I don’t know if I was considering your last comment. We are to meditate in God’s Word day and night. Rehearsing what is said in the Word of God is a necessary exercise and a defense against unbelief. Every time I read the Word, I am repeating to myself the gracious promises of God and God by the Holy Spirit calls back to my memory what He has said when I am removed from study. I thank God that he causes me to repeat to myself what he has said, over and over. It is by His Word, that we are kept. The access to the heart is through the mind, a mind that God gave us and has renewed so that we might fully comprehend the promises that He has made. We are to worship Him in Truth, according to John 4, in what we know, with all our mind and heart.

You are welcome.

I hope you did not misunderstand my last comment. Maybe I should have said “repeat it myself” instead of “say it myself”.

I have found that when I can repeat what I’m learning then I have gained a measure of understanding of what it is that I am learning.

Thanks again.

Nate’s answer was good. There is more to hope. The word elpizo (hope, a confidence in the trustworthiness of its object) is juxtaposed to pistis (the knowledge of hope, its very essence, the conviction and possession of the object) in Hebrews 1.1. The connecting noun is hupostasis. Hupostasis means the very substance, or the thing which is the essence of what is under consideration. Since faith is given us, and we possess it presently, hope is not a far of promise but a present possession in current reality. Though it is true that we earnestly wait for our future hope and its unveiling, it is not just that God has promised it though that would be enough, but he goes further and gives us the earnest, the seal of the Holy Spirit who makes us to be in vital union with our Saviour who we patiently wait for in his appearing as the triumphal King. We have three witnesses, the Word of God, the Spirit within us, and the great cloud, who are the saints that surround us, confirming for us that He is now present with us, and though we do not yet see except through the shaded vail of our flesh, we will see then, face to face, our hope in the resurrection. In Christ, all answers are yes and amen.

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

By fixing our gaze upon Him, loving His appearing and abiding in Him, we will practice righteousness and not practice sin. By this “you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 Jn 5:13)

So when we hope in God, are we anticipating His promises with absolute certainty that they will come to pass because they have been divinely guaranteed?

Sometimes I have to say it myself so that I can get it into my heart

Is this correct?

Thanks for the catch on the reference. Other verses could be added to support that same point … such as Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; and 1 Peter 1:25.

Kelvin,

Thanks for your question about the definition of biblical hope.

Throughout Scripture, we find that hope is a settled confidence in the person, power, and promises of God even when the fulfillment of those promises is still in the future–or unseen (Heb. 11:1). When used as a noun in Scripture, “hope” refers to the object of what we are hoping in (namely, God and His promises). When used as a verb, it is essentially synonymous with “faith” and underscores our trust in the object of our hope. Thus, when we hope in God, we fix our eyes on Him and His promises rather than on our personal circumstances or the false hopes of this world.

“Hope” is, of course, only as good as the object in which one is hoping. Because the object of biblical hope is God Himself (Titus 1:2), believers can be confident that their hope will never be disappointed (Romans 5:5). Hence, the hope of resurrection and the hope of heaven, for example, are not mere fantasies or figments of imagination. Rather, they are absolute certainties because they have been divinely guaranteed.

Thanks again for your interaction. This is one of my favorite themes in all of Scripture, so discussing it is a true joy.

- NB

I don’t trust people…….I TRUST GOD! Not only do I know intellectually that God keeps His promises…..I know experientially. I have faced my Red Sea all alone, like Moses did, and I have stood still to see the mighty salvation that God showed me! He definitely keeps His promises, which is one more reason to long for Eternity!

“Absent from this body…..present with the Lord”