Focus: The Wings Of Hope!

Text: Joel 3:16

"The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel."

Joel declares, "the LORD will be the hope of his people." In Jer.17:7, Jeremiah tells us that the LORD is our hope. In verse 17, the Lord is the hope of Israel. In Rom.15:13, Paul describes God as "the God of hope." That means that you cannot be hopeless if you possess God. God in our lives begets hope. 

Paul tells us in 1Tim.1:1 that Christ is our hope. In Pet.3:15, Peter talks about the hope that we have within us, that is, hope as an inward reality.

In Rom.8:24, Paul tells us that we are "saved by hope." In Hos.2:15, Hosea tells us that we have a "door of hope." In 2Thes.2:16, it is "good hope." In Heb.7:19, it is the "better hope." In Tit.2:13, it is "the blessed hope." In 1Pet.1:3, it is a "lively hope." In Heb.6:11, it is "the full assurance of hope."

Our hope in God is differently described by Paul. In 1Thes.5:8, it is "hope of salvation." In Gal.5:5, it is the hope of righteousness. In Col.1:23, it is the hope of the gospel. In Col.1:5, it is the hope laid up for us in heaven. In Col.1:27, it is "the hope of glory." In Eph.1:18, it is "the hope of his calling." In chapter 4:4, it is "one hope of your calling." In Tit.1:2, it is "the hope of eternal life." In Heb.6:18, it is "the hope set before us." In verse 19, it is hope as "an anchor of the soul." In Jer.17:17, it is our "hope in the day of evil."

Jeremiah tells us that "there is hope in thine end" (Jer.31:17), and for that, Paul tells us about the "patience of hope" (1Thes.1:3). We patiently wait for all that we hope for. It is great to know that our hope is in Christ (1Jh.3:3). 

Our hope will neither fail nor fade, because it is rooted in God.

Hold on to your hope in Jesus Christ! Never lose hope! Keep believing and hoping! With the wings of hope we fly upwards and soar in the heavens. With the lens of hope we see into the future and become a forward-looking people. Never give up on your hope. Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter