fulfilled the desire of her heart, but used the son she would bear to play an important role in the history of her people and in God's own plan of redemption for all whose hope is in Him.

• As Christians, we are God's ambassadors on earth who we have the privilege and responsibility to be His hands and His feet, His eyes and His ears, His heart and His voice, as we share His gospel of hope to those that are lost in trespasses and dead in their sins.

• And let us, by the power of the Spirit, be transformed by the renewing of our minds, for then we will be able to test and approve the perfect will of God for us: Which is Christ in You the hope of glory.

• God's love is evidenced by the glorious position that we have in Him, the glorious future that we have been promised, and the glorious hope we have as His precious possession, for we were bought with a price.
• Our privileges and our position, our hope, and our inheritance demonstrate the eternal power and surpassing greatness of our God.

• When we were released from the slavery of Satan's dark kingdom of sin, death, and fear, we were transferred into God's kingdom of life and light, hope and freedom.

• Let us glory in His wonderful name and let us trust Him in all things, seek Him with our whole heart, and increasingly flee to Him as the Hope of our salvation and our Tower of refuge - for He is our Comforter, our Joy, our Light, and our Life.

• The love we have for one another should mirror the love that the Lord Jesus demonstrated towards us - in that while we were yet sinners, at enmity with God and without hope in the world, Christ set aside His heavenly glory to be clothed in mortal flesh - and died, to save us from sin, Satan, slavery, death, and hell.

• Although we are strangers in a foreign land, we have an eternal hope set before us and an incorruptible inheritance reserved for us in heaven.
• But God in His wisdom gave them as much revelation as was meet for them to know, and raised up the apostle Paul to open up the mysteries of the Body of Christ, which is the Church: Christ in you the hope of glory.

• How important that our hearts are flooded with the light of His grace and glory so that we have a real understanding of the confident hope that is ours in Christ, knowing that we are the rich and glorious inheritance of Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Such heavenly joy can be maintained in the midst of all afflictions and distresses, for the joy of the Lord is our everlasting hope and strength.

• Jeremiah's prophetic writings, however, placed hope in the heart of the little faithful remnant who had to endure this terrible defeat, for the Lord promised to make a New Covenant with a united Israel.

• Sometimes familiarly with the glorious superlatives of our heavenly calling, and the eternal hope of glory that is set before us, causes our eyes to become dimmed and our hearts to become complacent.
• It was Paul who rejoiced in the confident hope that we have in Christ Jesus and he longed that others too would come to a real understanding of the incomparable riches of His grace, which is expressed in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
• And so, Paul prays that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which God has called us: the riches of His glorious inheritance in us, His holy, called-out people.

• It helps to maintain our hope in Christ and encourages us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and mind and strength and soul - with thanksgiving.
• Christ is the Bread of Life upon Whom we each, individually feed - and He is the Hope on which our eternal future is founded.

• But Micah's mournful message is tinged with hope as he announces God's promise of restoration: for out of Bethlehem in the land of Judah was to come a governor in Israel.
• We who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation have already been transferred from the old creation in Adam into the new creation in Christ, and have a blessed hope and the promise of a heavenly home.
• The good Shepherd of the sheep continues to be the coming hope and consolation of Israel, and the day is fast approaching when He will return with healing in His wings to set up His eternal kingdom on earth, and Israel as a nation will once again be reconciled to God. He will return in power and great glory to rescue His people from their enemies and redeem His people Israel: You will remain true to Jacob, and merciful to Abraham, as You promised our ancestors.

• And in this 'church' dispensation, believers have been given a most wonderful gift which is, Christ in you the hope of glory.
• He came to reveal the character of God, the truth of the gospel, and the eternal hope that we have in Him.

• They have been devoured and distressed by ravening wolves that stalk and steal their homes and their hope.

• Because we are in Christ and members of His Body, we who were dead in trespasses and sins and without hope in the world are now called God's children.

• But when it is misapplied, misappropriated, and misunderstood, it is being used unlawfully... causing sinners to strive to do good works in their own strength, by attempting to keep the righteous requirements of the Law... in the hope that God will forgive them because of their good works and meritorious acts.

