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Dwell in the House of the Lord Volume 2, Day 55

by David Joynt on July 31, 2020

Dwell in the House of the Lord Volume 2, Day 55

ROMANS 5:5 | 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

 Hope does not disappoint…sometimes we use the word hope to describe wishful thinking. I’m not saving but I “hope” to retire early. I am not cultivating intentional friendships but I “hope” to marry the perfect spouse. I am not studying but I “hope” to get a 4.0.

 This is not Biblical, Christian hope. Our hope grows out of our experience of God’s amazing love, particularly as that love sustains us in difficulty. We learn to trust God’s sure and certain promises. Hope is not wishful thinking, it is grounded in reasonable faith and genuine experience. Hope shapes our souls and characters, wishful thinking is a distraction and a deception. It robs us of time and doesn’t change us or our world.

 What grounds your hope?

 Do you engage in wishful thinking?

 

Tags: faith, hope

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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