So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13 (ESV)
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Notice the difference of the words in these two versions of the Bible (ESV and NIV). The two I want to point out are ‘abide’ and ‘remain.’ ‘Continue’ could be substituted either word.

Faith continues. Hope continues. Love continues. How comforting is that?

How would you describe hope? After looking up several definitions, I compiled this description: Hope is having the desire for something and to expect it to happen (verb) or to have a confident expectation (noun).

Where does hope come from? What gives us hope? Romans 15:4 says:  For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Did you catch that? …Through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope…Do reading and studying the Scriptures encourage you and give you hope?

Jeremiah 17:7 shares another source of hope for us. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is. (NKJV) Our hope is in the Lord. Let’s read this verse in the NIV: But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

Hope. Confidence. Confident Expectation.

What else does God give us hope of? In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began. (Titus 1:2) God gives us hope for today and for eternal life.

I Peter 1:3 continues: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Take a few minutes to think about some hopes that you have for yourself at home, at work, and in your spiritual life…Something you want to happen or expect to happen…Something that you have a confident expectation that it will happen.Take time to thank God for the hope He has given us for now and for our futures. Remember the words of Romans 12:12: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

For those of you that would like a second challenge, I have written a study guide, “Hope in the Lord.” There was so much information that I found during my research that I thought I would share it.  Click the link if  you would like to download a pdf copy, Hope in the Lord Study Guide

Praying that each of us will always rejoice in hope, be patient and will always turn to God in prayer.