With all the uncertainty the world is facing today I hear people speak about hoping things will be different as we approach each new year. Many people use the word hope loosely in modern language, without really thinking about it. You might hear someone say, I hope you feel better soon or I hope the job interview goes well. You hear people say they hope things will go back to normal, they hope for a better future; for things to change. Without hope the soul falls into despair, which is why many people struggle with depression and anxiety.

Being hopeful is part of the design God set in man’s soul as the God-Code within is inclined to project for one’s own peace and to set order for increase. In the examples above you can hear how false hope is joined to the expectation of a different outcome than the current situation people find themselves in. But hopeful projection is not the same as the true hope that is joined to Jesus Christ and the promises He set within His covenant.

When the world speaks about hope it is in light of projected outcomes, but it is important to know that when God speaks about hope it has to do with aligning your expectations to Jesus Christ. This distinction is crucial to grasp, because hope outside of God’s covenant is false and carries no substance; therefore setting the soul up for inevitable disappointment and disillusionment.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

You cannot see the outcome of your expectation when it is only a projection of your imagination, can you? There is no substance to hope outside of Christ, which is why we cannot serve God with the imagination still in play. A projected outcome plays out in the imagination of man, whereas faith follows the record of Jesus Christ, whereby the soul experiences living contact with God – hope so gaining substance.

Faith does not follow the path of projection with the imagination, as God did not sanctify the imagination for faith, but provided Jesus’ spiritual priesthood for our faith’s effective functioning. Faith does not work like the flesh; faith is the substance of things hoped for – that means that there is no projected outcome, but rather the reality of God’s promises being fulfilled as you join yourself to His record. Faith places the focus on our labor with the tools of the covenant which carry a sustaining power within the soul where hope is anchored in Christ.

Because God anchored our faith in Jesus Christ, it is not moved by troubling circumstances or uncertain outcomes. Jesus is the consistent anchor of your hope when you believe in His testimony (reflect, rehearse and reciprocate His truth) and mold your confidence and trust to Him.

Active faith keeps hope alive, while misplaced expectations leave the soul void of substance. Hope is kept alive in the activity of faith, as is also the peace and rest and increase that you experience in each of the elements that make up the record of Christ. By the due order God designed in Jesus’ spiritual priesthood, these elements work together to form Christ in the soul and our hope is made not ashamed as we place our confidence and trust in His record to bring His work in us to completion. (Romans 5:5)

When your expectation shifts towards a projected outcome, hope becomes something you look forward to, not something you are experiencing daily. Hope joined to misplaced expectations leaves the soul wanting, wondering if what you hope for will be realized; and many ministers have mistakenly defined this false hope as faith, which is why God is bringing correction to the church in this season of restoration.

When faith is misdirected to hoping for things that have no guarantee of turning out the way you hoped for, it is not faith. This is a misplaced expectation. This kind of false hope and misappropriation of faith leaves the soul void of substance, yet we read that faith gives substance to hope. This is why God has made known His expectation for faith according to the record of Jesus Christ that believers can be restored to the terms of His holy covenant wherein He provided the instruction of sanctified stewardship as a refuge to rightly direct faith unto a living hope in Christ.

Hope has to be placed in Jesus’ covenant provision; not in the flesh’ desire for favorable outcomes. We place our hope in Jesus when faith is according to God’s design of sanctified contact for divine increase, sealed within the terms of His new covenant. Expectation follows the promise we hope for. Without the knowledge of Christ, man naturally will follow the expected outcome as driven by the imagination of man.

Let’s look at how God defines hope as I quote from the EVA Terms Glossary, available within our IDCCST Course online:

Expectation is according to promise and all God’s promises are in Jesus Christ. Our expectation of faith is according to the record of Christ; therefore, our hope is never cut off for it is carried by the Spirit. God set Himself as the original record for all to follow to know Him.

…By our labor with the tools of Christ, the Spirit of God gives substance to our hope (of knowing Him and having God form Christ within) thus giving evidence of Christ in our faith.

…When life is viewed through Satan’s forgery then our hope is placed in the many philosophies that ring true because it is true to the testimony of man, but it does not give substance for faith. The true hope of faith is where the Spirit carries the testimony of God within the soul. False hope is philosophical hope. It does not carry the testimony of God; it carries the testimony of man.

Every believer hopes for a living relationship with God; they hope to hear His voice, to know Him and His will. This hope is not a floating desire, but a true experience within the environment of a covenant relationship, where all God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Hereby, He is the living testimony and eternal hope that we daily experience through the many tangible evidences of His power and presence in our faith.

When you place your faith in His record, by using the things He sanctified for you to touch Him, your hope gains substance through living experience because it is joined to God’s promises. The tangible presence of God experienced within the spiritual tools He sanctified for faith, is a source of great confidence and strength, renewing your hope daily. God gives substance to your hope of knowing Him, and hope is no longer joined to the false expectation of, for instance, searching the scripture to find Him, or hoping to receive a word of confirmation concerning your needs, or hoping for God to step in and change circumstances.

By touching God through Jesus’ contact points for faith, we are living in the reality of His Holy Spirit bearing witness to Jesus Christ, to confirm your faith as pleasing to God. This reality is what keeps you rooted and anchored in Him; experiencing the exhortation, edification and comfort He promised to those who believe.

As believers make that choice to transition to His covenant, they rejoice in the living contact with God which their souls so deeply longed for, as they are encouraged and exhorted daily to keep the focus on the plan of God; to taste of those eternal promises that are found in Jesus Christ; to keep expectation firmly rooted in Christ.

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,