KEY SCRIPTURE: John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. “

Hopelessness is the most miserable state one can find himself or herself.

 Hopelessness would shut up every sense of desire to win.

Hope in God excites every organ, every tissue, and cell, this sets the whole body on the path of recovery or departure from defeat. God’s solution for all humanity is placed in Jesus. Therefore, our hope is placed in Him. Acts 4:12 ” Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Our hope must be in Jesus. If our hope is not in Jesus, we have no hope.

Our hope in Him must be constant. We must not give up hope when we face severe adversity (Rom 12:12). “Rejoice and exalt in hope: be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

God’s ways are much higher and very different from the ways of the world. Our hearts should sing with joy when we face adversity. The word ‘excite’ means to leap for joy. We should be patient and steadfast in suffering and tribulation because we have not given up hope. We should pray continually with constant hope because we have absolute faith that God will answer those prayers.

 We see that we must pray with constant hope. Having hope means we are still holding on to the lifeline. Hope looks up to God with an assurance that the end has not come and that help is on the way. Faith takes hold of that help hope anticipates. This gives a beautiful blend of hope and faith.

Christians can and should have hope for the future regardless of worldly conditions. We do not deserve this hope. We have not earned this hope. Our loving Father has given us supernatural hope by His grace. (2 Thessalonians 3:16 AMP) “God our father who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through (His) grace (unmerited favour)”. In the days of adversity, if you would turn your mind from what’s happening unto the Lord, He would give you everlasting consolation and encouragement, and well-founded hope. Dear Christian, your hope has a solid foundation, even Jesus, who has conquered for us.

 CONFESSION

My hope is in the Lord Jesus, He is the strength of my confidence that cannot fail. I am of good cheer because He has overcome the world. In His name, I have also overcome.

THOUGHT: NEVER FEEL HOPELESS BECAUSE JESUS OUR HOPE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE

FURTHER STUDIES:

Psalms 31:24 “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”

Psalms 33:18, 22 “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Psalms 71:5 “For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.

Three abiding Christian virtues are faith, hope, and love. We have considered faith and love. We would also look at hope. Some people speak about hope as if it is not important to faith. The Scripture in Hebrews 11:1a clearly states that ‘ Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for….” It is hoped that gives faith something to work with or bring into reality.

We would discuss what the Bible says about hope and how it functions to keep us stable in our minds and in life as a whole.

The scriptural definition of hope is quite different from the way the use of the word today. Many people use the word hope today in a similar context to the word ‘’wish” when they are asked if they believe God will honor their faith, they say ‘’I hope so’‘.

The Greek words ‘alpizo’ and ‘elpis’ which are translated as ‘hope’ in the New Testament mean anticipation, expectation, and confidence. New Testament hope is much stronger than the wishy-washy use we make of the hope today. The hope of the unbeliever is based on worldly sources of security. The hope of Christians is based on confident expectation of help from God. The Hebrew words that are translated “hope” in the Old Testament are also much stronger than our word “hope”

The Hebrew word ‘tizuch’ in the following verse of Scripture means “expecting.” The psalmist said “…… You are my hope, O Lord God, you are my trust from my youth and the source of my confidence (Psalm 71:5).

The Old Testament points to Jesus. The New Testament confirms that Jesus is our hope. Our Lord Jesus gave His life, and took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, descending into hell and rose again so that anyone who receives Him as savior can have hope. 1 Peter 1:3.

Dear fellow Christian, maintain your sure hope in Jesus who did not remain in the grave but resurrected and is at the right hand of the Father on our behalf and will come back again.

WE HAVE A SURE HOPE.

You may sing this song;

 “WILL YOUR ANCHOR HOLD IN THE IN THE STORMS OF LIFE….

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?

When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?

When the strong tides lift and the cables strain will your anchor drift or firm remain?

WE HAVE AN ANCHOR THAT KEEPS THE SOUL,

 STEADFAST AND SURE WHILE THE BILLOWS ROLL,

FASTENED TO THE ROCK WHICH CAN NOT MOVE

 GROUNDED FIRM AND DEEP IN THE SAVIOUR’S LOVE”

CONFESSIONS

The Christian has a sure hope. Jesus, who conquered death and is seated at the right hand of the Father, is coming back again. This is my hope, and no matter what happens, I always have a joyful heart.

