You can quickly figure people out by listening to them talk about there hopes. Many people think of hope only in respect to this world, Some have hopes well beyond this world With Christ. As long as there is life, there is hope. We as Christians have eternal life, so there is always hope.

In the Greek manuscripts the word " Hope " means Trust or expectancy.

Strong's Number: 1679  Transliterated: elpizo  Phonetic: el-pid'-zo
Text:  from 1680; to expect or confide: --(have, thing) hope(-d) (for), trust.

Strong's Number: 1680  Transliterated: elpis Phonetic: el-pece'
Text:  from a primary elpo (to anticipate, ususally with pleasure); expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence: --faith, hope.

The Word " Hope " in English means
* To want or expect
* The object of this
* What is wanted will happen
* To desire with some expectation of attainment

When you are hoping for something, put a rope on it and don't let it get away. Lets turn to the book of Ezekiel. The Lord placed Ezekiel in a valley of dry bones. they are spiritually dead as a hammer. In there mind to the ways of God. So what did God tell Ezekiel to do in order to make them live again. These people didn't know the words of God to make them Spiritually alive.
                                                                                                                                                                                         Let's turn to Ezekiel and see what the Lord God told him to say

Ezekiel 37:9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

The word " Prophesy " means to teach !   What was he to teach ? back in verse four tells us " The Words Of The Lord "  If your a student of the word then you know that the Four Winds of Daniel 7 and Revelation 7 relate to the very last days.

So what does this mean ? When the four winds blow, this is the 7th trump and the return of the true Christ.                           

What is Christ number ?  777 
7th seal
7th vial
7th trump

Cain was giving the number of 666. Why, Because his father Satan will return at the 666 lines up, to rule over man. But thru Christ we have the victory over death and the grave.
6th seal
6th vial
6th trump

  
Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Ezekiel 37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

The word Breath is Spirit

Strong's Number: 7307 Transliterated: ruwach Phonetic: roo'-akh
from 7306; wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions): -- air, anger, blast, breath, X cool, courage, mind, X quarter, X side, spirit([-ual]), tempest, X vain, ([whirl-])wind(-y).

If you don't have God as part of your life, and all you know is your living, from pay check to pay check, you are missing out. you have lost all hope. then you need help. this is the reason why God sends teachers. His Words brings life to you. His Word's brings hope to you.

Ezekiel 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

The word "Them" means everyone that will listen. When people hear the words of God, they are no longer Spiritual dead.

Strong's Number: 6912 Transliterated: qabar Phonetic: kaw-bar'
a primitive root; to inter: --X in any wise,  bury(-ier).

Ezekiel 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

Ezekiel 37:14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

Father wants his children to live. He wants you to have a good quality of life and be happy. Do you know why, You are an Ambassador for the living Christ. Lets turn to the book of Proverbs. Man can make plans, but the overall outcome is in God's hand.

Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Ever word you utter is inspired for the Lord, if you are in him, and he is you. He loves you and directs you in his ways of his knowledge of power. What is his power, The written word.

Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Your thoughts, Your plans, Your hopes, will prosper, if you commit your works to him. You must do it Christ's way for A BLESSING

Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Why did God create you,

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Who does all the souls belong to ?  Ezekiel 18:4

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

All souls including those of the wicked, belong to God as well. Your going to convince God thru Christ on what to do with your soul.

Proverbs 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Proverbs 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

The word " fear " is better translated " Reverence " meaning love,  If you revere the Lord then you want nothing to do with evil, or the plans of satan. you soon realize that evil robs you of Father's many blessings.

Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

God has the power to change the minds of your enemies to be at peace with him.

Proverbs 16:8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

You never get ahead with ill-gotten gains. If you try and rob your neighbor before he robs, neither, will be blessed from God

Proverbs 16:9 A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

We all head down the wrong road from time to time. If you love the Lord, and your serving him. he will direct your steps back on to the right path. Always put your Hopes, Faith, Trust, in him. He will never leave you or forsake you.

Let's continue our study in in the book Luke. Christ has been Crucified. He told his disciples, He would be rise in three days, and they were to meet him in Galilee. Some of the disciples are going the wrong direction

Luke 24:13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

The word " Emmaus " means " Warm Baths "  in the Greek language
A settlement about 7 to 8 miles South-west of Jerusalem. Emmaus was located where the modern day town of Khan el Khamaseh is today. As we see, They both lost there hope in Christ. They both lost there focus on what christ had told them.

