WEBVTT 00:04.334 --> 00:10.361 [SPEAKER_00]: As we continue our week on Living For Heaven, today we look at the concept of hope. 00:11.363 --> 00:18.752 [SPEAKER_00]: Hope is an necessity in this day, and God wants to restore your sense of hope and give you a fresh dose today. 00:19.693 --> 00:24.539 [SPEAKER_00]: May the hope of eternal life be an anchor for you all of your days. 00:25.380 --> 00:27.743 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the first 15 podcast. 00:50.234 --> 01:08.938 [SPEAKER_00]: Our verse for today comes from Romans 15, verse 13, Scripture says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. 01:12.582 --> 01:20.072 [SPEAKER_00]: The world is a fearful and unsatisfying place 01:21.436 --> 01:31.391 [SPEAKER_00]: apart from the expectation that comes from the hope of heaven, our world is without cause for peace, celebration, or joy. 01:31.431 --> 01:34.456 [SPEAKER_00]: There is life in hope. 01:35.558 --> 01:37.200 [SPEAKER_00]: There is joy in hope. 01:38.242 --> 01:40.165 [SPEAKER_00]: There is purpose in hope. 01:41.827 --> 01:48.658 [SPEAKER_00]: Hope is to be at the foundation of all our decisions, emotions, and pursuits. 01:49.820 --> 01:56.849 [SPEAKER_00]: hope fills us with joy in the midst of trial and perseverance in the midst of failure. 01:58.110 --> 02:00.693 [SPEAKER_00]: Hope guides us to abundant life. 02:02.616 --> 02:08.883 [SPEAKER_00]: Romans 8 verses 24 and 25 says, for in this hope we were saved. 02:10.005 --> 02:15.912 [SPEAKER_00]: Now hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for what he sees. 02:16.752 --> 02:21.719 [SPEAKER_00]: But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 02:25.164 --> 02:33.155 [SPEAKER_00]: We have the promise of eternal life in perfect, unveiled relationship with our creator and sustainer. 02:34.477 --> 02:43.249 [SPEAKER_00]: The King of Kings and Lord of Lords waits patiently for the final redemption and restoration of all things. 02:44.545 --> 02:53.623 [SPEAKER_00]: He longs for the day when all pain, tears, disappointment, separation and sin will end for good. 02:55.326 --> 03:01.558 [SPEAKER_00]: And he longs to fill us with the same hope and expectation he has within himself. 03:02.872 --> 03:16.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Romans 1513 says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. 03:18.971 --> 03:23.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Our Heavenly Father belongs to make us a people of hope. 03:24.378 --> 03:31.967 [SPEAKER_00]: He longs for His followers to live a lifestyle that declares to the world. 03:33.280 --> 03:43.533 [SPEAKER_00]: He longs to fill us with a heavenly perspective that we might throw off pursuits of worldly pleasure and live for eternity with Him. 03:45.555 --> 04:00.334 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said in Matthew 6, verses 19 through 21, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth wear mouth and rust destroy and wear thieves, break in and steal. 04:01.057 --> 04:10.848 [SPEAKER_00]: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 04:11.910 --> 04:16.375 [SPEAKER_00]: For where your treasure is, their your heart will be also. 04:19.839 --> 04:25.946 [SPEAKER_00]: The hope of eternal life with our Father is to be the guiding light set ever before us. 04:27.808 --> 04:29.190 [SPEAKER_00]: Where have you set your hope? 04:30.284 --> 04:32.767 [SPEAKER_00]: Where do the treasures of your heart, my? 04:34.690 --> 04:42.401 [SPEAKER_00]: Placing our hope in heaven secures the treasures of our hearts with our heavenly Father for all of eternity. 04:43.763 --> 04:52.815 [SPEAKER_00]: In contrast, when we treasure the things of the world, that which we accumulate will pass away as quickly as it came. 04:54.652 --> 05:01.822 [SPEAKER_00]: take time and guided prayer to allow the Lord to fill you with a fresh hope for the age that is to come. 05:03.224 --> 05:11.175 [SPEAKER_00]: Allow your perspectives to shift in light of the glory of an eternity spent in total communion with the Creator. 05:12.577 --> 05:21.570 [SPEAKER_00]: May the hope of heaven guide you to a lifestyle of storing up your treasures and therefore your heart with your heavenly Father. 05:50.086 --> 05:54.733 [SPEAKER_00]: as we begin, meditate on the importance of hope. 05:56.316 --> 06:01.965 [SPEAKER_00]: Allow scripture to shift your perspectives and pursuits to living for heaven. 06:03.707 --> 06:16.988 [SPEAKER_00]: Jeremiah 29, 11 says, for I know the plans I have for you to clear the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 06:23.887 --> 06:44.595 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you very much. 06:59.763 --> 07:00.364 [SPEAKER_00]: and next. 07:01.565 --> 07:04.849 [SPEAKER_00]: Where have you placed your hope in the things of the world? 07:06.511 --> 07:13.559 [SPEAKER_00]: What have you been looking to in order to satisfy your longings that is fleeting and temporary? 07:15.321 --> 07:28.757 [SPEAKER_00]: Matthew 6, verses 19 through 21 says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, 07:29.918 --> 07:32.702 [SPEAKER_00]: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. 07:33.784 --> 07:39.011 [SPEAKER_00]: We're neither moth nor rust destroys, and we're thieves to not break in and steal. 07:40.173 --> 07:51.589 [SPEAKER_00]: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 08:09.558 --> 08:33.709 [SPEAKER_00]: And last, ask the Lord to help you place your hope and heaven along. 08:34.955 --> 08:42.167 [SPEAKER_00]: Choose to live your life for your Heavenly Father, instead of seeking worldly success in satisfaction. 08:43.769 --> 08:52.103 [SPEAKER_00]: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you ways in which you can rid yourself of the world and receive the hope of heaven. 08:53.787 --> 09:02.228 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 10, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 09:03.472 --> 09:08.404 [SPEAKER_00]: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 09:49.694 --> 09:54.602 [SPEAKER_00]: May Romans 5, verses 2 through 5, be your anthem of hope today. 09:54.662 --> 10:03.956 [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture says, through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. 10:04.897 --> 10:08.563 [SPEAKER_00]: And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 10:09.235 --> 10:33.437 [SPEAKER_00]: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 10:47.930 --> 10:54.437 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast, our second in a series called Living for Heaven. 10:55.158 --> 10:56.679 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh with verse 15. 10:57.600 --> 11:06.549 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever your tempted towards despair today, I want to encourage you to take a moment to stop and ask God to illuminate his path of hope. 11:07.590 --> 11:16.840 [SPEAKER_00]: The Holy Spirit wants to fill your day with hope, built around trusting that he has every moment of every day covered in his love. 11:17.444 --> 11:25.721 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you'll allow him to open your eyes to see where he's leading you, I know your day will be filled with a greater measure of hope. 11:26.944 --> 11:31.453 [SPEAKER_00]: Have a wonderful rest of your day, and may God bless you as you see him.