You know the story from Lord of the Rings. Beautiful Arwen loves Aragorn. However, Aragorn left to protect Frodo on his quest. Incidentally, he’ll end up fighting a war. Unfortunately, He may never return. As a result, Arwen is overcome. And she lingers in middle earth rather than join her kin to travel to their forever home. Having remained, she has a conversation with her elf-father. Interestingly, Arwen clings to hope. And she wants to know how to live in hope.
Elrond: “He is not coming back. Why do you linger when there is no hope?”
Arwen: “There is still hope.”
Elrond: “If Aragorn survives this war, You will still be parted.”
Sadly, Arwen’s dad doesn’t sound very hopeful, does he?
Why Is Hope So Important?
Name a movie with a line about hope in it. Commonly, the line goes something like this –
“There’s always hope.”
If this is true, why do people struggle to hang onto hope. And why is hope so important?
Last week’s article was We Have Hope. Scripture talks often about hope. God knows you need hope. So, let’s explore how hope helps. For a jumpstart, I’ll pull some content forward from a recent article.
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How does a typical dictionary define hope?
- The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best (noun)
- To look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence. (verb)
- To believe, desire, or trust (verb)
I suggest these definitions are strongly related to the world’s view of hope. However, God’s definition is different. The third definition above is closest to God’s. Yet, it lacks the fullness and promise God intends. So, to get a better look at God’s kind of hope, let’s look at Scripture.
Helpful Hope Scripture
Jer. 29:11 says – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Remarkably, many people hold onto this verse.
This Scripture implies God knows –
- Everything about you.
- Everything you’re going through.
- All events of tomorrow and future years.
Since all this is true – and because God is good and loving – you can trust Him.
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Tear Into It – How To Live With Hope
First, I suggest – take a look at Tear Into It. That article explains how and why we introduce Scripture dissection exercises every few weeks in our article rotation.
For this content’s purposes, here’s a bullet summary of 1 Thess. 1:1-10 in my words.
Scripture Backstory Points:
This passage gives concise action steps that nurture hope. So, let’s discover these threads of hope. Following that, we’ll explore how to put these actions steps into your life.
Always give thanks.- Never cease to pray.
- Focus on –
- Faith.
- Hope.
- Love.
- You are chosen by and loved by God.
- You are given power AND God’s Holy Spirit inside your soul.
- Be an imitator of Jesus and true believers.
- Be joyful and receptive even in hard times.
- Grow into an imitator and then provide an example.
- Trust God’s faithfulness in simple faith.
- Turn from every affection to serve the living, true God.
- Wait for Jesus each day to return from Heaven.
Now Let’s Dissect – How To Live With Hope
Every Scripture Dissection article, we engage four focuses.
- What Does It Say?
- What Does It Mean?
- Make It Personal.
- Make A Commitment.
1. What Does It Say?
First, let’s take the previous bullet summary and briefly explore each. Incidentally, this simple review establishes a new thought process.
Always give thanks.
Why is it so important to always give thanks? 1 Thess. 5:18 says, to give thanks “. . . is God’s Will for you in Christ Jesus.” Subsequently, God wants you to be like Jesus. Giving thanks is an essential way to do that.
Never cease to pray.
Prayer is the very communication we have with God. Essentially, it nurtures our relationship with Him. So, we better not cease to pray! Remarkably, prayer is an undeserved gift of relationship from God. You don’t always need words to pray.
Focus on –
Do these three sound familiar? Interestingly, 1 Cor. 13:13 says these are the three greatest qualities to pursue:
-
- Faith. It is impossible to please God without faith. (Heb. 11:6)
- Hope. Hope is essential to people and helps us hold on. Incidentally, who hopes for what they already have? (Rom. 8:24)
- Love. This is the greatest quality to pursue. Love is the very power God applies to save us.
Chosen by and loved by God.
