MEM

"When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you're slamming the door in the face of God." -Charles L. Allen

"To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death." -Pearl S. Buck

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A short review of "The eminent value of our Hope" as expressed in Scripture - from MEM 139.

The dictionary definition of the word "hope" is NOT the Biblical Hope of which we speak.

Here … the meaning is "expectation." The Lord CAN be trusted. He WILL keep His promises.

In the New Testament this word "Hope" is an absolute, a guarantee without a doubt. It is the Greek word "elpis" meaning "to expect or anticipate with pleasure."

The Hope of His Kingdom is not a maybe - but an absolute and definite guarantee by the Word of the Truth of the Gospel.

Eternal life - guaranteed and promised by the God of the Universe. He cannot lie.

Every believer in Jesus Christ may look with confidence to the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt!

Hope - ISBE (From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

For the religion of the Old Testament is of all things a religion of hope, centered in God, … the firm trust that at a time appointed God, in person or through His representative, will establish a kingdom of righteousness.

The proclamation of this coming kingdom of God was the central element in the teaching of Jesus, is the substance of His teaching as to hope. …the tone is not that of prediction so much as it is that of the statement of obvious facts. In other words, "hope" to Christ is "certainty," …

Continuing the study of our hope in the glorious inheritance we have in Yeshua (Jesus) the Savior. ‘Hope’ is an anchor for our Salvation…

An excellent study of ‘Hope that makes not ashamed,’ and gives direction to our purpose as children of God.

From the Holman Bible Dictionary

Hope (edited for length)

Trustful expectation, particularly with reference to the fulfillment of God's promises. Biblical hope is the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God's guidance. More specifically, hope is the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future. This contrasts to the world's definition of hope as "a feeling that what is wanted will happen." Understood in this way, hope can denote either a baseless optimism or a vague yearning after an unattainable good. If hope is to be genuine hope, however, it must be founded on something (or someone) which affords reasonable grounds for confidence in its fulfillment. The Bible bases its hope in God and His saving acts.

Words for Hope in the Old Testament the words which are most often used to connote "hope" are tigwa ("to look for something with eager expectation"), batach ("to rely on something reliable"), and yachal ("trust").

In the New Testament "hope" is the proper translation for the verb elpizein and the noun elpis. Other words which belong to the vocabulary of hope are pepoithenai ("to trust"), hupomenein ("to endure"), and prosdokan ("to expect" or "to await").

It is important to note that the reality of hope is often present where the exact words are absent. A case in point is the New Testament Book of Revelation. The word "hope" does not appear in its pages. The message of Revelation, however, is permeated with the reality of hope.

A complete examination of hope would have to include all of the exhortations, prayers, promises, and future tenses in the Bible.

A significant aspect of Old Testament hope was Israel's expectation of a messiah, that is, an anointed ruler from David's line. This expectation grew out of the promise that God would establish the throne of David forever (2 Samuel 7:14). The anointed ruler (messiah) would be God's agent to restore Israel's glory and rule the nations in peace and righteousness. For the most part, however, David's successors were disappointments. The direction of the nation was away from the ideal. Thus, people looked to the future for a son of David who would fulfill the divine promise.

-Bert Dominy

Hope is the physician of each misery. ~Irish Proverb

God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us - in the dreariest and most dreaded moments - can see a possibility of hope. ~Maya Angelou

Hope is grief's best music. ~Author Unknown

Never deprive someone of hope - it may be all they have. ~Author Unknown

Hope never abandons you, you abandon it. ~George Weinberg

Some see a hopeless end, while others see an endless hope. ~Author Unknown

Hope is the poor man's bread. ~Gary Herbert

Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man. ~Victor Hugo

This proverb speaks of the death promised Adam and Eve by refusing to obey YHVH because they listened to the destroyer. When our hope is in this life it can only be short lived…

Center our children’s lives on the Eternal One that they too may truly anticipate the promise of eternal life.

"Should you ask me: What is the first thing in religion? I should reply: the first, second, and third thing therein is humility." Augustine

How does God feel about issues we face today?

God created man in His image.  His word tells us we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Do we hold different standards for ourselves than we do for others?  This is being a hypocrite.  Be merciful and you will receive mercy.   We need to be quick to forgive others, as well as ourselves.

by Linda Balough, Alma, Colorado

At age 14 in 1959, I began working part time at a small chain shoe store in Owensboro, Ky.

One Saturday in November, with the annual tobacco market in full swing at the nearby auction warehouse, I noticed a family of five milling around our sales floor. We staffers took turns approaching new customers, but I was at the cash register and none of the others offered assistance. In fact, they looked in every direction except that of the family. I asked why none of my colleagues was helping them and was told, "Look at their clothes-and they smell like coal oil. They’re gonna be a waste of time."

I picked up my foot size gauge and asked the solemn-faced woman in a gingham dress and well-worn coat what she’d like to see. She pointed to a pair of sturdy lace-up ankle boots. When we finished the fitting, her husband handed me a pair of low-heeled dress shoes and asked for her size. They exchanged looks of pleasure as she tried them on and set aside the boxes for purchase.

