Eternal Hope!
(Prov 11:7 BBE) At the death of an upright man his hope does not come to an end, but the hope of the evil-doer comes to destruction.
In this verse Solomon contrasts the hope of the righteous (the upright) with the hope of the ungodly (the evil-doer). If you have been reading Today's Word for a while you know that I teach a great deal on hope. As a believer, we are called to live by faith and our faith is birthed from our hope. Our hope is birthed from our relationship with the Father. You and I, as believers, have a hope that springs eternal.In Romans 15:4 Paul said, "Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled." Paul tells us that the scriptures of old were documented for us so that we could have hope and encouragement while we patiently wait for the manifestation of God's promises in our lives.
When we read about what God did for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Daniel, Peter, James, John, Paul, and etc., it should give us hope. We serve a God that does not play favorites. He honors faith. Just like He responded to the faith of others, He will respond to our faith. The expectation of His manifestation is the source of our hope.
In the 13th verse Paul of this same chapter Paul aptly called God, "The God of Hope." That is an awesome name for our God and a sure reminder that our relationship with Him should be a source of hope. In that same verse Paul told us that this God of Hope can fill us with all Joy and Peace in believing (15:13). Since we serve the "God of Hope" that we should have the excitement that comes from Joy and the stability that comes from Peace, while we wait on Him. Paul went on to say that we can literally, "Abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit."Hope is a great blessing and it is what helps many of us as we face the challenges that we do. We have hope for the future. Now, the argument can be made that the ungodly have hope too. And that is true, but their hope is not birthed from God and therefore, their hope is NOT eternal.
To illustrate this point let's look at a story that Jesus told in Luke chapter 16. It is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. In this story there was a certain rich man who lived in luxury every day. A beggar named Lazarus sat at his gates. The rich man never paid any attention to Lazarus. He simply went on with his life. Lazarus would have been content to eat the leftovers from the rich man's house, but the rich man did not show him any mercy.
Although Jesus did not say it, I am sure that the rich man had hope and plans for his future, as did Lazarus. They both had hope, but when they died only the hope of one of them lived on. Jesus went on to teach that after death Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom and the rich man went to hell. While Lazarus was enjoying his time with Father Abraham the rich man called out to Abraham and said, "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire." But Abraham replied, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony" (see Luke 16:20-25).
(Prov 11:7 BBE) At the death of an upright man his hope does not come to an end, but the hope of the evil-doer comes to destruction.
In this verse Solomon contrasts the hope of the righteous (the upright) with the hope of the ungodly (the evil-doer). If you have been reading Today's Word for a while you know that I teach a great deal on hope. As a believer, we are called to live by faith and our faith is birthed from our hope. Our hope is birthed from our relationship with the Father. You and I, as believers, have a hope that springs eternal.In Romans 15:4 Paul said, "Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled." Paul tells us that the scriptures of old were documented for us so that we could have hope and encouragement while we patiently wait for the manifestation of God's promises in our lives.
When we read about what God did for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Daniel, Peter, James, John, Paul, and etc., it should give us hope. We serve a God that does not play favorites. He honors faith. Just like He responded to the faith of others, He will respond to our faith. The expectation of His manifestation is the source of our hope.
In the 13th verse Paul of this same chapter Paul aptly called God, "The God of Hope." That is an awesome name for our God and a sure reminder that our relationship with Him should be a source of hope. In that same verse Paul told us that this God of Hope can fill us with all Joy and Peace in believing (15:13). Since we serve the "God of Hope" that we should have the excitement that comes from Joy and the stability that comes from Peace, while we wait on Him. Paul went on to say that we can literally, "Abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit."Hope is a great blessing and it is what helps many of us as we face the challenges that we do. We have hope for the future. Now, the argument can be made that the ungodly have hope too. And that is true, but their hope is not birthed from God and therefore, their hope is NOT eternal.
To illustrate this point let's look at a story that Jesus told in Luke chapter 16. It is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. In this story there was a certain rich man who lived in luxury every day. A beggar named Lazarus sat at his gates. The rich man never paid any attention to Lazarus. He simply went on with his life. Lazarus would have been content to eat the leftovers from the rich man's house, but the rich man did not show him any mercy.
Although Jesus did not say it, I am sure that the rich man had hope and plans for his future, as did Lazarus. They both had hope, but when they died only the hope of one of them lived on. Jesus went on to teach that after death Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom and the rich man went to hell. While Lazarus was enjoying his time with Father Abraham the rich man called out to Abraham and said, "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire." But Abraham replied, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony" (see Luke 16:20-25).
So what does this mean? It means that the hope of the ungodly goes no further than the grave, but the hope of the righteous lasts forever. So as you enter this day remember that our God is the God of Hope! And the Hope that you receive, as a by-product of your relationship with Him, will never die!
Father, I thank You for an eternal/everlasting hope. You are the God of Hope in my life. My relationship with You gives me a hope that will never die. You birth dreams and aspirations in my life that are worthy of pursuit. I am never hopeless, because IN YOU I am never helpless! You are in me, on me, with me, and for me! My hope is in You and I shall not be disappointed! I enter this day with great expectations! In Jesus' name. Amen.
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