Hope is a game changer.
Here is the story of a man who should have had no hope.
“Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.”
Genesis 37:2-8
For the next 8 chapters, there were a series of events in Joseph's life should have wiped out ANY hope. For 15 years, a series of bad things happened...
But there was a game changer.
“Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”
Genesis 45:1-8
How could Joseph have had any hope? TRUTH: Hope is to know so, not simply to hope so.
Hope Revealed:
Know so hope is the knowledge of facts.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,”
Hebrews 6:19
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
1 Peter 1:3
Hope is not a circumstance, it is a person.
“Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all the promise of their power comes to nothing.”
Proverbs 11:7
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
1 Timothy 6:17
Hope Restored:
Humbly seek opportunities to serve God
Obey God
Point people to God
Extend forgiveness to others
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23
"Know so" hope is a game changer.
For more truth about life, see www.truthatlife.com
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