It means “to draw out, draw away, prolong, or scatter.” That is the enemy’s plan – he prolongs the manifestation of what we’ve activated our faith for. Deferred is defined from Hebrew word māŝak. One of the ways the enemy attacks is through trying to defer our hope. Scripture declares we aren’t supposed to allow the enemy to get the advantage over us, “for we are not ignorant of his devices.” According to 1 Corinthians 15:57, we have been given the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. We aren’t promised a life without hardship, but the good news is we have the ability to overcome whatever the enemy throws at us with Christ. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” The reality of life is that trouble and problems will come. The connection must not be broken or severed for life to continue. John 15:4 in the Amplified Classic Bible says, “Dwell in me and I will dwell in you Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me.” Vital is defined “of, relating to, or the characteristic of life, necessary to the continuation of life, life-sustaining.” United is defined as “combined into a single entity.” So, to be “vitally united to the vine” creates a picture of life-sustaining one-ness with Christ Jesus – Him in us and us in Him. A branch “cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in me.” Abide is translated from the Greek word mēnô and defined “to stay in a given place, state, relation or expectancy.” Dwelling, remaining, continuing, aren’t simply implied, they’re specified. In verse four, Jesus denotes that a branch must stay connected to the vine. Jesus discusses the vine and its branches. We have an example of this in John 15:1-8. It draws items closer and closer together. Tiavâ is from qāvâ, which means “to bind together, perhaps by twisting.” It also speaks of expecting, looking for, waiting, and gathering together. Keeping the connection is a prerequisite. However, the life he gives doesn’t happen automatically. Jesus declared in John 10:10 that he came to give us abundant life. Hope kept the psalmist connected to the One who gave him life. It was the place he drew what he needed from God. In the passage of Scripture, the psalmist specifies “hope” as that attaching cord. This attachment cord brings blood supply, nourishment, necessary bodily functions to infants forming in their mother’s womb. Hope attaches and binds us to what we are expecting, to what we long for.Ī cord can have many applications, but there is one cord that illustrates what the psalmist is imparting. It also points to “thing(s) that I long for.” So, what is the psalmist saying? He has a hope, a cord of attachment, connecting him to God, the thing he longed for. However, the root word focuses on cords, literally cords of attachments. Tiavâ is used 34 times in Scripture, and according to the Blue Letter Bible, 23 times it’s translated hope. Psalm 71:5 says, “For thou art my hope, O God: thou art my trust from my youth.” The psalmist announces that God is his hope, his tiqvâ. In this third installment of the hope series, I want to talk about the hope that ties, binds and holds our lives together. Over the last few weeks, we have discussed the biblical perspective of persistent, yet patient, hope and a secure trusting hope. For example, tying up a boat to a dock or securing an airplane on the tarmac. However, there are instances where a tight knot is warranted. Ladies, have you ever gotten a delicate necklace chain in a knot and thought tossing it in the trash was the only solution? Gentlemen, have you gotten a fishing line so tangled that your only option was slicing and dicing it? When something is unintentionally tied in knots it can be frustrating, even infuriating trying to untangle the mess.
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