Three kinds of Hope. Fear, Fantasy, Faith.
Last nights message at Word of Life was on three kinds of Hope. Pastor taught that we are to have faith but it must be coupled with Hope to bring true meaning into out walk with Christ.
FEAR:
The first type of Hope is Fear. This is Hope where we fear the outcome or the consequences. We Have a vision and have faith for God to make that vision come true. But we have fear in our hopes of it coming true. We fear the cost, the commitment, the involvement, our ability, and on and on.
This is fear coming from the enemy to stifle our vision and ensnare us in worldly fear. Our faith may be there but the fear overshadows it making progress impossible.
Pastor said this is like being trapped in a box. Walls are erected on all sides of us and we can not see how to get out. Satan makes our minds think of the impossibility of achieving our vision. We become trapped and bogged down with thoughts of inadequacy or incompetence.
This kind of wrong thinking must be broken by allowing the Spirit of God free reign in our lives. Immersing ourselves in Gods word, praying, and fasting will bring us out of it if we are truly willing to make the change.
FANTASY:
The second type of Hope is Fantasy. This is where we try to make up a vision for ourselves based on something fictitious: Or by trying to accept another person’s vision as our own.
We see someone doing well in a ministry and decide that this is what we want to be doing. So we go about doing the work without being called by God. This leads to failure since we do not have the talents or abilities to accomplish the task with out struggle.
Each Christian has a unique set of talents given to them by God to accomplish the unique vision that He has given to them. Using anything else is not in God’s plan and destined to futility and failure.
Pastor gave examples of several people stepping out to do ministries on their own. He then related how they had failed to succeed and are no longer doing anything for God with their lives.
What a waste this is to Gods kingdom. If we use the talents we have, to fulfill the vision we have been given, God will direct our paths and lead us to victory. The path may not be lined with gold or easy, but it will be God’s path.
Yes we have stepped outside of the box but on our own volition, not by God’s mighty hand.
FAITH:
The third type of Hope is Faith. This is the type of Hope that makes our lives worthwhile for God’s ministry. An intense Hope in the greatness of God and His ability to work in us the vision He has given to us.
Pastor used tithing as an example. When we just give without hope for a return or blessing then we get none. But when we give with expectancy of God opening the storehouse of heaven then we receive richly. We receive ideas, concepts, and insights.
So having faith in a vision given by God coupled with a Hope of Faith gives us the power of God to accomplish it. Our Hope is made complete and our Faith in God is fulfilled through our vision.
Abraham could not physically comprehend or believe that his and Sarah’s old bodies could produce a mighty nation. Yet his Hope of Faith led him to continually see the outcome that life dealt as impossible. His heirs are now like the sand of the sea and the stars in the heavens.
Hope is a might tool provided by God to fill our lives with a reason for continuing when all else seems impossible. A true vision from God should appear to us as being impossible to accomplish. That way we know that when it has come to past that it was God who did it and not ourselves.
Dream Big: Dream the impossible. Let God’s vision overfill your mind with its vastness. Then have the Hope of faith that He will see it through to completion. Anything else is box living, like being trapped in a closet for the rest of your life.
To God be the glory.
Jim Gregg
April 20, 2009