Hope can be a desperate wish for some impossible results.

Hope can be the wondering about some improbable outcome.

But real hope is the confident anticipation of the positive consequences of my faith.

Even that hope fades. So what do we do? How do we hold on to the Hope?

1. Read the promises.

2. Rehearse the blessings.

3. Recite your faith.

4. Remember the source.

Isaiah 40:31. “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles…”

Make your hopes, not your hurts, be the predictors of your future.

"What is man that Thou art mindful of him? The son of man that You care for Him?" Even the Psalmist struggled with the basic questions of the nature of man. This is the second half of the Systematic Theology lesson on The Nature of Man.

What do we believe about the nature of man? How is our personality, our temperament, our character, shaped by the person God made us to be? And, how does all of that shape our relationship with God? This is a two-week segment from a longer Systematic Theology teaching that I did at my local church this spring. I do not profess to be a scholar. I do claim to be a man that loves God and loves to talk about God, especially in ways that are easy to understand. I hope I've done that here. Welcome to "What Difference Does That Make?" with Dr. Mike Courtney.