I said yesterday that this verse is dynamic and powerful, and that it is a verse of process and reaction. So let's look at the process that this verse describes...
What do you see as the first step? Do you see it as God filling us with all joy and peace? Actually, that is a result of the first step. The first step is "as we trust in Him."
1. Trust in God
As we trust in Him, then God fills us with all joy and peace. It is exactly like we have been studying in Philippians 4. Trust in God and His sovereignty, power and ability, brings to us joy and peace. Without trust in God, we have to rely on ourselves...and as for me, that is not a joyful state. That is not a place that brings peace. It is too much for me. So the process is...
1. Trust in God
2. God fills us with joy and peace
But this verse doesn't just say "God", this verse says "the God of hope." Our God is the God of hope. Our God is the God who says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11.
God's message to His children is full of hope. He gives us hope for each new day as He provides for us, and He gives us hope for eternity when our days here on earth are over. A hope made possible through Jesus Christ's atonement for us. God's plan for us is one of hope. He is the God of hope!
So we will modify our process:
1. Trust in the God of hope
2. God fills us with joy and peace
When we have trusted, when we have felt the filling within us of God's joy and peace, what is the next step in the process?
1. Trust in the God of hope
2. God fills us with joy and peace
3. The Holy Spirit rules over us and empowers us
When we reach a complete level of trust in our God of hope, we fully experience His joy and peace, we will be willing to completely surrender to the Holy Spirit within us, to completely release His power within us. This is where true life change takes place. This is where we no longer fight for "self", we completely give ourselves to God and to His will over our lives. This is where we often stop and resist, because we are so naturally unwilling to give up our control.
But when we do, when we allow the Holy Spirit to truly empower us, what is the final step?
1. Trust in the God of hope
2. God fills us with joy and peace
3. The Holy Spirit rules over us and empowers us
4. We overflow with hope!
At this point, we cannot contain the hope that is within us. It is our purpose in life, it is what we are about. The hope---the hope that is gifted to us by the God of hope; the hope that the Holy Spirit empowers us to exhibit to the point of overflow; the hope that is accompanied by true joy, true peace. Joy and peace that are not conditional on our earthly circumstances, but that abide within us because of the hope that points us outside of this life, into our perfect lives of eternity with our Father.
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