Do you have hope in Christ in the midst of your circumstances or when life doesn’t go your way? Is that hope lived out in the way you respond? If not, what do you need to change? What would living based on the hope of Christ look like and why is it the way to true blessings?
Today’s Readings:
2 Kings 5 & 6
Psalm 72.1-7
Proverbs 18.10-11
John 18.1-18
How Do We Live Based on the Hope of Christ in Us?
2 Kings 5 & 6:
Hope in Christ When Life Doesn’t Go Your Way
Do you have hope in Christ when life doesn’t go your way? Is your hope in Christ lived out in the way you respond to people and circumstances?
Romans 15.4 says:
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
With that in mind, let’s look at a short passage from today’s readings. It gives us a glimpse into the heart of a servant girl whose master was a very powerful man but a leper by the name of Naaman.
And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, ‘If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy’ (2 Ki. 5.2-3).
Here’s a girl who had been ripped away from her family and life as she knew it, forced to work as a slave, and yet, look at her heart attitude—one of loyalty and concern for the people under whose authority God had placed her.
I wonder how you and I would respond if God allowed us to be put in her situation. Would we seek to be a blessing to our captors? Would we think about the sovereignty of God and choose to trust Him?
Why?
Why would God allow this believer to be taken as a slave and why does He allow us to be in difficult, even painful circumstances?
If you listen to many of the most popular preachers today, you might believe it wasn’t God who allowed it. It was the devil who did it. If so, does that mean God stood by helplessly? A thorough reading of the book of Job paints us a very different picture.
God allows, even ordains, tests and trials in our lives for our good and His glory (Rom. 8.28-30). Nothing happens outside of His sovereignty and control. Everything in our lives is filtered through His loving hands.
13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (1 Pet. 3.13-15).
Because of this little servant girl, who lived her life out of “the hope that [was] in [her],” Naaman would come to know the One True God. Her act of kindness was so important to God that He recorded it in His Word and it still resonates today.
Not Limited by Our Circumstances
But the trials in our lives are not just for God’s glory. They are also for our good (Rom. 8.28-29).
Look at verse 14 again in that First Peter passage, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed.” God’s blessings in our lives are not limited by our circumstances. They are not limited by our trials, who we’re married to, who our parents are, where we live, how much money we have, how much education or success we have acquired, or anything else.
Just like this little servant girl, we can have God’s peace, joy, and blessings in every circumstance when we learn to trust in and rely on Him and find our hope in Christ.
So, what does it mean to live based on hope in Christ?
Hope in Christ
In Matthew 7.24-25, Jesus said:
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
If you have been a believer for any length of time, you have probably heard that passage many times. We all want our house built on the rock. But have you stopped to think about what the rock is? Most people would say, “It’s Jesus” or “It’s the Word.” Both are true, but is there more to it?
Look at the first part of verse 24 again, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them …” It’s not enough to hear the Word or even know the Word. Living our lives on the firm foundation of the rock involves hearing and doing what it says!
Hebrews 5.12-14 says:
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil (NASB).
We must practice what we know. Living based on hope in Christ is trusting Him and living obediently before Him. It’s also remembering the gospel. Knowing that when we fall short, and we will, all our failings have already been nailed to the cross (Col. 2.13-14). We can rest in the gospel. When we do, rather than thinking we have a license to simply live any way we want, our obedience will be love-driven and not performance-driven.
Obeying in Difficult Circumstances
Most of us have difficult circumstances in our lives. It may be marriage problems, a strong-willed child, health or financial challenges, or some other trial.
Whatever it is, we can find hope and enjoy His blessings amid that trial. It starts with a healthy intake of God’s Word.
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Pet. 1.2-4).
God’s Word provides us with all the wisdom and information we need to live before God and with others. But we must practice what we know starting with the little things. We won’t obey in the big things if we don’t practice doing so in the little things.
And the God who saved us and who has promised to never forsake us provides all the help we need to do so. We have His Holy Spirit living in us, the right to come boldly into the throne room of God and receive grace to help in our time of need (Heb. 4.16), the body of Christ as a support to us (Heb. 10.24-25), and the knowledge that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7.25). Therein is the hope of Christ in us.
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 72.1-7:
Solomon’s Reign—a Glimpse of the Millennial Kingdom
This psalm talks about the reign of Solomon when people from far and wide came to see and hear his wisdom, to bring gifts, and to show him honor. But it also looks forward to the millennial reign of our future King, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He comes to set up His kingdom on earth.
Proverbs 18.10-11:
Our Strong Tower
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe (v. 10).
The name of the Lord represents His character and who He is. He is our loving heavenly Father, our Deliverer, the One we can run to in any kind of trouble!
John 18.1-18:
True Believers & Eternal Security
The time had come for Jesus to be arrested and every detail of God’s plan was to be fulfilled. Verses 7-9:
Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.'”
John 10.10 says:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
Just as none of the disciples would be arrested along with Jesus, neither will any of His other sheep be lost. What a great promise of eternal security!
There will be apostasy, a falling away, of those who appear to be believers, but John said in his epistle:
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us (1 Jn. 2.19).
True believers may fall into sin, sometimes for an extended time, but true believers will repent of their sin and come back. If someone completely walks away from God, he or she was not a true believer.
For more on this subject, you might want to read, “Could You Be a Christian in Name Only?”
Closing Thoughts:
How are you doing at living based on hope in Christ? Are you living as if you believe His promises? Are you trusting Him and living obediently by both hearing and doing? And are you resting in the gospel and its promise of eternal life, as well as, grace and forgiveness every day?
If you’re not sure that you’re a true believer, ask God to show you. Read the book of John prayerfully and thoughtfully. Leave me a message in the comments section if you have questions. I moderate comments and will gladly respond by email if you don’t want your comment published. Don’t let pride keep you from being sure of your eternal destiny!
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about the importance of godly friends, family feuds, spiritual ditches, and finding hope when the pressure seems too much. We will also talk about how to respond to criticism and how to tell if our Christianity is just a veneer.
I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. You might also like to check out our YouTube channel.
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Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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