1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and

7 he Oxford dictionary defines feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.’

“Optimism is the faith that leads Baptist to achievement. Nothing can be done Church without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller

“You are not here merely to make a living, you are here in order to enable the world to live more amply with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” – Woodrow Wilson “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success; for who so hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles.” – Samuel Smiles There are literally hundreds more quotes about hope, yet hope in uncertain things most times turn out to be hopeless. Many hope to be rich someday and they daydream about what they will do with the money.

1 Timothy 6:17 “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;” The verse tells us that riches are uncertain, but if we trust in God, He will give us things to enjoy.

Many people call these blessings. And almost everyone with any background training in the Bible knows that blessings come from God.

I once told my eldest son that I couldn’t wait to win the lottery, to which he replied in a disgusted voice, “Dad, you have to buy a ticket to win.” Oh, well, I will never win the lottery. If the truth were told, if you gave me a million dollars today, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. My whole life has been focused in scrimping and saving. I have started a church, took over a 1 year old church and Pastored in two other small churches. I have always been a “tent maker” or a Pastor that had a secular job to support my family and the church. My mind would probably run to, “what does the church need?” instead of what I would like to spend it on. That is just the way I am wired.

My Hope is in Jesus Christ my Savior! Romans 5:12 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

When we place our hope in others or in things to give us a good life, we are disappointed much more than we see those things come to pass. Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

My hope springs from promises given to us. John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-2 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:” This verse is about our passing from this life into the next. My old body dissolves and I get a new body made without hands. That is a pretty good thing to hope for, don’t you think?

2Corinthians 5:6-9 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Another promise to look forward to in hope! To be absent from this old body is to be present with the LORD. That simply means that when we die, our old body goes to the grave, our spirit goes back to God who gave it to us and if we are saved, our soul goes to be with Jesus. That is a great thing to hope for!

Let me close with a story about a distant relative of mine. The family lives in a log home way out in the country. They are plagued with flies. Their children are tasked with swatting as many as they can. The family goes to church regularily. The mother was going out on the front porch for something when she stopped and listened to her 5 year old daughter who was saying, “Fly, I am sending you to Jesus!” Swat!

So what is your hope built on?