I’ve been hearing – anchor yourself in hope. Stay in hope. Hope/expect good things and this caused me to think, ponder and look up some biblical definitions of hope.

See, I have always thought of hope as being wishy washy – like maybe it will or maybe it won’ But on the contrary! The Apostle Paul wrote much of hope, and he was not an unstable man nor was he wishy washy in any way.

I looked up hope in the Strong’s Concordance online today and here are the biblical definitions of hope:

Cord, hope, expectation, things hoped for – outcome, to have possession or possess, ANCHOR, safeguard, firm – that which can be relied on, certain true, steadfast, stable, securely, to wait, expect and tarry, hope in the WORD, expectation of good! (expect good things!) joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation, the author of hope, or HE who is its foundation, the thing hoped for, REFUGE, shelter, (from storm or danger), trust, confidence, act of confiding, object of confidence, STATE of CONFIDENCE, security, to hope, in a religious sense, to wait for salvation with joy and full confidence, hopefully to trust in, to have, possess or lay hold of. (Capitalized words are my emphasis)

WOW – I don’t see wishy washy anywhere in the definitions above!

So, when I read Zech 9:12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
Or Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

I know that God is telling me that His hope is my Stronghold, my anchor!

Over a year ago, while fretting one day, God said to me “why can’t you expect good things?” and I noticed in the meanings of HOPE – expectation was a part of this.

Psalm 43:5 – Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Hope there means to EXPECT and WAIT! So we can read this verse this way – Why am I discouraged and my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God, I will expect Him to deliver me and and I wait for Him to answer my prayer!

We can read Zech 9:12 like this – Return to your fortress you prisoners of hope, of expectation of things to come; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you!

Or how about Hebrews 6:19 – We have this hope, we possess it, we lay hold of this hope, this confidence, as an anchor for the soul, (mind, will and emotions), firm and secure! What is this hope? If you read the previous verses it is talking about the promise God made to Abraham and that He cannot lie – to grab onto THAT HOPE that He has set before us.

One more scripture, which up until lately, when I heard it preached correctly, I had this verse all wrong! It’s the scripture Hope deferred makes the heart sick – Proverbs 13:12. The minister said – it’s not thing thing we are hoping for being deferred that makes the heart sick, but hope itself being deferred. In other words, when we quit hoping, we get heartsick. WOW. This is why God is saying to us stay anchored in HOPE!

God is saying – Grab onto HOPE!

Find your promise in the Word of God and possess it, grab onto it, expect it, wait for it, tarry, allow it to build your confidence, let it ANCHOR your soul, your mind your will and your emotions, and stand firm in your faith! An anchor will keep a ship from being moved off course in a storm, it will keep it safe.

I know we have all had disappointments, but those disappointments come from people who are not perfect, and from our own misunderstandings, or our own human reasonings which are flawed. God will never and has never let us down! His ways are perfect and higher than ours. So, determine right now to release the disappointments, repent if you have blamed God, release others from fulfilling your expectations (big one!) and set your heart to expect, hope in and wait for the Lord! Rehearse and immerse yourself in the Word of God. Find your scripture (your legal right to what you expect and desire) and confess it, dissect it, look up the meanings of the words in the verse and get it down into your spirit, let it be your anchor.

Let’s get our hopes up! Let’s anchor ourselves to the true hope of the world – Jesus! His word will not fail. It is the anchor for our souls!

• Date - January 9, 2020
• Author - David Chisholm

1 John 1:5-7
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. NKJV

As we live our daily lives and interact with this world and the people of this world, it is truly as dramatic as light and darkness. The contrast is becoming greater each day we live as the people of this world choose too become their own moral standards. It is alarming to say the least as to the polar differences of what people consider good or evil, moral or immoral.

Isaiah 5:20-21
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light , and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! NKJV

The deeper your walk with the Lord is the stranger you will become in this present age. The longsuffering of the Lord is being demonstrated for sure! Each day we walk in the light we are estranged from the normal ways of this world. I am so thankful this Christmas season that the Lord has blessed me with a heart that is after truth. I have declared with Joshua of old, “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord!” As we all gather with loved ones and friends in this next week, let’s not take for granted the blessing of faith we have been endowed with.

Why were we chosen? I can’t even answer that, but I can remain thankful. The duty of the found is to continually seek the lost and never forget where we were brought from. As we continue to grow in the grace of God we will forever be thankful and continually offer the sacrifice of praise to the Lord!

It is the least we can do and He is worthy of so much more than we can even give! I pray that you all have a great Christmas with the ones you love this year and that many are influenced in this season by the most generous gift ever given, Jesus!

• Date - December 18, 2019
• Author - David Chisholm

Tonight I am going to continue the series on understanding temperaments. I cannot overemphasize how important it is to have the understanding of self-awareness. There is such freedom in seeing from the side of this truth.

The step past self-awareness is self-transcendence. Psychologists have stated this is the ultimate wisdom for human interaction. When I am self-transcendent, I have a knowledge of my own weaknesses and strengths and can engage with others in an open arena, which in psychology means; “I know, you know”. The blind spot is; “You know I don’t know”. The façade or mask is; “I know, you don’t know.” Unknown is of course; “I don’t know, you don’t know.” This is called the Johari window and was developed in 1955 by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham.

Luke 16:8
8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
NKJV

Psychology is the study of man, we need to use “every tool in the shed” to maintain successful relationships. Just as Christians should use the newest medical research information to combat sickness and disease, we should use the research in psychology in the effort to “restore our souls” and get along. One of the manifestations of the curse of poverty is to not have the understanding of self-awareness and not having the ability to articulate our relational conflicts. This often results in broken covenants of friendship, marriages, church memberships, employment etc. The church should manifest the greatest ability to “get along” of any institution in the world! Sadly, this is not the case.

The New Testament teaches us to live in the open arena of transparency but few actually do. In reality, the majority of teaching in the Epistles is about getting along and what it means to walk in the love of God and the character of God. There is such a peace that comes in open honest relationships, and becoming self-aware and self-transcendent is the way to begin this process. Being aware of our own temperament and weaknesses helps us to yield when we need to. I don’t have to have my way all the time and I need to be aware of when I am being unreasonable and why.

The old saying about relationships is so true, “you might be right, but lonely.” So many are isolated, living in a false narrative of why everyone else did them wrong instead of seeing the truth. What is so important to me is not that important to you for a reason. I need to be able to live with the “give and take” of relationships, or I will be lonely. I don’t want to be “one way Dave” and I’m sure you don’t either. I can rest in relationships when I understand that different people have different priorities for a reason and together we are better!

Romans 12:16-18
16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits. [Prov 3:7.]
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone. [Prov 20:22.]
18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
AMP

Be blessed!

• Date - December 11, 2019
• Author - David Chisholm