The Path Forward - Karen Pourbabaee
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy, gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3 NAB
How can we have hope? It is a direct outcome of the new birth. We are born again to a living hope! Because of the victory Christ won for us, we have a path forward in this life. “If you do not hope you will not find out what is beyond your hopes.” This profound statement by an early Church father, St, Clement, implies forward movement, a journey we might call the path of hope. What are the stages of this journey?
Fuel up! The starting point must be the Word. Romans 15:4 tells us it is by the encouragement of scripture that we have hope. We also abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, according to Romans 15:13. We must fuel up our spirits with hope.
Believe! You can’t start until you believe, or you will run out of your own fuel. Faith is essential and precedes hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. (Hebrews 11:1) You can’t hope for what you do not believe.
Hold fast! Hebrews 10:23 advises us to be vocal, to confess our hope because God is faithful. Hope is the serene confident expectation of good. Confess your hope in God’s goodness.
Travel on! Hope helps us endure and persevere to the end. It’s an anchor for our soul. (Hebrews 6:19) As we journey, hope steadies or calms our soul (mind, will, emotions).
We need faith for the present, hope to look to the future. If we hope, we will finally see what is beyond our hope. Take the path forward. Amen.
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