KEEP HOPE ALIVE

But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Romans 8:25

REFERENCE
Romans 8:22-25

Hope is essential to man’s existence. When a man loses hope, he loses his reason for living and his passion for life; he becomes like a bird with broken wings that cannot fly. In today’s reference, Paul speaks of an expectation in the hearts of believers…a longing for something more. He speaks of a burning hope in our hearts; hope for a hereafter, for heaven. He says what keeps that hope alive in us is the Holy Spirit given to us by God as the foretaste of better things to come. His presence says there’s still more, there’s still heaven – a place better than now.

In Numbers 13:22-25, the experience of the spies further reinforces this truth. They had gone to spy out the Promised Land; they came back to the Israelites in the wilderness with a huge cluster of grapes and some fruits from the land. The cluster was a picture of hope. It was like the Holy Spirit in our hearts; it was to create a longing in the children of Israel for something more, for something better. Although they were in the wilderness, the cluster said to them that there was an orchard ahead – a fruitful tree where the cluster came from.

God had to show the Israelites the cluster of grapes as a foretaste of what was in the land He promised them because He knew that hope needs substance; it needs to be helped by tangibility. God gave them the cluster to help their hope stay alive for a better future. Likewise, God wants your hope to be kept alive by the ‘clusters’ He has put in your life.

If you look closely, you will see these clusters all around you; e.g. good health, life, a job, a friend to squat with, kids, food on the table, a relationship, a spouse, a business, savings, a friend’s prayer that was answered, someone close to you that got healed, you were helped through a bad experience, the joy you presently experience, etc.  All these are a foretaste of God’s ability and what is yet in your future, because God who set them all in motion has not grown weak; neither has He stopped doing what He knows to do.

God has made you privy to His past and present works in your life and in those of others, to create a hunger in you for more, because there is still more where all those blessings came from. He wants you to know by these blessings that He hasn’t forgotten you. If there ever is a ‘cluster’ in your life, there is an orchard where that came from ahead of you. Constantly remind yourself of this truth; so, your heart won’t be discouraged, and your hope will be kept alive.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL STUDY
Psalm 119:49, Proverbs 23:18 (NIV), & Romans 15:13

PRAYER POINTS

+ Thank God that He has not forgotten you, and for the cluster of blessings all around you.

 + Declare that there is hope for a better tomorrow for you and your expectations shall not be cut short in Jesus’ name.