[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Hope Does Not Disappoint - Larry Ollison

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "thefamilyoffaith" <TheFamilyofFaith at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] Hope Does Not Disappoint - Larry Ollison
Date: 
Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:41:23 -0400



Hope Does Not Disappoint 
by Dr. Larry Ollison

"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5). 
While listening to a sermon by a traveling minister, I kept hearing him
make the following statement. He said, "Wishin' and hopin' never got
anybody anything. God doesn't give two cents if you hope. He only responds
to faith." I know that there is some truth in what he was saying. However,
we cannot condemn people who are in hope. Hope is a good thing. Hope is not
from the devil. Actually, hope is a God quality. 

(1Corinthians 13:13) says "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love." Yes, it is true that love is greater
than hope, but let's get real. Hope made it to the top three! Hope is a
good thing and as Christians we are told that we are not to give up our
confession of hope.

It is true that faith and hope are two different things, but hope is
essential in attaining faith. We must pass through the land of hope on our
way to faith. Bible hope is the intent expectation of the good thing from
God that's on its way. A hope confession is this. "I believe I will be
healed." "I believe I will be delivered." "I know God's promise is on its
way." These confessions are good. It is true that they are not faith
confessions because they are confessing what is going to come. That's hope.


A faith confession is in the now. A faith confession is: "I am healed."
"I am delivered." "I have God's promise now." This is a faith confession.
I believe God's ultimate for us is to walk in faith. God's world is a
faith world. But as we grow toward faith, we move through hope. We should
never criticize, condemn, or offend someone walking in hope. 

Remember (Hebrews 11:1) says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen."