Hope!

If I were to summarize my theme for my life in one word, it would be hope. I don't know if this ever happens to any of you, but the verses that always stick out to me the most in the bible are the verses/passages regarding hope. My first bible verse that I ever memorized was Romans 12:12 "Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times" (Good News Bible Version) The definition of hope is: to expect with confidence. When we have hope in God, we are expecting God to move within our lives. I view hope as a synonym for faith. If we have faith, we have hope. Some people throw the word hope around lightly. They will say, I hope that I get off of work this weekend or I hope that I get a computer for Christmas, etc. This is contrary to its definition, these are merely wishes. A wish is simply to have a desire. We must have more than just a desire, we must have confidence.

In this day and age, people have lost hope in Christianity and regretfully, the Church. I firmly believe that if you have lost hope in the Church, you have lost hope for every single individual Christian across this world, for THEY are what makes up the Church (not a building or the location where you meet) What good does it to do to lose hope? How does that encourage others? How is that increasing your faith? It doesn't. There are many forms of suffering in this world. There are emotional, physical, and spiritual sufferings that occur. And yes, these will occur within the Church. But simply because you see suffering and sin within the Church, it does not mean that you should turn your back on it.Christ calls us to not only have hope for one another, but most importantly, "Hope for the GLORY OF GOD!" When we have this kind of hope, well, how can anything else be against us!? Look at the following verse in Romans 5:1-5 **Side Note** - Removing yourself from Church completely because you have been hurt by A church is not the answer. We cannot work together as a body to help each other if we simply leave every time we witness something we disagree with within a church***


"Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us."

Christ CLEARLY tells us that Hope cannot disappoint us! So long as we have the Holy Spirit, our hope will sustain us. All the trials and hardships in life do not matter when we have hope, because we know that God's glory will be revealed at the end of EVERY tribulation, insecurity, doubt, etc.



I pray that we all have hope in God's Kingdom, Church, and his people. May HIS word flourish across this nation and every other nation across this world.


God Bless you all,

Ashley


"Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:20)
^Regarding Abraham