The Basis of Our Hope

A Study of B-O-B HOPE

Part 1 – The Basis of Our HOPE

By Harold and Bette Gillogly

When most people talk about HOPE, they really mean “wish.” Like “I wish a bus would come by.” But when the Bible talks about HOPE, it’s talking about confidently waiting for God. So HOPE says, “I am so sure a bus is coming by, I’m sitting here with my suitcase and ticket.” In fact, in the Hebrew, HOPE and WAIT are the same word!

In this blog, we will be studying the first B of B-O-B, the BASIS of HOPE. What does our HOPE truly rest on? If our HOPE is to be authentic, Biblical HOPE, then what do we base it on?

First let’s look at what NOT to put our hope in: (As you study each Scripture, fill in the blank. Then meditate on why the statement is true.)

• Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Tim. 6:17) We are warned NOT to put our hope in ____________. Money comes and money goes.  Not a safe place to put our hope.
• Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Prov. 26:12) We are warned NOT to put our hope in man’s ______________. When Bette was first diagnosed with cancer, the doctors gave her two to three months to live. But God gave us His promise in Psalm 138 that He was going to save her life. The Holy Spirit witnessed to our spirits that the promises in that Psalm were ours to claim. Which one should we have put our hope in? Well, we were told their dire predictions in 1985. As of this year, that was 37 years ago and she’s still going strong. Case closed.

• When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; all he expected from his power comes to nothing. (Prov. 11:7) We are warned NOT to put our hope in ____________.
• A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. (Psa. 33:17) We are warned NOT to put our hope in ______________.  Today this could mean anything we think is strong enough to deliver or save us, like our good job or vocation, position, possessions or even a new SUV with all the bells and whistles.
• For the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. (Prov. 24:20) We are warned that the ___________ man has no future hope.  When we refuse to line up our lives with God’s Word, we have no future hope.

So what SHOULD we put our hope in:

• Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this. (Jer. 14:22) We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.  (Psa. 33:20) Our hope must, first of all, be placed in _______.
• But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. (Psa. 33:18) We hope in His __________________   _________. When something bad happens, one of the first things we’re tempted to think is that God doesn’t love us. But that is a lie right out of the pit of hell. The truth is like the song says, “His love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me.” Hallelujah!
• My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. (Psa. 119:81) We are to place our hope in His _________. His word is always true and trustworthy. God Himself says His word will never pass away.
• I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints. (Psa. 52:9) We hope in His __________.  Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. His name is powerful. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom. 10:13)
• He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. (2 Cor. 1:10) We also hope for His continued __________________. Because He has proven Himself to be trustworthy in the past, we can be absolutely sure we can trust Him to deliver us today and every day of our lives.
• Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Pet. 1:13) We are commanded to hope in the __________ He will give us at the coming of Christ. Grace can be defined as God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. The same Jesus Who died for us on the Cross, promised He will return to take us to heaven. You can have confident hope that He will indeed come again for you! So we believers are looking for the Uppertaker. Not the Undertaker.
• Anyone who is among the living has hope –even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! (Ecc.l 9:4) If we are ___________we should have hope. If you are alive, then God still has a purpose for your life – every day of your life. Psa. 138:8 says that the Lord will fulfill His purpose for us. What a promise!

Look at where our hope comes from:

• For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer. 29:11) May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope.  (2 Th. 2:16) ________ gives us hope and a future and eternal __________________________. If you are looking at your husband or wife or friends – anyone else – to make you feel hopeful, you are looking in the wrong direction. No one…absolutely no one …but the Lord can give you hope. You are setting yourself up for disappointment and disillusionment if you are looking at others to make you feel hopeful.
• I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. (Eph. 1:18) God ________________ our heart so we may know hope. Jesus Christ has already called you to hope. Ask Him to enlighten your heart so you will see it and choose it for yourself.
• Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  (1 Pet. 1:3) It is through the ___________________ of Jesus Christ that we are given hope. He arose! His Resurrection power is alive in our lives. Claim that hope!
• Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. (Psa. 62:5) Hope and _______________ come from God. To “find rest” is an active choice. To rest is to “confidently wait on the Lord.” You must choose to wait on Him instead of allowing yourself to doubt His love and goodness.
• …Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col. 1:27) It is the presence of _______________ in us that gives us hope.  God the Son!  Creator of the universe! He comes into our lives as soon as we ask Him to. And He doesn’t leave us or forsake us. That’s His promise in Deut. 31:6 and Hebrews 13:15.
• Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope. (Rom. 15:4 New Century) The _________________ give us patience and encouragement so we can have hope. When you are lacking hope, go to God’s word. Let Him speak to you through His word and give you patience and encouragement to confidently wait and expectantly hope only in God.

So, what are you basing your hope on? Are you hoping that He will make a certain something happen? Or are you hoping in God Himself? There is a difference. We were waiting on a particular letter to come. Every day we would check the mail. No letter. It was discouraging. We began to doubt God. “Don’t you love us? You know we need that letter.” See the difference? We were not hoping in God. We were hoping in what we wanted Him to do – to make that letter arrive. That’s why we got discouraged. That’s why we doubted His love for us. If we were putting our hope in God Himself, our prayer would have been more like, “O Lord, you know we think we need that letter. But we can’t see around corners. Only You can. So, we are putting our hope in You. Work this whole situation out the way You know is best for us. We confidently wait on You.”

When you get afraid or discouraged, that’s the time to stop and ask yourself, “Where is my hope?” And that is also when you choose to remember this: I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace BECAUSE you trust in him. THEN you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

This has been Part 1 of A Study of B-O-B HOPE – The Basis of HOPE. Watch for Part 2 – The Operation of HOPE and Part 3 – The Benefits of HOPE which will be published the following two months.