• He encourages us to rejoice in our trials because we have believed the glorious gospel of grace and have a heavenly hope founded on Christ.
• Therefore, he makes use of a number of metaphors and similes to explain how to secure our confident hope to the truth that is founded on Christ.
• When we have reached the point where we have girded up the loins of our mind and fixed our eyes on the truth of Scripture, we will have secured our hope on Christ's finished work, and our confidence in His Word will remain secure.
• Let us get our minds ready for action, and not be diverted by the strange and difficult circumstances that encompass our lives so that we may hope perfectly upon the grace that is ours in the revelation of Jesus Christ.

• How privileged we are to be God's children, who are secure in the blessed hope we have in Christ.

• When the enemy attacks and satanic forces are seeking to undermine our faith, we are to put on Christ - to remain covered in His perfect righteousness - to abide in Him and hope in the Lord.

• And it is through faith in Him, that we who believe have a living hope.
• Paul reminded us that if we only have hope in this world, then we are to be greatly pitied, but we who trust in Jesus as our sin-bearing Saviour can rejoice and lift up our voices in shouts of praise and thanksgiving, as did the apostle Paul and Israel's king David.

• It is a matter of faith, which pleases the loving heart of our gracious God of Love, and secures our hope in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Jesus is our blessed hope, Who is coming back soon to take us to be with Himself in glory.

• The enemy of God is the same evil one that comes to steal our peace, kill our hope, accuse the saints, and destroy our testimony.

• Favoured and fortunate, is the one whose hope is resting in the God of our Salvation.
• and whose hope is the LORD.
• Christian hope is not a vain, fingers-crossed fantasy, and faith in God is not founded on fiction, but on fact.
• What glorious joy is realised by the one that trusts implicitly in the Lord and places their eternal hope in Him.
• Blessed is the man who embraces these two gifts of grace, which abide forever - for faith and hope unlock our understanding of the Father-heart of God's pure love for all His children.

• He fasted in hope, prayed in faith, and believed that God would fulfil His plans and purposes, for His name's sake - and we should do the same.

• A thread of hope and praise weaves its way through these verses, as David makes a declaration of God's grace and loving-kindness to those that call on His name, and are humble in heart.

• It is only as the love of God is poured into our hearts by faith in Christ, that we are identified as His children, for Jesus is our blessed Hope - and all who have this godly love, joy, peace, and hope in our hearts, are purified.

• Ezekiel had already prophesied of Israel's punishment, God's judgement on the Gentile nations, and Jerusalem's defilement, as well as providing great hope for the future... including Israel's restoration, the reunification of the northern and southern kingdoms, together with the nation's spiritual reawakening and glorious revival.

• Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

• He outlines a most beautiful description of unity within the Church, There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

• These men had given up everything to follow Jesus, as they believed Him to be: The Christ, the Son of the living God, and yet hope of seeing Rome smashed into pieces and their own personal aspirations of sitting on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel as promised, was in shreds, and their hopes dashed to the ground.
• He knew that they were to be the ones who would later be guided by the same Spirit to lay the foundation of Christianity, much of which would be written down by the apostle Paul, who would explain the mystery that was hidden in ages past, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

• There is no rest outside of Him and there is no hope unless we are reconciled to the Father through Christ Jesus Who gave His own little flock His gift of peace, peace - wonderful peace, when He said, My Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

• The book of Revelation is not designed to engender fear in our hearts, but HOPE.

• This was the ministry for which God the Father sent His Son into the world – a ministry of reconciliation and hope for a world lost in sin – providing salvation for all that would trust in His finished work on Calvary.
• The dominion of sin and death breaks and binds, and it enslaves and snuffs out peace and hope, joy and love.

• But the Resurrection also gave each believer a future hope and great confidence, for in Christ the power of sin and death is forever defeated in the lives of all who trust in Him: And abundant grace was upon them all.

• He was reminded of the blessed hope to come and the loneliness that would ensue from a life of dedicated service.

• He came to bring hope for the lost, joy for the sorrowing, strength for the weak, and encouragement for the downhearted.

• Today we are pressed about by many difficulties and dangers, both at home and abroad, but the Word of God and the truth of Christ gives all Who are His children, the greatest hope and unfailing help in the midst of the most difficult and dangerous of circumstances of life.
• Let us keep our eyes looking to Jesus and away from the circumstances of life, knowing that He is with us and will never fail us nor forsake us - for our hope is not in this world and our trust should not be in ourselves.
• Our hope is in our heavenly Saviour, Jesus Christ the righteous.

• Ambitions and emotions, temptations and trials, hope and fear, inner thoughts and expectations, together with spiritual strengths and weaknesses, can all be reflected in the face and mirrored in the expression of the eyes.

