YOUR LIFE HAS WORTH

      The last week I received a phone call that was quite heartbreaking. I was told about a young man that I knew who struggled to get silent in his walk with Jesus. They finally gave in to the struggle and committed suicide two weeks ago. Another time in 2019  received a phone call from a woman who in the past couple of months her family had experienced the deaths of two relatives from suicide. And a third relative attempted suicide.  Receiving the most recent call reminded me of times when others and I have had to battle the lies about suicide. According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2016 suicide took the lives of nearly 45,000 people. All that said, I would just like to encourage you once again that there is hope beyond where you are.

     There were several people in the bible that battled depression, fear & being suicidal for one reason or another. King Saul, King David, Elijah, Jeremiah and Judas; just to mention a few. Let’s look at a few examples from the life of King David. In Psalm 38:6-8 “I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long…I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.” Sound familiar? Depression, fear, suicidal thoughts, etc. all begin in the mind. The mind is the battlefield that the devil uses to bring us to a point of despair, defeat, and the desire to give up on life. The fact of the matter is that none of those negative thoughts are true. The Word of God is true.

     In many of the Psalms you find David going through depression and other negative emotions. Depression, self-condemnation, etc. are usually rooted in guilt. We feel so badly about our life that we begin to isolate ourselves from others. Isolation is a major tool that the devil uses against us. If he can get us alone and keep bombarding our minds with his lies that we’re no good, useless, or no one cares… The list of lies goes on.

     Back to King David. In many of the Psalms you will find that David starts off with despairing thoughts but by the time you get to the end of the Psalm he ends on a happy note. Why is this? We find the answer in 1 Samuel 30: 6 – “Now David was greatly distressed…But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” God is the ONLY one who can help us and deliver us of our hopelessness. Allow me to share just a few points from the bible that may be helpful to you.

God Has a Good Plan For Your Life. ¹¹ “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” )Jeremiah 29:11-12)   God has a specific plan in mind for everyone, but we won’t know that plan unless we ask him. God's plan for you is life, not death. The Bible teaches that both physical and spiritual deaths are the result of our sin and disobedience to God, but eternal life is a gift to those who receive it. (See Romans 3:23) Repentance is the first step in moving forward.

Death And Destruction Are the Work Of The Devil.  “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “ (John 10:10)

     In this scripture Jesus refers to the devil as a thief. That’s what he is! All that Satan wants to do is steal from our families, and us. He does it by filling our minds with his lies so that we will become discouraged and give up.

The Giving and Taking Of Life Belong To God. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

I won’t dwell on this point because I want to focus on some positives in closing. Simply put, it is never our place to take our own life or someone else's life.

     If suicide is not the answer, then what is?

Hope in the Lord “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.” (Psalm 33:20)

     We must put our hope in the Lord, not in other people, not in our job, not in ourselves. Our hope should be in the Lord Jesus Christ only.  The solution to hopelessness is not suicide, but faith in God.

Tell Someone “¹² Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.” ( Hebrews 12:12-13)

     Tell your pastor or youth minister, your parents, a close relative, your teacher or school counselor, about the struggles you are facing and that suicide is in your thoughts. You can’t get help if the need isn’t made known.

     Lastly, but most importantly…

Accept Christ's Free Gift Of Eternal Life and Salvation “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)

     If you call out to Jesus, He will answer you! But He’s waiting for you; he will not force himself upon you.  Look at what John 1:12 says; “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”  Once you accept Christ, God gives us a brand-new life and helps you learn to walk a holy life. Allow me to close with one of my favorite scriptures… “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. “  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

     We are here for you. You are not alone!

 

Becoming Strong and Stable

 NOTE: I originally posted this 4 years ago but felt led to do so again.

      Upon reading the following verse I felt led to encourage you with it. 1 Peter 5:10 - “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” In the first part of the verse is the phrase “God of all grace”. One of my favorite definitions of the word grace is, “God’s ability in me to do that which I don’t have the ability to do.” I like that! It reminds me that the things I cannot do in my own strength, God will help me to do. Of course, we have to ask for His help.

      What I really want to focus on today are the last four key words in the verse – perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle.

 PERFECT – “…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18

     The word perfect in the Greek this word means “to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair, to complete, to fit out, to equip, to put in order, to arrange, to adjust, to fit or frame for oneself, to prepare or ethically, to strengthen, to perfect, to complete, to make one what he ought to be.” (Emphasis mine)

     Imagine that, God desires to make us all that we ought to be! In other words, God wants us to mature. He wants us to allow Him to make the necessary changes in our lives so that we can strongly be a reflection of Him for others. This reminds me of Philippians 1:6 which says, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” What a promise! He WILL complete the work he has started in us!

 ESTABLISH/CONFIRM- “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” II Thessalonians 3:3

     Establish in the Greek means “to make stable, to place firmly, to set fast, to fix, to strengthen, to make firm, to render constant, to confirm (one's mind). The idea here is that God wants to build your life and character so that when the storms of life hit, you will have firmly placed in your mind and heart the promise of God’s protection and grace to get you through that time.

