“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.” I also believe that some of us have tried and proved the trueness of these words in our own lives. The Bible says that hope produces patience and perseverance, because if you have a sure hope, you simply know, the morning is coming and the dark will pass. Sometimes our saving hopes come brilliant and shining in glory, they inspire us and move us to great deeds. But at other times, when life seems really dull and empty, hope may simply quietly  step in and help us, with no great shine and in no great attire. It comes by as a gray cloaked stranger, but still it revives the heart and gives it the strength to go on.

Once in my life I had a situation, when life really seemed not worth living. I was young and unexperienced. All my hopes and dreams were brilliant and big. But, in one moment they seemed all to be quenched and cast out of my life. And than one woman told me such words: believe me or not, you are going to make it through. Then she shared with me some of her life stories. She had much darker situation, than I did back at that time. Though, I did not feel much comforted or inspired by her words. But somehow, they gave me the little, tiny hope to move on. They gave me at least something to hold on to. And, I did make it through.

Sometimes, problems and slow times we experience in our lives, may seem like an end to it all. But in really most such situations become a new start for something bigger and brighter. Here is another amazing quote on hope: “When the world says, “Give up,” Hope whispers, “Try it one more time.” There is a true story about Alabama farmers. It happened back in the beginning of the 20^th century. They used to plant much grain and cotton there and make their living on it. It all went smooth for a while, but once the grain eating bug showed up there from the South America, their wellbeing failed them. Most of their harvest was no longer theirs. It was clean eaten by the bug and they had no money to live on.

Most of them despaired and wanted to sell their farms, but one guy stood up and said: what if we start planting something else. What if try peanut? It sounded clean mad. They never believed, they could make money selling peanut, but they had this small hope kindling in their hearts and they gave it a chance. In their first season, growing peanut, they’ve made more money ever, than on the grains. They have managed not only to make their living on it, but it led them to prosperity. So, you see, even little and humble hope can produce awesome results, if you just give it a chance. Here are the words of Christopher Reeve and they are worth believing: “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” I will add: the choice is yours.

In Isaiah 40:29-31 we find these famous words: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,  and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;  they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Another verse from Proverbs tells us that if we teach a child something in his or her early years, they will follow it all their lives. That gives hope both to parents and their kids; cause today many parents complain that the world has completely took over the minds and  hearts of their kids. All this TV, PC games, cell phones and Internet communication constantly teaches and feeds something to our kids and parents’ influence seems to come to nothing.

But, if we only become resolute enough and dedicated to the Lord and to our own young folks, we can change the situation, we can restore relationships and we can help your kids to avoid many troubles and mistakes in life. Again, just think about it: some of us have made great many mistakes and have dearly paid for them, just because we have never been taught some essential things in life, until it was too late. Look at Abraham, seems like he has learned his lesson of hope and faith only, when he got to be 100 years old. What if we manage to teach our kids some things in the very early age? How much easier would it be for them to cope with life difficulties and win life battles?

Most of us are still learning our lessons of hoping, never quitting and always trusting in the Lord only now, when we are grown up. And we waste much time, repeating the same lessons over and over again. But we have all the chances and responsibility to give those lessons and to make them easy for our kids, while they are still young. This way, we can prepare for them the way to success and help them to enter their promise land in life without having to wander around the desert for a long while.

Now, the “Hope is putting faith to work when doubting would be easier.” The author of this saying is unknown, but the words are true. If only today we could teach our kids to follow this rule, tomorrow they would come back thanking us for their great victories in life!

Most young people tend to be very hopeful at the beginning of their lives. They build great plans, dream big dreams and hope big hopes. But, at times, those dreams remain just dreams and never come true. There are many reasons for it. One of them is beautifully worded by Peter F. Drucker: “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” Many of us start our lives with no idea of how to get from where we are now to where we really dream or hope to be. And that is one door for failure to come in through.

So, as we get older, we tend to lose some hopes and dreams or forget about them at all and live simple and non ambitious lives. Still, I believe, losing hope is not the best solution to go with. Because as Martin Luther King, Jr. Said: “ If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”

So, my point here is to encourage you not to give up hoping and dreaming. May be sometimes we have to change our dreams or do things to make our hopes to come true. But we should never quit hoping. You, I have met some elder people (over 80 years of age), who never lost their hopes, plans and love for life. One lady I knew decided to start learning a foreign language, when she just turned 83. It did not really matter, how much she learned. But she kept her brains working, her wits together and her heart as young and hopeful, as when she was 20. It is so pleasant to be around such people!

