Last Sunday night we had a service themed around hope.  HBC’s Worship Pastor, Dennis Altizer, did a great job of putting together a service that focused on the God of Hope.  My part was to bring a 10 minute devotion about hope.  So I started by finding verses dealing with hope.  After a while I came to the conclusion that I needed to get out of God’s way for Him to speak to His people.  Thus what follows are one paragraph of my introduction, the the Scripture.  Read these passages slowly and you will find God encouraging you and building your hope.

Paul gave Timothy this command in 1 Tim 4:13, “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture.”  Sometimes pastoral comments cloud the purity & power of Scripture.  So tonight I’ve chosen to read passages about hope.  I do so b/c “The Word of God is living & active… sharper than any two edged sword.”  So be encouraged…

Job 13:15 Though He slay me, I will hope in Him…

Ps 33:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, 19 that He may deliver their soul from death…

Ps 42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, & why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation 6 & my God.

Ps 146:5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven & earth, the sea, & all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.

Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness & not for evil, to give you a future & a hope.

Ro 5:3 We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 & endurance produces character, & character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, b/c God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Ro 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance & through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Ro 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Eph 1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom & of revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 & what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might 20 that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead & seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule & authority & power & dominion, & above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, & in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26  the mystery hidden for ages & generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

1 Thess 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died & rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, & with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, & so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Heb 6:17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it w/ an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf…

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love & good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, & all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, & unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1 Peter 3:15 In your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.