All Hope

Image by Nick in exsilio via Flickr

"All Hope" By Diane Webb

Psalms 33: 22—"Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee".

As we place hope in the Lord (expecting good things) his mercy towards us increases. Mercy is having compassion and leniency towards someone who has done something wrong. All of us have done something wrong and need mercy from God. The more hope we have the more mercy we will receive. One is in proportion to the other. Psalms 33: 22 is a prayer asking for mercy in accordance with the amount of hope one has. It seems the psalmist is making the connection between hope and mercy. This makes hope, like faith, a requirement for receiving mercy. Hope is based on faith. We hope because we have faith. Without faith we cannot hope. How much hope do you have in the Lord? Are you "putting all your eggs in one basket" so to speak or are you keeping some back-up plan just to make sure? As Paul saw in Athens (Acts 17) the Greeks tried to worship all gods—they had idols to every god they could think of. They even had one to "an unknown god". By worshiping everything, they really worshipped nothing. The one true God does not share his worship. Our God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14); he does not want us putting our faith or hope into anything or anyone but him. The mentality of the Greeks still persists today where some people and non-religions try not to offend anyone so the policy of "anything goes" is developed over time. In the effort not to offend people, they end up offending God. They accept any and all religions or beliefs and propose that all religions are right. By declaring all religions are right, what they are really saying is that all religions are wrong. Anyone who believes their religion would not accept the likelihood of another religion. Believe what you believe and hold to it. Do not dilute your beliefs just to keep other people happy. They can believe what they want to believe—that's free choice and God honors our choices. But you have to choose. No choice is a choice. Choosing to accept parts or all of other religions is a rejection of Christianity. Christianity does not have room for a variety of ways to God. Christianity does not have room for scriptures or beliefs outside the Bible. The gospel is clear on this (Galatians 1: 6-10). It is not something recently determined to create disharmony in the world. The Bible is the final word and Jesus is the final way. If you do not believe this then you are not a Christian—which you have the right of free choice to reject the gospel of Christ and choose another religion to follow. But you cannot have it both ways. Placing your hope in God means placing your hope in Christ 100%. This means all hope not just some of it. It means that you are leaving no room for any other way than the gospel of Christ. It is putting all hope in Christ. This places you squarely in the hands of God and only his mercy can save you then. The more hope you place in God, the more mercy he will show. He wants nothing less than 100% of you—everything. He does not want just a piece of you. He is not satisfied with an anonymous statue to him amongst the hundreds of statues to other gods. If you are going to place your hope in Christ, place all of it with him. Leave nothing in reserve "just in case". Demonstrate your total faith and commitment to Christ. Your mercy will be great.

Dear Heavenly Father, help me understand what this means to me today. Tell me what it is I need to do to demonstrate my hope and trust in you. If there is any area I am holding back in, please point it out to me Lord. I want to place all my hope in you and hold nothing back. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.