Hope That Does Not Disappoint

By Manuel Rodriguez II

God’s hope does not disappoint.

When we hear the word “hope,” it stresses two things. First, it stresses futurity, event or events that which is about to happen. The second one, it stresses about the invisible things, or the things that are not present yet, things we want to come on our lives.

Biblically speaking, the word hope means strong and confident expectation. It is never static or passive, in fact it is dynamic, and it is active, directive and life-sustaining.

The question now is how can we be sure in the midst of suffering to take hold of this (biblical) hope?

In the midst of pain and suffering Jesus Christ tells us to be uncompromising, unwavering and unshakable.

UNCOMPROMISING

Be determined to have that hope.

Romans 5:1-2 says: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into his grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. The point on the verse is God’s grace will grant you peace. A parallel verse made the message clearer, Hebrews 4:15 - 16 states: For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities…Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

If we are determined, the mercy and grace of God will come to us. Then we can hope.

The story of the apostle Thomas in the Bible will teach us this kind of determination. Whether we see Thomas as the doubter or the believer, in any case we will see the grace of God in his story.

The account says that Thomas doubted, but we can be sure that he was determined to see the piercing on the hands of Jesus. Jesus could have ascended to Heaven right away without proving himself to Thomas, but he came to his disciple to satisfy the doubt. He came back for Thomas, the doubting disciple.

God will show up and will prove his grace to you.

Like Thomas, we also have doubts and questions. And the faithfulness of God tells us He has answers. Just like what Jesus did to Thomas, he too will come back to us just to satisfy our doubt even to the point of showing up again. So that you will be continued to be strengthen on your faith. Like Thomas, we too should be determined.


UNWAVERING

Be focused to have that hope.

God’s grace will allow you to possess the future.

Romans 5 tells us how the “hope” were talking about is produced. To summarize the entire chapter it points out that we should rejoice in tribulations for it produces patience, and patience produces experience, and experience produces “hope.”

The Bible tells us that we should be focused despite pain and sufferings because it leads to hope. If we remain focused, hope will be secured in our lives.

In the resurrection account in John 20, we’ll see the story of Mary Magdalene. There she was very sorrowful facing the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.

We know the story; she stayed at the empty tomb, meaning she persevered despite her sorrow. She could have left the tomb, but she remained.

If Mary left, she will not see the risen Jesus. The lesson for us here is to persevere even on the moments of facing our empty tombs. We should remain and trust that Jesus will reveal himself.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God is always in control. It says: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

It is okay if we are struggling with reality, but we should hold on to Christ. If we do not turn our backs even in the midst of sufferings…we will see the glory of God. So we welcome pain with rejoicing, for we know that our God will deliver us victorious.

Suffering may be a word about today, but hope is a word about tomorrow.


UNSHAKABLE

Be in love with God.

Probably, out of the three this is the most difficult thing to do.

Despite the hardships and trials, he is asking us to love Him still. Why? Because the grace and love of God is more powerful than all our sufferings combined. So be in love with God even in suffering.

In this life, it is easier to lift the name of Jesus if things are going on our way, but it is harder if things are falling on places we do not expect.

The biblical account in John 21 is very popular. It is the story of the conversation of Jesus and Peter. In the said account Jesus asked Peter “do you love me?” thrice. The third time Jesus asked, Peter became a bit mad to Jesus for asking the same question over and over again. Of course we know what happened to Peter on the latter part of the story, he denied the Son of Man thrice. But let us not dwell on the story of Peter’s denial; instead we focus on the conversation between Peter and the Son of Man whom he called the Christ.

In our Bible translations probably we failed to see a message on the word “love” Jesus mentioned on his question “do you love me?” to Peter due to the rich grammar of its original Greek scriptures counterpart.

In the Greek Bible, the first and second “do you love me?” question to Peter, Jesus is talking about the unconditional love translated to greek as agape. Peter replied to Jesus, “Yes Lord, I love you.” The “love” Peter mentioned on his answer to the query of his master refers to brotherly love or phileis in Greek.

The third time the Christ asked Peter “Do you love me?” he stoop down to the level of Love Peter can give. There, Jesus was referred to the brotherly kind of love (phileis).

To give a wide-ranging view of the scenario of the account between Jesus and Peter here’s a better translation/version of the conversation:

JESUS: Do you love me unconditionally (agape)?

PETER: Yes Lord, I love you with a brotherly love (phileis).

JESUS: Do you love me unconditionally (agape)?

PETER: Yes Lord, I love you with a brotherly love (phileis).

JESUS: Peter, do you love me with a brotherly kind of love (phileis)?

PETER: Yes Lord, I love you with a brotherly kind of love (phileis), how many times do I need to tell you that Lord?!

