Bible Hope

Romans 5:5 (New Spirit-Filled Life Bible)
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

It would be impossible to find someone who has not at one time or another experienced disappointment.  And, it might not be too hard to find someone who at one time or another has experienced a sense of hopelessness. Yet the Word tells us in Romans 5:5 that “hope does not disappoint”. As believers we know that the Word is Truth, yet even for many of us we have experienced a disconnect when it comes to having hope in many areas of our lives.

To experience the “hope that does not disappoint”, we must first understand that all hope is not the same.  There is Bible hope and there is natural hope.  Natural hope expresses itself by saying, “I’m hoping/I’m wishing” that something happens.  Natural hope is based on circumstances, human ability and knowledge and it has limits.  Bible Hope is based on God’s Word and is not limited by circumstances or human ability/knowledge. It means “earnest expectation “.  Bible hope creates an inner image based on the promises found in the Word.  In the book of Romans there is a scripture that includes both types of hope: Romans 4:18 (New Spirit-Filled Life Bible) says, “{Abraham} who, contrary to hope (natural hope), in hope (Bible hope) believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”   There was no hope in the natural for Abraham to become the father of many nations because of his advanced age and Sarah’s infertility. Yet “in hope” he believed – not based on his circumstances, but on God’s promise.  The Message Bible states it this way…(Romans 4:18) “When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!”

You might be thinking that was Abraham; but how do I connect to Bible hope? The answer is found in the rest of Romans 5:5 beginning with “because”; “because the Love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit”. Our connection to Bible hope is in getting a revelation of God’s love for us.  That revelation comes only through developing an intimate relationship with God; and that relationship comes only with being in continual fellowship with Him. Someone once said that children spell love “TIME”.  Love means nothing to a child if he only gets lip-service from an adult about how much he is loved. Love only takes on meaning when the adult begins to spend time with the child.  Our relationship with God is much the same way. The TIME we spend with Him positions us to experience the reality of His unfailing love for us. Fellowshipping with God is no harder than fellowshipping with one another.  It comes when we give our attention to the person we are with.  We give our attention to God through reading His Word, praying, listening to teaching tapes, listening to music, sharing the Word with others, and “resting” in His presence (sitting quietly as you might with a family member where the comfort level is such that there is no need for conversation).  It is developing a lifestyle that one great man of God called “practicing the presence of God”.

Bible Hope never disappoints because the closer our walk with God, the more in line with the Word of God our hopes become.  Even in those situations where what we are believing for does not come about as quickly as we wanted, or does not come about exactly as we were believing for, we are not disappointed.  Our revelation of God’s Love assures us that God will reauthor those situations on our behalf and make “everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecc. 3:11)

Romans 5:5 (The Message)
In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged.
Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers
to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

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