Thursday, November 27, 2025

Hope that Burns within us

 

Hope that Burns within us

In Nut-shell 

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Lk. 24: 32. 

Strong's Greek: 1680. ἐλπίς (elpis) -- Hope - Bible Hub

faith, hope. From a primary elpo (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence -- faith, hope.[1]

Strong's Hebrew: 8615. תִּקְוָה (tiqvah) -- Hope, expectationzzz

תִּקְוָה combines two complementary images: (1) a physical cord that binds or secures, and (2) an inner attitude of confident expectation. The word moves effortlessly between these senses …[2]

This love is not just a gentle whisper; we can explain as something like a roaring fire, which can even burn up to ignite hearts around us. This is not a pilot light in our furnace  we see, but that which blazes up but like a roaring inferno out of control.  

We are called to embrace, this fire that burns steadily within our hearts, which is fully enveloped in Christ’s love. We know in our hearts we cannot contain this fire and wanted to pass on to others, the perishing hearts. This love is contagious and transform other hearts.

         God’s love isn’t given to us in a trickle, but it is poured out in our hearts. God’s unwavering love fuels our passions and guides our paths; and rekindles this fire and it gets passed on.  

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us; Rom. 5: 5.

 “The love of God is like light to a blind eye until the Holy Ghost opens that eye… may the Holy Spirit now be here in each one of us, to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts.” (Spurgeon) 

[Greek words for love, expresses love in 3 different levels:

Agape (unconditional love); Phileo (brotherly love, friendship), and eros (erotic love).

Hebrew language has many different words which are “rendered as love.”: אהב (ahav) “love”,  Ohev means “to love”, “אוהב” (ohev), for a male speaker, or “אוהבת” (ohevet), for a female speaker. racham ( רחם) means compassion, or tender mercies, Dode means “beloved” as in spousal love “ דודה, and  Chen means grace and beauty.][3]

“Your love to Christ especially lacks the genuine stamp if it is never roused to jealousy by the malice of foes and the faithlessness of professed friends of our Lord. (Spurgeon)

 “The love on which a beautiful love is built is a persevering flame burning as brightly at the beginning as it does later on.” (Glickman)

When we become a Christian we receive the Holy Spirit; Rom. 8: 9. Unfortunately not every Christian live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit; Ephe. 5: 18; and do not walk in the Spirit, Rom. 8: 4-5.

                                                  The law Paul was referring to;

For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law;

Rom. 13: 8.

The reason for this debt is, “for the one who loves another has fulfilled (pleroo) the law.”  

      Consider this, if God’s love may be more effective, for cognitive development, we are standing in need of God’s mercy in our lives. Faith does not contradict reason, though it may go beyond reason and it is a willingness to trust in, to rely on, and to cling to His promises. This leads to the Hope that burns within us because of Christ’s love.

“Physical eyesight produces a conviction or evidence of visible things; faith is the organ which enables people to see the invisible order.” (Bruce)

          Cognitive development requires intention, curiosity, and grace of God tremendously. When wisdom takes root, love automatically flourishes from within and help us to move in grace towards people around us.

             Wisdom also enable us to protect our heart and mind, free us from fear, worry, anxiety and other issues of the heart which can draw us away from God. Efforts to capture our thoughts in a disciplined way with God’s word as authoritative rather than uncontrolled letting them chaotically run will bring about impressive changes in how we feel and think.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied; 1Pet. 1: 2.

Cognitive development is more than intelligence; it’s a transformation. It’s the steady renewal of the mind through Scripture, study, and spiritual awareness. As our understanding grows, we draw closer to the wisdom that sustains faith, guides relationships, and anchors purpose in every season of life. When we commit to developing our thinking, we also protect our hearts from confusion and fear. Every time we choose to grow, God meets us in the process.[4]

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night; Psa. 1:1-2.

       The fire that burns within us, our hearts cannot contain. Keep the fire burning; the hope that burns within us; the darkness cannot destroy!



[1]https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=299&q=Greek+word+for+hope&cvid=5b55b987d1

[2]https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=299&q=Hebrew+word+for+hope&cvid=a1a232d601

[3] Noah's chen, translated as "favour", exempted him from the diluvian fate of his contemporaries, but what does chen mean? It also means grace and beauty, as in "Chen is deceptive; beauty is illusory" (Proverbs 31:30). One senses that chen is a type of attractiveness that might be superficial or unearned.

[4] Cognitive Growth And Development: God’s Gift For Mind Shift - LoveFlocks

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