Confident Expectation of Good
Devotions:
New Testament definition of hope is "a favorable and confident expectation or the happy anticipation of good. In the world we will even speak of hope in the negative, "I hope that I do not get a negative doctor's report." Or "I hope that I do not go broke." The worldly understanding can also me wavering, "I hope this will happen but it may not." But this is not the New Testament understanding. The New Testament understanding is always positive and confident. The New Testament understanding is also confident.
Biblical hope is future, an expectation of good. Fatih takes the hope and makes it now. There are things that we cannot use our faith on, like the return of the Lord Jesus. He will return whether we believe it or not and our faith cannot speed up His return not lack of faith slow it down. So we have a favorable and confident or a happy anticipation of the goodness of His return to set up His kingdom. We can be positive, happy and anticipating His return in expectation of good because Jesus already bore all the negative, all the sin on our behalf.
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:3-6 NKJV
Paul here agrees with James about the trials, and tribulations that the enemy tries to put us though. James says to count it all joy, Paul says to glory in the tribulation. Do not get sad and worried but glory in them. As you stand in faith and perseverance your character is defeloped. Your confidence in God's love. That confidence is the confident expectation of good. You are not worried that maybe God has deserted you or that as your look to Him, He is ignoring you or preferring someone else over you becasue they are a better Christian.
Why can we have this hope? Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Then Paul goes on to clarify that this love of God demonstrated in our lives how when we were still sinners and too weak to respond to God, Chirst died for the ungodly.
This is the reason that we should always have Biblical hope in all our circumstances. I have hope, future but faith says " it is mine, I have it now." Faith makes the confident expectation into reality.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 NKJV