Foundation of Our Hope
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What comes to mind when you think of hope? How would you describe the idea of being hopeful to someone?ย
โข Recall a time when you had a radical experience that changed your perspective of something or someone. What happened?
โข Tell us about a friend or family member who was in a seemingly impossible situation. What kind of help did you think he or she needed?ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ.โ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ (๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ), ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฉโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ.ย ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ดโ๐ฎ๐ญ
(Read also ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฏโ๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ฎโ๐ฎ๐ฑ.)
In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul is recounting Abrahamโs journey of faith and hope in God. Abraham received a promise from God that he chose to believe, even when it seemed impossible. He knew that God can do and does what no one else can, including giving life to the dead and calling non-existent things into existence (Romans 4:17). In the same way, we can choose where to anchor our hope and who to believe. Today, we will glean three lessons from Abrahamโs life so that we can understand the foundation of our hope as believers.ย
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ.โ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ (๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ), ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฉโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ดโ๐ญ๐ต
How can one hope against all hope? The circumstances may be dire and disappointing, but at the same time, the truth of Godโs goodness and power remains. We can put our hope and faith in God because He does the impossible. In what area of your life have you learned to hope in God and rely on Him completely? How do you think this is possible?
๐ฎ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ.ย ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ฌโ๐ฎ๐ญ
Abraham is our example of faith because he did not waver in unbelief about Godโs promise. Instead, he was fully convinced in the faithfulness and ability of God to fulfill what He had promised. Our faith should be anchored on God, not on anything or anyone else. We can persevere in hope instead of living in unbelief because God is a promise keeper. What are some of the things we are tempted to believe, instead of God? How can we know Godโs character and trust Him more each day?ย
๐ฏ. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด โ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.โ ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด โ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎโ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ฎโ๐ฎ๐ฑ
Abrahamโs faith in God is an example for us now who already have a better picture of Godโs plan of redemption. Abraham believed God even if he did not see what we know today. The risen Christ is the anchor of our faith, and He is the proof that God can and will do what He has said. If we are believers, we have no other anchor than the risen Christ. What do you think would happen if we put our faith in anything or anyone else?ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Take time this week to read, meditate on, and reflect on the book of Romans. As you read, ask God for wisdom and revelation to understand and obey His word. Pray that you would hope against all hope even when you face the impossible.ย
โข In different situations and challenges, what makes you feel hopeful or hopeless? How can you hope in God today and every day?
โข Think of and pray for friends or family members who could use hopeful encouragement this week. How can you help them anchor their faith in God?ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for revealing His love and power through Jesusโ sacrifice on the cross, and in each day of your life. Ask God to help you see Him clearly and recognize His work in your life.ย
โข Pray that like Abraham you would hope against hope and be fully convinced about who God is and what He can do.ย
โข Pray for a heart that courageously reflects the transformation that Jesus has begun in you, so that others might see Godโs work and be drawn to Him.