• Our position IN God is the most secure place, for nothing can touch us or separate us from His love, His promises, and our blessed Hope. 

• What is necessary for life and living, and for death and dying, is our hope in God.
• The strength that is needed for today and the blessed hope we have in the world to come, is a heart that trusts in Christ, and relies on His sufficient grace and mighty strength.

• God demonstrates His own love toward each one of us in the same way that Christ showed love for this simple Samaritan woman, in that while we were yet sinners and dead in our trespasses and sin, with no hope in the world, Christ died for us.

• Faith in Him alone secures the promised hope of our bodily resurrection and life with Him in the heavenly realm.
• Through HIM we are believers in God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory -  so that our faith and hope are in God, Who raised Christ from the dead.
• No wonder that Paul was able to confirm that our faith and hope are in God. Our faith in Christ rests on the Word of God for we trust the promises He has given, which are  'YES' and 'AMEN' in Christ.
• Our blessed Hope rests on JESUS, the Author and Finisher of our faith - Who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

• From the Seed of the woman with its promise of salvation... to God's own little 'book of remembrance,' and His pledge to judge the world in righteousness, the focus of our attention throughout the Old Testament Scripture is always centred on Christ, the hope of Israel Who will save His people from their sins - by faith.
• All who are saved during that coming time of Great Tribulation, will find their hope in Christ - Who is likened to refreshing streams of living water.

• Christ had promised to send the Spirit of comfort into their hearts after His departure into heaven; the Spirit of love, and life, and joy, and patience, and hope, and wisdom, and grace, and peace.

• In his Gospel, Luke was seeking to convey the absolute necessity and the imperative demand for men to pray at all times, to remain in constant communion with the Lord, and not to lose hope or to give up, but rather, to live in an attitude of prayer, moment by moment, in order to maintain ongoing contact with our Almighty God.

• He longs to shed abroad His love and peace and joy and hope on all who believe in His Word and trust that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

• Jesus was the hope of all nations Who was sent from heaven to redeem His people from their sin and to save them from their enemies.

• And there is One Lord Who saves Jew and Gentile alike - the Lord of all Who is good to all who hope in His name.

• But he also recognised that they held a steadfast hope in the return of the Lord Jesus - a blessed hope that He would come in the clouds to take them to be with Himself, into the presence of God the Father.
• Paul wanted to reassure the believers that their hope in the soon return of Christ was well-founded.
• And as we give comfort to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we ourselves will also be comforted in our blessed hope.

• The incomparable offering of Christ as the sin sacrifice for the world, is similarly of infinitely superior worth than the Old Testament sacrifices of bulls and goats, for in Christ, the God-Man, we have a better sanctuary, a better covenant, and an eternal hope.

• Although the psalmist pleaded for God's grace and salvation in the earlier verses, and described the bitter dismay that was heavy on his soul, the final few verses provide a flickering ray of hope and encouragement, as David starts to rebuke those that have disturbed his peace with a display of confidence: Depart from me all you who do iniquity, he cries in exultation, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

• God's people are to be a praying people, united in Spirit and love, for we are one body with one hope, one faith, one gospel, one Lord - one God and Father of us all.
• Their prayerfulness was rooted in their trust in Christ, and their persistent praying exhibited the eternal hope they had in Him.
• And together, they experienced an inner thrill and expectant hope that their risen, ascended, and glorified Lord, would send the Holy Spirit not many days from that amazing moment, when they had watched Jesus ascend up into heaven - only a few days earlier.

• We who have the light of the glorious gospel of Christ in our hearts and the hope of the precious promise of heaven in our sights, should never be careless or apathetic as we wait for our blessed hope - that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.

• All of us are born dead in sin, at enmity with God, and without a hope of saving ourselves by our good works.

• We who have been justified by faith, may miss loved ones who are far away or who have gone to be with the Lord, but we do not grieve as others who have no hope.
• Our blessed hope is Jesus Who is soon coming to take us to be with Himself.

• To Paul was given the glorious mystery among the Gentiles: Which is Christ in you the hope of glory. But as with Paul, the glorious gospel of grace was as viciously opposed in those early days of the Church, as it is in these closing days of this Church dispensation.

• All that we were, all we are, and all that we hope to be, is encapsulated in the unique Person of Jesus Christ.

