Tag: self-doubt and hopelessness

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Don’t Put a Question Mark Where God Put a Period

Just a reminder that today is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I was two yesr old. Thank a soldier for the sacrifices they go through to keep our freedoms.

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I am very pleased with the amount of daily hits I have been getting here. I now get over 900 a day. Thank you for dropping by each day to read. I would also like you to sign-up for the RSS feed. It raises the ranking on the Google Search Rankings. Just click on the icon right after title and sign-up, if you haven’t already.

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Just a reminder about ordering my book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” You will need to order it by December 17th to make sure it gets to you in time for Christmas. This book reaches out to those who may suffer from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, or hopelessness.

There is s special sale going on for now until Christmas. Just click on the “Bookstore,” tab above to take a look at it.

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I have another excerpt from my book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” This chapter talks about how we spend so much of our lives searching for love and comfort. All we need to remember is that we are never alone. We are never forsaken, and we are never unloved.

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Chapter 11

 

Don’t Put a Question Mark Where God Put a Period

 

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,

neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us

from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38–39

 

I wrote a letter to my kids and sent it to them by e-mail. I wanted to talk to them about acceptance. This is something I had trouble with for many years. I never knew if God really loved me.

 

May 12, 2005

Guys (and gals):

I have been thinking again (and I know that is dangerous!), but I want to share some thoughts with the most important people in my life.

            As you can agree, I have spent much of my life seeking love and acceptance. It had been a constant struggle for me to feel like I am a person of self-worth. I always rode a roller coaster. I would do great for a while, and then I would be in serious trouble with deep depression.

I had an incident last week, and it was the worst timing. It was on our wedding anniversary. I was out of control. I couldn’t stop crying. It took a heavy toll onCharlotte, but she was beside me the whole time, letting me know she was there for me.

Why did I allow myself to feel unwanted, and unloved?????

I knew I was a Christian, but I didn’t know I was ACCEPTED by God because of my past sins. It is one thing to ask for forgiveness, but another to feel that God will accept you for some of the things you have done in the past. I knew He loved me, but did He accept me?

            Let me give you guys an illustration:

            I love you very much, but have you always known I accepted you? I know you are sure that I love you, but acceptance could be another thing. It would be easy for me as a father to wish that each of you had become a lawyer, or a doctor, and that those professions would let me accept you more.

RUBBISH!!! I accept you as you are. I accept what you have done with your lives, and how your lives have turned out. It means unconditional love—ANDunconditional acceptance!!!

            That is exactly what I was struggling with!!! I knew God loved me, but did He accept me? I fell down every time I did just a little sin. I decided that I am not worthy of His love or acceptance.

            The Bible has helped me a great deal with this. Greg and I have been hearing wonderful sermons on acceptance and love from God at Morning Star Community Church. I am also going to a Bible study on Monday nights, plus I am doing a great deal of reading. What is happening is that this 66-year-old dad of yours has finally come out of his cocoon, and is becoming a butterfly. It was a struggle, but I see many more good days than bad days, and it is getting better as I read God’s Word. I needed to feel righteous in God’s eyes, and I felt I was failing at that.

            Let me give you another illustration I read in a book: 1

            A man was doing a seminar with a group of men and he started his seminar with these questions:

“How may of you are as righteous in the sight of God as I am?” Every hand was raised.

“How many of you are as righteous as Billy Graham?” About half of the group raised their hands.

“How about the Apostle Paul?” About 10% raised their hands. 

He then asked the final tough question: “How many of you feel you are as righteous as Jesus Christ?” Only three hands went up in the whole place!!!

            Now the question could be how could those three people raise their hands? No one could be as righteous as Jesus!

            He blew them away by saying, “If you are a true Christian, then you are as righteous as Jesus.”

He just had to read one passage from the Bible to clarify what he meant: “For if, by the trespass of one man [Adam], death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of THEGIFTOF RIGHTEOUSNESS reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ.” Romans5:17(emphasis mine)

Righteousness is a gift. WE DO NOT HAVE TO EARN IT!!!

            What that is telling me is that if I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I am accepted, and I am as righteous as He is as long as I stay in His love.

