How to Be Blessed By God
Set Your Hope

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

          Today we are looking into the Apostle Peter’s three step process that brings great blessings from God.  We’ve studied the first two, “Prepare your mind” and “Control your flesh.”  This final step is all about our “perspective.”  This step, “Set your hope,” implies the question: “Where do we place our hope?”  If your hope is placed in anything or any person other than Jesus Christ, it is vulnerable to the circumstances of your day.  Most of us have said: “I hope this works out” or “I hope that would never happen.”  These phrases may indicate a misplacement of our hope.  Certainly it is not wrong to wish for things to turn out a certain way.  But, as Christ followers, we must never place too much emphasis on things turning out according to our plans.

The Apostle Peter is teaching us to fully trust God’s plan and purposes for our lives.  Thus, even when life is not what we would wish, we can rest on the assurance that God’s purposes are still being accomplished.  God does not cause the bad things to happen, but He does work in them to bring about a good result.

This first week’s theme has been to be strong in the Lord.  When we are strong in Him, we find and enjoy great blessings.  We have the power to choose where we will be strong.  We can choose to trust or to doubt…to pray or to worry…to take time for spiritual input or take time for worldly activities!  Let’s choose to be strong in the Lord.

“Father, I choose to set my hope fully in you.  Thank you for your promises and purposes.  I rest in them!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”