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The God Who Brings Hope
I see the Holy Spirit moving in the earth to bring forth hope in the hearts of people. So I
thought to talk about hope today & what God has done to shape our lives with hope.
A life shaped by hope is a life born from the foundation of always having a confident
expectation of seeing good come to pass. It is a life born from the foundation of having a
certainty of seeing life manifest.
To have hope is to have a confident expectation of seeing good no matter what you see in
your lives or going on around you. It is to have a confident expectation of seeing God's life
manifested. It is to be filled with a certainty of seeing God's life manifested in you.
Explain what hope does to the human heart
Something beautiful happens in the human heart when it can be filled with a confident
expectation of good. Something dynamic happens in a person when they have a certainty
of seeing good and seeing life come to pass.
They have an excitement for life. They are filled with a joyful enthusiasm for life. Their life
becomes shaped with cheerfulness. They become giddy and live with a happy anticipation
of what is to come.
The fruit of patience is born in them. They are strengthened by life to overcome the
tribulation in the world.
Example of Christmas as hope/confident expectation at work in life
Christmas was always a magical time for me as a child. There were all the decorations
and all the presents under the tree. There was the birthday cake for Jesus. Man I knew
Santa was coming and he was going to set up his gifts for us in the living room. I knew
there would be so much fun in opening the presents and seeing what Santa would bring
us. I was so excited to see all the new things and be able to play with them.
You see I had a confident expectation of good manifesting in my life. And even though it
hadn't manifested yet, having this confident expectation made me giddy. It shaped my life
with a joyful enthusiasm. It filled my heart with an excitement for life. It filled me with a
happy anticipation of what was to come.
Explain God wants our lives to be shaped by hope.
God desires for you to be able to live your lives in this world with a giddiness; with a joyful
enthusiasm and excitement for life.
He desires for your life to be shaped by hope. He wants you to experience life from the
foundation of always having hope. He wants you to experience life from the foundation of
always having a confident expectation; a certainty of seeing good come to pass. He wants
you to be able to experience life from the foundation of always having a certainty that life
will be made manifest in you.
One of the obstacles to this is we live in a world surrounded by death and corruption. We
live in a world where we don't always see good manifesting in our lives or in the world
around us.
In Romans 4 Paul said Abraham against hope believed in hope.
Abraham who when there was no hope found himself filled with hope. When Abraham's
situation looked hopeless he was filled with hope. Abraham was filled with hope in the
midst of everything looking hopeless.
God told Abraham he would be the father of many nations and exceedingly fruitful. And
even though it looked as if those things coming to pass was hopeless. Abraham's heart
was filled with a confident expectation; a certainty that those things would come to pass.
Against all rational grounds of hope; Sarah's womb and his own body being dead.
Abraham found himself strengthened with hope.
In the midst of seeing all death manifesting in he and Sarah's bodies. In the midst of all
contradiction. When everything in Abrahams life stood opposed to him being exceedingly
fruitful & the Father of many nations. He was filled with a confident expectation that life
would manifest in them. His heart was filled with a certainty that life would be made
manifest in them.
Explain the reason
And Paul said the reason Abraham was filled with hope in the midst of what appeared to be
all hopelessness is because Abraham did not consider the deadness of his body. Nor did
he consider the deadness of Sarah's womb when he thought about whether or not he
would be exceedingly fruitful and the Father of many nations. But, he considered the one
who promised.
When Abraham thought about whether or not he would be fruitful he didn't fix his eyes on
the inability or the weakness he saw in himself and Sarah. He fixed his eyes on God and
His ability. And this filled his heart with hope in the midst of all hopelessness.
But, Abraham didn't always have this hope. God had to influence his heart unto this
hope.
You know Paul said Abraham did not consider the deadness of his own body or the
deadness of Sarah's womb. And we know this was eventually the case.
But, Abraham did not always consider God as His sufficiency. There was a time when He
did consider what he saw in His own life. Initially Abraham did consider himself and his
own sufficiency.
In Genesis 15 it says the word of the Lord came to Abram telling him fear not I am your
shield and your exceeding great reward. And Abram looked at Himself and what he saw in
his own life and said what will you give me Lord seeing I am childless, and the steward of
my house is Eliezer.
