Young District Anglican Ministry

“May God, the source of hope, 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).

Are you feeling flat and uninspired? Know that God holds your future in his hands and he longs to fill you with hope in abundance. It is God’s presence in our lives that fills us to overflowing with joy, peace, trust, and power. Do you want these things to characterise your life? If so, what are you doing to seek God’s presence?

“We never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So, we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Can’t see the point in continuing? Hope offers an alternative perspective on our present experiences. Our present difficulties, thought not insignificant, are as nothing when compared to the glory that still lies ahead. Fixing our eyes on the future reveals what is valuable and permanent as well as exposing what is temporary and useless. Have you tried looking at the events of your life through the lens of hope?

“We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News” (Colossians 1:3-5).

Are you lacking motivation? Hope for the future has very here and now implications. Our certainty of future glory drives our faith and love towards others in the present. And our knowledge of the future has its origins in “hearing the truth of the Good News.” Are you listening to the Word of God and allowing it to give form and content to your hope?

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen” (Hebrews 11:1-3).

Our hope may be in an unseen future, but our confidence in God to deliver that future makes that it real and gives it substance in the present. The “people in days of old” were specifically commended for their concrete actions that allowed their hope to be seen. As we live out our hope, its truth will become visible for all to see. How is your life making your hope visible and real to others?

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live in hope, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay” (1 Peter 1:3-4).

The bible teaches that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead results in new life and a living hope for those who trust in him. This hope is “a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls” (Hebrews 6:19). It is a living hope because it has a divine origin. Its reliability is certain because the living God who gives hope cannot fail. Are you securely anchored in Jesus and safe amidst the storms of life?

“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this hope will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

The Christian hope is the hope of being like Jesus when he returns. However, we shouldn’t wait until he arrives to start the process of becoming like him. Instead, using the person, the teaching, and the life of Jesus as our guide, we should strive for moral, spiritual, attitudinal, and behavioural change to become like him now, so we are ready to meet him on the day he appears. Are you ready to meet Jesus?