Hoping Pt.2

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Pt. 2

There’s no use in hoping unless it seems there is no hope. Hope is like peace; it doesn’t operate when everything is going well. While the world is in chaos, there is always hope (not hype) with the people of God, those who have allowed themselves to be adopted by Almighty God. The purpose of this message is to alert the Children of God to the choice they’ve made to live on a higher level.

1. Decide (make up your mind once and for all) what kind of life you’re going to live. God won’t and can’t make this decision for you; you are made in His image and likeness and have free will. Will you decide to live the overcoming life that Christ came to offer all of us? Deuteronomy 28 outlined clearly the choice God gave us, along with the answer! It’s up to you.
Romans 15:13 – Will you choose to live religiously? Settling for the religious is the very thing Jesus came to deliver us from. Or will you live a relevant, purposeful life? This is not an impossible equation! Jesus is our example to show us how to live this life. We are who the Covenant says we are, and can do what the Covenant says we can do because God keeps His Covenant. You can no longer be satisfied with your life.
Philippians 1:4; 2, 12, 13 – God has a life for you beyond your wildest dreams. This takes confidence to expect that what God has begun, He will also finish for His good pleasure! It’s not about you! You are not to work for, but rather to work out the salvation by faith (fear and trembling) God has already planted inside you. Our time in here is “practice time.” Coming to service and spending time alone with God is practice. Going out into the world is “Game Time.” Be excited about practice – this is where you need to show up –on time – to be equipped with all you the potential you need to overcome the world.

2. God wants to do something never seen before. God has plans for you, it doesn’t matter if you know about them or not! Behind the scenes, He has a gift, a plan, and a purpose for you beyond what you can even hope or expect for. And while the manifestation will bless you, it will also bless others and give them hope as well.
1 Corinthians 2:9, 10 – Our answer already exists; it’s prepared and done, waiting for you to release your faith to go get it. Religious thinking tells us to wait for the “sweet by and by” but this is not scriptural. Proverbs tells us deliberately that hope deferred makes the heart sick.
• You must be fully persuaded. Romans 4:21
• It isn’t going to be automatic. Galatians 3:13, 14
• You’ll only be filled to the level of your hunger and thirst. Matthew 5:6

How to increase your hunger and thirst (both of which are a sign of good health):
Ask yourself this question: Where are you frustrated or disappointed in life?

• Exposure. Colossians 1:23; 1:5, 6. Being exposed to the Word.
• Focus. Psalm 1:1-3. You’ll be biased on whatever you choose to focus on.
• Reflection. Psalm 42:5, 6, 11. Remembering what God has done will build an expectation of what God will do again.