Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
When I was a young boy, my older brothers (8 & 10 years older) used to wrestle with me, sit on me, throw the football at Mach 2 right at the pit of my stomach, and various other big brother tactics to reinforce to me that they were bigger and stronger. They told me they did this so I would learn to be tough and maybe I could play football in the NFL. (Don’t worry, they got paid back when I got bigger than them:)) One of my older brothers actually had a game he and his buddies would play. He would punch me hard in the shoulder, then he said, “Now if you are really tough you will say, ‘Thank you Sir, may I have another?’” And I would say it. I wanted to be really tough in their eyes. Fast forward a few years,m into High School. While I was a pretty good high school football player, I never was good enough to make it into college on a scholarship, let alone the NFL. Their hope in me playing in the NFL was really “unfounded optimism”.
In contrast, our hope in God and his promises is never unfounded; he never disappoints us. He is the Eternally Consistent Mailman — he always delivers! While “people hopes” and “position hopes” and “wealth hopes” in this world are many times unfounded optimism and they do not last forever; His promises were fulfilled when he poured out his love for us. He did this by sacrificing His Son, Jesus, and placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts. He does this when we repent of our sin, actively believe in Jesus, and receive his gift of salvation. Do you know this closeness to the Holy Spirit today? You can have this gift, if you repent, received and follow. As the popular song says, “All your promises are Yes and Amen!” The gift of the Holy Spirit is a most incredible gift given to us. We have access to God’s insight, God’s purity, God’s love and mercy, God’s power, God’s truth, God’s justice, and God’s peace on a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment basis — forevermore. GOD IS IN US! What an incredibly loving and rich gift!
Thank you, Lord, that I can always rely on you to follow through on your promises. You sent your Spirit into my heart as a seal, guaranteeing you are always with me. (II Corinthians 1:22) And you will deliver on your promises to me. My confidence in you is extremely high! Praise your name!