Luke 24:14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

These two disciples were discussing the events that had happened over the past week. Jesus had instructed them of the events of the end times. They had witnessed His trial and death on the cross, and the affect that it had on all the disciples. There was so much to talk about, that their minds were not aware that Jesus had joined them, and was walking with them.

Luke 24:15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

As they were walking along, Jesus Himself entered into the conversation with them.

Luke 24:16 But their eyes were Holden that they should not know him.

Their eyes were " Holden " 2902 in the Strong's Greek dictionary; "krateo; held fast, seized or retained." From # 2904  "kratos; prime, to show vigor, might, dominion."

This lets us know that God was the one that prevented them from recognizing Jesus at this time. God is teaching each of us a lesson from this verse. So why did God not want the disciples not to recognize Jesus at this time. This was done so that we could understand how those many signs that are written in Prophecy can be seen and yet Christians can be blind to them. The events of the end times are happening each day around us, and reported in the news and on television. Those events are affecting our personal lives, and yet the Christian world at large is blind to the signs that are in His Word for us to understand.

Luke 24:17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

Salvation had been opened to all who would believe. Death and hell had been defeated. and yet they are sad.

Luke 24:18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

The word " Cleopas " means " Renowned Father "

Cleopas looked at Jesus and asked Him, are you a stranger around here. Didn't you see the things that have been going on in Jerusalem. You must had to have heard of the crucifixion, or the three hours of darkness, and all the other things that had been going on. Jesus was there alright, right in the middle of it all, but these two disciples still have their eyes closed to what is happening. He was the one they crucified.

Luke 24:19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:

What things. Were the miracles they seen with there own flesh eyes. But there Spiritual eyes are blind at this point.

Luke 24:20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
They were pouring their hearts out to the Lord. As we see the two disciples have lost hope. Don't ever doubt the words of God !

Luke 24:21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

Here they even gave the clue that Christ would rise on the third day, and still they did not see that clue that was on the tip of their tongue. they believed their hope was for naught. They thought he wasn't going to meet them as he promised. 

Luke 24:22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;

Now these two disciples are telling Jesus that they were shocked at the report that those women came back with from the sepulcher early this morning.

Luke 24:23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.

Promises were coming to pass exactly as Christ had told them. This should have stirred a remembrance with in their minds, but it didn't.

Luke 24:24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

These disciples didn't believe the angels, They didn't believe the words that Jesus told them. and they even didn't believe it when they went to see for themselves. They just did not believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus told them to meet
him in Galilee, not some where's else. They didn't listen to the Christ. in other words, They didn't believe.

Luke 24:25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Then Jesus called them " O dullards"  " fools " means slow of mind to believe, without wisdom and fools. Jesus told them that they were quick to believe the glory of the Messiah, but not to the sufferings that the Christ must endure. They had multitudes of scriptures in the old testament tell of the crucifixion and glorification.   

Luke 24:26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

Christ is telling these disciples that this was the whole point of His coming to earth in the first place. He come into the world to suffer and and be offered as the perfect sacrifice for one and all time's  Those who rejected Christ in the first earth age and the second earth age does not have a second chance. This is their 2nd strike against them. when satan comes, and they follow him again, This is their 3rd and last final strike. this time they are blotted out.

That is how Jesus entered into His glory. He paid the price for those that would believe on His name in repentance; then follow the instructions that was given to us. It was written that those events had to come to pass before His glory would come.

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Christ is telling you that we are to apply what is written in the word. Beginning with Moses' teachings, and continuing with all the prophets. Jesus left not one of the prophets out in His teaching and instructing the disciples. Jesus Christ stressed that all the scriptures be know concerning Him. That includes the book of Genesis, the laws of Moses, the teaching of David through the Psalms, the end time prophecies of Ezekiel, and the Book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is concerning Jesus return at His second advent, and we are to be prepared for it just as Jesus expected these slow minded disciples that walked with Jesus for three years, yet don't know who He is on this road to Emmaus.

In Genesis 3:15 God gave us the first record of Jesus crucifixion.

Genesis 3:15 "And I [God] will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between thy [Satan's] seed [the Kenites] and her Seed [Jesus Christ]; It [Christ] shall bruise thy [Satan's] head, and thou [Satan and the Kenites] shalt bruise His [Christ's] heel."

