Words like fear, anxiety, depression,hopelessness, and resignation are amongst the most common words we hear today, and sadly, some people’s reality. They may discover temporal fixes from time to time, but these fixes mostly deal with symptoms and not the problems themselves.

In this blog, I would like to introduce a word that may not be new yet so far from what some know as their daily reality, and this word is HOPE.
By definition, the word HOPE in the Greek, elpizo, is derived from a root word elpo, which means to anticipate, usually with pleasure, it also means expectation and confidence .

Simply put, the absence of hope is the result of most of the chaos we see around.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

As Christians, we know that without faith it is impossible to please God ( Hebrews 11: 6 ), we also know that faith can move mountains ( Matthew 17:20 ), yet faith cannot be in operation without hope. Put differently, faith needs hope to function.
Hope is built through words that paint pictures in our minds forming images. These images, when constantly fed, produce in us pleasant anticipation or expectation, and because these words are affirmative, they build confidence in us.

An example of this from the bible is the case of Abraham after God had spoken to Him and called him out of his country. In Genesis 13:14 – 17, God took Abraham outside and asked him to look and imagine and then spoke to him of the future. God was helping Abraham build hope. Abraham was someone who was physically incapable of the things that God was speakkng to him about so Abraham needed to see these words and promises in his minds eyes, for his heart to conceive them , to build hope so that faith could be applied. Just as constantly watching the news builds a sense of despair, so constantly listening to the word of God or reading the word of God builds a sense of hope.

Some people think that just saying the sinners’ prayer is all they need, and their lives would be magically transformed. Yes, you are changed by the prayer because your spirit is reborn. You move from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God and you become a brand new person in your spirit but your mind is the same as it was before the prayer and it is now your responsibility to feed your mind with the right things. That’s why Romans 12 : 2 said for you not to be conformed to this world(even though you are a believer) and the world’s systems ( because there is no true hope in the world’s systems) but to be transformed by renewing your mind.

Renewing is a process, not a one-off event. Still considering Abraham, God did not just speak to him once and then go off leaving him to take the word or leave it, God constantly spoke. In Genesis chapter twelve, God calls Abram and gives him all these words and promises, chapter thirteen, God gives him pictures and more words. Chapter fifteen, God speaks to him through a vision and more words, chapter seventeen, God comes again, reintroducing Himself to Abraham and giving him more assurances through words, chapter eighteen, He comes in the form of angels and then finally in chapter twenty one, the promise (Isaac) was born.

Has God ever spoken anything to you ? Does your present reality mock God’s word spoken to you? Take courage in Abraham’s story that chapter after chapter, he encountered God’s word and promises until those words became his reality rather than his physical state, and eventually, he saw a manifestation. This is how you keep hope alive, by constantly gazing at God’s word until those words become your reality. You keep hope alive by refusing what is not in the word of God, even if you become quite unpopular amongst your peers or your family, keep hope alive by surrounding yourself with where you want to be. Anticipate, expect, and be confident that the word of God can not lie irrespective of what you are surrounded by. Keep hope alive by hiding the word of God in your heart!

Much Blessings

Kingdom