My colleagues watched in astonishment as the father directed me to fit each family member. The 10 boxes of shoes they purchased turned out to be the store’s largest sale in months!

Glancing at the other store personnel, the father smiled and said, "Guess some folks don’t know that when we come and sell our tobacco, we use the money to outfit the family for the year. Thanks for being so respectful, young lady."

I had just learned to treat everyone, regardless of first impressions, as the most important person I’d meet that day. And that practice has benefited me in many unexpected ways.

The Lamb of God John 1:29

A Lamb Without Blemish and Without Spot 1 Pet 1:19

The Lamb that Was Slain Rev 5:12

The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne Rev 7:17

The Lamb (the Light of the City) Rev 21:23

The Lamb (the Governor) Rev 7:14

One Shepherd John 10:16

Jehovah's Shepherd Zech 13:7

The Shepherd of the Sheep Heb 13:20

The Shepherd of Israel Ezek 34:23

The Shepherd and Bishop of Souls 1 Pet 2:25

The Good Shepherd (that laid down His Life) John 10:11

The Great Shepherd (that was brought again from the dead) He 13:20

The Chief Shepherd (that shall again appear) 1 Pet 5:4

The Root of Jesse Isa 11:10

The Root and Offspring of David Rev 22:16

The Branch Zech 6:12

A Righteous Branch Jeremiah 23:5

The Tree of Life Rev 2:7

The Bread of Life John 6:35

The Living Bread John 6:51

The Rose of Sharon Song 2:1

The Lily of the Valleys Song 2:1

Not sure? Having second thoughts? Confused? Anchor your life by hoping in the sure Word of Elohim. There is something that lifts our spirit when we trustingly open God’s word and read it for ourselves.

TTT (Torrey’s new Topical Textbook)

• In God Ps 39:7; 1Pet 1:21

• In Christ 1Cor 15:19; 1Tim 1:1

• In God's promises Acts 26:6; Acts 26:7; Titus 1:2

• In the mercy of God Ps 33:18

• Is the work of the Holy Spirit Rom 15:13; Gal 5:5

• Obtained through

- Grace 2Thess 2:16

- The word Ps 119:81

- Patience and comfort of the Scriptures Rom 15:4

- The gospel Col 1:5; Col 1:23

- Faith Rom 5:1; Rom 5:2; Gal 5:5

• The result of experience Rom 5:4

• A better hope brought in by Christ Heb 7:19

• Described as

- Good 2Thess 2:16

- Lively 1Pet 1:3

- Sure and steadfast Heb 6:19

- Gladdening Prov 10:28

- Blessed Titus 2:13

• Makes not ashamed Rom 5:5

• Triumphs over difficulties Rom 4:18

• Is an encouragement to boldness in preaching 2Cor 3:12

• Saints

- Are called to Eph 4:4

- Rejoice in Rom 5:2; Rom 12:12

- Have all, the same Eph 4:4

- Have, in death Prov 14:32

- Should abound in Rom 15:13

- Should look for the object of Titus 2:13

- Should not be ashamed of Ps 119:116

- Should hold fast Heb 3:6

- Should not be moved from Col 1:23

- Should continue in Ps 71:14; 1Pet 1:13

• Connected with faith and love 1Cor 13:13

• Objects of

- Salvation 1Thess 5:8

- Righteousness Gal 5:5

- Christ's glorious appearing Titus 2:13

- A resurrection Acts 23:6; Acts 24:15

- Eternal life Titus 1:2; Titus 3:7

- Glory Rom 5:2; Col 1:27

• Leads to purity 1John 3:3

• Leads to patience Rom 8:25; 1Thess 1:3

• Seek for full assurance of Heb 6:11

• Be ready to give an answer concerning 1Pet 3:15

• Encouragement to Hos 2:15; Zech 9:12

• Encourage others to Ps 130:7

• Happiness of Ps 146:5

• Life is the season of Eccl 9:4; Isa 38:18

• The wicked have no ground for Eph 2:12

• Of the wicked

- Is in their worldly possessions Job 31:24

- Shall make them ashamed Isa 20:5; Isa 20:6; Zech 9:5

- Shall perish Job 8:13; Job 11:20; Prov 10:28

- Shall be extinguished in death Job 27:8

• Illustrated by

- An Anchor Heb 6:19

- A helmet 1Thess 5:8

• Exemplified

- David Ps 39:7

- Paul Acts 24:15

- Abraham Rom 4:18

History continues to repeat itself because man is utterly and hopelessly unoriginal. We possess about as much originality as jackals do social graces, and so, even though the small details might differ from generation to generation, at the heart, and the root of our actions, at the basic level and foundation of our undertakings we are our ancestors, those of old whom we so readily dismiss as backward, unthinking brutes who had no purpose other than their own survival.

Admittedly the tower we have attempted to erect is not as the tower of Babel in antiquity. Instead of brick and mortar we have chosen to use other materials but the underlying desire for building our own version of the tower is the same as those of old.

Today our brick is excess, and our mortar is independence from God. We have built and hurriedly so within the past few years, and with each brick we lay, with each pestle of mortar we lather on our self-importance only grows, and what we only dared to think in the dark of night concerning being the masters of our own destiny we now declare openly for all who would hear.

