HOPE LINKS THE FUTURE Thursday 17 November
Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
MEMORIZE: “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we
with patience wait for it.” (Rom. 8:25)
READ: Romans 8:23-25
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
(Col. 1:27).
The above scripture talks about hope. Hope is more than expectation.
Expectation could be good or bad but hope is always positive. It is the
expectation of something better. If you have hope, you will believe that things
will turn around for your good. Hope will make you believe that you shall not end
up in poverty. In John 5:2-9, it was hope that sustained the man by the pool
for 38 years. He believed that it would one day be his turn. In the same vein,
the hope in the woman with the issue of blood, made her to go from one physician
to another, hoping that someday, she would find the one who would cure her (Mark
5:25-34). When a seed, particularly a mustard seed is sown, there is hope that
it will become a mighty tree (Mark 4:30-32). After God created Adam and Eve, He
blessed them, and asked them to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28). In other
words, God was saying, one day, a tree will become a forest. Are you a seed
today? You will be a tree and eventually a forest.
There is hope that one day your breakthrough will come. This
is one reason for obeying God’s call to pay your tithes (Mal. 3:10). Hope is
always futuristic. There is no need to hope for what you can see, but for what
you cannot see (Roman 8:24-25). While some people envision their future as
being very distant, your future is here with you. It starts within the next
second. Your future could also mean tomorrow morning. Psalm 30:5 says while
tonight could be a time of weeping, tomorrow morning could be a time of joy.
Are you weeping now? By tomorrow morning you will be full of joy. The future
could also be within 24 hours. After declaring that there would be abundance,
the following morning, the harsh famine in Samaria came to an end (1 Kings 17).
The future could also be according to the circle of life – say within nine
months periods. When God asked Abraham to tell his wife that she would have a
son in Genesis 18:9-14, it came to pass according to the circle of life. Hope
links you with the future. Even when Joseph was forgotten for two years after interpreting
the dreams of some prisoners, hope connected him to his dream. Stay focused on your
dreams. When there is a delay, wait patiently and hold on to your hope.
KEY POINT:
Hope, like faith is an indispensable virtue in the Christian
walk. If you lose hope, you have lost everything. Don’t lose hope.
Bible in One year: Ezek. 19-21