A Revelation of Hope

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."(1 Corinthians 13:13)

Over the past six months, I've written a lot of the topic of faith and love. Faith and love are critical components of Christianity. There is no Christianity without faith and love. As Paul told the Galatians:

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6)

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Oh, the power, the light, the heat from this one sentence! The Holy Spirit was pouring through Paul's heart when he spoke those words. Faith expressed through love - the only thing that counts in Christianity. To see the truth in this one small fragment of Scripture it to see Christ in all God's glory for all eternity!

But what about hope? Where does hope fit into Christianity? For the past year, I've been asking the Lord to illuminate the meaning and importance of hope in the Kingdom. I haven't said anything about hope because I had not received a revelation of hope... until today.

As I was reading a book by Watchman Nee titled "The Release of the Spirit," I came across this passage:

(people that haven't been broken) do not see the hand of God. While God is working, while God is attempting to break their natural, soulish strengths, they do not recognize it as being from Him. They are devoid of light, seeing only men opposing them. They imagine their environment is just too difficult, and their circumstances are to blame. So they linger in their darkness and despair. (Source: Watchmen Nee, The Release of the Spirit)

So they linger in their darkness and despair... darkness and despair... darkness and despair.

Those two words - darkness and despair - rolled through my mind. And then, in an instant, a light went off. I saw the meaning of hope. I finally saw it!

Hope is what allows a spiritual being - a man, woman or child - to overcome any darkness and despair. That is the power of hope. It overcomes darkness and despair. We have hope in His light! We have hope in the awesome power of His Spirit! His never-failing love (1 Corinthians 13:8) - NEVER FAILING LOVE! - gives us hope!

I went to the Bible for confirmation of my revelation of hope. The Spirit guided me to Romans. As I was reading Paul's letter to the Romans, I came across this Scripture:

"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." (Romans 15:13)

There it is! There is confirmation of my revelation.

Let's dissect Romans 15:13 so we can digest it:

The God of hope... (God of hope! He is hope!)

fill you with joy and peace... (i.e., filled with Spiritual fruit)

and you trust in him... (i.e., believe in Him - have faith in Him)

So that you may overflow with hope... (overflow with hope - overcome darkness, no despair!)

By the power of the Holy Spirit. (Christ in our hearts - the most precious gift of all!)

Now, let us go back to look again at 1 Corinthians 13:13 and tie everything back to Christ:

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

FAITH: Christ is faithfulness. God will never forsake us (Isaiah 41:17). Have faith in Him.

HOPE: Christ is hope. The God of hope (Romans 15:8). May your heart overflow with hope.

LOVE: Christ is love. God is love (1 John 4:8). May your heart be filled with His never failing love.

May you see Him as faithfulness, hope, and love.

Agape,

Steve