"HOPE"

“Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.” Psalms 31:24

I am reading a book by Ray Johnson entitled, “The Hope Quotient”. The premise of the book is that we put too much emphasis on our I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) and ever-increasing emphasis on our E.Q. (Emotional Quotient) but really need to put our emphasis on our HQ (Hope Quotient). Everybody needs more hope, as the old song says, “High hopes, he’s got high hopes, high apple pie in the sky hopes.” But this kind of hope is more than emotional sensation, or a catchy phrase. Real hope that causes us people of the Lord to be strong and take courage. Hope is something that we can latch onto and use it as a bridge between discouragement and encouragement. This is what came to me after a quote I read in this book. All of the men in my Pastors Mentor Fellowship are reading this together. The quote from Howard Hendricks about discouragement says, “Discouragement is the anesthetic the devil uses on a person just before he reaches in and carves out their heart.” Wow! Graphic and gripping and so true; we need a bridge from discouragement to encouragement. It is hope. Hope makes us stronger so we can get stronger. Hope hands us courage so we can take it.1 Corinthians 13 says faith, hope, and love, and though love is the greatest and faith is the key, HOPE is most often what we need most. A lot is said and written about faith and love, but not about hope.

In my own life, hope springs up in me because I let it. It comes from the joy of my salvation, it comes from the love of family and friends, and it comes from seeing God at work around me. I pray you have high hopes today. God can do anything you and He can agree on.

Me too,
Pastor Fred

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