We are focusing on being anchored this fall and our focal passage is Hebrews 6:19 – 20a. “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us.”
Let’s review what we have covered so far.
- Jesus is our anchor!
- Jesus secured our anchor in “God’s inner sanctuary.”
This month I want to focus on something that has been a huge difference maker in my life – Hopeful Expectancy! When Jesus is our hope and we know that He has secured our anchor we can cultivate hopeful expectancy in our lives.
- Hopeful means feeling or inspiring optimism on a future event.
- Expectancy is thinking or hoping that something positive will happen.
Here is how I’ve learned to define hopeful expectancy. Because of who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and all that Jesus has promised to do, I can anchor my mind on an optimistic and positive outcome in every situation.
Do I have fear? Yes!
Do I battle doubts? Yes!
Do I get overwhelmed? Yes!
Surely, I am not alone in those! If we are to develop Hopeful Expectancy then we must train our brains on God’s truth. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind (2 Timothy 5:7). In the moments of doubt, we can declare, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). When circumstances try and overwhelm us we remind ourselves that God is great, full of power, victorious in all things, and everything in heaven and in earth is His” (1 Chronicles 29:11-12).
When we choose to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6) we can cultivate the Hopeful Expectancy that in everything God will work it out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
My desire is for those that read this to be anchored in this kind of Hopeful Expectancy as we reach out to our community and share the love of Christ.
