What Do You Put Your Hope In?

Micah 4:1-5

In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and peoples will stream to it.

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
5 All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.

What Do You Put Your Hope In?

What Do You Put Your Hope In?
Everyone puts their hope in someone or something. 
 
I am using the word hope because it embraces a larger context of where people place their security.  
In today’s world, when someone says I hope this happens there is an uncertainty about the outcome.
I sure hope today will be a good day.
I  hope my family will welcome me home with a warm smile and true affection. 
I hope our global economy won't tank and that I will have enough money to make it through.
I hope they will find a real cure for Covid-19 in the near future. 
These have uncertainty linked to them.
 
The word ‘hope’ in the Bible actually means ‘to expect’ or have some sort of ‘expectation’. This means we aren’t merely hoping it will happen.  We’re 100% expecting it to come about. Any doubt in our mind gets pushed out by our continual focus on the hope we have in the Lord! 
 
“O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.“  Psalm 130:7
 
So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.
Hebrews 6:18-19 (NLT)
 
CONCLUSION: Jesus wants to be our ultimate hope.  I like how Timothy Keller said it in his book, Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical.
 
“[These are] Christianity’s unsurpassed offers—a meaning that suffering cannot remove, a satisfaction not based on circumstances, a freedom that does not hurt but rather enhances love, an identity that does not crush you or exclude others, a moral compass that does not turn you into an oppressor, and a hope that can face anything, even death.”