Hope, Joy and Peace
Hello again, I’m Randy Gaudet, founder and director of All Thailand Experiences. Those who have read my profile know how I first came to Thailand and my association with missions and churches since 1989.
We use funds from our tours to help the needy, change lives and spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We teach about the Holy Trinity, Love and Grace because of Jesus Christ and to tell Christians they are free from the Law, sin and death.
At most churches in Thailand the old covenant law is being taught and that Grace is not available to you if you break the law. We are training pastors about the New Repentance as written in the Bible with help from Pastors Nathan and Saia Gonmei at Abundant Grace Church in Chiang Mai.
On all our All Thailand Experiences Christian teaching blogs I will point to scriptures and explain the meaning on the topic. As our mission is to reach Thai people we will then watch or listen to Pastors Nathan and Solila give a sermon on the topic in English and Thai Languages.
Today we’re going to talk about Hope.
Romans 15:13, NIV: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“Hope” is commonly used to mean a wish: its strength is the strength of the person’s desire. But in the Bible hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised and its strength is in His faithfulness.
Ordinarily, when we express hope, we are expressing uncertainty. But this is not the distinctive biblical meaning of hope. And the main thing I want to do this morning is show you from Scripture that biblical hope is not just a desire for something good in the future, but rather, biblical hope is a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future.
Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future — it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen — it is confident that it will happen. There is a moral certainty that the good we expect, and desire will be done.
The Holy Spirit indwells us as believers. In addition to the many roles He plays in our lives, He seals us as belonging to God (see Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is the person of God who lives in us in our time on earth and teaches us to truly know and follow God.
Hope can be described as happy anticipation of good which is coming for the believer. This comes from knowing God because he is the author of hope so the more we walk with him the more this hope will overflow in our lives and others around us will take notice.
Paul writes to the Romans “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him”. Trust is something that is learned and experienced. The further we walk in fellowship with the Lord the more we know him and understand his will and desires concerning us. He fills us with joy and peace in His presence.
Joy is the source of happiness; it is more than a feeling. It is the ability to be content and joyful in every circumstance. Hebrews says that Jesus was anointed with the oil of joy (Hebrews 1:9, Psalm 45:7). Meaning; there has never been anyone more full of joy than Jesus. As his children it makes sense that we are also anointed and filled full of joy for this life. Peace is harmony in our relationships, but beyond that it can also be understood as a treaty or agreement to cease hostilities.
As God fills you with his peace, you will understand that you are at peace with Him. He is not angry at you for sin, he does not look at you as a filthy sinner, instead He sees you as he sees Jesus ( Ephesians 4:24, NIV: “and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”, Making this change is impossible without Christ and requires a Christian to be renewed in their thinking by God and the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4:17, NIV: “This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.”). These things are necessary for this life. The author of hope is able to fill you to overflowing with these things as you learn to trust him and experience Him by faith.
An amazing truth is that this all happens on a supernatural level by the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you as a believer. This hope that Paul is describing is supernatural, it is not based on feelings. This means how you feel cannot dictate whether or not you experience this hope. The hope is given by God and you have it. When we walk with the Lord, the anticipation of future things builds and builds until it overflows in your life.
Remember God is the author of hope and he has given you eternal life, which is knowing him in a personal and intimate way. We experience this life by faith and the more we practice it the more this joy, peace and hope will spill out into the natural realm of our lives.
Pastors Nathan and Salila Gonmei explain Biblical Hope and how to walk in it in the 16 minute video below in English and Thai languages.
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