Where Hope Is Born

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3, NET).

Living hope. It doesn’t get any better than that. Except it does – because what is alive will grow! Once living hope has been introduced into your life, there will be no end to its increase inside of you.

The birthplace of hope is the revelation of Daddy’s goodness to the eyes of our hearts. Hope penetrates the curtain that hides the unseen heavenly realm from us. It allows us to gaze into the inner sanctuary and behold the glory of the Lord. It anchors us in securely to the fullness of who our God is.

In short, hope is intricately linked to the faculty of spiritual sight. The more He empowers us to see Him, the more hope will come alive inside of us. We see this principle at work when we read of Moses’ testimony in the book of Hebrews: “…He persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27, NIV).

Moses saw God. As a result, hope sprung to life in his being. By revealing Himself to Moses, the Lord endued him with the power to endure tremendous hardship. Moses stood in the presence of the living God. As a direct fruit of friendship with the Almighty, this revered leader of the Hebrew people was able to persevere, and even flourish, under circumstances that few others would have withstood.

He received the grace to become so tuned into heavenly reality that earthly realities could not extinguish his hope. While the people he led were grumbling, fixated on the lack of culinary delicacies in the desert, Moses was fixated on the magnificent, intimate presence of God.

He persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. Hope continually pierced the veil of his earthly environment, allowing him to gaze right into Heaven.

How did Moses move into a place of such strength in spirit? How did he see the unseen One? By asking. “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matt. 7:7a). He simply drew near to his Creator and made his request known. “Please, show me Your glory” (Ex. 33:18). God said yes. The subsequent encounter he had with the Lord was so glorious that it left his countenance shining with splendor. He had to cover his face with a veil to keep from overwhelming everyone around him.

The Bible tells us in multiple places that God does not show favoritism. If Moses could boldly ask for, and immediately receive, more of Him, so can you. In fact, we read in 2 Corinthians that what Moses experienced was not even glorious compared to what God has now made accessible to us through the new covenant. (2 Cor. 3:7-11). There is SO MUCH MORE OF HIM available to you!

Are you craving living hope today, beloved child? Hope that is real, alive, and growing? Then what you desperately need is to encounter God. He is yearning to pour more of His presence into your life. John even tells us that God gives His Spirit without limit (John 3:34). Precious child, you can have as much of God as you want!

Do you want to see Him who is invisible? Ask, and you shall receive.

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P.S. An extra tip:
Spending unhurried time meditating richly on the Word of God is a fundamental part of growing in the knowledge of God and thus in hope. One of my favorite places to do this is on biblegateway.com, where I can quickly switch between a wonderful collection of Bible translations for a single verse, taking in every nuance of that verse possible!

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Do you have an experience to share about how perceiving God more clearly fueled your hope?

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P.S. Book launch coming MONDAY!