Faith, Courage, Strength and Hope

UV 2306/10000 Faith, Courage, Strength and Hope
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Psalm 31 v 24

Our heart is the focal point of our lives. More than the strength of our minds, bodies or limbs it is the strength of our hearts that fill us with courage to face the slings and arrows that the enemy throws at us. If our hearts are filled with hope of receiving the help of the Lord, we will be encouraged or filled with courage and faith. Hope is the oxygen of our souls by means of which our spirits live. Every time we read or receive a promise of the Lord, it releases oxygen into our innermost being. All the time we retain, remember, meditate, claim and thank the Lord for a specific promise, our spirits are breathing the spiritual oxygen and we are energised to act.

When our hearts are filled with hope, we are prepared to wait for the Lord to act to fulfil His word or promise to us. We wait with an attitude of expectancy and thanksgiving. We do not complain or fret. We do not become anxious to hasten the needles of the clock. We will not act in haste and repent at leisure. We will be at peace with ourselves and we will await the leading of the Spirit. There may not be any outward or physical or visible sign of the fulfilment of the promise but we rejoice as if we have already received or experienced that which was promised or that which we hope for.

Our faith in Jesus produces hope, our hope produces patience and courage, our courage produces inner strength. Our inner strength further reinforces our faith and deepens our dependence and intimacy with the Lord. This is the cycle of blessing that flows in our lives. Sometimes, even in the event of the extreme opposite of that which we hope for happens in real time, we do not give up hope but rejoice that we have done the will of the Lord. When we demonstrate or manifest this kind of faith, hope and joy in the Lord, we become witnesses in flesh and blood of the grace of the Lord. The uni-verse states that the Lord shall strengthen to a certainty our hearts as we wait with hope in His salvation. Sometimes, the Lord takes away the things we cherish in life or in this world as He wants us to experience that Christ in us and Christ alone is the hope of glory. Our greatness or fulfilment of hope is realized only with Christ in us and we being rooted and growing in Him.

Prateep V Philip