• But in His grace, God determined that the sinner's death sentence could be exchanged for the life of Another Who would willingly give His sinless life as the one and only ransom price sin for the sin of mankind, and God in His wisdom knew that His only begotten Son was the one and only hope by which man could be saved.

• And Christ has been given a name that is above every name - Jesus Christ the righteous - the unblemished Lamb of God Who, from the foundation of the world, was destined to be the Rock of our salvation; the Light of the world Who would bring hope to the Gentiles.

• We have a future hope that is set in the immutable Word of God and His Word is fixed, permanent, established, and eternal.
• That hope began the moment we were born again, when we were taken from the kingdom of darkness into the arms of our beloved Saviour, but it was planned in the heart of God in eternity past and it was cemented in heaven the moment Christ burst from the tomb and broke the power of sin, and death, and hell.
• Our hope not only embraces the peace of the Lord and His wonderful sufficiency in this life, but unimaginable joy that is beyond human description in the life to come.
• But until we reach our heavenly home, we must march through the suffering, disappointments, trials, and tribulation that this world affords for all its inhabitants, knowing that our hope is in Christ and is established forever.
• But if hope in our established heavenly home and all the promises of God that accompany this scriptural truth were void, we would indeed be of all people most to be pitied, for instead of our cherished hope of salvation, we would be condemned to the bitterest disappointment imaginable.
• But our hope is not for this world, nor must it ever be but rather, we have an eternal hope that was planned in the heart of God, is firmly set in His immutable Word, and was cemented in heaven the moment Christ burst from the tomb and broke the power of sin and death and hell in the lives of all who believe on the name of the Lord Jesus.

• This is indeed a blessed hope for everyone who has been born of God and positioned in Christ, for on that day we will be able to say: Death has been swallowed up in victory.

• And yet too often we murmur against the Lord when things do not go as we expect or hope, and we demonstrate unbelief in our Heavenly Father by trusting in our own strength and not depending on Him in spirit and truth.

• Nonetheless, God Himself chose to make known to the Christian Church the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
• In Christ, we become citizens of heaven, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, and the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: Christ in you the hope of glory.
• The wonderful mystery that was given to us through Paul and which was hidden in ages past is: Christ IN you; Christ IN me; Christ in us; Christ in every member of the Body of believers: Christ in you the hope of glory.

• He is all we need, He is the One upon Whom all our hope are founded: You are complete in Him, Who is the head of all principality and power.

• It is in the midst of his introductory salutations, but before he wrote his customary greeting: Grace and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour, that Paul seems unable to refrain from declaring, once again, the truth of the beautiful gospel of grace and the hope of eternal life which is given to all who trust in Jesus' name.
• Such a life, Paul reminds us, is underpinned and sustained by the hope of eternal life which is God's trustworthy promise to all who have faith in Him.
• God's plan of redemption for fallen sinners was the promised 'hope' which would come through the sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Scripture told of His coming, giving man hope of eternal life.
• There is no greater hope and assurance that God's Word is true, for God cannot lie.

• But he was also much encouraged by a report, from Timothy, of their continuing faith and love, and their hope in the soon return of Christ for His Church.

• We should heed His Word and be ready to tell others of the hope that we have in Him.

• This most glorious truth that came to us through Paul is: Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• But Hosea's sad story ends with a message of hope and restoration, and by God's grace, Israel will be brought to repentance and restored into fellowship with God in the coming time of Great Tribulation (the time of Jacob's Trouble). 

• The promises of God pepper the pages of scripture like crystal droplets of sparkling rain, sprinkling life into a dry and dusty desert and scattering hope into the hearts of all God's people.
• The promises of God tumble and glimmer through the Word of God like a myriad of twinkling stars, peeping through the glowering skies of doubt and sorrow - refreshing the soul, giving hope to the faint-hearted, and providing encouragement to the weary.
• He had plans to prosper them and to give them a secure future and a great hope.
• Let us, therefore, with wholeness of heart, fervency of spirit, sincerity of soul, and diligence of mind, freely abandon the good to search for the very best, knowing that ALL who seek the Lord, will find Him to be rest for their soul, healing for their heart, hope for the future, and life everlasting.

• He discovered that the person whose heart turns away from God to trust in man is cursed, unfruitful, barren, and without hope.

• They engage in 'good works' in the hope that God will be pleased with them and give them eternal life.

• Paul starts this discourse in Ephesians by reminding us of our previous lives, dead in our trespasses and sins, having no hope in the world, under the reign of the prince of the power of the air who delights in tormenting us, discouraging us, and keeping us in our state of unbelief, bringing us with him on the wide path to hell.

