Love Hopes All
Scripture Reading - 1 Corinthians 13:7 KJV
Beareth all things, believeth all things, (Love) hopeth all things, endureth all things.
We are studying Thee Person of Love which is God Himself. We are learning that certain attributes of God need to be present in His Children so that we can accurately represent Jesus Christ the Blessed Son of God. We have also learned that certain negative behaviors are not a part of God’s Nature nor are they a part of God’s Plan for man. In a previous lesson we spoke of God not being “ill-mannered” or “acting inappropriately” and another thing we talked about is God not being “Selfish”. We also taught on God not being “easily provoked” to anger and/or an unwise response. We learned from a previous lesson that God doesn’t think evil so neither should we. We have also spoken on God being displeased with sin (iniquity and wickedness). In another lesson we spoke on God rejoicing (delighting) in all truth. We previously learned that Love bears all things by carrying our sins, problems and even our concerns and we learned that love constantly believes in all things pertaining to God’s Will, God’s Word and God’s Ways. In today’s lesson we will explore “Love hopes all things.” This word “hope” must be looked at in at least two ways because there is a “general hope” that is commonly used in the face of uncertainty and a godly faith filled hope that is based upon the Will of God. Many people understand the “general natural hope” based upon the known but fewer people know and understand that there is such a thing as real tangible “spiritual Godly Hope” that is rooted in God’s Will. However, since the scripture states in Hebrews 11:1a that, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,” we can conclude that “true Godly hope” is not based upon an uncertainty but rather the sure Word of God. We (ihlcc) will explain, in general all people upon the earth have made a statement that reflected “hope” at one time or another. For example if you ever said, “I hope it doesn’t rain today” that is a verbal manifest of “hope” based upon uncertainty. If you ever heard someone else say, “I hope that their marriage will last or I hope that they can find a good mate” these both come from the thought of wanting an outcome that favors your position on them at that specific time not knowing their future. We surely can’t say that this “general hope” is always positive because we have heard many people say, “I hope this person dies and goes to hell when they have committed a grievous (heinous) crime, like killing an innocent person. Likewise, all people have the choice to have “positive hope” or “negative hope” depending upon the outcome they want to see. We (ihlcc) will admit that we have even “hoped” for certain people to breakup when we see pain and suffering consistently manifesting in those types of specific relationships. This brief summary of “natural hope” brings us to the very real and significant difference between “God’s Spiritual Hope”. Yes, “the Lord’s spiritual hope” is always based upon God’s Will. This “spiritual hope” from God was given freely to all children of God and it is even available for all those who want God’s Will performed in their life. For example if you are “hoping” to be in a relationship with God through the shed Blood of Jesus Christ your “hope” is based upon the message of salvation. This faith in God’s promise to save all those that call upon the Name of Jesus gives substance (certainty) to your “hope” which causes much confidence in your statement. When you speak forth your confession of faith your “hope” is not based upon the unknown but rather the known. Yes, as you increase in the knowledge of God’s Word your “biblical hope” will gain the ascendancy in your life. This type of “Godly hope” with faith as the center will allow you both the power and the privilege to set people free, if they are willing and obedient to the awesome Word of God. When a believer states that, “they are healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ” that is typically called their confession of faith but to be perfectly scriptural about it this is still a manifestation of “Godly hope” with the substance of faith as its foundation. So what comes across to many people is the voice of faith which calls those things which be not as though they were. We, as Christians, are accustom to speaking God’s Word from our heart based upon our beliefs which should be formed from God’s Word in our Holy Bible. However, all good sound godly beliefs will all be a product of our inherit “godly hope”. For example, if someone close to us were sick would we not “hope” for them to be well. Of course we would, this “hope” for things to work out well is easy to understand and agree with. However, if we hear that same person say, “I was healed by the stripes of Jesus” and they are already praising God for their personal healing their “confession of hope” with faith as the strength (enabler) would sound exactly like a confession of faith that would get the job done. Yes, we praise God that He as Love, “hopes” in all things because that is just another way of saying that Love always wants a positive future for all people. Yes, we (ihlcc) said all people because God (Love) always has more ways to bless all individuals upon the earth. God is constantly “hoping” that people will choose His Will (His Word, His Promises, His Way) over the lesser ways of this world’s system which means always choosing life over death. Therefore, we as children of God, should keep this same type of “Godly Hope” in our thoughts and prayers. Yes, dear faith friend, we should be ever ready to speak forth our “Godly hope” that has within it the faith of God’s Word and at the same time be sure we differentiate the “hope of uncertainty” we may speak when we truly don’t know God’s Will for that situation. Yes, we (ihlcc) know someone might say, “but you should always know God’s Will before you speak or even pray” and we agree that is a lofty goal but many saints aren’t there yet and we doubt that many Christians know God’s exact will for every situation going on the moment they first hear about it. If we are like most people it takes some time to know God’s Will on the deeper things in life that concern the future of people in an ungodly situation. Also, we will state it is not always a matter of God’s Will but rather will the person in need of God’s Help do God’s Will when it is revealed to them (question mark-? Selah). Remember God is faithful and consistent and always true but man in comparison is not. So be like Love by “hoping” in all Godly things and please speak boldly the “Hope of God” based upon the substance of faith. Also, have no shame in speaking the “hope of uncertainty” when you really don’t know the outcome (their exact future). No one expects you to know the future we only expect people to be honest and truthful of the speaking of words they do know in Jesus Name. Amen!