Since you are chosen by and loved by God, you are precious to Him. Importantly, this arrangement is not because of works you do – or by being really “good” (so no one can boast). Rather, it’s a beautiful gift from God’s own heart! (1 Thess. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:4; Eph. 2:9)
Given power AND God’s Holy Spirit inside your soul.
Because Jesus wants you to succeed, He promises two special blessings to His followers: power and fellowship. Remarkably, both come through His Holy Spirit. 2 Cor. 13:14 specifically says – “The fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus, Himself, promises – “power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” (Acts 1:8)
Be an imitator of Jesus and true believers.
1 Thess. 1:6 tells Christians to “. . . be imitators of us and of the Lord . . .” Consequently, this includes imitators in your thoughts, words, actions, moods, choices – everything! Subsequently, in what ways are you imitating Jesus?
Be joyful and receptive even in hard times.
Many psalms instruct to be joyful. And Paul adds to be “joyful in hope.” (Rom. 12:12) Interestingly, believers are to also be receptive to God in hard times. Amazingly, 2 Cor. 1:3-7 declares you receive comfort and endurance when you practice joy. And, isn’t that exactly what you need in hard times?
Grow into an imitator and then provide an example.
Jn. 13:15 cuts right to the chase. Jesus tells you to follow His example. Strategically, this is a pattern to adopt and pass on.
Trust God’s faithfulness in simple faith.
Because God chooses to spread His influence through your partnership, ask yourself – what is your portion? Remarkably – just simple faith and faithful obedience.
Turn from every affection to serve the living, true God.
What patterns, practices, habits, priorities, desires get your affection and attention over Jesus?
Wait for Jesus each day to return from Heaven.
Many Scriptures talk about Jesus’ “second coming.” Because He’s gone to prepare a place for you, He will return to take you there. (Jn. 14: 2-3) Notably, the thing Jesus is highly interested in is – will He find people living in faith in Him when He returns? (Lk. 18:8)
2. What Does It Mean?
I suppose this question can be easily and quickly answered. 1 Thess. 1:1-10 gives clear and simple action steps to follow every day. And we just went through them. Take a moment to look back at the bullet list in “What Does It Say.” Frankly, it would be hard to be any clearer about this passage’s message.
As you follow these action steps, your focus should be on faith, hope, and love. Then, as you practice these action steps from your heart, God gives you influence. Essentially, you become His partner to reach to a broken world.
Are you ready to join Him? Regardless, you need to decide if you will be faithful. In summary, this means you’ll trust Him no matter what.
3. Make It Personal
The best way to make all this content personal is to . . . well . . . do it. But this requires “buy in” on your part. Also, it means prioritizing these ideas. Essentially, making these concepts personal means –
- Thinking strategically how to apply these action steps in practical ways each day.
- Setting reminders to help you do them. Subsequently, this keep you on target.
- Asking God to make these steps a reality in your life.
- Knowing this is how to live in hope.
If you follow through like this, you will grow and change. Plus, hope will be vibrant. Additionally, strength will rise up in your heart. And finally, you will have power to live a simple life of faith, hope, and love.
4. Make A Commitment – Application Thoughts and Questions
To review the points we just covered, I’ll ask them as questions:
Are you always giving thanks?- How practiced are you in praying without ceasing? A lot of prayer is listening to God.
- Do you focus on –
- Faith?
- Hope?
- Love?
- Do you believe you are chosen by and loved by God?
- Have you connected with God’s power AND welcomed His Spirit inside your soul?
- In what ways are you imitating Jesus and true believers?
- Are you joyful and receptive even in hard times?
- Do you imitate Jesus so others can imitate you?
- Do you simply trust God’s faithfulness?
- Have you turned every affection to serve God?
- Are you eagerly waiting for Jesus to return from Heaven?
- So, do you now know how to live in hope?
For another excellent article on how to live with hope, check out “Hope For A New Year.” And remember last week’s article – We Have Hope. The principles in these articles help you live with hope every day – all year.
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