Remastered: Hope

"We've been walking through the fruit of the spirit for the last few weeks and talking about love, joy, and peace. We've talked about the definition of each fruit and worked through what the counterfeit version of that fruit is. We've even talked about what the opposite of that fruit is. So let's start real briefly with the definition of hope. I think hope is an optimistic anticipation in the person and the promises of Jesus. It’s an optimistic anticipation – meaning it's looking forward. Hope is something that has not yet happened. It's not something that is happening; it's something that's looking forward. It's anticipating something that will happen. And it's optimistic. It's not a negative anticipation. It's looking forward in excitement. And, like we’ve seen with other fruit, there's this sense that there's a perception to it. There's a robust confidence to it because of where it's rooted. It's an optimistic anticipation in the person and promises of Jesus. That's so key to this definition. A Jesus follower has a perception that's different. Because of who Jesus is, how He lived and what he taught – and specifically His death and His resurrection. Hope is that optimistic anticipation in the person of who He is and the promises of Jesus, meaning the things that are yet to come. The promises of His return – the promises of eternal residence with Him."