Tag: self-doubt and hopelessness

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God Isn’t Dead. I just Talked to Him This Morning

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We have the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” in our bookstore. This book reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, and the many other usual suspects.

You can check it out by clicking on the “Bookstore,” tab at the top of this page. There is a special sale going on right now. A savings of over $6.00 if you order from this site.

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Today’s excerpt is letting us know that God is alive and doing well. It is people who have walked away. God  has always been there.

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Chapter 40

 

God Isn’t Dead. I Just Talked to Him This Morning

 

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

John 11:25–26

 

In winter I used to look out the window at our old house and see the tree out front. “That tree looks dead! We need to cut it down!” I’d announce.Charlottealways asked me to leave it.

The freezing rains, all too common inOregon, attacked the tree and made it look even worse. Limbs would break off during the storms, and it had burns from the ice! I couldn’t see how that tree was going to make it.

Of course, every spring, the tree sprang back to life (maybe that’s why it’s called spring!) and it looked like the tree would make it another year. Leaves budded and covered up the wounds. That tree seemed to look at me through my office window and say, “Don’t give up on me! I’ll show you beauty in the summer!”

Spring always brings back the flowers and the trees in their beautiful riot of color. It is my favorite time of the year. Everything is starting over and has a fresh look to it. In a very real sense, it is being born again.

Jesus also did this in the spring when He was crucified, died and rose again. He did this for each of us so we will always have a way to be with Him in heaven. There is only one way to get to heaven—through the Lord Jesus Christ. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to have close encounters with His people, and to be crucified on earth so that we may have eternal life. What a sacrifice the Lord made for us. His blood cleansed us and made us as clean and pure as newly bloomed flowers. HHe knows that we will be in His garden some day.

Like that tree in my yard, many of us in this world seem to be dead or dying. We look like we have been attacked by freezing rain. We have wounds of hunger, illness, sin and anxiety.

Do you feel like you’re always walking against the wind, with freezing rain pelting your face? Do you think God has no time for you? Do you wonder if anyone cares? Do you win some battles, but feel like you’re losing the war?

You may feel like a tiny speck of sand on the beach. How can God worry about you when there are billions of people on this earth?

You must have missed the class, “God Is Everywhere 101.” We all need to know that God has something good planned—even though the situation is seemingly disastrous.

 

Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:17–18

 

He is only a prayer away. We can think of Him as being right next to us at all times, because He is. We can talk to Him right now, and share our burdens with Him. I do this often, and the peace I always feel melts away all that freezing rain and lets me flourish again like that tree in the springtime.

God is not dead. I talk to Him every day. Anyone can. He wants to hear from us and soothe our hurts and fears.

 

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:12–13

 

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:3

 

Further Adventures

Read Matthew16:21through Matthew 28:20 with your family so that everyone hears what Jesus went through for us. This may take several days, but read it slowly and discuss it as you go. This will let your children hear the words and ask questions you can discuss as a family.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny that though we live in the world, we as Christians do not wage war as the world does?

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Love People and Use Things-Not Love Things and Use People

 Please sign-up for the RSS feed to this site, if you haven’t already. It helps us move up in the Google Search Rankings. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post to do that.

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The book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to survive in an Unfriendly World,” Is now available in the bookstore on this site. This books reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, and the many other usual suspects. You probably know of someone in that boat, and this book can help them a great deal.

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Today there is another excerpt from the book, Signs of Hope Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” It talks about what our priorities should be. We should put people first, and not things first.

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Chapter 39

 

                 Love People and Use Things—Not Love Things and Use People

 

Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of people around you; for the Lord, your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

Deuteronomy 6:13–15

 

People have idols they worship or hold in such high regard that the idol consumes them and nothing else matters. An example of this is the Beatlemania we went through in the 1960s or the rabid fans of Elvis Presley who unabashedly consider him their idol—even in the 21st century.

Every idol has his “groupies,” those who follow the idol everywhere, screaming, crying and fainting just because they’re in the same vicinity as their idol. Many times groupies wait for hours to see their idol come out of a hotel just to get a look at him—and maybe even get an autograph.

What makes a person get into such a frenzy over someone like the Beatles or Elvis is hard to comprehend, but it happens all the time with famous people. I think the Beatles were great. I loved many of their songs, but I wouldn’t go out and chase after them. Elvis Presley, too, had a tremendous following, and fans still make pilgrimages toGraceland. Never been there myself.

Having a false idol or god—whether it’s a person, a pastime or a possession—does not make the Lord very happy. It could be cars, gambling, money, a romance, or any number of things. In fact, it could be a legitimate interest, but it has taken over your life and has become more important to you than anything else, including your relationship to God.

When we fall into something that takes over our lives—something we know isn’t right for us—we need to get back to the basics of reading the Bible and having God be the only one we worship! It’s never too late to get back to God while we’re alive and breathing. We can’t until it’s too late.

We need to talk to God about our priorities and make sure they fall into this order:

God first

Family second

Our jobs third

It may seem hard to keep things in this order sometimes, but the rewards of doing so are much greater than we understand.

Putting God first may take some sacrifice on your part, but sacrifice is nothing to be ashamed of. God loves those who sacrifice for Him: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

There is a huge difference between being religious and being a Christian. There are few things quite as boring as being religious (just going through the motions—“talking the talk”), but there is nothing quite as exciting as being a Christian (“walking the talk”). In fact, Christians should “talk the talk,” “walk the talk,” “walk the walk,” and “talk the walk.” Think about it.

You don’t need to try to live up to some idol like the Beatles or Elvis. Don’t compare yourself to them. Compare yourself to God. That should be your goal.

Do you need to hear this in surround sound? YOU DO NOT NEED TOTRYTO BE LIKE ANYONEELSE!

God knew you before you were born. He already had plans for you before He formed you in your mother’s womb.

You are as important to Him as Moses, Abraham or David. He had plans for them, and they helped change the world. Think about it: If you don’t become the person God planned for you to be, who will?

 

Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.

Proverbs: 27:20

 

Further Adventures

Read 1 Corinthians 10:1–22 (all the verses so you get the total meaning—no shortcuts!).

Take a good look at your own life and write down each thing that is important to you. Use a separate line for each item (your car, your job, your baseball card collection, etc.), leaving space between entries. Now cut the items into separate strips. Place them on a second sheet of paper in the order of their importance to you.

How much rearranging would you have to do if I now told you to put them in the order God desires? Go ahead and then tape each item down. You can use this visual reminder about your priorities and how to pray when they get out of whack.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny that idols have many followers, but many of them have nowhere to go?

 

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Give Sin an Inch, and it will Become the Ruler

 I missed a few days. I was out of the area on a trip with my wife. Glad to be back, and in a good routine again.

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I would love it if you would sign-up for the RSS feed to this site. It helps the site move up in the Google Search Rankings. If you haven’t already, please sign-up now. Just click in the icon right after the title.

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Today’s free excerpt from the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,”  is about thinking that one sin won’t hurt us too much. The truth is that it is just a stepping stone to big problems.

__________________________________________________________

The book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, or the many other usual suspects.

There is a special sale going on right now, for this book, in the bookstore. You can go up to the top of this page, and click on “Bookstore,” to see the special deal. There is a $6.00 savings right now.

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Chapter 38

 

Give Sin an Inch, and It Will Become the Ruler

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

 

The boy had been a loyal member of his church, and he loved the Lord. One day he was with some of his school buddies, who offered him some marijuana. He said no. His friends said he should try it just once—it won’t hurt him. They told him people even use it for medicinal purposes. He decided it wouldn’t hurt just to try it once to impress his friends.

To shorten this story, in many cases, this young man goes on to try more marijuana and eventually experiments with much more dangerous drugs. He may also need to find ways to get the money he needs to keep his habit going. The story could end with his eternal death if he never has a close encounter with God along the way.

It is so easy to give in and just try one sin—just “one little one.” But one sin leads to another, and another, and another!

Inch by inch, anything can happen. We can be closer to the Lord, inch by inch, if we take a little time each day to read the Bible. If we also take time and pray to Him for strength, we’ll be much less prone to wander away from Him.

It’s sort of like lifting weights to get in shape. If we spend just twenty minutes a day working out, we will be in very good shape. Watch our diet as well and we’ll be healthy. We’ll be spiritually healthy if we spend time each day with the Lord, getting nourished by His Word and exercising our spiritual muscles in prayer.

Instead of giving sin an inch, our desire needs to be to “inch” toward what should be the most important goal in our lives: to be strong in our love for the Lord and to be in spiritual shape Him.

No one can say they are in perfect spiritual shape—not even the “best” Christian you know—at least, not this side of heaven. There will always be times when we have sinful desires. There will always be temptation. But we can make wise choices by avoiding unnecessary temptations. (Sort of like not stocking the cupboards with cookies and candy when you want to cut back on calories.) 

As long as we are in our earthly bodies, we will wrestle with Satan, who is fighting to control us. He lost ground when we accepted God’s salvation and he wants that territory back!

When we allow God to renew our minds because we constantly think about Him and His Word, our minds will eventually be renewed with the truth. However, it is a lifelong process—not a one-time, done deal.

Galatians5:16says, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Notice it doesn’t say the desires aren’t there. It doesn’t say they will go away. We will always be battling the desires of our body—even as a believer. Even though Satan may be battling even harder to regain his lost turf, as believers, we have the Holy Spirit inside us to do battle with us.

To walk in the Spirit, we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to protect us 24/7. He is always there to comfort and give us strength.

Don’t let Satan have an inch. Measure (sorry for the pun) each thing you do and don’t lengthen (I did it again) your time spent in sin.

 

This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Jeremiah 6:16

 

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

 

Further Adventures

We see it in the news all the time: People who seemed wonderful to those around them have gone in the wrong direction. We hear so many times of a high school student everyone thought “had it all together” who takes his own life and/or the lives of others around him.

Use this to realize that it is so easy to “slide” away from reality—and into sin—without those around you aware of it. Stay with God; He will keep you on track.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny how it’s not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight; it’s those who obey the law that will be declared righteous?