Graduate Hope

I have been working diligently on my master's degree in biblical counseling throughout this past year. Lord-willing, I have one to two years left, depending on how many classes I can afford to take at a time. But in my recent classes, I had to write several papers, that unbeknownst to me at the starting point, ended up coinciding in such a distinct manner. One, which was to be the defining and application of true biblical hope; another, an exegesis project on I Peter 1:3-9; and finally, a paper outlining my future thesis topic - biblical counseling cross-culturally and inter-racially. All three of these papers ended up signaling me so clearly to a better grasp of HOPE and how the believer's sincere faith automatically results in a genuine hope. A hope that surpasses racial boundaries, a hope that assures the saved man to press on amidst the deepest afflictions, and a hope that produces lasting changes in the sanctified Christian. It would be impossible to share here all the wondrous things the Lord has been teaching me throughout this time, and to point out the careful ways in which my studies related so personally to God's specific providence in my life at this time, but here is a snippet of something from one of my papers:
True biblical hope is defined and applied in Peter’s letter. The reason Christians can rejoice is because of their living hope. This hope is outlined in four key areas. The ground of hope is the mercy of God in causing regeneration within the heart of man. The character of this hope is secure and indestructible. It is not like worldly hope, which will most assuredly perish in the end. The power of this hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ because that is the power of God. Finally, the object of the believers hope is his inheritance in Christ Jesus. All earthly things are decaying, but the believer’s hope is never going to diminish in power or glory because it is an inheritance that has already been given. It is kept for the believer; he does not keep it himself.