Faith And Joy Produce Hope

Faith + Joy > Hope

Faith and joy are the basis of hope.  

Romans 5:1-5 NKJV — Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

The faith the Bible describes is confidence in God's character, not in outcomes.  Confidence God will keep His word, even though we don't exactly understand how.  

This faith produces humility in our hearts.

The fleshy alternative to Biblical faith... The one you can grit your teeth and eek out...  is certainty in an outcome.  Believing 'what we think God will do to perform His word' is not really the faith of the Bible.  That is confidence in our ways... What WE would do to  keep God's word if we were God.  We aren't. Assuming God thinks like us produces an arrogance that defies the truth.  

God's ways are different than mine.  His promises are yes and amen, but the WAY he keeps them are a mystery until they are fulfilled.

Isaiah 55:6-9 NKJV — Seek the LORD while He may be found,

Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Our ways are the biggest problem to faith and to joy. Our ways leave us hopeless.  The fruit of man's self-leadership is hopelessness that grows over time until depravity takes over the earth (see Genesis 6).  God will never lead the earth man's way.

Right now, God's ways are being worked out.  He prophetically described them to us.  Yet, our hard hearts still are tempted to see God's ways as less good than ours would be if we did things our way!  

If we see God's judgment/correction/sifting as anything less than good, we think we are better than God.  That will produce hopelessness as God works out his promises His ways.  

You can miss the very fulfillment of God's promises by focusing on the way you would fulfill them if you were God.  

Most of Israel in 33AD missed Jesus, the greatest promises ever kept, by misunderstanding HOW God would keep the promise.  We will do the same if we don't find the humility of faith and hope as we "see all these things" (Luke 21:28).

We must lift our heads in the midst of these things.

Hopelessness is so dangerous.  It leads to depravity...  Or just reacting to our perceived needs, not the leadership of God.
If we want hope in this hour of great shaking, we need faith in God's character.  He is always doing something good for those that love Him and submit to His ways.

We also need joy, or what this Romans 5 passage above calls "glorying." Joy isn't happiness, it's the door to lasting happiness, though.  I like this definition of joy: an innate sense of well being despite what is going on around us, good or bad.

Both faith and joy are obtained in prayer.  They are fruit of the Spirit.  

This is how you can access the ocean of faith and joy present in a person filled with the Spirit:  We acknowledge the Spirit's generosity and receive these emotions by asking and thanking God for them while making room in our mind, will and emotions to receive them. You can't change your emotions, you can only change your mind, or "renew your thinking." God CAN change your emotions if you let His Spirit into your heart (mind, will, and emotions).

We make room to receive faith and joy by repenting of the thoughts and emotions working counter to these: doubt and sadness.  We bring our list of reasons for being sad and doubtful to the feet of Jesus like a captive enemy that has infiltrated the camp of faith and joy.  We turn over our reasons and the emotions we are currently feeling and let God fill us with HIS truth and the HIS emotions.

That is what it means for God to be king of my heart. It will literally change what you think and feel if you give it your small effort and allow the Spirit a little time to seep through the walls of your defenses.

It's so simple anyone can do it, and so simple most won't. This is the main thing Samantha and I do in prayer meetings every day. It is very powerful to do this with others.  

Doing this is what this passage is talking about:

Hebrews 10:15-25 NKJV — But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

You can let the Holy Spirit write truth on your heart alone, and should, but that will always overflow into a concern for a Bride for Yeshua to be prepared if it's real.  You can't really love God without a love for your brothers and sister that begins to grow in your heart as God gives you His heart.  

The fullness we do together.

That's really the house of prayer.  That is what David did for all of Israel.  Read the Psalms in this light and you will see it clearly.
It changed everything.  The hope David taught Israel to access literally changed the entire nation. 
Right now, Yeshua is looking for Shepherds after his heart to do the same thing all over the world...

Jeremiah 3:14-17 NKJV — “Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. “Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the LORD, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore. “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.