• The words of this psalm have become a source of great comfort and strength to generations of believers, providing healing in times of trouble, comfort in times of sorrow, freedom for those that are enslaved, restoration for all that are broken-hearted, strength in days of weakness, and hope in times of distress.

• We are not to tremble at what man can to do, for our hope is in the Lord Who made heaven and earth and Who has already determined that the wicked will receive their just portion at the hand of a just God, and a righteous Judge.
• No matter what circumstance we face in life, our hope is in God and our trust is in His unshakable Word of truth.

• And should not our flesh rest in that blessed hope we have in Christ?

• Jesus answered sadly, You know neither Me nor My Father, for if you knew Me, you would know My Father also. All things had been delivered up to the Lord Jesus by the Father and He graciously came to earth to reveal the Father to a race that had become estranged from God through sin - a race that was without hope in the world.

• We who were dead in trespasses and sins and without hope in the world, have been covered with His love, forgiven of our sins, saved by grace through faith in His only begotten Son, in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, accepted in the Beloved, given an eternal inheritance, and are today seated together with Christ in heavenly places.
• But praise God that our hope in Christ and everyone who has this hope fixed on Jesus, purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.
• When we consider the glorious hope and eternal benefits that we have received freely, by grace through faith in Christ, how important it is that we choose to live our lives in spirit and in truth as unto the Lord.

• In seasons of poverty or plenty, our hope should rest on the Lord as we rejoice is the great things He has done in our lives.

• The Christian life is not about 'me, myself and I', but is all about the Lord Jesus Christ and God's purpose and plan in bringing many sons to glory through Him, by means of His sacrificial work at Calvary. In respect to the dispensation of the fullness of times in which we currently live (the Church age), God's purpose and plan is to bring all things into one in Christ: the things which are in heaven and the things which are on earth; all things in Him; to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory in this day and age, and also in the ages to come.

• In this world, we are surrounded by grief, disappointments, sorrowing, and suffering, but we have an eternal hope set before us, when grief will be turned into gladness and sorrow will be turned into joy.

• May we be emboldened in these last days to go into all the world and preach the unchangeable Word of Hope to those that are perishing.

• And we are redeemed in body, for though this is a future hope to be finalised at the Rapture of the saints, the redemption of our bodies is a secure reality which is founded upon God's sure Word.

• It also touches on God's long-suffering mercy towards His people Israel and the great grace and merciful kindness He has towards the Gentiles who were dead in sin, at enmity with God, and without hope in the world.

• We are part of the new creation in Christ and are, looking for that blessed hope, and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The Blessed Hope in this verse is referring to the Rapture of the Church, when Jesus Christ appears in glory to take those who are members of His mystic Body, from the earth into heavenly places.
• This Blessed Hope, when we are taken to be with Jesus, at the resurrection of the dead - the Rapture of the Church, is a right and a privilege that is given for ALL who are saved by grace through faith in Christ.
• The Blessed Hope of our great God and Saviour should motivate all believers to godliness and promote each child of God towards joyful anticipation of His imminent arrival.
• This glorious appearing is called that Blessed Hope, for which we are all looking with eager expectation.
• The Blessed Hope for which we look, and for which we long, is not the fatalistic, fanciful, fingers-crossed hope of the world, that leaves in its wake hollow emptiness and unfulfilled desires.
• Our Blessed Hope is knowledge of the truth intertwined with the 'stuff' of faith, which trusts God's Word as fact, and treats the heavenly things, (in the spiritual realm), that are invisible to our physical sight, as indisputable reality.
• As we see the day of His glorious appearance advancing quickly, in both the physical world and our own walk of faith, may we be those that stand fast and watch intently for His soon return, as we look for that Blessed Hope and the any-day appearing of the glory of our great and gracious God - Who is Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.

• Paul was ready and willing to give an answer for the hope that was in him, when challenged about the resurrection of the body from the dead.
• Indeed, we are to test the teachings of those that in any way, contradict the Word of God, and we are to be ready to answer anyone who questions our blessed hope in Christ, and the promise of our bodily resurrection.

• By grace we have been given a living hope and an incorruptible inheritance that is kept for us in heaven..

• We should all be equipped to talk of our blessed hope and the grace of God that gives salvation to whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord.
• We should be properly prepared to give an answer for the blessed hope we have in our heart and to share the glorious hope that we have in Christ Jesus our Saviour.

