Hope.

       The Definition of hope. "The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turnout. ie., 'Her forgiveness is my constant hope.' "
Another definition states: "Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Despair is the opposite of Hope."  The definition of this word is hopelessly twisted and lost. (That pun WAS unintended. no joke.)


 
        Hope is not a feeling.  The Hebrew idea of hope is the original and entirely different than the English.  The Hebrew hope is not grounded in emotional states or feelings, but it is grounded in the truth of God's scriptures.  In the Hebrew scriptures, hope is an indication of certainty. After you start trusting in what God's word says, you will become hopeful for the things that are ahead, things that are going to happen according to The Bible.  Also, in they're definition of hope hope is trust and beliefs placed in an unbreakable promise or truth, that is true whether you accept that fact or not.  The Hebrew word for hope is grounded in God's purposes and promises to his church.  As long as you're a Christian, the expectations of the Lord's promises to us is a firm, unwavering truth, whether you feel like it is or not.   As for non-Christians there is a possibility of them attaining this one true hope, but only till he dies or the day of judgement, both are unpredictable.      
                                                                                                                                                              We have so called hope in people because we know them to be true.  We can have hope in the Lord because he is true, not because he has been at times, but because he's just and perfect, and because he is, always has been, and always will be true.



      Where is your hope?  Is it placed in your money?  Is your trust placed in the works of your hands?  Is your security placed there also?  Is your hope dependent upon other people?  Are your expectations' in things of this world or things much higher than this world?  Is your hope this American idea of hope; based entirely upon feeling?  Do you only have hope when circumstances give it to you?  Is your hope the one true hope or one of the millions of false hopes?



        As humans we are attracted to hope.  Hope is a light, so naturally in a dark world we need it to keep us fueled and going.  Is your light of Hope your job?  Your money? Your intelligence?  Will your hopes lead you down the paths of destruction?  Or will your light of hope lead you down the one path to the narrow gate?  Is your light of Hope the one true light?  These are challenging questions that we must stop and ask ourselves.  What's your fuel? God? Because, it should be.  More than that, He should be your everything.



       Put your hope in the Lord!  Much more importantly than that, put your life in Him!  Countless times in scripture it tells us to put our hope in the Lord.  The Bible is our instruction book.  If the instruction book to life tells us multiple times we must put our hope in God, then it must be pretty crucial right?  Job's circumstances, emotions, and this world gave him no hope.  They only gave him the opposite; despair.  Yet, Job had hope because he had God,  the one true hope.  God is a more than trustworthy place to place your hope and life in.  Not only will He prove to you He is, His word (The Bible) has fact after fact that He is.  Since God is true, we can have true hope and true life in Him.   Put your everything in Him, because He's the only everlasting hope.
 


      Listen to me!  Following the Almighty's light and putting yourself in Him is not only your only hope;  It's your only way to have life!  Without Him, life is much less abundant and much more meaningless.  Without Him, everything you have done and will do is pointless.  Complete poop.  The only result you'll get is eternity in hell. Death, not life.   But, in the Lord you'll have eternal life.  Give yourself to Him, and put your life in Him.

   
      God is big enough for you to put your everything in Him.  The prophecies and fulfillments alone will astound you with his bigness, perfection, and truth.  

God speaks truth. Embrace it.

The only true hope is found in Christ alone. My hope is found in Christ alone. Is your's?



Conclusion?  Put your hope in the Lord.  But, more importantly put your life in Him also.
He's more than enough.
He is bigger and better that anyone or anything that ever has been, is, or will be.
Including yourself.



(http://skipmoen.com/tag/tiqwah/     http://bible.org/article/hope       I highly recommend you go read both of these now. They where very insightful and helpful as I was tackling this difficult subject.  Some of the things I said are a bit more explained in these, too.)