{"id":61,"date":"2016-09-29T11:33:28","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T11:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=61"},"modified":"2016-09-29T11:33:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T11:33:28","slug":"7-steps-becoming-person-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/09\/7-steps-becoming-person-hope.html","title":{"rendered":"7 Steps to Becoming a Person of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you’re ready to change your outlook on life\u00a0and become a person of hope, here are seven steps that can\u00a0see hope begin to overflow from within you:<\/p>\n

1). Choose to hope<\/b>. Don\u2019t ever be fooled. Hope is a choice. It\u2019s always been a choice. You are not a slave to your personality. You are not a victim of\u00a0your circumstances. You have the Spirit of the God who created the heavens and the earth living inside of you. You can choose to hope. I know it\u2019s not as easy and simple choosing to hope. It\u2019s a battle. But never ever forget: hope is a choice. If you\u2019re a pessimist, it\u2019s because you choose to be a pessimist. If you\u2019re defeated, it\u2019s because you chose to give up. And if you hope, it\u2019s because you choose to get back up when you\u2019re knocked down and believe in the God of Hope.<\/p>\n

2). Inhale the Word.<\/b> We see this in Romans 15:4<\/a>. The Word of God is given to us to teach us so that we might be encouraged and so that we might have hope. Breathing is about inhaling and exhaling. If you want to breathe hope, you have to start by inhaling the Word, because the Word gives you hope. Every morning when you get up, inhale the Word. On the way to work, don\u2019t get riled up by talk radio, listen to sermons of the many great preachers out there. Some of you need to go on a fast, cut out all tv, all social media, and just feast on the Word until it gets into your pores. If you want to breathe hope, you always have to start with the Word.<\/p>\n

3). Use worship as a weapon.<\/b> In Ephesians 5, Paul talks about the connection between singing and being filled with the Spirit. It\u2019s why we put so much emphasis on singing in our Sunday services. Music connects to the deepest part of you, to your soul. And when you worship through song, you are fighting the lies of the world with the truth of Scripture. So for me, I sing. I\u2019m a singer. I sing a lot. Not just on Sundays. I always have music going, declaring truth to my soul. I\u2019m a big Hillsong fan, and I\u2019ll put that on for hours, because I want to declare the truth and promises of Scripture to my soul. Worship connects the timeless truths of Scripture to the deepest parts of your soul. So worship through song, a lot. Use worship as weapon to fight the lies of the enemy with the truth of God.<\/p>\n

4). Allow others to minister to you.<\/b> When Paul prays in Romans 15:13<\/a> that the God of hope would fill you up with all joy and peace, the \u201cyou\u201d is plural. Our faith is never meant to be practiced alone. We don\u2019t experience the overflowing joy, peace and hope of God until we do it with other believers. That\u2019s why we do life together. That\u2019s why being in a small group with other believers is\u00a0so important. You want hope? Stop trying to live out your faith on your own and allow others to minister to you and help you.<\/p>\n

5). Walk in step with the Spirit.<\/b> The hope of God comes to us through the Holy Spirit. When we\u2019re filled with the Holy Spirit, we\u2019re filled with Hope. In Galatians Paul tells the church that since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Here\u2019s what that means: the Holy Spirit is not stationary. He\u2019s not a one-time experience when you walked an aisle when you were 9. His filling is daily, his power is hourly, and to stay filled with hope, we need to keep in step with the Spirit. We need to be sensitive to the Spirit, we need to listen to the Spirit and obey His promptings. And know this, a Spirit-filled life is not a life of sitting. We\u2019re supposed to walk with the Spirit. And he\u2019ll lead us to people that we can serve. That\u2019s why we serve, not sit as believers. Serving others fills us with the Holy Spirit of hope.<\/p>\n

6). Believe that anyone can be transformed by the power of Jesus.<\/b> Hope never gives up. Romans 15:13<\/a> says we\u2019re filled as we continually trust in the God who created the universe, the God who made all of humanity, the God that\u00a0can save and redeem anyone. There are no lost causes. If God can save the first Christian killer Saul of Tarsus and transform him into the Apostle Paul, then God can save anyone. Don\u2019t ever give up on somebody. It doesn\u2019t matter how long it\u2019s been. It doesn\u2019t matter how far gone they might be. It doesn\u2019t matter if it would take a miracle for their life to be transformed. We believe in the God of miracles!\u00a0Don\u2019t ever give up on anyone!<\/p>\n

7). Exhale contagious hope.<\/b> When we inhale the word, use worship as a weapon, when we do life together and serve not sit, we breathe out a hope that can change lives. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace\u00a0as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re ready to change your outlook on life\u00a0and become a person of hope, here are seven steps that can\u00a0see hope begin to overflow from within you: 1). Choose to hope. Don\u2019t ever be fooled. Hope is a choice. It\u2019s always been a choice. You are not a slave to your personality. You are not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-hope"],"yoast_head":"\n7 Steps to Becoming a Person of Hope - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you're tired of being a Debbie Downer and want to begin radiating hope, here are seven steps to get you going in the right direction.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Steps to Becoming a Person of Hope - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you're tired of being a Debbie Downer and want to begin radiating hope, here are seven steps to get you going in the right direction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/09\/7-steps-becoming-person-hope.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-29T11:33:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2016\/09\/photo-1421986527537-888d998adb74-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Steps to Becoming a Person of Hope - 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