Prisoner of Hope

Rom 15:13¹³ Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

You know, this scripture really encouraged me recently and the Holy Spirit was telling me a lot. I sense that people are at different stages and levels of expectations; results, promotion, a client, school, finances, a project, a job. 

And many people find it terrifying having to wait when it is taking time, or are in situations that they are tired of hoping because they have been hoping for so long. They have been disappointed so much that it’s hard to hope again. Now they’re in a practical phase. This is real life yunno, get your head out of the clouds.

Hope wasn’t a concept I was alien to. I’d listen to motivational speeches, I’d even listen to teachings by the likes of Myles Munroe, of blessed memory, TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, I’d hear their testimonies, it would pump me up for success. But then real-life situations are almost always different. I wanted to fulfill my purpose and do all these great things, but there was a divide between what was in my head and my reality.

Then I figured it out; I was trying to produce hope without the power of the Holy Spirit. And it was wearing me out. Romans 15:13 tells us you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. better talk.

Romans 15:13 King James Version (KJV)¹³ Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

It goes beyond, goody too shoes, feel-good motivational, sweet, it-will-get-better talk. 

Because where most people have difficulty is in waiting or still hoping when an expectation is not met at the time they want it.

Notice from the above text that it is the job of the Holy Spirit to keep you in peace and joy while you are believing. So you’re not just waiting in trepidation or in depression or just being a train-wreck till what you are believing works out. You are believing for something in peace and joy up to the point it overflows. Not in panic or depression till it works out.

God is the Prince of Peace, and He is the God of hope. Listen to something radical; GOD WILL ALWAYS MAKE YOU HOPE FOR SOMETHING. No matter how bad things are, GOD WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO HOPE FOR! 

And it’s not this fearful expectation of will it happen or not? but a peaceful, joyful, blissful; patience in believing and waiting. 

When you throw away your expectation you are being ungodly. That is demonic. It shall be done unto you according to your expectations.

You know Jesus said that I will send you another comforter, the Holy Spirit. The truth is that in this world you will have trouble. And many people have thrown away their faith because of a situation; grief, loss, heartbreak, failures. And they question the whole point of serving God. They cannot go beyond a particular situation where their expectations were not met to believe God again in their finances, health, education, ministry, beyond the report from the doctor, beyond the loss, beyond the breakup…

But people think believing God means you will never get a bad report.

Isaiah asks us, “whose report will you believe?”; 

Can you go beyond the negative response? believing in faith for your finances and not seeing results yet; the test not coming back the way you want it…

King James uses the word; Abound in hope! God wants you to abound in hope so much so that even in a negative situation, you can see the good, you can see how it will possibly work out. 

Now, this is not saying God allowed the negative thing to happen or brought it because in him is light and there is no darkness at all! But you know we are in a fallen world, and bad things happen, but even when the situation is a result of your own foolishness and poor decisions; God blessed and defended Abraham even when he was lying about his wife and making poor decisions. 

This was because He had righteousness accounted to him. Now Jesus is our righteousness and God will even work out your failures for good.

So it did not work out the way you wanted, you had to repeat a school year; God can use it to teach you something new, meet someone helpful to your destiny, meet a future prospect, business partner, life partner, open you to business opportunities in that area, open you to life-changing information, make you available to pour into lives that will be a blessing on a national scale. Countless possibilities and blessings can come up from a bad situation, the way you did not plan if you change your perspective.

You can find good in any and every situation! My mentor always used to say, even if they were about to cut off your head, you can find something to be joyful and hopeful about; the knife may be brand new; not rusted, and blunt. That is something to shout about!

And this is not just positivity, but allowing the Holy Spirit to talk us into hope. Many people feel it is an automatic process that they should just feel good and hopeful.

Granted if you have exercised your senses it can come naturally but sometimes it is not by feelings. See what the scripture says:

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 1 john 3:19

The scripture says we assure our hearts. We are the ones that set our hearts at rest in his presence. We have to make that conscious effort sometimes. We need to allow the Holy Spirit comfort us.

1 Samuel 30 (Text Case Study)

 David once had his town burnt to the ground and all the women and children were taken away. Worse he wasn’t around, and his two wives were among the captives. He came back to ashes and loss. Scripture said he and his men wept till they had no strength left. Do you know what it means for a grown man, a king, as powerful as David, the man after God’s heart, to cry so much? You know the problem had hit the ceiling.

So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 1 Samuel 30:4

David was so discouraged and distressed; 

for the people spake of stoning him, because of the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters Samuel 30:6a

This was really bad. But what did David do?

David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

David did not wait for anyone or voice to encourage him. 

So many times people expect something automatic. People closest to me know that I’m a walking bag of hope.

The job of the Holy Spirit to the New Testament believer is to comfort and encourage us even in difficulties. 

But do not talk yourself out of the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Instead, talk yourself into it. That is where you need the power of the Holy Spirit;

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth Psalm 46:10

When you silence panicky, fearful thoughts; praise God, worship him, study the word, listen to worship music, listen to a sermon, fellowship with the brethren, pray in the spirit,  speak in tongues. 

In the stillness, you recognize the bigness of your God and He is exalted in your situation. 

You are using the power of the Holy Spirit to produce and sustain hope in your life.

And hope does not mean you just do nothing or do the wrong things and hope everything works out; in that state of stillness, the Holy Spirit ministers hope, the next move, the next the thing to say; per time.

Samuel 30:8 and David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."

God speaks when you are in clarity of mind. Noticed that it was after David encouraged himself in the Lord that he inquired and God told him what to do. 

Encouraged, God tells you the next step, gives you hope; He doesn’t just comfort you but gives you the power to move on. 

Most times the power to move on is in the comfort.

Samuel 30:

David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

18David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.

18So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.

18And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.

18David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives.

19Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.

David recovered every single thing and person! Nothing was missing!

The Lord can encourage you if you let him and make you recover from everything life has thrown at you.

God dwells in the realm of faith, not in the realm of emotions. David was crying and all that but it was not until he encouraged himself in the Lord and asked God for what to do that God led and helped him overcome his enemies.

Wipe your tears, Be encouraged in God. Allow the power of the Holy Spirit to make you abound so much in Hope.

Jesus loves you. Life is gonna get better, brighter!

Romans 5:5 King James Version (KJV)

⁵ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

The Holy Spirit disperses the love of God through our hearts. That’s his job. Allow him to do it today. Be hopeful!

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