THOUGHT: WE HAVE A SURE HOPE, JESUS WHO PASSED INTO THE HEAVENS, AND WILL SURELY COME AGAIN

FURTHER STUDIES:

Job 14:7” For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease”

Psalms 16:9” Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:8 “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away”.

Love never fails. As we pull down the curtain on our study of love, we would now look at the fact that love never fails.

This point has two views. The first view is that true love would never give up under any condition. Love would survive under any condition. Love would not fail. Our earlier discussion on love has looked at this aspect extensively.

The second view is that love will always overcome every condition and win the offender.

The love of our master Jesus demonstrated on the cross, has won over many hardened criminals and even whole communities.

 This kind of love, which is the highest act of selflessness and sincere sacrifice, is called THE POWER OF GOD. (Rom 1:16, 1 Corinth 1:18).

Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion because the love demonstrated by the Christians won their hearts. These brethren did not curse but died joyfully.

Last but not least, many unreasonable husbands or wives have been won by the love of their spouses.

I would cite the following example to explain my point.

The story is told about Smith Wigglesworth., a British plumber, and his wife Alice. The wife was very dedicated to the master Jesus, while the husband was not. One day, the wife returned from an evening Christian service only to find out that the main door had been locked by this hot-tempered husband. This man would not open to let his wife in. This woman had to lie by the door throughout that cold night. The husband opened the door in the morning. The wife, instead of raining insults on the man, burst into a very hearty laughter. The husband also joined in this laughter. This incident had a very great impact on Mr. Smith Wigglesworth. He dedicated his life fully to the Lord Jesus, and was later used powerfully by Jesus to heal many sick folks and even raise a number of dead people.

Love never fails. Love would ultimately win. Don’t retaliate in the same manner if you want to win the next party who may be mistreating you. (Luke 6:31)

CONFESSION

I am not weak by loving, I am able to endure all things. I endure all adverse behaviors and always win them from their wrong actions. Love is excited at the defeat of wrong selfish characters.

THOUGHT: LOVE IS LIFE, HATRED IS DEATH, WHEN THE TWO COLLIDE, HATRED ALWAYS BOWS.

FURTHER STUDIES

Romans 12:19-21 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good”.

Matthew 5:44 ” But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”;

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:7(Love) beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things”.

Love hopes all things. This means in every situation, especially in disappointing situations, love anticipates a better end.

Some marriages have gone on without the fruit of the womb. Many people advise the man to go for another, woman to bear children for him. Some men do yield to the pleas of their relations, yet, a man with the love of God, anticipates, that God’s word would come to pass. Despite the pressure, even from his parents, Siblings, and maybe, some close friends, still hoped that, one day the baby would come. (Well, faith takes hold of the answer before it manifests).

There are yet some characters, with certain, behaviors, that would cause a lot of people to give up on them, claiming nothing good would come out of such people. Love does not give up on such people. This drives them into intercession, trusting that the Holy Spirit would one day arrest such people and bring them to repentance.

The Europeans (there were two groups. One group were unconverted businessmen who came to enslave us. The second group was the converted loving missionaries who came prepared to die for Christ) who first brought the gospel to Africa, were maltreated at their initial moment of presenting the gospel to our forefathers. They were killed, and some of them died through, diseases like Malaria, yellow fever, and others. These missionaries despite these dangers believed that, one day they would win the Blackman for Jesus. Indeed, it happened, and we are the fruit of their labor. They hoped for victory and were very successful.

The Bible talked about the prodigal son, who took his portion of his father’s heritage and left off to a far country, spending everything. (Luke 15:11-32). When he was returning, the father saw him from a great way off. This father was all along expecting the son to come home. This was love hoping for all things.

Don’t give up on people or situations. Allow love to keep anticipating a change of events or situations. LOVE WOULD ALWAYS WIN.

CONFESSION

Because of the love of God, in me, I do not give up on people, I always anticipate that God’s word would one day come true in their lives.