But I have also met some young folks, who seemed to have no interest in life, no hopes and no dreams. They said, they were so frustrated that they saw no use in hoping any more. And, it is always bitter to be around such people.

Bible says: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon. Ps 92:12.  And this freshness of life, mind and soul can be preserved throughout the entire life. So, it is never too late to hope, to start building up plans, to dream and to trust the Lord for them to come true.

The Bible says that the granted wish is like a tree of life. I believe God not only knows this, but this is the way He designed us. So, it is actually His joy to answer our prayers and give us help, when we need it. But, there is also our part in the process, and this part is to hope, to stand in faith and to do,what is up to us to do. So, let us take a look at how our hopes can get the practical implementation and bear visible results in our lives.

Here is a little story, I would like to share with you. It happened in my life, and I know similar things can happen in yours. After some years walking with the Lord, I felt like He was calling me to enter full time ministry. In fact, I had a prophesy over my life and I knew, I would be traveling much around and preaching Gospel. But, I needed some financial resources to do it. And, I definitely needed a car. At that time I had no money and no chance of getting a car. I had no natural resources to get it. All I had was hope. So, I decided to turn to supernatural. As the saying goes: where God guides, He provides. I decided to pray and stand in faith, cause prayer with no faith is just the waste of time.

I prayed and believed. You know, faith can be there with no emotions at all. You do not have to feel something you believe in, but hope is very emotional. It really comes to our aid, when we start weakening in our faith. And the hope got kindled in my heart. I just knew that in a year, I would have a car and would step into my ministry. I was so excited about it, so emotional that I would go and tell everybody about it. I even made a step of faith and passed for my driving license. Some people thought I was crazy or stupid, but I was just hopeful. And, guess what, in a year I did get the car, even though I did not do practical and logical things to earn it, to save enough to buy it. The only practical thing I did was hoping.

Someone said that “Hope is independent of the apparatus of logic.” In my case it was very true, but nonetheless, it brought even better results, than the logical steps taken would. Some of you may be needing life resources, or healing, or any other natural and good thing in life, but you may see the doors and possibilities of this world shut and unavailable for you. This is just the time to turn to supernatural and  to use the gift of hope, given by God to all people. Even if you start in the dark with nothing, but hope on your hands, it can lead you on and show you the ways, hidden and closed to logic or to natural thinking; providing you with solutions beyond the wisdom or counsel of this world. That is what I call the practical hope.

Here are the words of  famous American architect and Chicago city planner Daniel H. Burnham: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will themselves not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die.” This statement is one of the keys to making your hopes come true and avoiding frustration. Yes, hope is a God given gift to all people. But, still most people never take care of their hopes, never cultivate them, never take a second thought about what their hopes can really do for them, what they can produce.

You know, in the Bible Jesus said that any wise man wishing to build a tower first has to sit down and calculate, if he has all he needs to finish up his project. No one lays the foundation, and only then starts to think over the building plans and required resources. So, your hope can become a foundation and your main resource in life, but only if you handle it properly. Hope is something very emotional. It has a wonderful power to stir our hearts and move us to action. Here is another wonderful hope quote: “Hope…is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.” It is true, that hope contains a supernatural power, which helps things to come together and at times hope is the only asset people possess, when they make their first steps on the way to success. For example, Edison had hope and dream about all the amazing things he has invented. But, it took him much time and many unsuccessful attempts to make his hopes come true. He just went on hoping, and hoping, walking and walking on towards his big dream. And no small hope or small dream could have sustained him for so long, before he actually reached his goal and invented something that really worked.

I believe these words are very true about anybody and everybody, who has laid the foundation of big hope and dream for their lives and attained success in their pursuit: “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.” Romans 8:28 says: All things work for good for those, who love God and have been called according to His purpose. But, there is also our part here to come, to love, to hope, to dream and to start the work!

But still, some hopes never come true and some people do not feel anymore there is any use in hoping for things, cause they never come to pass and those empty hopes only bring frustration and disappointment. I believe you’ve met some very sarcastic people, making fun of everything or very pessimistic ones, or maybe you are one of them yourself, feeling hope is the lottery not worth investing into, cause after all there are only few chances of wining. Well, in this case, life loses much of its color and vigor. As one story book personage said: it’s much better to hope and expect for great things and get only half of them, than to hope for nothing, get nothing and avoid frustration.

