All things are possible to him who believes. Every God given desire in your heart can be accomplished by faith. If we have faith, we can also move the mountains in our lives.
Faith is the currency of the kingdom and it pleases the heart of God. We all need to grow in faith. Hebrews 11:1 explains where faith comes from: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for…”
The forerunner
This verse explains that hope produces faith. Hope is the atmosphere where faith grows. If I have no hope, I will have no faith. So hope is just as important as faith.
Bible hope is confident expectation based on what the Bible promises. It is a strong spiritual substance. It is not inferior to faith. It is not flakey. It is faith’s forerunner.
Hope is when we are confidently believing because we know that God is faithful. Faith is when we know that we know that we have received what we have been believing for.
So how do we get hope? Bible hope has three essential ingredients:
1. Dreams
When God was injecting hope into Abraham’s heart, He told him that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand and the stars. God gave Abraham a vivid picture of his purpose.
We need to see our God given dreams when we close our eyes in prayer. We need to allow the vision God has given us of the future to become real on the inside.
2. Desire
James 1:15 says that desire gives birth. Desire is that inner longing for our promises to come to pass. Desire ignites motivation and propels us to action. Desire is vital and we need to allow it to grow.
3. Determination
Hope is not fickle. It refuses to give up. Abraham continued to hope when hope seemed foolish. He would not give up.
Hebrews 6:19 says that hope is the anchor of our soul. It keeps us stable. It is resilient and resists the temptation to down tools.
Think of hope as a car that transports us to a place of faith. Our dream is the picture of our destination, it is the reason we get in the car in the first place.
Desire is the key that turns the ignition. It gives us the motivation to get going. Determination is the fuel that keeps us going even when times are tough.
We need hope! It is not just that hope energises. Proverbs 29:18 says that where there is no vision, the people perish. Without hope, we become disheartened and our vitality can waste away.
Hope’s big blockage
Just as oil and water cannot mix, so disappointment and hope cannot coexist. If you are carrying disappointment concerning a particular promise, it will be difficult to cultivate hope for it to come to pass.
We need to deal with our disappointment in the presence of God so that hope can come alive again.
If you realise you have any sadness beneath the surface about dashed or delayed dreams, God wants to heal your heart. Come along to Healed for Life where we always deal with disappointment. And read 30 Day Detox for your Soul.
Let’s develop our dreams, allow desire to build and determine that nothing will keep us from God’s best. Which of these three do you need to focus on right now?
