Romans 4 (NKJV)
17 ... God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
It is crucial to remember, Abraham had no "Bible"-he had the direct word of the Lord and that is what he relied on. His promises were one-to-one, God to Abraham.
Hope is a seed that God plants in us when He has a dream for us. Without hope, we cannot achieve anything. Faith will not work without hope first being anchored within us. It is the anchor of our souls. Hope is what faith attaches to.
Once we have the hope which comes through the promises of God, we can then begin the process of believing. Whatever we need at the moment, say healing, we start with hope which is either directly given by God or is found in scripture. Then we use the measure of faith that He has given us (Romans 12:3) and we begin to build, exercising that faith. Faith now begins to wrap around the hope and give it flesh. The hope begins to take on a form that was not there before. Hope is the seed in the center of it all.
You can either consider that faith attaches itself to the seed or that faith becomes the water that nourishes the seed. Whichever way is easier to see. Hope and faith together paint a picture.
Every promise of God has HOPE at the core. It is the LIFE contained within the word that our faith begins to water. Without attaching faith to the hope in that word, be it logos or rhema, nothing will ever happen. The seed of hope will remain dormant and inactive. Kenneth Copeland is fond of saying, “The word of God has the power within itself to bring itself to pass”. That power is the life contained within the seed, HOPE.
And how was Abraham strengthened in faith? How did he become fully convinced? I am convinced it was by the visions the Lord gave him of Isaac as a young man or as a father himself. We don't know the exact nature of the visions but this is how God operates. And Hebrews 11 does say that Abraham received Isaac raised from the dead in a figure. That means a vision even if only one of those vaporous images God so often grants us. This is a standard pattern He employs with His children. He gives us the images to hang onto so we can dream The Dream with Him!
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