Elevate To The Next Level: "Living In Hope”

Elevate to the Next Level

“Living in Hope”

Watch on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAkwrBPycZA&t=6s

This morning we’re in the second part of our mini-series within our main series on our need to elevate our discipleship to the next level. And this mini-series is based upon the three attributes found in what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:13.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV)

Today we’ll be talking about the second attribute, hope. Hope is one of those ingredients we cannot live without. It could be said that hope is like the ingredients salt and sugar, which we cannot really cook without.

Maybe I can say it like this, that like air, water, and food, hope is a necessity of life. We must have hope.  We cannot live without it. Hope is the last thing to die; and is considered the last emotion within us. Therefore, it is essential to maintain hope when everything around us seems hopeless.

Now, today I’d like to look at our need to create an environment of hope, and in like manner look at how we are to go about creating such an environment for our lives, because to live in this world, hope is one thing we need the most, because we can never be truly alive without it.

When most people view this life and what we face, their general synopsis is that life stinks. And is it any wonder with addictions, sexual immorality, divorce rate, and overall lawlessness on the rise, not to mention the increase in suicides and violent acts against humanity. And on top of all of this, illness and disease are not only on the rise, but they are more deadly. And even further, old diseases we thought were wiped out and eradicated are making a lethal comeback.

And so, most people today have little hope, if we can even call it hope, because most people no longer hope for the best, they just hope it doesn’t get any worse.

Now, the world has its own special brand of hope, but it isn’t anything that we can base our lives on, and that’s because it’s an illusion. We might call it wishful thinking.

Today people are placing their hope in a political system or party, or worse, a politician, a movie star, or an athlete. But the reality is that each of these will in end let us down.

The world also places it’s hope in science and medicine, but as we have seen, scientific facts change, which means we really shouldn’t have placed our hope in it in the first place. And while medicine may help, the reality is that our health will eventually fail. And we can’t place our hope in our savings account, jobs, or upon anyone or anything.

So where are we to get hope? This is something that the world has been searching for from the very beginning because of how vital hope is to our survival.

Dr. Dale Archer, a board-certified Psychiatrist and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association said, “If I could find a way to package and dispense hope, I would have a pill more powerful than any antidepressant on the market. Hope is often the only thing between man and the abyss. As long as a patient, individual or victim has hope, they can recover from anything and everything.”

Dr. Wolf researched those who survived as POWs in Japan during World War II where he made this conclusion. He said those who survived and remained relatively unaffected had a high degree of hope. He concluded that a person can handle almost anything when they have hope.

Further, when we place our hope in the world and what it promotes, then our hope is short lived and will fall short of expectation. Instead, we are put our hope in the Lord God who never changes and who is trustworthy and faithful.

To Timothy the Apostle Paul said, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:17 NIV)

And in his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul said that without Christ, without God, a person really doesn’t have any hope at all (Ephesians 2:12).

And throughout God’s word, which we should always place our hope upon, because it has always been true and transformative, we’re told of to place our hope in God.

One of my favorites is found in Psalm 146. It says, “But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” (Psalm 146:5 NLT)