HOPE AND FAITH

HOPE AND FAITH
Time was when I was not aware of the difference between Hope and Faith. At first glance, they appear to have the same meaning, but such is not, necessarily, the case.
There are eight places in the New Testament where the two words are used in the same context, denoting they do not always mean the same thing, though they are very closely related.
I Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.
It is, indeed, difficult to say where one ends and the other begins.
Heb. 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The best explanation I know is that we hope for the promises of God until He implants faith in our hearts by having given us a Rhema-- His Word, made real to our hearts by His Spirit. When that happens, we have it, whether we see it or not. You can "take it to the bank," as the saying goes.
Romans 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rhema)
A case in point is the account of Paul on the way to Rome.
Acts 27:20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on [us], all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. It would seem that God delights in hopeless situations.
But, in this case, Paul heard a Rhema from God, which resulted in Faith, making him able to take command of the situation. Up to that point, nothing but hope kept the sailors trying to save the ship. They hoped they would survive, but did not have any real faith that they would be able to.
Hope becomes faith when God plants a Rhema into the heart.
Faith caused Joseph to give a command concerning his bones, "Take them with you when you go."
Years ago we heard the story of Bridgett, a woman who had lived a brawling type of life, and had lost her nose in a terrible fight. After she was saved, she began praying for a new nose. During one prayer time, God gave her a Rhema for a new nose. In her simplicity, she began to testify that she had a new nose. People would snicker behind their hands when she gave her testimony, for they could see that she didn't have it. They excused her, by saying that her mind had been "blown" by her former life style, and were tolerant of her when she gave thanks for her new nose.
Then, after several month of testimonies and snickerings, Bridgett looked in her mirror one morning when she was dressing. Was the mirror lying to her? Was she having an optical illusion? Or did she actually have a new nose on her face? She did. It was for real. But that is what she had been saying for several months.
Hope had become faith back there when she heard the Rhema of God. God had "delivered" on the Rhema.
Many times we are dissapointed when we mistakenly identify hope as being faith.
Hope is what keeps rescuers digging after a disaster-- the hope of finding more survivors.
Hope is what keeps people hunting for a lost child, or for a drowning victim.
Hope keeps us living for God when present circumstances seem to tell us that it is futile to continue on.
Romans 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope--, God is able to take hopelessness and turn it into laughter. (Isaac means laughter.)
I Cor 9:10 -- that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.
Hope is what motivated the woman with the issue of blood to press her way through the crowd.
Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
I Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Romans 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
I John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.