Romans 15:2-6, 13 (NKJV): Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.' For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 John 4:7-11 (NKJV): Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
WITHOUT FAITH, it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASE GOD, but WITH FAITH come HOPE and LOVE through GOD, for GOD is both the GOD of HOPE and the GOD of LOVE, and He commands us as BELIEVERS, as FOLLOWERS of JESUS and as CHILDREN BORN of HIM to HOPE in HIM; to WALK by FAITH, NOT by SIGHT; to TRUST in HIM with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding; to SURRENDER unto Him our whole hearts, souls, minds, and might; to SEEK HIM first; to SERVE HIM faithfully; to WORSHIP HIM daily, to PRAY TO HIM ceaselessly; to GLORIFY HIS NAME; to YIELD to HIS WILL; to REVERE HIS SPIRIT; to BELIEVE HIS WORD--HIS PROMISES; and to LIVE IN and THROUGH HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST, TRUSTING that ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD to those who LOVE GOD and are CALLED according to HIS PURPOSE and BELIEVING that NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US shall prosper and that GREATER is HE IN US than he in the world.
The GOD of HOPE is OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, OUR LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, and OUR COMFORTER, the HOLY SPIRIT, and HE, GOD, urges us to HOPE in HIM and to EDIFY others, INSPIRING them to HOPE as well.
Secondly, GOD is LOVE and He commands us to LOVE HIM and to LOVE OTHERS as OURSELVES. This LOVE speaks LIFE, not death; it ENCOURAGES and UPLIFTS, MOTIVATES and BUILDS UP, GLORIFYING GOD and EDIFYING OTHERS, who, in turn, BLESS OTHERS, PAYING LOVE FORWARD, and this LOVE is ETERNAL; it is PATIENT and KIND, and it keeps NO RECORD of WRONG, but it FORGIVES, and it NEVER FAILS.
HOPE and LOVE are the GIFTS GOD GIVES US everyday by GRACE through FAITH in HIS SON JESUS, through the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT, and these are what GOD BLESSES US WITH in HIS WORD in 1 Corinthians 13:13, so we'll PRESS ON TOWARD the PRIZE of OUR HIGH CALLING, even through adversity, for GOD'sWORD declares, 'And now these three remain: FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE. But the greatest of these is LOVE.'
So, regardless of our circumstances, whether good or bad, GOD IS WITH US, never to leave us or forsake us, and as long as we have FAITH, and we BELIEVE and TRUST in the FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT, we will have ETERNAL HOPE and LOVE, and we will have ETERNAL LIFE through HIM--JESUS CHRIST, the ANOINTED ONE.
