There are problems we all face with hope.
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we understand hope as desire
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-5 (NASB)
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our experience is that we’re disappointed in our hope.
What if I could show you today how you’ll never be disappointed with hope in the Kingdom?
Why this is important…
12 times faith, hope and love occur… number of government
Rom.5:2-5; 1Cor.13:13; Gal.5:5-6 ; Eph.1:5-18 ; Eph.4:2-5 ; Col.1:5 ; 1Thes.1:3; 1Thes.5:8 ; 1Tim.4:10-12; Heb.6:10-12; Heb.10:22-24; 1Pet.1:21-22
When we live out God’s understanding of faith hope and love, we live out His Kingdom.
Hope it not a desire,
Hope in the Kingdom is a certainty.
When hope is a desire, it’s for the the little red part. Almost exclusively Hope in the Kingdom talks about the Kingdom that’s coming.
For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Romans 8:24-25
Great. How does that help me today?
Have you ever heard the story of James Bond Stockdale?
Stockdale was the highest-ranking naval officer held as a prisoner in North Vietnam. In a business book by James C. Collins called Good to Great, Collins writes about a conversation he had with Stockdale regarding his coping strategy during his period in the Vietnamese POW camp.
I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.
When Collins asked who didn’t make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied:
Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.
Stockdale then added:
This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
Jesus – Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hope it not a desire,
Hope in the Kingdom is a certainty.
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