Heart vs Hope

Psalms 16:9 NASB  Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely [in "hope" KJV].

Acts 2:26 NASB  'THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE;

Psalms 31:24 NASB  Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.

Proverbs 13:12 NASB  Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Jeremiah 18:12 NASB  "But they will say, 'It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'


Knowledge is in the head; it has to do with what we see and hear.

Faith is in the heart. It makes us act and do things which are contrary to what we see, hear, and know in our head.

This study started with Proverbs 13:12.

If you "hope" for something and it doesn't come true, that will get to your heart- this is the origin of doubt.

We "hope" for things, but this is affected by our thinking (head).

The first 2 verses deal with the head (thinking) or "flesh". The "flesh" and "hope" are directly related here.

Also in the first 2 verses we see how the "flesh" benefits directly from the condition of the heart (faith, believing); if your heart (faith) is good, then the flesh (head, mind, body) are good too!


Heart - Faith - Believing


Hope - Head - Thinking - Flesh - Body

There are a lot of sick people today; many of them are Christians.

They "hope" that God will heal them. That's not enough. There is no healing in hope.

You hope with your head; it is a thought.

Jesus said,
Luke 12:25 NASB  "And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span?


Can you worry or think about it, and add time to your life?


No.


So, why hope (think or worry) about a sickness or disease? It won't make you any better.

You have to believe; you have to have faith (heart) in God.

Hebrews 11:6 NASB  And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Mark 11:23-24 NASB  "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.  24  "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

You have to believe that you receive and THEN you receive it.

Thomas wanted to see the holes, then he would believe that Jesus was alive.

He had to see it before he would believe it.

We want to be healed, then we'll believe it happened.

It doesn't work that way. Just look around; there is proof everywhere.

If you are going to think about something, ponder God's Word. Read it, study it, memorize it, and ponder it. Dwell on it it the Presence of God. If you don't understand it, ask God: He'll explain it. If you don't understand the answer or think that God didn't give you one, He is probably preparing you so you will understand when He does give you one.

James 1:5-7 NASB  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  6  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  7  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,


 - -

Will He Find Faith and Skeletons in the Sand

On Wednesday night (9/14) God said, "will He find faith on the earth?"

That comes from Luke 18:8-

"...However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8b NASB

Then I saw the wind blowing the sand. As it blew it started to uncover something. Then as if a pencil was drawing it, things were being added to what was being exposed in the sand.

As it came into focus, what the wind was uncovering was a skeleton. The skeleton was human and it was face down.

That had me a little perplexed at first. Lately, the understanding has immediately followed what I was shown, but that was not the case here.

Slowly, news kept coming in about the church I used to attend, and my wife and I kept bumping into people we knew from there. This started that very night with news about that church's pastor and his continuing decline in health.

We both kept bumping into people, then Saturday, someone came into the shop. As I walked to the back I was reminded of the skeleton in the sand.

The past was being brought up! That was the skeleton in the sand!

But, will Jesus find faith on the earth when He returns?

I thought I was done with that whole situation and there was nothing more I could do for any of those people...

I guess I'll see...

--