"See, we have done this! It is we who have built and erected, it is we who have progressed and achieved, God is an antiquated concept to which we offer undue glory and undeserved thanks. It was never Him, it was always us."

We have come to convince ourselves that not only could we achieve the greatest nation the world has ever known in and of our own prowess, but that we could maintain it for generations to come. We glibly told ourselves that the hardest part was behind us, that the difficult part was the building of this society, this nation, this idea, this democracy, and maintaining it would be a walk in the park, a piece of cake, something that could be accomplished in our spare time and without much effort.

In the throes of hubris and our own self-importance we chose to dismiss and discount the lessons history would teach us, that it is in fact much more difficult to maintain an empire than to build one, that every empire that has existed since the beginning of history had a zenith then a decline, or that the downfall of every empire began with the downfall of morality and the destruction of family.

‘Others may have made those mistakes in the past, but we are wiser and more evolved, we will not repeat the mistakes of the ancients, we will ascend and ascend until we pierce the heavens, then go a bit further for good measure.’

Alas our Babel is unraveling, and the cracks in the edifice we’ve erected are already too deep and too pronounced to ignore. The God we thought was just a figment of our imagination the God we thought we could forget, ignore and declare our independence from wasn’t sleeping after all, He was not on vacation or busy with other things, but in His infinite goodness, mercy, and patience He waited to see whether we would perhaps awaken from our self-delusion and seek His face once more.

Instead of turning our hearts toward God however, we have accelerated the pace with which we are attempting to wipe clean the very memory of Him, we have accelerated the pace with which we glory in perversion and mock and scorn and abuse those who would cling to Him, who would worship Him, who would serve Him, and who follow after His precepts.

As our Babel unravels there are some who insist that the remedy is to use more mortar, to further and in more violent ways declare our independence from God, because only when we are rid of Him for good, only when all those who still serve Him are thoroughly silenced can our Babel remain standing.

Little do they know that all it took for our Babel to come crumbling back to earth, all that it took for all that we built to disintegrate before our very eyes was for the God they scorn and mock and reject to remove His hand of blessing and protection, from upon our nation.

What we are seeing is neither wrath nor judgment, it is not an angry God doling out justice with righteous indignation, these have not as yet commenced. All we are seeing presently is the removal of blessing, the removal of favor, the removal of protection, and removal of peace.

When judgment comes and wrath is poured out it will be another matter entirely.

Ezekiel's famous vision of the valley of dry bones captures the heart of the entire Bible as the story of the Bible is the story of God's solution to the greatest of all human problems; death. Of course the Scriptures address more than just this one issue, but this theme drives everything else. Its early chapters reveal to us that we were not designed to die, but because of our first parents' rebellion against God, death and everything associated with death entered the human experience. We later read how God called Abraham to be the channel through which life would be restored to the nations of the world. The nation that God purposely developed through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was God's chosen vessel to make himself known to the world, so that in the end death would be completely eradicated.

The people of Israel were not chosen because of superior moral or spiritual qualities, but rather to demonstrate the depths of the predicament in which we all find ourselves. Over and over again Abraham's natural descendants illustrate the human race's need of deliverance. The most vivid picture of this is also the foundational event in Israel's history: Passover. Having been led by God to Egypt in order to save them from starvation, Israel eventually finds itself in oppressive bondage in their adopted land. Helpless and oppressed, God powerfully and dramatically rescues them.

In spite of this, the history of Israel continued to demonstrate human beings' inability to free ourselves from the greater oppression, death, which is fundamentally a spiritual problem, since it arises from rebellion against God and our resultant alienation from him.

By the days of the prophet Ezekiel, Israel had lost hope. The nation was scattered and exiled. The symbol of God's presence, the Temple, was on the brink of destruction. Israel had miserably failed to be the kingdom of priests God called them to be (Exodus 19:6).

Ezekiel's vision of Israel as a pile of old dry bones was an appropriate description of their condition at that time-a people not just dead, but long dead. Still, the vision was not given to describe their final condition, however, but rather as a message of hope. This was not the stuff of motivational speeches. For you cannot motivate the dead. Israel was completely incapable of restoring itself. But what's that to God? He, who created life, recreates life.

In this passage the resurrection of the dead is intimately associated with the return of Israel to the Land of Israel. Taken by itself, this vision of graves opening and the dead coming back to life might be taken as a metaphor for Israel's return only. But this is not the only passage that refers to resurrection (see Isaiah 25:6-12; 26:19; Daniel 12:1-4). Using resurrection to describe the return emphasizes the miraculousness of the return and at the same time points to the inauguration of the age to come when death will be no more-a restoration like no other.

The deliverance from slavery in Egypt, the return from exile in Babylon, and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 all demonstrate that nothing is impossible with God. An honest analysis of Israel's condition prior to each of these events shows that Israel had no reason to hope. But with God anything is possible.

Are you feeling hopeless right now? Look to the God of restoration and resurrection. He who brings the dead to life, will bring life to you, if you trust him. There's no telling where he will take you from there.

When our hope is in YHVH (The LORD) we can be strong and take courage in His Salvation - it is a fact.