HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 182
page A180
Hope continued
• I SA I A H 4 0 :3 1 | But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high
on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
Wait quietly and patiently for God to work. You’ll discover he always comes through.
What plans does God have for me? How is hope involved in God’s plan for me?
• J E R E MI A H 2 9 :1 1 | “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans
for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (See note on page 693.)
• PH I L I P P I A NS 3 :1 3 -1 4 | Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press
on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through
Christ Jesus, is calling us.
God never plans evil or hopelessness for his people. And his ultimate plan is to give us
eternal life with him in heaven, where pain, sorrow, and suffering are gone forever.
How can I keep hoping when God never seems to act?
• PSA L M 7 1 :5 | O Lord, you alone are my hope.
Who but God controls the future? Who but God has a home for us that is eternal? Who but
God forgives our sins? Who but God can give us a life that lasts forever? No wonder he is
our hope!
• R O MA NS 8 :2 4 | We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have
something, we don’t need to hope for it.)
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Salvation comes through trust in Christ, believing he will do for us what he has promised.
Hope is expecting that he will give us everlasting life and that we will live with him forever.
We can’t see these things, but we can hope with assurance, for our hope is built on a trust
in the most trustworthy one of all.
• H E B R E W S 1 1 :1 | Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things
we cannot see.
We have faith in God to do what he has promised, and we can be absolutely sure that
he will. So our hopes are not idle hopes, but they are built on the solid foundation of his
trustworthiness.
PROMISES FROM GOD
• I SA I A H 2 5 :8 | He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all
tears.
• J E R E MI A H 2 9 :1 1 | “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans
for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Hospitality See also Neighbors; Serving
In Biblical times, hospitality was not merely a gracious act: It was a necessity. There were
no motels or hotels as we know them, only a very few crude inns without bathrooms,
bedrooms, or restaurants. Therefore, strangers in town were to be treated by the residents as guests, and a host was expected not only to house them but also to feed and
protect them. Hospitality was known as the “love of strangers.” We have set this kind
of hospitality aside today, for we have developed an unfortunate distrust of strangers—
sometimes earned, sometimes not. But we are still to be hospitable—that is, graciously
receiving others into our homes, feeding them, sometimes housing them, always making
them feel the warmth of welcome. The ultimate hospitality is God’s, for he has promised
to receive us into his eternal home when we trust him.
How should I show hospitality to others?
• 1 P E T E R 4 :9 | Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
• G E NE S I S 1 9 :2 | “My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my
guests for the night.”