THOUGHT: IT IS THE ANTICIPATION OF A BETTER END, THAT KEEPS LOVE HOPING THROUGH TO THE END

FURTHER STUDIES

Romans 5:4-5” And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”.

Luke 15:20 “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. “

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:7 (Love) beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things.

In our previous study, we considered the fact that love bears all things. Love does not tolerate, but love expresses longsuffering. How is this done? Love always forgives. Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”.

We can bear with the shortcomings of others as we do not take their offenses to heart. Love gives away the hurt. It is the nature of love to give out.  Giving out hurts is not a strange and difficult thing for love.

Unforgiveness is a product of selfishness. Unforgiveness does not hurt the offender, but the offended. Many times, the offended in his mind holds the notion that to keep the hurt and not to release the offender, gives him or her a sense of retaliation. This is a big deception.

An offense is a form of injury. The more you keep the offense, the more you will become bitter.

Secondly, when it is said, that love bears all things, it does not mean that an action that demands correction is allowed to go. Love bears with all things yet when an action demands correction, reprove or rebuke, love would do so. It is very wrong to withhold the truth about a thing to a brother or sister. Eph. 4:15. “But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head, even Christ”.

Love also believes all things. This does not mean love believes the lies of Satan about God and His word. Love accepts whatever the second party says. He does not argue with him or her over what he or she says. If married couples would accept this principle, a lot of suspicions and contention in most marriages would cease. There are a lot of marriages that are on the brink of divorce because one party does not accept the explanation given by the other. He claims that what the wife is saying is a lie. The wife, on the other hand, maybe claiming the husband is telling lies. Well, this should not happen in a Christian home. Our yes should be yes, and our no is no. If a husband or wife gives clear grounds not to be trusted, then the ethics of a Christian home is seriously been trifled upon. Such a person needs help.

  CONFESSIONS

My heart is always ready to assist the weak. I do not keep offenses. I release them, and I forgive always all those who offend me. I live a life of peace.

THOUGHT: YOU RATHER PUNISH YOURSELF WHEN YOU REFUSE TO FORGIVE

FURTHER STUDIES:

Hebrews 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled”

Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice”:

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:7″ (Love) beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things.”

Love bears all things. Love has longsuffering. Love does not just tolerate. To tolerate is to be grievous about a condition, yet you live with it feeling victimized. When love is in operation, the condition may be grievous, but love does not feel offended. Love seeks the transformation of the one causing the discomfort.

People who are normally unbearable are mostly self-centered. To be self-centered is to be immature. This is a big weakness in such people. A man of love is  concerned about such defect in the life of one like that. Love bears with  him or her hoping for a change. It is  not the discomfort the one causes that is a concern but the negative impact of his actions to himself that  love seeks the change.

This act of bearing with all things is what the Bible calls longsuffering. It is not talking about compromising with sin. It is an issue of having to bear with certain wrong actions of people.

To walk in this virtue of love, you’ve got to believe that you have the ability to bear with all the wrongs of people. Say to yourself that I have the ability to bear with every weakness of others.

Many people complicate matters for themselves by claiming that they are humans and cannot bear with the faults and failures of others. Please remember that according to James 3:2 ” For in many things we offend all. If any man offends not in word, the same is a perfect man, and he is able to bridle the whole body.” The Bible says if a man does not offend in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle or control his body. What does it mean to offend in word?  This is when a man speaks, not in line with the word of God. Please, it is God who is at work in you, both to will, and to do of His good pleasure Phil 2:13 There is a wrong concept that some people have which gives them away to the enemy.

They claim one must be frank and talk about his inadequacies. I may ask what does it mean to live by faith? It means to accept or believe what God’s word says about you and to likewise say it too. (2nd Corinth 4:13, Romans 10:9-10)

You give yourself over to the enemy when you say things like I have a bad temper and cannot stand certain actions. If you talk like this, you have offensive words according to James 3:2, the devil would certainly whip you, making you do all the wrong things.

Say what the Bible says about you. Always admit that you are like your Heavenly Father, and the actions of your Father are what you would manifest.

