So what is hope. I certainly hope someone just hands me a million dollars tomorrow or that Congress balances the budget, but that's very likely not going to happen. Have you ever heard the phrase, "hope for the best, but expect the worst"? That way you're always right.
Is this what you think of when you think of hope? Well, let's be clear. That is not what the Bible means by using the word "hope". The word for hopes(elpizō) in the Greek has a meaning of expectation of good. When you love others, you have an expectation of good in their life. Not because they're good or because of their good circumstances, but because God is good. As we love and pray for those God has placed in our lives, we look with expectation on what God will do to draw them to Himself.
Of course, unlike us, what Jesus expected would come to be, always came to be, and always comes to be. Since He knows, His expectations are reality. In I John 3:2, it tells us that "we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Let us live in that great hope and express that hope for others.
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