This took place at the cross, and it is recorded through out the Old Testament that Jesus would be crucified exactly as the event took place. The promise of two advents have prophesied many times in the Old Testament.

Lets go to the book of Romans to finish up this study on hopes.

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.

What does this mean ? Your saved by repentance of sins, thru the shed blood of Christ. IF your saved, Then who saved you ? Christ is the only Savior . So what did Christ save you from ?  The wrath of the Godhead to the children.

So who is this written to ?  To the Elect. if you want to be bound by hope, be careful what you ask God to reveal to you. many people can't handle truth. Once it's revealed unto you, its no longer hope, but Reality  Why ? Because you see it with your Spiritual eyes, its coming to pass before you, and you see the events unfolding in the flesh.

If you don't understand this, God will not allow some people to see what is really going on in this age, or the age before,  Because there mind cannot comprehend truths or believe in them period.

The word " Comprehend " means
* To grasp mentally
* The act or capacity of understanding

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

This is what our faith in Christ is based upon. We hope for that which we cannot see, but the reading of His Words gives us faith and hope in Him.  As we wait for those promises read of, in His Words. As we wait for those promises, it gives us more patience when we see the Glory and Beauty that is waiting ahead for us.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.

The Spirit of God, The Holy Spirit also helps our weaknesses; do you believe that? God helps you in your weakness through the Holy Spirit if you have faith to believe that. If you do not have the faith to believe that, don't worry, He will not help you. To be worthy of the hope you must have the faith in God and in the power of His Holy Spirit. Why would God give a person any authority to act on His behalf, when they don't even believe and respect Him?

God give us the authority and power of His Spirit when we have faith in Him, and belief in His Son, Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ is where we get our power, when we repent of our sins. God will move the Elect to do what he wants done.

 Romans 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Our hearts are our minds, and there is no one that can search your mind except the Spirit of God. God has a plan. The Elect need to be taught His plan. Don't neglect to plant seeds, Words of Truth when giving the opportunity. Only plant a seed, and God does the rest, if there willing to listen at that time.
God wrote that "Will" down through the prophets, and we call that "Will" our Bible. God's Will is not a secret, because it was given over many centuries, through many prophets of God so that you and I living in this final generation would know exactly what His Will was for each of us. When the "saints" ( Elect ) of God are striving to please Him [there is a condition here], then the Spirit will make the intercession for us exactly as it is stated in His Word, or "Will" that He would do.

There is a reason that God will interfere through the Holy Spirit in some lives, and it is given in the next verse.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

" Them " means, All who loves God. Our purpose really isn't important. It is His purpose that is important. In other words those who overcame in the world that was volunteer to come here to teach to the lost that didn't listen to the lord the first time. Christ said he came to seek the lost, not the saved. Why ? He loves you so much

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We aren't talking about freewill here. We are talking about predestination of the Elect from the first earth age.

Strong's Number: 4309 Transliterated: proorizo Phonetic: pro-or-id'-zo
from 4253 and 3724; to limit in advance, i.e. (figuratively) predetermine:
--determine before, ordain, predestinate.

Strong's Number: 3724 Transliterated: horizo Phonetic: hor-id'-zo
from 3725; to mark out or bound ("horizon"), i.e. (figuratively) to appoint, decree, sepcify: declare, determine, limit, ordain.

Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

God is telling you here why He "predestined" them, and how He could do this and yet still have it all be in fairness to God. When God predestinated a person, He also "called" that person. There is a difference between "called" and "chosen"; for many are called, but few are chosen. When God called one to do His work, He also judged [justified] that person at that time. When was that time ?  In the First Earth Age.

The word " Justified " means   " To have already been judged "
Strong's Number: 1344 Transliterated: dikaioo Phonetic: dik-ah-yo'-o
from 1342; to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent: --free, justify(-ier),
be righteous.

Strong's Number: 1342 Transliterated: dikaios Phonetic: dik'-ah-yos
from 1349; equitable (in character or act); by implication, innocent, holy
(absolutely or relatively): --just, meet, right(-eous).

The time of the judging was in the first earth age, at the time of the overthrow of Satan, before the foundations of this flesh age were formed. It was at that time that the Father made those that were "predestinated", "called and judged"

The Elect is to have a similar compassion for lost souls as Christ had. In that first earth age they became the "Zadok" or "the just", or "Elect" of this earth age.

 Rodofiron <> Bible Studys