     CONFESSIONS

I am a child of God and bear the nature of my father. He is merciful and has longsuffering. I also have mercy and bears with all failures of others seeking their restoration and perfection.

THOUGHT: LOVE IS ALWAYS ON A MISSION, A MISSION TO BLESS, AND NOT TO COMPLAIN.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Ephesians 4:2 ” With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love”;

Colossians 1:11 “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;”

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:6 “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth”;

Joy is an expression of delight and appreciation for an event. Joy is also an excitement in the heart. To express joy for an evil thing makes you a party to the originator of all iniquities that is the devil. It is not of love to rejoice over the fall of any fellow Christian. It is rather surprising to see some denominations excited because something wrong has happened to another ministry. The worst of this, is when another minister of the gospel is caught up in the web of iniquity or there is a scandal about him or her. The Bible says love does not rejoice in such instances.

Love takes sides with the truth. Love rejoices with those who have been blessed by the Lord.  When a sister is married or blessed with a child, just rejoice with them.

James 1:17. God is the originator and giver of all good things. Every good thing that happens to a brother or sister is God’s initiative.

When you oppose any good thing in the life of a brother or sister, you are directly opposing God. Can you stand against the fury of God? Please read what the Lord said to Saul who later became Apostle Paul in Acts 9:5.

Anytime you stand against any good thing in the life of a brother or sister, you are opposing the Lord. King Saul did that against David and became a miserable wreck. I believe the devil that tormented him would have left him if he had recognized what God was doing in the life of the young man David and had encouraged and guarded him into reigning in Israel.

I believe he would have died a natural death if he had rejoiced with David for what God was doing through him. 1st Samuel 31:4.

Now, this word goes to pastors and general overseers of ministries. Do not fight the very children you have raised who are exhibiting great potential and giftings. Do not attempt to manipulate them wrongly. Seek the face of God concerning such young men and love them sincerely. Relate to them as the Lord would want you to and rejoice over what God is doing in their lives.

Remember, no son is greater than his father. John 13:16. John 15:20.  Be very comfortable with all graced people.

       CONFESSIONS

My life is an exciting one. I rejoice with all those who are blessed. I do not rejoice with iniquity. Whenever people are blessed, I rejoice with them as if I am the candidate for that opportunity, because it is an appreciation and a praise unto God for what He is doing.

THOUGHT: YOU SHARE IN THE BLESSING OF OTHERS WHEN YOU REJOICE WITH THEM

FURTHER STUDIES:

1 Samuel 19:2 ” But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself”:

Romans 13:10 ” Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1st Corinthians 13:5 ” (Love) Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil”;

We continue with our study on the portrait of love while we consider the fact that love thinks no evil.

Every action of man results from the way we think. Titus 1:15 says,” Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled”. To be good or evil depends on whether a man is submitted to the Lordship of Jesus or not. The Bible says to the pure all things are pure, but to the man or woman with an evil mind, everything is evil. His or her conscience is defiled. Some men and women, as well, are so insecure about their spouses that they set up spies to monitor them. Such behaviours are normally reflections of past experiences. (Please get help from a qualified Counsellor).

Some would interpret any relation of their partners with the opposite sex as amorous. Love does not think evil. Love seeks the good of the second party and would not give in to impure or evil thoughts concerning the one loved.

There have been some friends who turned out to be extremely unfaithful. Such actions go to show that these people had no love all along. Most, acts of unfaithfulness in every relationship meant there was no love. Proverbs 27:6 says, “faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Some people do not want the truth spoken to them. Love always speaks the truth, although it may hurt at times. The Bible says the frank comments by a loving friend are faithful. It is the evil one who would call a knife a pen. Love thinks no evil and so be ready to accept the counsel proceeding from a loving heart, although it may not always be sweet.

Finally, love has no room for evil imaginations of any sort. Your thinking gives you a kind of spectacles and makes you see things from their colour. When a man wears blue spectacles, everything is blue. A red spectacle would also redden the whole world around you. Carry a loving spectacle, which is a colourless one. It has no prejudices. This would enable you to have a fair and secure relationship with your associates and make them relate with you fairly.

