Week of Hope – Wednesday
We continue with quotes showing the multidimensional nature of faith and its connection to hope.
Hope Is the Glue
We could say that faith initially connected Abraham to the promise that God had made, but hope was the glue that kept him connected until God fulfilled His word.
Deborah L. Roeger, The Power of Hope, p. 47
Hope – Because God Works in Us
This great gift of God, the salvation of our souls, is no other than the image of God fresh stamped on our hearts. It is a ‘renewal of believers in the spirit of their minds, after the likeness of Him that created them.’ God hath now laid ‘the axe unto the root of the tree, purifying their hearts by faith,’ and ‘cleansing all the thoughts of their hearts by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit.’ Having this hope, that they shall see God as He is, ‘purify themselves even as He is pure,’ and are ‘holy, as He that hath called them is holy, in all manner of conversation.’ Not that they have already attained all that they shall attain, either are already in this sense perfect. But they daily ‘go on from strength to strength, beholding’ now, ‘as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, they are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.’
John Wesley, quoted in Christopher Freet, Classic Devotions, p. 61
The Only Answer to Discouragement
Through all the vicissitudes of my life, I have discovered that the only answer to discouragement is hope. Hope made David get dressed and begin to act like a king again after his son died. Hope made Simon Peter a rock after he had denied his Lord. Life is impossible without hope. Yes, Jesus frustrates me. He will frustrate anybody who tries to live in the past. “It is finished,” He says. “It’s all under the blood.”
David Alan Black, Running My Race, p. 40
Faith and Hope
The more one investigates the biblical dimensions of faith, the stronger and more comprehensive the word becomes. Faith and courage are so intertwined that it is often difficult to separate one from the other. Th at courage has several sources: (1) It comes from Jesus’ teaching and the assurance of the
Ronald L. Higdon, Faith Never Stands Alone, pp. 71-72
fulfillment of God’s purposes of redemption and is evidenced by the sense of well-being (Shalom, peace) that is his gift to his followers; (2) It comes from the hopeful waiting for God’s timing and intervention; (3) It comes from among the community of believers who have Barnabas as their patron saint: There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas
(which means “son of encouragement”), Acts 4:36.
