Our Hope

             In what or Whom are you placing your hope today?  There are two kinds of hope in the world.  Webster defines them in his 1825 dictionary as, 1.  "A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety."  The second definition is, "Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense."  As you can see, one of them is just a desire of some good whereas the second is a confidence.  To the believer, there is a great hope.  Colossians 1:23 says, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;"  
      Our hope is in the gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We live in an age where we always are under the desire to have hope in something.  We hope that our children do well in this life.  We hope that we have a job tomorrow or next year.  We hope that we will have good health and not have some major illness.  All of these and the host of other things in which we hope are things in this life that may or may not come to pass.  While we have these desires, we also have a confidence.  This is a much different type of hope.  When you have confidence in something to come to pass, it is a hope that is guaranteed because our hope is placed in Him who is able to grant us such a confidence.  Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross for us.  Our hope is based on the promises of God and not on temporary things.  The gospel itself can be summed up in the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 where the "gospel" was defined.  Paul said there, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"  Because Jesus died for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead, our hope is guaranteed.  It is in the gospel that we have this confidence.  So, while things today may change your desires, your confidence will always be there because it is based in God's promises.  If you are having a day when things seem to be going in ways you didn't plan, remember the hope that you have in God and praise Him for it.  Praise God for being our Hope in all things.