Hoping Pt 5

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Part 5



You have been given a supernatural hope by God through Christ to use when everything around you looks hopeless, so that God can bring it to pass. Dig into the Word of God and make the decision to live out the fullness of your salvation. God wants to do something never seen before through you (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10). You have to believe that He who promised is able to perform. Starting this very day, we will learn how to expand hope and God in your life.

Being filled to your level of hunger and thirst is a spiritual principle. There are "hunger stimulants" to increase your hope:
 Exposure – just like smelling bread in a bakery – exposure will increase your appetite for the Word.
 Focus – whatever you concentrate on will develop an acquired taste.
 Reflection/memory – remember how God brought you out of a previous situation.

Get your hopes up! It’s an act of your own will to hope greater. You cannot separate hope from belief. How can you believe for something without an expectation for it to come to pass? Without hope there is no faith. Mark 9:23 lets us know that the size of hope is determined only by ourselves. Your hope causes your faith to birth what you can’t see. But you first have to get over yourself. Hope can mean faith because they are so closely associated (Hebrews 10:23). Hold fast to your hope because it’s going to be some kind of bumpy ride! Why hold on? Because God is faithful.

1. You might have to modify your requirements for hope. God hears you! But God doesn’t move for sincerity; He moves for faith.
John 20:24-29 – Thank you, Thomas! We are blessed because of Thomas’ sensory criteria for hope in Jesus’ resurrection. No longer in the Kingdom of God can we only rely on our senses. You can believe without physical evidence.
Romans 8:24, 25 – The new criteria for hope – you will have follow brother Abraham and learn to hope beyond the obvious. If you can figure it out, you aren’t in hope. If you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, get off the tracks! You’re about to get run over!

2. People’s expectations are shaped by:
 the authority to which they submit. The Spirit of God revealed: people’s fears are crystal clear. It is their hopes that are fuzzy. Your hope needs to be crystal clear. Define where, when, how.
 what they are exposed to repeatedly – using your imagination is how to elevate your hope. Don’t spend time with ungodly people. Get away from toxic environments.
 their environment – be separate! Don’t stay on the ground with turkeys – they can’t fly!
 their experiences – the most powerful thing that will shape your expectation.