Though, I have some very good news both for faithful and excited “hopers” and for those, who seem to be giving up on much of their hopes. There is one kind of hope that can boldly be called the Sure Hope, the hope that will never fail and will surely come to pass. And here is the ‘magic’ formula of this sure hope: “No one whose hope is in you (in God) will ever be put to shame”. (Ps. 25:3) God’s Word declares that when we put our hope in the Lord, it becomes our anchor and goes way beyond the things of this world, with its shaky circumstances, troubles and disappointments. My hope in the Lord anchors me to eternity. It becomes the foundation of my stability in life, my comfort and constant source of enjoyment, because when I hope in the One, Who is faithful, I know my hope is bound to come true! It will never disappoint me or put me to shame, this kind of hope is not fickle.

You know, Bible says that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. When you have this kind of hope, you do not have to worry over it or think “what if…” thoughts. You simply know, because you know, because you know that things you hope for and you trusted the Lord with are bound to come to pass. It is only the matter of time. It is like Christmas. Many people are very excited about this holiday. They expect it anxiously, their get ready for it and they enjoy all the buzz of preparations, but they never doubt its coming. It would sound pretty silly of someone to say: Oh, I so worried, what if this year Christmas never comes. They simply know, they have to wait for sometime for this date to arrive and this hope never fails. You simply have to be patient enough to wait for it and get ready to celebrate it, when it comes.

The same is true about the sure hope. It is that simple, you get your hope down to your heart, you put your trust in the Lord, and you wait getting ready for its fulfilment! And, it works. Charles L. Allen once said: When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you’re slamming the door in the face of God. So, do not shut the door of your heart from the healing and miracle power of the sure hope!

Surely, most of us have experienced our hopes for good and best souring up like eagles and bearing us up on the wings of happiness. I believe that without hope most things done in this world would never come to pass. For example, when people meet, fall in love and get married, they are mostly led by hope. They hope their married life would be their paradise lost! No one would marry, if they did not hope for family happiness in the years to come. No one would marry if they thought they would have to deal with long years of sorrow, misunderstanding and quarrelling. And even though most of us have heard the stories of unhappy marriages, we still hope even against all hope that it will be different in our case.

People get to collages, hoping to find the best jobs possible, they give birth to kids, hoping to bring them up to be great people, or they buy lottery tickets, hoping to win easy money. So, as you see, hope is something very motivational and very emotional.  Nevertheless, not all hopes turn out well and some of them do fail us miserably. Even most hopeful people divorce, bring up lazy and unthankful kids, find poor jobs and never win the jack pot. What is the reason for this?

Well, the Bible says that hope never fails (Rom 5:5), but the wordly wisdom declares that the hope is the last thing to die. After the hope is gone there is really remains nothing to hope for or live for. As you may see, these two statements are contradictory. And, as I have discovered for myself, the trick that makes the difference for the hope outcome is this: it is the source of your hope that really matters.

Let me explain it. Every hope has its source, its origins. Basically, that is what determines its future success or failure. The Bible says that those, who put their hope in the Lord will NEVER be ashamed. Never means never! So, I believe, most people could avoid experiencing all the frustration of hopes lost in their lives even before they start hoping! If you can tell what is the source of your hope, than you can make a clear prediction as to how this particular hope is going to turn out. Make the Lord the source of your hopes, and you will source on the wings of an eagle and never fail or be ashamed; make the world or people the source of your hopes, and there are good chances you will be frustrated and your hope will let you down. The choice is only yours to make!

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However, if their contribution to your life is not quality contributions, then your quality of life cannot be largely affected by that friendship.

“What is a friend? A single soul, dwelling in two bodies” – Aristotle

• We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. Helen Keller

• Joy makes the body confidently dwell in safety. Abraham Great

• Living a joyful life create the vibes that attracts what is missing around you. Abraham Great

• I can’t think of nothing less gratifying than a life devoted to pleasure. Abraham Great

• A person determines his or her joys and sorrows long before they experience them. Feelings are first created in the mind. Abraham Great

Greatness is God’s gift for mankind

If I fail to be great, it means I have rejected God’s gift

If I don’t help you get hold of greatness, it means I have rejected God’s calling.