TSP DAILY DEVOTIONAL
FRUIT OF HOPE
17th June 2020
Dr. Phil Ransom-Bello
KEY SCRIPTURE/MEMORY VERSE: Colossians 1:4-5(ERV)
We thank him because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. 5. which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
As we continue to examine the nature of love for the man/woman who has received the gospel, it is important to know that this love is a fruit of hope.
Looking at our text today, we see that the love for all the saints is because of the hope. So these three fruits of faith, hope and love work together.
You can’t divorce them. They are three wonderful markers of redemption and the gospel.
So Paul is describing in this passage that hope begets love. That is, love is a fruit of hope. Therefore, the reason you are able to express love to all of God’s people is because of your confident hope of heaven.
Actually, the word, hope in this verse is not referring to the feeling of hope but is speaking of the joys of heaven. There is a difference between the object of hope and the subjective feeling of hope.
Let me give you an example- if you work for 30 days, at the end of the month, you are paid a salary. The hope is the salary.
So if you say- “Where is my hope?” you are saying “Where is the payment?” So that salary is the hope.
Then, how you feel from the first to the thirtieth of the month is a feeling of the hope because of the hope.
In other words, there is no feeling of hope if there is no object of hope. If there is no salary, why then are we working? What’s the hope?
In the same way, you can’t teach the gospel without talking about the hope of heaven because the hope of heaven is the anchor for our faith and what drives our love.
From verse 2 of Romans 5, Paul talks about the hope of experiencing God’s glory when we believe the gospel. In verse 5, he says that this hope does not disappoint because of the love of God that has been poured lavishly in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Friends, your unshaken hope comes from the revelation of God’s love for you and this hope is what empowers you to love others just like Christ.
Listen, when you received the gospel, you also received a hope of a guaranteed future. It is your advantage. Let it keep your heart fired up to bear the fruit of love.
REFLECTION
Is my hope a subjective feeling or the object of the confident hope of heaven?
DECLARATION
-I believe in the gospel, therefore the seed of the gospel produces fruit in my life.
-I don’t just know the gospel, I live the gospel. I am transformed by the gospel. The gospel is working through me.
-This gospel produces the genuine markers of authentic believers; of Faith, Love and Hope in me.
-The love I express is a public fruit of the hope I have received.
-I am committed to bearing this fruit of hope because the declaration and expression of the gospel is incomplete without the declaration of this hope.
-My hope is not a subjective feeling but it is the guaranteed hope of experiencing the joys of heaven.
-This hope of heaven is the anchor for my faith and drives me to love like Christ.
-I am convinced that this hope I have received is unshaken, unfailing and will not disappoint because of the revelation of God’s love for me.
-I have love for all the saints. Always.
Hallelujah!
HEARING BY THE WORD
(Recommended Listening)
Listen to Fruits of the Gospel 2 >> Dr. Phil by The StandPoint Church on #SoundCloud
