Tag: unfriendly world

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Man’s Way Leads to A Hopeless End-God’s Way Leads to Endless Hope

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I will be sharing another excerpt from, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” after to tell you how to get it for a very good price.

Right now you can order the book on this site for only $15.99. It is $19.99 in the retail stores. The shipping has been cut in half as well. A total savings of over $6.00.

The book reaches out to those who suffer from anxiety, and fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, and the many other usual suspects. You may not relate to any of these afflictions, but know of someone that may. Start thinking of Christmas. (I know it is very early, but I went to J.C. Penny yesterday and they already had their Christmas stuff out!)

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Today’s excerpt is chapter 5. It teaches us that we cannot make it in this world without God.

MAN’S WAY LEADS TO A HOPELESS END—GOD’S WAY

is ENDLESS HOPE

  

A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is safe. 

—Proverbs 28:25–26 

THERE ARE TIMES when I think I am doing fine and do not need to worry about tomorrow. I will be strong against the sin that I may face. Every time I feel that way, I fall flat on my face, and I let Satan creep in inch by inch. You give Satan an inch, and he will become the ruler. (Another great bumper sticker!) 

God has a plan for me, and I need to understand that He already had my life planned before I was even born. A plan was begun for mankind before God put the first breath into Adam. God knows my every move. Wherever I go, He will be there with me. 

I sent a saying to my son when he was stationed in Iraq. It said, “I know your name, and I will be with you wherever you go.” That is true for everyone. He knows your name. He is wherever you go. 

God cares for you. 

And God even cares for “little people.” What I mean by little people are the people who come into your church—the ones you don’t want to sit next to because they need a bath. They need help because they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. They are the hungry. Their clothes look like they came from a charity store. 

Let me make sure you understand! God always hears and loves those who seek Him—little people or not. He doesn’t care what they wear. He doesn’t care if they smell. He does care that they are hungry. He does care that they need love—just like you do. 

I realize that to love these people you are going out on a limb, taking a risk. They could take advantage of you. They may want to steal the church offering. But you should embrace them as people of worth and welcome them into your church. God cares about them—and you need to as well. 

Speaking of taking a risk: Don’t you take a risk when you let your daughter go to her first dance alone? Don’t you take a risk when you give the car keys to your son for the fi rst time? You worry about them, but you love them enough to let them stretch their wings a little. They are a little person in your eyes yet. They are still your little girl or boy, but you trust them enough to let them enjoy increasing independence. 

Our heavenly Father takes a risk with His children every day. He lets us stretch our wings. He trusts us to do the right things.We don’t always do the right things, but God loves us just the same as you would still love your children if they didn’t make the right decisions. 

We often try to make decisions without God’s help. But as the bumper sticker says, “Man’s way leads to a hopeless end.” 

Try to remember the risk takers from the Bible. Think of David and his sling shot, Mary washing Jesus’ feet, Abraham raising his knife to kill his son. They took the risk, but they relied on God to help them. They had a heavenly Parent to trust them and protect them. He let them stretch their wings because, “God’s way leads to endless hope.” 

Stay with God’s way, and the narrow path you walk will lead to,endless hope. The wider path leads to destruction, disappointment, shame and despair. You may stretch your wings if you wish, but stay the course that God has in mind for you, and you will receive the final reward—the eternal love of your heavenly Parent. 

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 

—1 John 4:16 

Further Adventures 

Man’s way does lead to a hopeless end. We have all been there. You think everything is going great and that you don’t need God to help you during that time. Like clockwork, something knocks you to your knees, and you are praying (crying) to God to help you through it. 

Let me suggest an alternative: Pray without ceasing! Let God know every day about your day. If it was a good day, thank Him for it. If it was a bad day, ask for His loving care. It is so easy to get in touch with God. It is a much better way to communicate than any electronic invention man has come up with. It is similar to e-mail, except you would call it knee mail. 

Something to Ponder 

Isn’t it funny that if God is for us, no one can be against us?

Remember: Never, ever, give up!

 

 

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Mighty Mouse is on the Way. Mighty Mouse will Save the Day

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Over at my blog: www.dailysignsofhope.com, the sign-up is incredible. I had 17 people sign-up for the RSS feed in one day and it has averaged 10 people a day. because of that the site is ranked # 2 out of over five million similar sites. (Yes, that is  millions.) Check it out and see why so many people are signing up there, and come back and do it here to see the rankings sky rocket here as well.

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Here is another excerpt from my book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.”  This book reaches out to those who suffer from anxiety, fear, depression self-doubt, addictions and hopelessness.

This excerpt is my top 20 countdown to find ways to cope in this not so friendly world.

(My apologizes for the font size changes on the countdown list. I can’t seem to correct that. They were fine in the book I copied them from.)

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                    DON’T DESPAIR—MIGHTY MOUSE

 

                                     WILL SAVE THE DAY

 

I use to love the cartoon “Mighty Mouse.” The song always got me pumped: “Mighty Mouse is on the way. Mighty Mouse will save the day!”

 Here is the Doug Bolton “Top 20 Countdown” that will help you save the day and love God. With apologies to David Letterman.