       CONFESSIONS

I always put up a sincere and loving view of all my associates. This prevents me from any painful mistakes. Therefore, our relationship keeps growing better and better!!!

THOUGHT: TRUE LOVE ALWAYS FILTERS THE THOUGHTS ABOUT HIS NEIGHBOUR, REJECTING THE EVIL, AND ACCEPTING THE GOOD.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Psalms 15:1-5 ” LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned, but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. “

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:5 “(Love) Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil”

Today we will continue with the portrait of love with an emphasis on the fact that love is not easily provoked. It is rather amazing to find married couples burst out in anger screaming at each other over offenses that could be easily blinked at.

The underlining truth is that true love or agape (a Greek word used for the God kind of love) is absent. Pride which is an inner sense of seeking significance or protecting that air of importance is what dominates such a relationship. Pride is also a misplacement of one’s true identity (accepting yourself to be what you are not).  Such a home is a very miserable one. It is like putting two heavy-weight wrestlers in a closed cage.

Dear brother or sister, you don’t have to punish each other that way. Love does not consider himself or herself very important. Love is there, to be spent. Love is a sacrifice ready to be slain. This is why love does not get irritated over matters that excite the ego to come into action.

Consider King Saul and his son Jonathan. It was clear that David was the next successor to King Saul, yet Jonathan never felt the slightest dislike or irritation about David. He loved him and fully supported him to become the next king. Saul was extremely angry and mad with David so much so that he pursued him to slay him. (1st Samuel 20:1-45)

Jonathan whose “position”, David was annexing did not feel the slightest hurt but King Saul who was fading away could not stand it. Jonathan loved David with his soul (1st Samuel 18:1). King Saul was self-centered and could not come to terms with the fact that God had chosen David to reign after him.

Allow love to reign in your heart and you will be free from being petty over trivial matters. Why quarrel and strive with your spouse, your friend, your customer, etc? Let love reign in you. Remember you are a product of love and love is your nature, so you can love.

        CONFESSIONS

I am born of God. I do not live by my senses, so I’m not provoked or irritated over trivial matters. I live above all such things. My life expresses the love of God in its purest form.

THOUGHT:  PRIDE MAKES A FOOL OF A MAN, WHILE LOVE PRODUCES WISDOM

FURTHER STUDIES:

Colossians 3:12-13 ” Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye”.

1 Samuel 18:1 ” And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1st Corinthians 13:5(NLT) “It is not rude, it does not demand its own way, it is not irritable”

We continue with our exposition on the portrait of love as revealed in the Bible. Love does not demand its own way. A great sign of maturity is the ability to adapt easily. Through love you become all things for all men, so you would win many. Many marriages are suffering today because partners in marriage seek to have their own way.

There is an unnecessary competition and lack of support among Christian denominations and churches shown by the inability of even church leaders and various groups to throw away their personal ambitions to accept the broader course for the sake of the kingdom. Let’s consider what the Holy Spirit says in Philippians 2:2   ”   Philippians 2:2 ” Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

   Verse 4 says “Do not look on your own things, but look also on other’s things as well.

Jesus taught that we must love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the first stage of love. It is to treat people as you would want to be treated. The Lord Jesus thought about a greater kind of love.  He said, that greater love has no man than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends or neighbors (John 15:13). Losing your life for others involves not demanding your way.

 As Christians, there are so many instances when we have to lose our personal interest, comfort, and at times our lives to seek the well-being of others. Listen to what the Holy Spirit said about Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:30 “Because, for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death, not regarding his own life to supply your lack of service towards me”. The Bible speaks of this man in Col. 4:12 that he labored fervently for the brethren in prayers that they may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. He did not love his life but sacrificed it in prayer for the brethren. * Show a greater love as Jesus did, and we would have a better world.

PRAYER

Dear heavenly father I thank you for allowing your only begotten son Jesus to sacrifice his life for me and the whole of humanity, this is an example of selflessness to a very high level. I receive grace to love as you did. Thank you, heavenly father, in Jesus’ name.

THOUGHT: LOVE IS SELFLESSNESS IN ACTION.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Philippians 2:1-2” If there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind”?

John 15:13” Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends”