Anyone Looking for Some Hope?

"I hope it works out for you!"
"I hope things go as expected."
"I hope things improve soon."
"I hope I find my way out of this mess some day."

We all hope for something, don't we? In fact, we pursue hope and cling to it with every breath, for after all, without it, why go on? People commit suicide because they ran out of hope. But the Bible talks about "the hope that doesn't disappoint," and that's the hope author and cancer survivor Yvonne Ortega refers to in her excellent book, "Finding Hope for Your Journey through Breast Cancer."

Now I know not everyone has breast cancer or even knows someone who does. If you do, then this book is exactly what you need. But if not, you (or someone you love) need a book to strengthen your grip on hope. This practical book of 60 inspirational readings by author and speaker Yvonne Ortega is just the ticket!

Offering Hope to the Hopeless...

Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason
for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15, NKJV).

Hopeless. Can there be a more depressing word? When our situation is truly hopeless, why go on living? Hopelessness is the most common reason that suicide is contemplated, attempted, or achieved. What point is there to life if we have no hope?
I’ve been reading the prophets again lately, as I do so often, and I see two primary themes stretching throughout. First, God’s judgment on unrepentant sin. Though God called out time and again to His people, begging them to repent of their sin and return to Him, they ignored Him and continued on their own way. The results were disastrous. But the second theme is the hope of restoration. Despite the people’s willful and ongoing rejection of God, the faithful Father promised that restoration would follow judgment. Even in the most dire circumstances, there was still hope because God was greater than the circumstances!
Isn’t that what a world steeped in sin and mired in rejection of God needs to hear? Yes, judgment is coming…but restoration is the final result. And those of us who have already received God’s forgiveness must ALWAYS be ready to explain that fact to anyone who asks. If people living in hopeless situations see hope as the hallmark of our lives, they are going to be drawn to us—and sooner or later, they’re going to ask about the Source of our hope. What a privilege to be able to answer their questions! Will they respond by receiving that forgiveness and hope for themselves? Some will; many won’t. Some will even persecute us for it. But what is that to us? People’s reaction to the reason for our hope does not change the surety of that hope because our hope is not based on the stock market or the headlines or the election results. It is based on the One who cannot lie and whose promises never fail.
May we walk in such a way that our hope is obvious to all who see us—and may be ALWAYS be ready to offer an explanation (“give a defense”) of that glorious hope that is in us!

The Greatest of These...

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13, NKJV).

Love. Has there ever been a more overused word—or a more needed response to life? We proclaim our love for everything from ice cream to our spouse, but seldom think of the power behind that word.
Why does 1 Corinthians tell us that love is greater than faith or hope? Because once we leave this earth and dwell in the presence of God, faith and hope will no longer be necessary. We will at last be able to see the One who was the object of our faith and hope throughout our earthly sojourn, so faith and hope will have been fully and completely realized when we step into eternity. We will no longer have to have faith in or hope for that which we cannot see, for we will be in His presence.
Love, however, endures forever because God Himself is love. The purest and deepest form of love can only be found in God. True, there is a love based in emotion that we experience in our everyday lives, but selfless love can be found nowhere but in the Person of the One whom the Scriptures declare IS love. And that, beloved, is where those of us who have been born into God’s family will spend forever.
Amazing grace indeed! Now, today, abide faith, hope, and love. But when faith and hope have been fulfilled, God’s love will continue on. That’s why we call it heaven!