Hope and Faith

Hope is a powerful thing and it changes lives both when it is there and when it is not. I know christians who think that Hope is just a secular word for Faith, that somehow Faith supercedes Hope and because of our Faith we don't need to bother with the mere trifling that is Hope. How wrong can we be.

1 Corinthians 13:13 says that three things will remain, Faith, Hope and Love. Paul lists Hope separately to Faith because it is vital. Hebrews 11:1 says that 'Faith is the substance of things Hoped for...' (KJ version). Without Hope there is no Faith.

We are allowed to Hope. We have to Hope.

One of my greatest friends and inspirations says that Faith is for the now but Hope is for the future. I believe that Faith is, simply put, an alloy between my Hope for the future, and what I know about God; His Faithfulness, His Power, His Love, His Glory.

I want to stress just how much we need to have Hope. Hope that God will work all things for the good of His loved ones, Hope that He will lead us by still waters, Hope that He knows the plans He has for us and Hope that He will give us the desires of our hearts. We are allowed to Hope. We Have to Hope.

Hope for our families, Hope on behalf of others, Hope when things start to crumble and Hope at the start of a new adventure. We really are allowed to Hope, we really have to Hope.

The Best 'Number Two'

Sometimes people ask me who is my favourite character in the Bible (other than God... or Jesus... basically anyone outside of the Trinity) and they're often surprised at my answer. They expect me to say someone like Abraham, Moses, Elijah or Paul but in fact its Jonathon.

Throughout 1 Samuel we hear the stories of Saul, Jonathon and David and the changing relationships between them. Jonathon was an awesome Leader, Warrior, Prince and Friend. He held the respect of all the people because he was a man of honour, goodness and strength.

But the thing that makes Jonathon stand out above all these qualities was his humility. Here was Jonathon, the first-born son to King Saul and rightful heir to the throne of Isreal. He had all the qualities of a great King and He feared God yet when he saw David, the man that God had annointed King, he humbly and without fuss stepped into line with the will of God. He forfeited the earthly kingdom that was by rights his, in order to pursue the Kingdom of God. He became the greatest 'Number Two' guy and happily served the man he recognised as God's 'Number One'.

Very few of us are called to be God's Number One but we are all Number Two's, serving not just our Pastors or Church Leaders, but above all these things to serve Jesus as God's Ultimate and Eternal Number One.

Jonathon displayed the truest of humilty. He didn't use humilty as an excuse to hold back from doing awesome things, but faced with the will of God he gave absolutely no thought to himself. C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity that true humilty is to lose all sense of self when in the Presence of God. This is why Jonathon is the man (other than Jesus) that I most want to meet when I get to Heaven.