20.Do you have trouble getting to know someone? Is it hard for you to make friends? Remember: Strangers are family once you get to know them.

19. The world is divided into two categories: the ones who will accomplish a great deal, and those who won’t accomplish anything. You will be the one who will accomplish much, if you allow God to help you.

18. No one is going to love you more if you are fat or skinny. They will love you because of the person you are.

17.  When you hate someone and want them to hurt, you hurtyourself. Spend more time trying to help others feel good about themselves, and you will feel good about yourself too.

16. You do not need to let stress control you. You do not need to be a workaholic. It is OK to rest. Jesus takes over when you can’t cope.

15. When you feel depressed because of losing a loved one, remember God knows your pain. He saw His only Son buried.

14. When someone is trying to degrade you, it is time for selective hearing.

13. You just took another breath while you read this. Thank God for it.

12. When you marry, you need to stay together even when the skin starts to wrinkle and the excitement fades.

11. God’s goal is not to make us happy; it is to make us His. It is not to give us what we want; it is to give us what we need.

10. If God doesn’t come to your rescue right away, maybe Heis waiting until you give away your pride.

9. Don’t apply labels to people until you have examined the contents.

8. Everyone is unique even down to the fingerprints and DNA. God has a plan just for you and wants you to use the talent He gave you. Yes, you!

7. The greater the future you have, the greater the attack willbe from the prince of darkness. Pray for God’s protection, and Satan will be fish bait!

6.While you can’t control someone else’s heart, you can control yours.

5. Don’t say, “Thanks, God, I can take it from here,” and then not check in with God until the next crisis. Pray without ceasing.

4. All the great hitters in baseball fail two out of three times.

3. The most common command in the Bible? “Fear not.”

2. Practice makes perfect. Study God’s Word each day and learn more of His love for you.

AND the number one reason you will conquer depression is … (Drum roll please)

1. God made you in His own image. Shouldn’t that make you think He wants everything to go well for you? Trust Him to provide all your needs—emotionally, physically and spiritually.

The teacher blood left in me now has an assignment. Start your own positive list of thoughts to help you fight off depression. Read it every day and add to it. 

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

You can make it through a life that was a swamp full of alligators and horrible storms! Now you can  move on to more sunny days. You can  move on to where there is hope. You can move on to the light at the end of the tunnel. You can move away from those alligators that will be made into shoes if they don’t leave you alone.

Depression and the many other mental afflictions do not go away in a flash. I still have bouts with them from time to time, but I quickly concentrate on the positive. I concentrate on God and all His love He has to share with me. I concentrate on my family, my children, my grandchildren. I concentrate on the good things that have happened in my life.

Because I do all that, I see that the pluses far outweigh the negatives every time. It is like the song says: “Count your blessings; name them one by one. Count your many blessings; see what God has done.”

If you can’t think of enough blessings, know that I love you with all my heart, and so do millions of other people who suffer with the many afflictions in their lives. We know your pain, and we are praying for you daily.

We are many, and Satan is only one stupid misguided angel. We can defeat him if we all work together. We are an unbeatable team when we have one goal. That goal is to live productive Christian lives in which we stand on solid ground, not on the shifting sands of our emotions.

Prayer has saved my hide more than I want to admit. My hide would be hanging on Satan’s prized trophy wall if God hadn’t saved me. Now Satan is grass and I am the lawn mower with God’s help.

This can be the way it is in your life as well.

Never, ever, give up!

 

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Worry Never Gains us One More Breath of Life

I am back from a trip to Wisconsin. (That is  a state in the United States, for those of you who live in another country.) It was a relaxing, but grueling trip of getting up very early every day to go onto the next adventure.

I am back now, and should be posting on a regular basis.

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One of the amazing things we saw was while we were in the Glacier National Park. (Look this up through Google. You will also be amazed.)

We were able to see a mother brown bear and two cubs, walking along the  road we were traveling on. They ran up the hill when they saw us coming. We also saw mountain goats, and big horned sheep.

These weren’t at a zoo. They were in the wild, and it seems so different when you see them there.

Of course there were the Glacier Mountains as well. They were as high as 10,000 feet above us as we drove through them. Majestic doesn’t seem to be enough to describe them.

All of this was placed here by our God. God doesn’t make mistakes and He sure didn’t here.

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I mentioned at one time that I was going to start sharing excerpt from my book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” I will be sharing an excerpt today.  The book reaches out to those who suffer from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, or hoplessness. This is Chapter 12:

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                                 WORRY IS THE DARK ROOM

                                WHERE NEGATIVES DEVELOP

 

                                                  CHAPTER

                                                        12

 

 

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

—James 1:12

I had  A real dream the other night, and it was a western. It had me tossing and turning until the outcome unfolded.

The wonderful thing about dreams is that no matter how terrifying they are in the beginning, they almost always turnout for the good in the end. You notice that you never quite get caught by the monster that is chasing you.

Isn’t it fun when you are flying and you can see everyone below you? I just flap myarms, and I fl y. (OK, I know you’re thinking, “This guy is crazy!”)