The above conversation, tells us what really transpired between Peter and the man he called the Son of the Living God. But what does the story tell us now.

He is willing to step down for us so we could hope simply because he loves us unconditionally (agape). Like what happened to the story of the doubting Thomas, Jesus went back for his disciple because he loves him. God’s love can reach us.

Brothers and sisters do not stop loving our Lord. He is willing to receive your love no matter how small. No love given to Jesus is insignificant.

We can always hope because we know God loves us. He will always step down; he will always go back for the Thomases and the Mary Magdalenes.

That is the kind of hope that we have, a hope that does not disappoint.

Therefore, the things we should remember in despair to gain hope are the following.

Be determined. Be focused. Be in love with God.

There is always a reason to hope.

Having Same Passion with the Christ

by Manuel Rodriguez II

John 21: 15-19

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Jesus asked Peter: “Do you truly love me more than these?” As Jesus asked that question, he went straight to the matter of the heart.

That question put a shame on Peter and unto us as well. The question to Peter is still being asked by the Lord to us now, “Do you truly love me more than these?” To rephrase the question Jesus asked it says: “Am I of second importance to you?”

Who is God to us anyway? In the question to Peter let me emphasize on the adverb truly.
Peter was asked by the Christ three times. Biblical scholars say that if a phrase, word or sentence in the Scriptures is mentioned three times it means that it is emphasizing itself.
In asking that question to Peter (and to us) it should be clear that God wants us to know what’s inside of us. Most of the time people are being blinded, we thought we love someone but the truth is we don’t. We should be honest to ourselves.

God is all knowing, He knows the answer to His question. He is asking the question not for Him to know the answer but for us to know what is inside of our hearts.

As always, His grace allows us to see his presence. But more than His presence, the conversation between Jesus and Peter allowed us to see beyond His presence. It allowed us to see the passion of Jesus.

God want also His heart to be revealed to you. His passions. His ideas.
God is not just concerned whether you love Him. He is also concerned in sharing to you His heart.

What is the passion of Jesus? It’s the people!

The Bible says that the heart of Jesus cries out for the people. Let us remember the lepers, the tax collectors, the prostitute, the poor people and etc. His heart cries out for all.

That passion is what he wants to share with us.
“Feed my lambs.”
“Take care of my sheep.”
“Feed my sheep.”

If we have truly seen the Lord, then we have seen His heart. If we have truly seen the Lord, then we have also his passion.

For Jesus…people matters. Not programs. Not ministries.

Jesus came to this world not to put up a program, not to put up a religion, not to establish an activity and etc. but to show His passion.

Do we care for the things that Jesus is caring about? Are we willing to exchange our personal interest for the One we love?

And if we look at the heart of Jesus, we’ll see ourselves inside because He cares for us. You were once lost but now you’re found. He is passionate about you.

This is the message He wants to share to Peter, and to all of us.

Our love to God is always translated to our love to the ones around us because the passion of Jesus is for the people. That should be the obvious lesson of the passage.

His heart cries out for you and me. He cares for the eternally significant.

My prayer is that we will be passionate to the people around us and care for what Jesus care, the eternally significant things.

Respond to love because that is the passion of the Lord. Is it easy for me to say? Yes I know, but not impossible because of Jesus Christ.

Think about the fishermen, the prostitute, the tax collectors, the unschooled, the criminals and etc. Jesus loved them all. We too should.

May we have the same passion with our Lord.

5 Ways of Men to know if They Are Really In Love With A Woman

1. When you see in her your dream family. When you can picture what kind of mother she will be like to your kids.

Loving the invisible is probably the best kind of love on the planet. Invisible here is your "future family."

2. When you are willing to let go some of your wants and dreams in exchange of having her for a lifetime.

Think of a precious item in your life right now. It could be your education or your work or it could be your money or your dream car or dream motorbike or a dream life in the future. Now imagine that you are in a situation where you need to choose only one. If you choose her then you may now put a check on this item and proceed to number 3.

3. When you pray that God will grant you to her.

God, being the author of love must always be included because if not...its no love at all but a mere passion of likeness. If the author of love is not included in a relationship...there is no love.

4. When despite knowing the negative attributes youre still willing to spend a lifetime with her.

Acceptance is probably the ultimate indicator of love. When knowing the evils on her, you still long to be with the person and dream to be with her for the rest of your life just as she is.

5. When after knowing her dark past you looked at her just as the same.

Similar to number 5 acceptance also comes into play on this item.

Dark pasts may once in a while haunt an individual (especially women) and may be a hazard to a present relationship. However you must view this not as a mere hazard but also an opportunity to prove if youre really in love with the person.



Loving a person includes loving her entirety. Entirety includes the past, present and the future of the individual.