“Be joyful in hope” Romans 12:12a NIV

What does “Rejoice or be joyful in hope” mean?

Hope that today is going to be alright?

Hope that we will receive what desire to have?

Hope that we soon can afford to buy that fancy car and show to the world that we belong to Christ?.

Yeah, that is the kind of hope false teachers want us to have.

When the Bible says, “hope,” it has everything to do with believing in God and loving God.

Separate hope from loving and believing in God, it will be hope on anything that is mortal and temporal.

Hope in God lives up on believing in God. Believing in God does not mean, to desire or want something and hope God will serve us according to our wants/desires.

That is cultic way of thinking and believing.

Believing in God means agreeing with His word, knowing that God is who He said He is.

Loving God means doing what His word says.

Jesus says,

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.” John 14:21a NIV

We hope in Him and His word because we do not see Him. We believe in holding on to His word and promises for we physically see Him not.

But one day, we will see Him face to face and hope and faith won’t be necessary to us but LOVE!

Paul writes:

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:12-13 NIV

Amen! Only love remains!

What is the message today then?

Let’s rejoice in hope knowing that everything that we read in Scriptures are true and they remain the same forever!

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NIV

If our hope is in anything else but Christ Jesus and His word, we show to the whole world that we are indeed followers of Jesus Christ.

If not, we are followers of an idol called jesus that people use to make money and be famous.

We rejoice in the hope of eternity! We rejoice knowing that we soon see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. We rejoice that everything we see, touch and feel will soon pass away but His word.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Matthew 24:35 NKJV

Do we also hope in God today to see us through the day?

Of course we do according to His word. But above all, we hope and rejoice in eternal true God that we’re going to live with forever!

What keeps us going in faith is not the hope of today but the hope of eternity.

“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19 NIV ///