

Titus 1:1-2 (ESV)
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
Reflections:
This word �hope� is a very important one for the Christian. Nowadays, according to Webster�s Dictionary, we define hope as �a feeling that what is wanted will happen; desire accompanied by expectation. We hear folks say, �I sure hope I hit the lottery someday,� or when someone is very ill, and the prognosis is not good, they hope against all hope. Hope is to want something very much, but not really knowing if it will happen or not.
Well, nestled in this list of definitions is the �archaic� (what hope once meant) definition, which is trust, reliance, to expect, look for; to leap up in expectation; to want and expect. This is closer to the biblical definition of hope.
The biblical definition of hope is �favorable and confident expectation; the happy anticipation of good.� It has to do with the unseen and the future. Hope is akin to faith; faith in an immutable truth, i.e., �Christ in you the hope of glory (Col 1:27).�
Just look at verse two of today�s bible portion: in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began. Hope in the goodness of God for our lives, once spoken to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, is a sure promise from God who never lies!
When God says, for instance that, �whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered (Joel 2:32)� He means it! -- we can �take that to the bank!� It�s far better than much fine gold!
So, as Spirit-led Christians, when we hope in God, we do so with a �confident expectation � !