Hope.
What a powerful word in and of itself. I chose to study hope because for a brief period in my life, I didn’t feel like I had it. I mean I was reading the Bible and praying, but couldn’t see past the past. Certainly not enough to have hope for the future.
But God gives us all a reason to hope, even if we don’t see it.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. (Psalm 40:1-2)
The Bible is full of God making promises, humans losing hope, only to have those promises fulfilled by God in His perfect timing.
I love Exodus. Where Moses led his people out of Egypt. As I read it, I kept thinking, “Oh, silly people! Why do you keep questioning God?! He’s obviously guiding you. Providing you everything you need. Why do you doubt Him?”
Then I’d close my Bible return to my life and do the very thing I was accusing the Israelites of. Asking God, “Why? When? How?” more than a few times in my prayers.
It’s so easy to point out the mistakes of others while remaining willfully ignorant of those same mistakes made by us.
- Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off. (Proverbs 24:14)
- For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
- So that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:7)
My study on hope made me realize I needed to study more on trusting God. After all, how can I expect to have hope in God’s promises if I don’t trust Him fully?
*Rae
You’re right about trusting in God. It reminds me of my Scripture professor talking about hope. We can make an act of faith and work out of love. But there is no acts of hope because hope depends on someone else (i.e. God) to come through.
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Can you give good advice to me? I want to go back to read Bible and I want God come back to me. I want to saved from God.
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I would encourage you to first take some time to pray and seek God and ask Him to guide you, then find a good Christian community whether it be a Church or a supportive group of Christian friends. If you really want to grow in your faith it’s a combo between finding your place in Christ and finding positive influences to surround yourself with.
As for the actual Bible studying, check out Katie Orr’s website for Bible tips. I love her work, almost everything I learned about Bible studying I learned from Pinterest and her site. You can even print a bookmark with basic tips to getting the most out of your study.
Oh, and there’s tons of great advice from Joyce Meyer’s #3030challenge webpage.
Also, I should point out I’m no pro. I’m just starting out on this amazing journey. But I like to look up things in the Bible that are relevant to me and my life, now. Though I have read the full Bible front to back (which I recommend you do, too) in order to understand the full context. And if you don’t get some things, don’t worry, it’s confusing. Luckily there are so many resources online that can shed light on it.
I started in a New International Women’s Devotional Bible which made it easier for me to understand, but I hear that the King James Version is one a lot of people find most accurate. The Bible you choose should be one that helps you understand the word. And if you’re not real familiar with Christianity, New International Version is good. If you have a higher level of reading and understanding, King James is good.
I hope this helps!
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Thanks for advice
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Great Bible study on hope its so inspirational! I keep trying to read the Bible, but lately its been hard for me to do it every day. This makes me want to try it out again! So, thanks 😀
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I’m glad! Good luck (:
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Thanks!
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