And again the word of the Lord came to him and said he would be the father of many
nations and exceedingly fruitful. And we know that Abraham considered what he saw in
his own life again because he tried to make manifest the things God promised through his
own ability by having a child with Hagar.
Explain this same thing in us:
Just like Abraham heard he would be the father of many nations and exceedingly fruitful
and initially considered himself and the deadness he saw in his life to determine how those
things would come to pass.
We can hear God call us His beloved Sons and Daughters and promise to make us
exceedingly fruitful through Christ. And we can end up like Abraham considering
ourselves and what we see going on in our lives to determine if and how those things will
come to pass.
We can hear God's testimony to us in Jesus. We can hear what He says about us, and
how He wants to serve us with His life. But, we can very easily end up looking to
ourselves as the sufficiency to see all those things coming to pass.
We can hear what God says and what He promised us and we can look at what we see
manifesting in our flesh; what is manifesting in our lives; what is manifesting in the world
around us. And we can be filled with hopelessness. We can say Lord how is it that I can
have peace, and love, and joy considering this deadness that is present in my life. How is
it that I will be made manifest as your Son/Daughter seeing this body of death I have.
We can hear God call us His Sons and Daughters and say He will make us exceedingly
fruitful. We can hear God promise us life. We can hear God tell us he will give us peace,
love, joy, kindness, longsuffering. And we can think how will I have peace, and, love, and
joy seeing this deadness I am surrounded by.
Just like Abe when he heard God say he will be the father of many nations & exceedingly
fruitful but he considered his life and his situation and the deadness he saw in himself and
Sarah. And he said how will this be. How will I see those things come to pass in light of
the deadness of Sarah's womb.
We can find ourselves in the place where our eyes are fixed on what we see in our lives
when we think of whether or not we will see peace, and love, and joy, and kindness, and
the fruit of God's life manifesting in us. And this can fill our hearts with uncertainty and fear
and hopelessness.
*****Example of me preaching/after part about can hear God promise to bring forth his
peace, his love, his joy, etc..
When I first started preaching it was a struggle for me. My mind would go blank
everytime I got up on stage. I found fault with the way I preached. I was too loud. I was
too intense. I moved around too much. I preached too long. I don't have good examples
and analogies. I preach the same thing every Sunday. And I got a lot of feedback that fed
into my own insecurities.
My eyes were fixed on what I saw in my life. When I thought about whether or not I
could have peace, and love and joy in my life I considered the way that I preached. I
thought my ability to have peace and love and joy was found in the way that I preached
changing. The more my eyes were fixed on the way I preached changing the more
hopeless I felt. And all my conversations with God became about how these things could
be fixed.
You see I was considering myself and the weaknesses and inabilities I saw in my life
when I thought of being able to have peace, and love, and joy. And this filled me with
uncertainty and made me feel hopeless. But, one day when I was talking with God and
asking him to deliver me from my perceived weaknesses. I heard Him say real
clearly. Hey Greg have you ever considered the resurrection. And you know what. In
that moment my heart began to consider the resurrection & I began to lose sight of all my
weaknesses. And my heart was filled with hope.
When we fix our eyes on what we see manifesting in our flesh, and what we see going on
in our lives, and in the world around us as our sufficiency to be able to see life come to
pass. It will ultimately lead us to a place of uncertainty and with that will come fear and
hopelessness.
Example of running marathon:
You know if someone were to say to me I must run a marathon, and I must run it in
2:30. If when I think of how I can run that marathon in that time I consider myself and what
I see in my life and in my ability. My heart will be filled with uncertainty. I will be filled with
fear and hopelessness and my heart will be made sick.
I mean I haven't ran any significant amount in years. I barely run 16 miles in a week
much less 26.2 at the same time. I have no idea if I will ever be able to get my time back
down to 2:30. I have no idea if I can even train hard enough to be able to try and get my
time back down.
But, if you told me my ability to run the marathon in 2:30 was not found in me but it was
found in the guy who won the gold medal in the Olympic marathon. My heart would be
filled with a confident expectation that it would come to pass. And I would be filled with a
joyful enthusiasm even though I hadn't actually run the race yet.
2nd part of Abe:
When everything in Abraham's life looked hopeless and God wanted to shape Abraham's
life with hope. When God wanted to shape Abraham's life with a confident expectation of
seeing the promise come to pass in his life. He came and fixed Abraham's eyes on
Himself as Abraham's sufficiency to see the promise come to pass.
In Genesis 17 God came and revealed Himself to Abraham as El Shaddai, The All
Sufficient One.
God didn't just reveal Himself as being all sufficient.
He revealed Himself to be Abraham's sufficiency. He didn't just come and reveal Himself
as having sufficiency. But, He revealed Himself to be the word about Abraham's
sufficiency.
God came to Abraham and said listen man when you think about whether or not you will
ever see the promise come to pass in your life do not consider what you see in yourself or
the world around you. But consider Me and My life.
Paul said in Romans 4 that Abraham considered not his own body that was now dead
when he was 100 yrs old, and he didn't consider the deadness of Sarah's womb when he
thought of how he would be exceedingly fruitful and the father of many nations. But He
considered the one who promised.
Considered means to fix one's eyes or mind upon something.
In Genesis 17 God revealed Himself and His life as Abraham's sufficiency in order to take
Abraham's eyes off of the deadness he saw in himself and the deadness he saw in Sarah's
womb. And to fix Abraham's eyes on Him and His life as his sufficiency. So Abraham
could have a confident expectation of seeing the promise come to pass, and His life could
be shaped by hope instead of hopelessness.
When God revealed Himself and His life as Abraham's sufficiency by showing Himself as
El Shaddai, the All Sufficient One.
It caused Abraham's heart to inquire into God and His life when he thought of his own
life. It fixed Abrahams eyes on God and God's sufficiency. Not in the sense that this guy
has sufficiency and I don't. But, in the sense that this Guy is my sufficiency.
God came and brought forth a belief in Abraham's heart that said God was his
sufficiency. God influenced Abrahams heart to no longer consider himself and the life he
had in the world when he thought of his life. But, to instead think of God and God's life
when he thought of himself and his life. And this filled his heart with hope. It gave him a
confident expectation of seeing the promise come to pass. It gave him a certainty that he
would be exceedingly fruitful and the father of many nations even in the midst of what
appeared to be all uncertainty.
2nd part about us:
Genesis 17 is not the last time or the only time God revealed Himself as El Shaddai.
God revealing Himself to Abraham as the all sufficient one was pointing towards something
God would do to reveal Himself to the world as the all sufficient one in the resurrection of
Jesus.
In the fullness of times God once again came & revealed Himself as EL Shaddai, THE ALL
Sufficient one in Christ.
Just like the word of the Lord came to Abraham in Genesis. The Word of the Lord has
come to us in the resurrection of Jesus.
In the same way God shaped Abraham's life with hope in the midst of what appeared to be
all hopelessness. God has come in the resurrection of Jesus to shape our lives with hope
in the midst of us being surrounded by what appears as all hopelessness.
He comes to shape our lives with a confident expectation that good will come to pass in our
lives. He comes to shape our lives with a confident expectation of seeing life manifesting
in us even in the midst of all the contradiction we are surrounded by in the world. He has
come to strengthen your heart with a confident expectation of life even in the midst of all
the contradiction that is in the world.
The way He does it is He reveals Himself to you as El Shaddai, The All Sufficient One in
the resurrection of Jesus. He reveals Himself and His life as your sufficiency; as your
strength to see life come to pass.
When Jesus came out of the grave it was God declaring throughout all human history and
throughout all eternity. I AM EL SHADDAI THE ALL SUFFICIENT ONE. Consider Me
and My Life when you think of your own life and your ability to see life come to pass.
Explain when we can see Him and His life as our sufficiency our hearts begin to inquire into
Him and His life when we consider our own lives.
God revealed Himself and His life as our sufficiency to see good come to pass in our lives
in the resurrection of Jesus. So that our hearts would begin to inquire into who He is and
His life when we think of our life and if we will see good come to pass. And we no longer
consider the deadness we see in our own lives or in the world around us.
He comes to take our eyes off of ourselves and the life we have in the world when we think
of our sufficiency to see life manifest. And to fix our eyes on Him and His life when we
think of our sufficiency to see good manifest; to see life manifest. So our lives can be
shaped by an incorruptible hope. And our days can be filled with the giddiness and the
joyful enthusiasm that comes from always expecting to see life and goodness come to
pass.
You know when you consider God and His life as your own; as your sufficiency to see life
manifest in you. It will always fill you with a confident expectation of good. It will shape
your life with an incorruptible hope. You will be strengthened to overcome the tribulation in
the world. You will experience life from the foundation of being giddy, and having a joyful
enthusiasm for life.
His life gives us an incorruptible hope because there is nothing in the universe that can
keep His life down. There is nothing in the universe that can overcome His life.
Example of rocky
It's like in the rocky movies where Apollo creed kept knocking rocky down & rocky kept
getting back up.
He doesnt just reveal Himself and His life as our sufficiency in the resurrection. But, He
reveals the substance of His life.
He took His life. The life He promised us and manifested His life in the person of
Jesus. And then we see His life stand in the face of all the death and all the corruption that
has ever been and can ever be, in Jesus on the cross. So that in the resurrection when
Jesus came out of the grave we could see the substance of His life. And we could see
there is nothing that can keep His life down; there is nothing that can overcome His life;
there is nothing that can keep His life from manifesting.
When we can see a His life as our sufficiency and we can see the substance of The life we
have in Him our hearts can be influenced unto the belief that nothing can keep our life
down; nothing can keep life from manifesting in us; nothing can overcome our life.
And we are filled with a confident expectation; a certainty of seeing life manifested in
us. We have a joyful enthusiasm as we walk through this life. We have an excitement for
life in the midst of all the contradiction that exists in the world. We can be giddy, and walk
through life with a happy anticipation of what is to come.
Example of dunking:
You know when I think of how can I dunk a basketball. My mind immediately goes to
thinking about how high I can jump. What kind of shoes I am wearing; how big is the ball;
how high is the goal. You get the point. My mind would immediately go to considering
myself when I think of my ability to see my dunking a basketball coming to pass.
Now if my eyes are set on myself as my sufficiency to be able to dunk. My heart will be
filled with hopelessness and despair because I will be filled with an uncertainty of ever
being able to dunk. I mean look at me. I'm a 40 yr old man that is only 5"10. If I couldn't
dunk in highschool I have no hope of being able to dunk anytime in the future.
But, if Michael Jordan can appear to me and tell me He is my sufficiency to be able to
dunk. My heart will be filled with an incorruptible hope. My life will be shaped by a
confident expectation; a certainty that I will dunk the basketball because I saw that guy
dunk a basketball from the free throw line. And I will live with an exuberance and a joyful
enthusiasm even if I dont see myself dunking yet because I know that nothing will be able
to keep me from dunking.
End prayer:
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Can really do something for you to always have a confident expectation of life.
I mean even if things around you don't look good at the time. If you have a certainty of
seeing life manifest in that thing you can walk through it happy.
******Example of running last interval .... When I was training trying to be in the olympics I
did a lot of interval training. Interval training was a painful thing. There was a lot of
suffering going on there.*******
I knew that nothing could stop Santa from coming. Nothing could keep Christmas from
coming to pass. I knew there would be so much fun in opening the presents and seeing
what Santa would bring us. I was so excited to see all the new things and be able to play
with them. The excitement of knowing that Santa was coming and he was going to set up
his gifts for us in the living room. I was filled with such a happy anticipation of seeing what
he would do and what he had for us. Christmas filled my heart with hope. It filled my
heart with a confident expectation. It filled my heart with a certainty of good happening to
me. Man I knew Santa was coming and nothing could stop it. I knew there would be so
much fun in opening the presents and seeing what Santa would bring us. I was so excited
to see all the new things and be able to play with them. And because of this hope I had it
shaped my life with a joyful enthusiasm. It made me giddy because I had a confident
expectation of a goodness that was beyond all I could ask or think manifesting in my
Example with Paul considering his weakness; himself and situation around him. When
considered whether all was well or whether all was as it ought to be Paul considered
himself and what he saw going on in his life. And this filled Paul with a hopelessness and
a despair.
Considering deadness: considering our sufficiency: we can consider what is going on in
our lives & what we see manifesting in our flesh as to whether we can have peace, & love,
& joy, etc. The testimony of God comes to fill us with a certainty in the midst of all
uncertainty by causing us to no longer consider ourselves & the deadness we see in our
circumstances. You know if you think a circumstance has to change in order for you to
have peace & joy then you are considering your own sufficiency.