Joyful in Hope

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12 NIV

Hope – we can hope for things which may not happen. For example, we can hope for the salvation of loved ones, that they will turn from their sins and that they will follow Jesus in obedience to his commands. But not everyone will believe in Jesus Christ. And not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ truly knows Christ. Even though the faith to believe in Jesus Christ is gifted to us by God and is persuaded of God, and not of ourselves, we still must put that faith into action, in the power of the Spirit living within us. 

Patience – Many people make superficial decisions to believe in Jesus but they are still walking in sin and not in righteousness and holiness and in obedience to the Lord. So they need to be brought to genuine faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. They need to turn from their sins and now walk in holiness. For lip service alone is not going to get any of us into heaven and to give us salvation from sin and eternal life with God. So we need to be sharing with them the truth of the gospel, even if they reject us, in return.

But it can be discouraging at times to see so many profess faith in Jesus but who do not live for him. For they are still walking in sin, still living by the flesh, still living life the way they want to live, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. But we must keep praying for them to have genuine faith in the Lord Jesus. We need to hold on to hope even when it appears as though all hope is futile. And we need to be patient while waiting for them to come to genuine repentance and obedient faith in Christ.

And we need to be patient in affliction, too. For if we are walking in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord, and if we are no longer walking in the deceitfulness of sin, by the power of God within us, and by his grace, and if we are teaching holy living and walks of obedience to our Lord, and the forsaking of our sins, then we are going to be afflicted. For Satan will be against us. Thus, we will be opposed, forsaken, forgotten, rejected, and mocked, etc. But we must keep on in our faith and not give up hope.

Faithful – Faithful in prayer. We must keep praying, keep hoping, keep trusting, and keep believing God even if all looks hopeless. Even though there are no guaranteed results, we must keep praying, and we must not give up hope. We must not run away. We must not give up, even if all looks utterly hopeless, and even if we have been praying for any particular situation for many years, even for a lifetime of prayers and tears. And we must keep reaching out to others in love, even if they revile us in return.

And here I think of the examples of the prophets of old who endured much suffering for the sake of telling the people the truth that they needed to hear, even though they were not guaranteed that all would come to repentance and to walks of obedience to the Lord. And then there was Moses who led the children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years, and who gave the people the commandments of God, but most of them did not believe in God, but went their own way, instead. Yet, he persevered by faith in God.

And then we have the example of Jesus Christ who spoke the truth to the people even though most of them did not believe in him, and did not receive him as their Lord and Savior, and even though the majority of the Jews even to this day do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah, the Christ. And he taught them the truth even though many of them hated him, in return, and they plotted and carried out his death on a cross. And with that same perseverance we also must keep hoping, praying, and persevering.

Video Talk

Joyful in Hope

https://youtu.be/CkCLYpgfgCk

9/21/2022