• In His wisdom, He records history in advance, so that we can trust Him today and have bright hope for the future.

• While his hope was in God's redemptive power, he knew that his ultimate deliverance would have to wait for God's timing.
• His hope was in the Lord.
• As he waited for God to move on his behalf, he finished his psalm with words that reinforced his hope in the Lord: Why are you in despair, O my soul?
• Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him.
• The psalmist understood that when the Lord is the God of your salvation, it is foolish to despair for He is the hope of all the ends of the earth.
• Like the psalmist, we need to realise that the antidote to despair and distress is hope in the Lord, and we need to apply it to our life on a day-to-day basis.

• He is given to all believers as a pledge of our relationship to the Father, and as a guarantee of our position in Christ and a down-payment of the blessed hope we have in Him.

• Paul's prayers were filled with thanksgiving for his Christian brothers and sisters at Colossae because of their faith in Christ, their love in spirit and truth for one another, and their heavenly hope in their eternal inheritance; a heritage in Christ's kingdom of light which is kept for us, in heaven.

• Can we not simply trust Him in all things as we wait in faith for our blessed hope?

• May we seek to conduct ourselves in holiness of heart, as we look for the coming of the Christ - our blessed hope and great Redeemer.

• This saying is a 'stand-alone' truth that is applicable to every man, but in order to discover the godly way to go, the correct choices to make, and the true path that leads to life and light, peace and hope, the entire book of Proverbs needs to be taken into account, for it records every aspect of living a godly life.

• Although this is certainly a serious warning against treating this issue carelessly, or without understanding the tremendous responsibility incurred in teaching God's Word... this verse is also a great encouragement for us all to study the Scriptures daily, to show ourselves approved unto God, be in a position to tell others the good news of the gospel of grace - and to be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ.

• One of the mysteries that was delivered to Paul was 'Christ in you the hope of glory'.

• And if this were all that life offered to humanity, we would indeed be the most miserable of species, for we would remain dead in trespasses and sins, without God and without any hope in the world.
• Suffering is placed alongside great glory, sadness is contrasted with lasting joy, despair is put in contradistinction with the glorious hope that is set before us, while death is forever swallowed up in the abundance of everlasting life.
• And Paul reminds us that suffering produces perseverence, perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

• We have a hope in Christ that is steadfast and sure - knowing that because we are partakers in Christ's sufferings in this fallen world-system..

• The inevitable sufferings of life are designed by God to perfect us in our spiritual walk, to establish us in our Christian faith, to strengthen us in our daily life, and to settle us in our blessed hope.

• But we are all called to offer up our own Isaac in one way or another, and it is because God is testing your love for Him and your trust in His Word, for when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow and your hope and trust in the Lord develops and matures.

• The third thing that rejoiced his heart, was their enduring hope in Jesus' soon return, and much of this letter touches on the very subject of Christ coming for his people.
• Three of the most important Christian virtues are expressed in these three spiritual fruit; faith, hope, and love, and together, they embody the essence of godly living, and illustrate the virtuous way that every believer should seek to live in their Christian life-journey.

• He is our everlasting hope and strength, and the psalmist knows that the rejoicing praises of this life will reverberate to the farthest corners of the universe and inhabit the eternal ages to come.

• The future hope and eternal redemption of every pre-Cross saint and all post Cross believers rested on the one, pivotal point in the history of the world about which Jesus was speaking, when the eternal Son of God would die for our sin and become our Kinsman-Redeemer, as He shed His blood on Calvary's Cross. 

• And God made known to us what are the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles which was hidden in ages past: Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• They were his hope, they were his joy, and they were his crown of rejoicing, for Paul knew that one day they would rejoice together in the glorious presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• We are called to encourage those that are struggling, to pray for those that do not know Him, and to sow eternal seeds of hope, joy, and rejoicing in the hearts of all we meet so that together we will one day rejoice as we stand and worship our great King of kings and loving Lord of glory.

• We are no longer enslaved to sin and Satan, nor are we dead in our trespasses and without hope in the world, for we have been released from the slave-market of sin by the blood of the Lamb and are to live in a way that honours Him.
• Never should we compromise the truth, dilute our faith, or become involved in lawless behaviour, but by prayer and supplication through the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we should be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ, no matter what the cost.

• Then expanding his teaching he adds: Just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all and in all.