The Hope of the Godly!
(Prov 10:24 NLT) The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted.
In this text Solomon contrasts the wicked (who walk in fear), with the Godly (who walk in hope). Interestingly enough, I have been teaching on fear all month. Last week I taught several reasons why we should not fear and one of the reasons I taught was: "What you fear will come upon you."
Fear is a polar opposite to faith. Faith is an expression of your confidence in God and in His Word. Faith is based upon the hope that we have in God. When we find Bible Promises that line up with what we are believing God for, it adds substance to our hope (Heb 11:1). This Godly hope enables us to walk in an unrelenting confidence. Fear, on the other hand, is also a form of confidence, but it is a confidence in the negative. When you fear you are actually anticipating the negative to happen. Your confidence is not in God, but rather in what the enemy can/will do in your life. Fear opens the door to defeat; it welcomes it with open arms.
In Paul's letter to the church at Rome he talked about an overwhelming and overcoming hope. In the 5th chapter he said, "Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us" (5:5). We see here that part of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to give us a hope that does not disappoint.
In Christ we CAN get our hopes us, because in Him we are never disappointed! When He leads us to something, when He opens a door, when He starts us down a path, He always does so with the intent to see His will through to the end. He will never get our hopes up, only to then pull the rug out from under us. He wants us to hope, to believe, to operate in faith, and to live with a fearless confidence in Him! In the 15th chapter of the same letter Paul said, "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" (15:13). This is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. In this verse Paul calls God the "God of Hope," and I love that. Furthermore, he tells us that the Holy Spirit can cause us to abound in hope and give us all joy and peace as we trust in Him! That means we can have the excitement that comes from joy and the serenity that comes from peace, while we live every day in complete and total trust, confidence and faith.
So what does this mean? It means that you have a decision to make. We are living in a time where the economy is unstable, the dollar is failing and falling, our nation is still waging a war on two fronts, and many Americans are losing their hope.
The wicked don't have a choice. They really don't have an answer for fear. Fear - especially now - can grip their hearts and their minds and before they know it, their fears will be fulfilled. Without God, the wicked really don't have another way and they quickly find themselves in the realm of the hopeless. However, for those of us who are believers, we should never be hopeless, because with God we are never helpless. There is a hope available to us that never disappoints. There is a hope that comes from God that never fails. Hold on to God's hope today. With His hope in your heart you will be able to maintain joy and peace, no matter what happens in your life and our text for today says, "The hopes of the godly will be granted!"
Father, my hope is not based upon the economy, the dollar, or anything else in the world. My hope is based upon my relationship with You and this is a hope that never fails and never disappoints. You are my God of Hope! No matter what things looks like, and no matter how hard the challenge, I will never be hopeless, because with You I am never helpless! I have a hope - Your hope - that does not disappoint and that is why I am able to maintain joy and peace every day. I am not moved by what I see. I rest in my hope in You! In Jesus' name. Amen!
(Prov 10:24 NLT) The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted.
In this text Solomon contrasts the wicked (who walk in fear), with the Godly (who walk in hope). Interestingly enough, I have been teaching on fear all month. Last week I taught several reasons why we should not fear and one of the reasons I taught was: "What you fear will come upon you."
Fear is a polar opposite to faith. Faith is an expression of your confidence in God and in His Word. Faith is based upon the hope that we have in God. When we find Bible Promises that line up with what we are believing God for, it adds substance to our hope (Heb 11:1). This Godly hope enables us to walk in an unrelenting confidence. Fear, on the other hand, is also a form of confidence, but it is a confidence in the negative. When you fear you are actually anticipating the negative to happen. Your confidence is not in God, but rather in what the enemy can/will do in your life. Fear opens the door to defeat; it welcomes it with open arms.
In Paul's letter to the church at Rome he talked about an overwhelming and overcoming hope. In the 5th chapter he said, "Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us" (5:5). We see here that part of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to give us a hope that does not disappoint.
In Christ we CAN get our hopes us, because in Him we are never disappointed! When He leads us to something, when He opens a door, when He starts us down a path, He always does so with the intent to see His will through to the end. He will never get our hopes up, only to then pull the rug out from under us. He wants us to hope, to believe, to operate in faith, and to live with a fearless confidence in Him! In the 15th chapter of the same letter Paul said, "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" (15:13). This is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. In this verse Paul calls God the "God of Hope," and I love that. Furthermore, he tells us that the Holy Spirit can cause us to abound in hope and give us all joy and peace as we trust in Him! That means we can have the excitement that comes from joy and the serenity that comes from peace, while we live every day in complete and total trust, confidence and faith.
So what does this mean? It means that you have a decision to make. We are living in a time where the economy is unstable, the dollar is failing and falling, our nation is still waging a war on two fronts, and many Americans are losing their hope.
The wicked don't have a choice. They really don't have an answer for fear. Fear - especially now - can grip their hearts and their minds and before they know it, their fears will be fulfilled. Without God, the wicked really don't have another way and they quickly find themselves in the realm of the hopeless. However, for those of us who are believers, we should never be hopeless, because with God we are never helpless. There is a hope available to us that never disappoints. There is a hope that comes from God that never fails. Hold on to God's hope today. With His hope in your heart you will be able to maintain joy and peace, no matter what happens in your life and our text for today says, "The hopes of the godly will be granted!"
Father, my hope is not based upon the economy, the dollar, or anything else in the world. My hope is based upon my relationship with You and this is a hope that never fails and never disappoints. You are my God of Hope! No matter what things looks like, and no matter how hard the challenge, I will never be hopeless, because with You I am never helpless! I have a hope - Your hope - that does not disappoint and that is why I am able to maintain joy and peace every day. I am not moved by what I see. I rest in my hope in You! In Jesus' name. Amen!
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