How about the fact that you are the hero and you always save the day? Everything is wonderful. That is how life can be if you follow God. It doesn’t pay to worry, have anxiety and be full of fear. It doesn’t pay to be full of shame. It doesn’t pay one cent tobe gossiping all the time. My dream is an example of that.

The characters:

The good guys: Matthew, Mark, John

Stranger on a white horse

The bad guys: Anxiety, Gossip, Shame, Death

Matthew, Mark, John and the Stranger—the four good guys—were riding on their horses through Sin City towards the Not OK Corral. Hiding from them were Anxiety, Gossip, Shame and Death—the four bad guys. They didn’t want the good guys to findthem and stop the harm they were doing. They had control of all the people in the city and they wanted to keep control. Matthew, Mark and John were riding on brown horses because that was what they rode in those days. The Stranger was riding on a white horse.

The good guys were not gunslingers, they were Bible-slingers. The good guys got down off their horses and went searching for Anxiety, Gossip, Shame and Death.

Matthew found Anxiety leering around a corner trying to see where everyone was. Anxiety had a worried look on his face. He kept looking everywhere in fear—in back of him and in front of him. He didn’t know what to do.

Anxiety (aka worry) can be caused by a doctor’s appointment that holds the results of a blood test. It can be wondering if you can pay this month’s bills. It could be from a dispute you had with your wife. Whatever the case, from stage left comes Matthew, who says to Anxiety: “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for what He has done” (taken from Philippians 4:6).

Anxiety felt like a ton of weight had been taken off his shoulders, and he left the Not OK Corral much happier. Anxiety was gone.

Mark was looking for Gossip. When he found him, Gossip was talking so fast Mark couldn’t understand him. Gossip said, “Did you see Clem at the Horse’s Breath Saloon? He said he would never take another drink, and I just saw him walk in there!”

Gossip can ruin a person’s life. Talking about someone behind their back can only spread hurt and can cause unwanted hardship.

Mark put his hand over Gossip’s mouth and said: “As charcoal to embers and as wood to fi re, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Proverbs 26:21–22).

Gossip was dumbfounded and was unable to speak further. He went away with a swollen tongue and was gone. There was no more gossip.

John found Shame hiding in a closet because he was so ashamed of what he had done all his life. He didn’t want anyone to see him this way.

Shame is often the last fatal nail in the heart of a person who is hurting from something they did in the past. Turn anything you are ashamed of over to God, and He will wipe it out of His books.

John felt pity for him and said, “If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name”

(1 Peter 4:16).

Shame rose and came out of the closet. He was a different man. He felt self-worth. He felt he was loved. He wanted to learn more about God. After this, Shame was gone. There was no more shame.

Then the Stranger went right to where Death was, for He knew where everyone was, and what they were doing every second of the day.

Death was a hideous creature. He was caring a sword and had a look on his face that would melt anyone who looked into his eyes.

He really was the leader of this gang. There was fire coming out of his ears, and he laughed a chilling laugh. (This is the part where I was tossing, and turning!) He said, “You may have calmed the rest of my gang, but you have no power over me. Everyone has to die, and I will wait until they come to me.”

Yes, death will happen to all of us, but if we are under God’s protective wing, we do not have to fear death. It is just a stepping stone to be with our heavenly Father. You can be assured that the angels are waiting for the moment you are ready to be with theLord. It is like a parent anticipating a newborn. The angels will say, “Cool, here comes another one to be with us in heaven.”

The Stranger took off His cloak, and uncovered his head. It was Jesus. Jesus walked up to Death and said, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Death spun around in pain and, weaker but still standing,turned back toward Jesus. Jesus said, talking to God: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (from Psalm 23:4). Death began to wither and fell to the ground. He had no more power over people any longer.

So there was no more anxiety, no more gossip, no more being ashamed, and most importantly, no more death.

God is the final power. He controls all things. We can stop worrying about anything. Worrying and fear does not gain us one more minute in a day—and it saps our strength. Turn your anxiety, gossiping, shame and the fear of death over to Him, and He will send them on their way.

The four horsemen got on their horses and headed to the next town to see what gangs might have settled there. As they rode into the sunset, they all sang praises to God and worshipped Him.

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

—Romans 2:7

 

Further Adventures

Have you had one of those bad guys come into your life? Have you been faced with anxiety? Has someone said something about you to someone else that wasn’t true? Do you live in shame for past sins that you cannot get out of your mind? Have you lost a loved one? Always remember that God is always there. He knows what your anxiety is. He knows about the gossip that has been spread about you. He wants you to throw away your shame, like it was a broken toy.

And remember that death has no power if your loved one was a Christian. God is the final Word. He controls everything. Lean on Him through whatever trial you are going through. You will have some storms come into your life, but God is there to help calm them for you.

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says?

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You can see that every chapter will have a Further Adventures, and Something to Ponder at the end of each chapter. People have told me that they really like this. They read a chapter a day and then use the principles at the end of each chapter to help them through the day.

You can order this book right from this site. Just go up to the top of this page and click on “Bookstore.” There will be description of the book, and a copy of the cover there.

There is a special price going on right now so don’t miss it.

BTW…. Never, ever, give up!