Hope: The Heartbeat of Faith
Romans 5:5a
And hope maketh not ashamed…
I understand this text to be teaching us that to have hope is to ensure an outcome that we can be proud of! It is only when we lose hope that we lose all sense of direction, which then begins the downward spiral of depression, despair, and destruction. It is amazing what hope alone can produce, for when hope is all you have left, it becomes the fuel that drives you towards your destiny. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Here is another way to look at it: “The substance of things HOPED for = Faith!” This means that hope is what fuels your faith; without hope, faith does not exist. Real faith goes beyond knowing that God can; real faith goes into the realm of actually expecting God to do whatever you are hoping that He will do for you! There are lots of things that I know God CAN do if He wants to, but the real question is, do I really EXPECT God to do them? Or, have I lost hope that He will intervene? When you lose all hope, your faith has died. It is not knowledge of God’s abilities that you need to work on; it is your expectation!
When you begin to understand that faith is defined as the substance of things HOPED for, then you realize that HOPE is the foundation of real genuine faith. Consider this; Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Now, let’s plug the definition of faith into the verse; “But without [the substance of things HOPED for] it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” This means that the only way to please God is to come before His presence with all the things in my life that I am hoping and believing for Him to bring to pass. The biggest testament to our lack of faith is found in James 4:2b, which says, “…ye have not, because ye ask not.” We don’t ask God, because we don’t believe that He will. We don’t believe that He will, because we don’t believe that He cares. We don’t believe that He cares, because we don’t know who He is! If you ever learn who God really is, and not what men have said that He is, then your whole life will change! Trust HIM!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
And hope maketh not ashamed…
I understand this text to be teaching us that to have hope is to ensure an outcome that we can be proud of! It is only when we lose hope that we lose all sense of direction, which then begins the downward spiral of depression, despair, and destruction. It is amazing what hope alone can produce, for when hope is all you have left, it becomes the fuel that drives you towards your destiny. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Here is another way to look at it: “The substance of things HOPED for = Faith!” This means that hope is what fuels your faith; without hope, faith does not exist. Real faith goes beyond knowing that God can; real faith goes into the realm of actually expecting God to do whatever you are hoping that He will do for you! There are lots of things that I know God CAN do if He wants to, but the real question is, do I really EXPECT God to do them? Or, have I lost hope that He will intervene? When you lose all hope, your faith has died. It is not knowledge of God’s abilities that you need to work on; it is your expectation!
When you begin to understand that faith is defined as the substance of things HOPED for, then you realize that HOPE is the foundation of real genuine faith. Consider this; Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Now, let’s plug the definition of faith into the verse; “But without [the substance of things HOPED for] it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” This means that the only way to please God is to come before His presence with all the things in my life that I am hoping and believing for Him to bring to pass. The biggest testament to our lack of faith is found in James 4:2b, which says, “…ye have not, because ye ask not.” We don’t ask God, because we don’t believe that He will. We don’t believe that He will, because we don’t believe that He cares. We don’t believe that He cares, because we don’t know who He is! If you ever learn who God really is, and not what men have said that He is, then your whole life will change! Trust HIM!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill