Daily Signs of Hope

A place to find Hope

Category: struggling (Page 7 of 7)

Through Afflictions, We Know That God Will Do Something Better

August 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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The dictionary says:

Affliction: A state of pain, distress, grief, or misery.

That is a sorry state of affairs. Who would want to be afflicted?

Some examples of affliction:

  1. A single mom with one child has to work had to provide for her son, and also pay the bills.
  2. A young college student is taking 18 units of credits. He has a job to help pay for his tuition. Then he goes home on the weekends to care for his ailing mother.

Those afflictions are hard to bear, but in each case the person is doing it out of love.

Do you have overwhelming burdens?

Is life not good to you?

Here is a recipe for a cure for all of this:

  1. Be joyful.
  2. Be prayfull.
  3. Be grateful.

You are saying WHAT? You want me to do all that during my afflictions?

Yes, and I am saying for you to do those three things without ceasing. During these times we need to have a running conversation with God.

He is our fortress, our protector, and He is our loving Father.

He knows what each of us is going through. God is not ignoring us. He is taking the same steps we do, and is walking beside us each step of the way.

I have had my share of physical afflictions, and some wonder how I can be upbeat through all of my pain. It is simple for me, but hard to understand. The more afflictions I have the more help I can give others who are going through the same things.

When I think about my afflictions, I think of Paul who had many more afflictions then anyone can emagine.

He was shipwrecked, bitten by a snake, beaten, thrown in prison, and people wanted to kill him.

His thoughts on that were that he too could use those moments to reach out more to others.

Another person who had way more afflictions than we can grasp was Jesus Christ. He was shunned by his own people. They cursed at him, spit upon him, beat Him, put thorns on His head. They even crucified Him.

He had many afflictions, but He knew that God had something better through all of His torture.

How about you? Do you feel overburdened? Are you thinking the world is out to get you?

You are not alone. Many people are feeling the same way with all the turmoil that is around us. There are the Pandemic, rioting, shootings, killings, threats from our enemies.

We are under daily afflictions.

Stay strong! Be grateful for what God has in mind for you. Pray without ceasing, and, yes even be joyful.

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. Your comments will not be seen by other people, just me, and I will connect with you to see if you are OK to share it.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!

Are You Desperate for God’s Word?

August 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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I am as bad as some are who don’t read their Bible every day. I think about God often. I pray to Him every day. I never miss a prayer, but I miss times I could be reading and learning.

In my prayers I need to start asking God to give me the desire to read His Word. I need to be hungry for it. I need to realize that it is life’s manual for survival.

I have come up with a plan to stop whatever I am doing and read every day at 10:00am. It doesn’t need to be a long time in the book. Just read!

It just happens to be 10:00 am, so I best be reading.

(Later)

I felt the need to read Proverbs. Most of Proverbs was written by Solomon, the son of David, who was the King of Israel.

Solomon was a very wise man. He made judgements for people. They lined up to ask him his advice.

One day two women came before him both claiming that a child was there’s. He asked them many questions to see who the real mother was and then he said, “I will have the child cut in half and you both can have him.” One woman screamed, “No Master! This woman can have my son so he will still be alive.”

Solomon instantly knew who the real mother was, and gave her the son. She truly loved her son enough to give him away so that he could live.

That is what I learned by reading today. I am blessed!

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Are you struggling during all the turmoil right now? A pandemic is killing our people. There is rioting in many cities. There are many people out of work because of the pandemic.

How can we survive all of this?

Go to the top of this page and read again. We need to be in God’s word to survive. We need to find comfort and hope through His Word.

God’s Word is a manual of guidance we can all use. Just take one half hour of each day to read His Word and grow.

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. Your comments will not be seen by other people, just me, and I will connect with you to see if you are OK to share it.

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Remember:


You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

You have to Go Through Basic Training to Survive in This World

August 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I was in the Military. I am a Army veteran. I was deployed to South Korea. My heart goes out to all those who are serving now around the world.

Before you get trained in your MOS (job,) you need to go through basic training. This is eight week of torture and pain.

You have the crawling on the ground with live ammo go over your head. You have a gas chamber you have to go through without a mask. You throw grenades hoping you get it out of your hand. Then there is the shooting range. Don’t forget the many push-ups you do all day, because the drill sergeant loves you.

Now think of this as a Christian. You have to go through basic training once you accept christ into your heart.

Being a Christian is not for sissies.

God wants you to be part of His Army. He wants to train us in a certain way. The grace that saves us is the same grace that trains us.

When we have storms and trials, we should consider them as training.

Where do we get the training? The Bible. Even long time Christians need the Bible. We are never too old to need to learn more. The Bible bridges all racial, cultural, and social deviations. The Bible is for everyone, not just Christians.

Reading the Bible is not the goal. The goal is to grow spiritually while reading the Bible.

However, just reading the Bible is not enough.

  1. We go to church.
  2. We Read the Bible.
  3. We serve in the church.

What we really need to do is to be concerned about God’s glory.

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How are you doing? Do you feel you still need a lot of training? Are there times when you slide just a little bit and not go to church one Sunday? That is where it starts. Never shrink backwards when it comes to God.

Always keep learning. Always keep training. The world is tough out there. Put on the armor of God, and be ready for what comes.

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Remember:


You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

The Best Four Letter Word in the World is Hope

August 9, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Times are not friendly on our planet. There are riots, pandemics, shootings, and violence.

Some people do not know what hope is. They hide in their basements and try to not face the world.

You often see the picture of an animal sticking his head in the sand out of fear. That is what we are facing.

What things do we need to do to overcome all of this?

Suggestions:

  1. God never wavers. He is always by your side.
  2. Jesus went all the way for you and I to have eternal life.
  3. 99% of what we worry about never happens.
  4. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
  5. Block out all the negative stuff in your brain and replace it with positive stuff.
  6. Walls form. Work your way around them, through them, or under them.

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In the title I mentioned that hope is the best four letter word in the world. Well, the worst word in the world is hopelessness. Just the opposite of hope.

Hope is an anchor for our lives. This anchor solidifies like a boat in the wind. our hopes are in the promises of God.

Hope is my favorite word. I have two books with the word hope in them. The first one is Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World. This book won a national award from the Readers Favorite Awards. You can order a copy from this site.

My second book that is almost finished is called, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. This book is reaching out to veterans and current service members who may be struggling with PTSD, TBI, depression, anxiety, etc.

Why am I writing this book? I am heart broken that 22 veterans or service members, are taking their own lives every day. Yes, I said every day. I am hoping this book will help bring that number down to zero.

Cling to hope. Hope gives you a chance to face life as we know it today.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

Do What God Wants You to Do, Not What You Want to Do.

July 31, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Not long ago I saw a fly trying to get out by banging on a window with its head. It was getting nowhere. He never gave up. He kept pounding that window over and over again.

I finally opened the window to let him out to the fresh air. Guess what? He still stayed in his spot and kept hitting the window.

Many of us are like that. We struggle on our own and try to face life without God. We need to end that! We need to stop trying do do what we want to do for our lives, and do what God wants for our lives.

We go around like using a GPS in our car. If we make a wrong turn it says recalculate.

Well, you have your own personal GPS. You may think it is guiding you in the right direction, then you hit the wall. That is when God says, “recalculate!”

Let ME guide you!

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What are you favorite foods? I love pumpkin pie. I also love peanut butter. Both of these sweeten my tooth and soothes me.

Here are some better sweeteners:

  1. Wisdom sweetens your soul.
  2. Optimism (gluten free by the way) also sweetens your soul.

These sweeteners are non fattening, and good for you.

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Some thoughts about God:

  1. God will never abandon you.
  2. God’s power is much greater than any evil.
  3. God fits into your plan.
  4. God’s Son died to provide eternal life.
  5. God has promised to help you when you are in need.

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Take an inventory of your life. Are things going in the right direction for you? If not, what is causing you to not be going in the right direction?

God allows U-turns. Now is the time to turn around.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…Never, ever, give up!

Finding Encouragement in Discouraging Times

July 21, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We have had a rough road to ride on for the last several months. The COVID-19 virus is causing havoc on our country. It seems to be getting worse then getting better.

The rioting, burning of businesses, shootings, beatings, that are going on in our big cities is not only frightening, but very sad.

It seems the all these cities are run by democrats. Don’t know if that means something.

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Encouragement for the discouraged.

The Pastor of my church had a message on this. The title was From Brokenness to Blessings.

He said he understands all of us who are fearful, and frustrated. We have battles every day, and to have this be on top of it all is hard, at best.

What are his answers?

  1. God guarantees victory. Pretty simplistic right? However, we often forget that. We forget that God is in charge and He won’t give us more that we can handle.
  2. The best is yet to come. Hard to see that right now, but I bet we look back at this a few years from now and feel we are so blessed at that moment.

Do not go into hiding.

We do not need to hide in our basements. We need to be out there helping those who are overcome with fear, and depression. This is the perfect time to show our love for them.

We have the love of God in our hearts. We need to let others know how that feels.

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How do we hold on?

How are you doing? Are you having trouble getting up every morning because the world is crazy right now? Do you dread turning on the TV, because there is so much negativity? Are you struggling because the virus is closing down your work?

You certainly are not alone.

I feel your pain.

I am in total lock down. Haven’t been in retail store in four months. No restaurants. Only drive up, and take out. Can’t see my children. I text them and call them a lot.

Why am I in lock down? I am afraid I have three underlying problems with my health. If I was to get the virus, I am gone.

Am I crying and frustrated? At times I am close, but I am suppose to be the father figure, and show strength and perseverance.

Again, God is with you. Jesus is with you. They are just a prayer away.

Lean on them for your strength. They are you fortress. They are your protectors.

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+If you like this site please subscribe. You can do that by clicking on the “subscribe” button at the top of this page. If you know of someone else who may benefit from this site, please let them know as well.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

We Need to Spread Love, Not Hate

July 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

How can we exist will all the turmoil going on around us? The Pandemic is growing fast again, with even other strands coming with it that are much more contagious.

We still have huge unrest in our country. Rioting, arson, tearing down statues, killings, Looting, and terror.

Where do we go for help? What can we do to overcome this?

We have a ugly new problem raising in our country. It is the “Karen’s,” that are causing it. They verbally attack black people with hateful words and even have pointed guns at them.

They have no concept of love. They only know hate.

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What the world needs now is love, sweet love! Where do they get it?

Well… it is simple to figure out of you are a Christian. We are suppose to be the poster child’s for love, right? Unfortunately that is not completely true. There are people right in my home church who seem to love to degrade others.

I am very saddened by this. I can not understand how someone can hate so much. They must hate themselves.

What we need to do is put God first in our lives. We need to try to live a life like Jesus. He never sinned. He never was mean to anyone. He loved everyone.

Speaking of posters child’s. We should be a poster child that shows love to everyone. What a difference that would make in our world today.

If you are struggling with thinking about wrong things, take an inventory of your life, and see where it is coming from. Push the negatives out of your mind and feel it with love and understanding.

Love is not just a four letter word. It is the word that changes the world.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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