            A word in the Bible is “justified.” It comes up a lot in the New Testament. In Greek, it means “totally righteous.” Jesus used it often to say, “You are totally justified to be in theKingdomofGodby believing in me.”

            It is that simple!!

            We are loved! We are accepted just as we are!!! We are righteous, because Jesus is righteous!!!

I feed on these thoughts daily now. I want you to know that you are loved! You are accepted just as you are, and you are righteous because of your commitment to the Lord!!!

Love,

                                                                                                            Dad

 

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,

yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken.

Isaiah 54:10

 

Further Adventures

Parents, think about your own children. How do they perceive you as parents? Do they accept you for who you are, and love you unconditionally? Perhaps they don’t see you that way. What could you do to change that outlook? A Bible-based home with Christian values can make a big change in your whole family. It is up to you to take the first step.

Young people, do your parents accept you? If they do not, what do you think is happening? What steps could you take to turn that feeling around? Do you have peace in your own heart that Jesus accepts you? If not, seek Him right now. Ask Him to forgive you for any past sins you may have committed, and then you know you are accepted by your heavenly Father if not by your earthly father.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny that when your newly born child first holds your finger in their little fist, you are hooked for life?

 

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Exercise Daily; Walk With God

I am very pleased with the amount of daily hits I have been getting here. I now get over 900 a day. Thank you for dropping by each day to read. I would also like you to sign-up for the RSS feed. It raises the ranking on the Google Search Rankings. Just click on the icon right after title and sign-up, if you haven’t already.

__________________________________________________________

Just a reminder about ordering my book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” You will need to order it by December 17th to make sure it gets to you in time for Christmas. This book reaches out to those who may suffer from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, or hopelessness.

There is s special sale going on for now until Christmas. Just click on the “Bookstore,” tab above to take a look at it.

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Below is another excerpt from the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” It talks about how we can get spiritually out of shape if we don’t walk with God daily.

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Chapter 10

 

Exercise Daily; Walk with God

 

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

 

During a time when I had several surgeries, I had major setbacks in my exercise routine. I had been working out steadily for several months and was told that was what kept me from having side problems during the open heart surgery. My heart was very strong.

But then I had a couple of months of not being able to exercise much at all. I got out of shape very quickly. I put on some weight, even though I was trying to eat carefully. I needed the exercise to help me keep up with my daily routine.

Then I had gall bladder surgery. The same thing happened. I wasn’t able to exercise nearly as much as I would have liked. I again got out of shape and gained some weight.

I then had to recuperate from back surgery. By the time I got to the point where I could start taking walks, I had gained almost ten pounds. I hadn’t been able to do much of anything for two months before the surgery because of the pain and then for over two weeks after the surgery. I took quite awhile to get the weight of and feel good again.

That is the way it is with God. If we don’t read the Bible every day, we will get out of spiritual shape very quickly. It is very easy to forget to have time for God. When we spend time doing other things and not thinking about God, we get “out of shape.” We don’t feel as strong as we did before. We struggle with daily problems. Just making it through a normal day becomes a monumental task.

If we exercise daily with God, we develop a strong resistance to the evil side of the world and become healthier as we feed on the words from the Bible.

We start losing those weighty problems like fear, anxiety, frustration, shame and guilt. These problems weigh us down so much we can’t do our daily routine. Spiritual exercise can make us stronger each day and get us back into top shape as a Christian.

I know what it is like to get out of shape as a Christian. When I was out of commission from all those surgeries, I let my reading go because I felt sorry for myself. I didn’t want to do anything. I got out of spiritual shape and let depression slowly take over my thinking.

Then I realized I needed God to sustain me through the storm. I needed Him to carry me when I couldn’t walk on my own. He was there all the time, but I let Him slide out of my thinking. I got out of shape and let depression control me.

If you’re out of shape from not reading the Bible or praying to God daily, get with it! Start today to “work out” every day. You may have to even do daily doubles. (Read twice a day.)

God is always there for us, but if we stop seeking Him every day, we will begin to forget that He is there for us. We will get spiritually out of shape.

When we set up a time each day to praise Him and read His Word and also spend time praying for others, we will be amazed how our strength will come back. We will be spiritually healthy and able to withstand the attacks of Satan when we hide in God’s love.

 

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7

 

Further Adventures

Since you’re training so hard on the Word, why not go down to your local Christian bookstore and find a good Christian book? I suggest any book by Max Lucado, Bruce Wilkinson or Joyce Meyer to make you stronger spiritually. You can also find all their books and many others at www.crossings.com, a Christian website.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny how we think we can make it without God?

 

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Why Does God Let Tragedy Happen?

Today’s excerpt is chapter 8, which is called, “Why Does God Let Tragedy Happen?” This chapter has received lots of discussion. Today is “Black Friday.” People are out spending their money for Christmas. I was out shopping on a “Black Friday,” and I saw many blank faces on people as they shopped. It was almost a robot type walk some of them were doing. They felt they had to shop, but their heart wasn’t in it.

Tragedy strikes many of us. Why would God allow this to happen? Isn’t He a loving God? Read today’s post if you never read another.

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The book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” is on sale right now on this site. In the retail stores, it sells for $19.99, but on this site it is only $15.99. The shipping has been cut in half as well. A total savings of over $6.00. You need to order by December 16th to make sure the book gets to you in time for Christmas.

This book reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, self-doubt, hopelessness, etc.

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Chapter 8

 

Why Does God Let Tragedy Happen?

 

Fear of man will prove to be a snare,

but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Proverbs 29:25

 

I am drifting away from bumper stickers for a moment to share some thoughts/questions people have asked me. I have even asked other questions myself. It is very hard to see why so many people must be sacrificed, for no apparent reason. Why would God allow this to happen?

It seems like God has forsaken us sometimes when a tragedy happens. The major tragedy that happened inNew York City, onSeptember 11, 2001makes us ask questions.

Terrorists hijacked four airplanes and attempted to crash them into important buildings. Three of the planes succeeded in crashing into theWorldTradeCentertwin towers and the Pentagon building, killing over 3,000 people. The fourth one, because of the heroics of the passengers aboard, crashed nearShanksville,Pennsylvania, killing all 38 aboard.

Why did God allow this kind of horrible event? Why would He let His children die? Why didn’t He stop the terrorists from carrying out such a horrific deed?

The answer isn’t simple, but we learn in the Bible that God gives us choices. He gives us the freedom to choose what we will be in life. He lets us rise up and be leaders that are admired by millions, but He also allows people the choice of evil. Satan is alive and well, trying to get mankind to choose evil. That is why there was Hitler, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and Stalin. God, in His love for us, gives us the choice of our path, and then we become accountable for our choices. Man had to be given a free will, because love is a choice and can only be possible where man is free to choose.

So, if sin can separate me from God, why doesn’t He separate me from sin? Because God chose. He chose to create the heavens and the earth. He chose to create oceans and the mountains, and He chose to create Adam and Eve. He created them in His own image and also gave them the right to choose, just like He does.

He is like a father or mother would be like on earth. Parents tell their children what is wrong and what is right. Then they watch over their offspring, hoping they make the right choices and never disobey. If children make a mistake, they have to face the consequences at a later time from their parents.

God didn’t make us to be robots. We each have our own decision-making process. We can accept God, or reject Him. We can obey God, or obey Satan. We can give up the things of the world, or we can become part of the world. God loves us so much He allows us freedom of choice. He loves us as we are, but He just doesn’t want us to stay that way.

It seems hard to accept death, even though it may be the death of a loved one. God loves us all, and He will comfort us through the hard times of losing someone, even though it hurts so badly.

Try to comprehend why God allows people like terrorist to be on this earth, and then make the right choices in your own life.

 

For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief,

he will also show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

Lamentations 3:31–33

 

Further Adventures

Be a help to those who are confused about why God allows things to happen in the world. Try to let them know of His love and how He allows us to make our own choices. This may help many people if you just do this one thing.

 

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny how we forget God when everything is going well, but cry out to Him when we are hurting?