Keep Hope

Never Give Up Hoping. When Alexander the Great crossed into Asia he gave away almost all his belongings to his friends. One of his captains asked him, "Sir, what do you keep for yourself?" And the answer of the king was, "I keep hope." In the day you and I live in I believe we have lost the true meaning of the word hope. We say things like "I hope I get to go" or "I hope that doesn't happen." It is used in a negative sense. What is the meaning of the word HOPE? A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, a belief "it is obtainable"; or confidence in a future event. That sounds positive to me, I like that word "Confidence." So when I say "I hope I get to go" I am really saying "I am confident I will be going." "I am confident if nothing happens I'll be there." So when Alexander the Great said "I keep hope" he was saying I keep confidence. So when we read this in our Bibles we can be excited about what we are reading because it is very positive.

Ephesians 2:12

That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, (Confidence) and without God in the world:

Colossians 1:23

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
(Confidence) of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

1Thessalonians 1:3
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope
(Confidence) in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

1Peter 1:3
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
(Confidence) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

My Pastor, many years ago told me "Wayne you have confidence in God but son; I like it when people call me "son" but you just don't any confidence in yourself or your abilities. I needed to hear those words, for what he said that day was very true. But there is a danger there too and that is one can get to confident in themselves and think they don't need the Lord at all. As I was reading in Joshua on yesterday God showed me that. Jos 7:2
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.

Jos 7:3
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.

Jos 7:4
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. Oops, did they forget to pray? I believe they did. They were trusting in past experience. Had they prayed God would have told them not to go for something had changed since the last battle? But they view it by their past experience and their ability over few and they lost. This is when a person gets too confident. Just remember our past confidence may have been wonderful, but we must trust in our God for present confidence. Did you ask God for help this morning or are you running on your abilities and past confidence. Hey, we need Him today in all our decisions. Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.