STRENGTHEN – “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” Psalm 31:24

     The meaning of this word is pretty simple - “to make strong, to strengthen; used of one's soul.” Simply put, the Lord wants to make you stronger in your character and in your walk with him. In times of difficulty as we turn to God for help, He promises to strengthen us. Some of the ways we can gain strength is through a bible study with other believers, by being part of a local church and most importantly by our time spent in the presence of God through prayer, praise and worship.

 SETTLE – “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the LORD is His treasure.” Isaiah 33:6

     This word means to “lay the foundation, to found, to make stable, to establish.” The word I want to focus on here is stable, but before I do that let’s consider the word establish in this definition. For those of you that are Christians you may be trying to find “your place” in your local church. You know you want to serve the Lord. You may even feel called to a particular area of ministry, but you can’t see how it will ever come about. Let me encourage you with this thought. (I must remind myself of this often!) Be patient. God will establish you where He wants you in your local fellowship. We’re all part of the body and we each have our function that God has designed for us. We just need to be willing to do what He wants us to do, not what we want to do.

     Now, getting back to the word stable or stability. Here I want to focus on that is that God wants to make you a stable person. If you call out to Him, as the above verse says, He will be the stability of your times. Jesus Christ is the only person that can give us true stability in our lives! The truth of the matter is that your life will never be ‘settled” until Jesus Christ has come into your life.

     What troubles you today? Look at what Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” You see, that is the key. We must commit everything to the Lord. We must settle in our heart and mind that no matter what we are going through in our life, we are going to live for Jesus. And Haggai 1:7 it says “…consider your ways.” In the Hebrew this translates as :Determine your heart will. that take it to a little deeper level doesn't it?

     Commit everything unto the LORD, and He will establish your thoughts. Do things His way; do them unto Him; turn them over to Him in prayer; and trust Him for the results. He will take care of you. If you are going through a struggle at this time, contact a leader in your church or someone that you know who is a mature Christian and ask them to pray with you.

 Until next time, be strong in the might of the Lord!

NEW HOPE FOR 2023

I’ve been thinking about the New Year we’re all about to face. I know for most of us, the past two years have been difficult. I can relate as I went through some battles of my own.  If it were not for the strength of the Lord, my family, and friends, I don’t know what I would have done.

 Well, that is all behind us now and we can forward to 2023.  As we face going into a new year, I’d like to encourage you to allow the Lord to do some new things in your life. Some of you might be comfortable with your life. To that I say, the Lord loves us too much to allow us to remain as we are. We need to always be growing in some area of our life. Others of you may be fed up with life, disillusioned, even fearful.  For some of you there’s been a dream that you’ve held in your heart for years, but you just don’t see it happening. Hold on, you might be delayed, but you are still destined!

     Now let’s look at some new possibilities for 2023.

New Pursuits

“There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the LORD'S counsel-- that will stand.”  Proverbs 19:21

     God might lead you to a new job position. He might send you back to school for some more training. Ask the Lord what he wants to do with your life.  If you’re a Christian maybe he’s calling you into ministry or to go on a mission trip. Be open to new ideas in the New Year. Get your steel-toed shoes ready…. It might be that you need to change some of your relationships that are leading you down a wrong path. In the bible it says, “Don't be fooled by those who say such things, for "bad company corrupts good character."  1 Corinthians 15:33 NLT - You have more worth than you realize. Don’t let yourself be dragged down by those who are on a destructive path in life.

New Reputation

"Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.” Isaiah 54:4

     Perhaps you’ve failed in some area of your life.  Have you done something that brought you shame? Or maybe it wasn’t something of your own doing, but the false words of others against you. It can all be made new when you call upon the Lord. I could share some stories with you about how God has turned some things around in my life! 

New Heart

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

     Has your heart been wounded, broken and shattered? Maybe your heart has been so hardened that you feel you just can’t reach out to others or allow people to reach out to you. If you will ask the Lord, he will give you a new heart.  Look at this scripture – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” - Ezekiel 36:26

New Beginnings

 “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” Col 3:10

     If your life has been full of pain, abuse, addictions and failure, whatever – God wants to give you a new life, a new beginning. I can testify to the reality of having my life taken out of the gutter and being made brand new. My life was such a mess at one time that I am in awe that the Lord has changed my life as he has.

     Friend, if you have tried everything else and it hasn’t worked, perhaps it’s time to give things over to the Lord. I know He will help you live in a new way. He will give you hope. If you will just surrender to Him, He has a good plan for your life.  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

     Once again, I must share with you one of my favorite scriptures – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

     Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus because He never fails!

 

HIS NAME HAS POWER

 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)

     We’re about to celebrate Christmas and we’re about to enter a new year that I am sure has many new challenges for us. This year has been a rocky year to say the least. Political chaos, unusual, even weird weather, a lot of sickness. Many have lost jobs, loved ones, relationships, etc. throughout year.  Life just gets tough sometimes.  Whether it is health, finances, family issues or other difficulties, one thing I have learned is to call upon the name of the Lord, for it is He alone who can rescue us

     In the bible there are many references to various Hebrew names of God that point to a particular area of his care for us in our lives.   I would like to share a few of those names with you and how you can apply them to your life.

     Jehovah Shalom – “The Lord our Peace” – “So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace..." (Judges 6:24)

     When life is stressful and you’re feeling no peace, run to the Prince of Peace and let him fill you with his peace that passes all understanding.  “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”  (Isaiah 26:3)

     Jehovah Nissi – “God is my Banner” – “And Moses built an altar and called its name, THE-LORD-IS-MY-BANNER;” (Exodus 17:15)

     In those times when you just want to run and hide under the covers, run to Jesus instead and let him cover you with his banner of love and protection.

     Jehovah Jireh – “The Lord is my Provider” – “And Abraham called the name of the place, THE-LORD-WILL-PROVIDE; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided." (Genesis 22:14)

     This name of the Lord is a reminder of God’s promise to provide for our needs. Notice it’s our needs he provides for, not always our wants. I remember a time about fifteen years ago when my husband was in a car wreck and out of work for seven weeks. Now he had just started his new job so there were no benefits – no insurance, no vacations time, nothing. But God provided everything we need for our bills to be paid during that time.

     Jehovah Rapha – O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. Psalm 30:2 

This Hebrew word, Rapha means to “restore, to heal, to cure and to repair.” This can appliy to physical, emotional and spiritual healing.

     Jehovah Shammah – “The Lord Who is always Present – “It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there. ”- (Ezekiel 48:35)

     What a wonderful promise! He is always there when we need him!  Now there may be times when it feels like he is not there and instead of trusting his hand we have to trust his heart.  We can’t always “feel” God but we know that his word is true when it says, “he will never leave us nor forsake us. “ (Hebrews 13:15)

     Yahweh Roi – “The Lord is my Shepherd” – Psalm 23

     This chapter is the Book of Psalms is probably the most read chapter of the bible. Many turn to it for comfort during difficult times. The Lord does care for us tenderly as a shepherd tends to his flock. To gain a greater understanding of Jesus being the Good Shepherd in your life I would highly recommend the book “A Shepherd’s Look at Psalm 23” written by W. Phillip Keller.    

     It’s amazing how when new trials come our way, we quickly forget what God has done for us in the past. When I face those times of wondering what God is up to in my life, I often go back and refresh myself with some of the meanings of His name.

     My friend, be encouraged today, the Lord is for you, not against you.  Take a step in a new direction and trust the Lord with the events of your life. Sometimes we just need to stop and listen to what God is saying to us through a situation rather than grumbling because things aren’t as we would like them to be. 

     Lastly, don’t fall into the trap of isolation when you face trials. That is one the of the devil’s biggest schemes. He wants you to withdraw and be alone, making you susceptible to discouragement.  Instead of running into hiding, go to your local church or Christian friend and ask for prayer. There is power in the prayer of agreement with another person and proclaiming His name over your life!

 

Holidays Can Be Tough

 Wow! The month of December has been busy, and Christmas is just a few days away! But for some it’s a month of pain. Some have lost loved ones due to death. Some have been through the pain of separation and divorce, or having a child go wayward. This time of year, often brings painful things to people. However, there is hope. God through his son Jesus wants to bring comfort to your life during this season.

     You may think I don’t understand because I’m just writing my blog. I have been through some personal battles in the past three years. What I share with you today I have been applying to my own life. So, once again let’s use an acronym to see how we can receive God’s comfort in our lives.

Cares – “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

    We must cast all of our cares on the Lord. Despite what you may feel or what others have told you, God does care for you. But it requires faith and trust to believe that.

Omniscient – “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk...” Psalms 142:3

     The word “omniscient” means, “all knowing.” God knows everything from the beginning to the end. He knows the paths our lives will travel. As I have often heard preachers say, “Nothing comes to our lives that doesn’t first go through the hand of God.” His grace and his all-knowing can be trusted to carry us through any situation.

Meditate - "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8

     One of the best things we can do to receive the comfort of the Lord is to daily read the bible. Did you know that the book of Psalms is the most read book of the bible? Why? Because David shows that he is human, which we can all relate to. Many of his psalms start off with a trial but he always ends with giving praise to God for providing a way out of troubling situations. We can do the same. Things may look bleak, but if we hide God’s word in our heart, the praises will begin to flow from our lips before all is said and done.

Faith - “… if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

     Do you see that? Even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed it is enough to move mountains. So don’t accept the lie from the devil that your faith is too little to do receive strength and comfort from God. Put to use what you have, and the Lord will multiply it.

Omnipotent – Psalms 147:5 - “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.”

     Here we see another interesting word. Omnipotent means “all powerful.” God is more powerful than anything else in the world.  When you find yourself feeling weak and defeated ask God to show up in his power to remedy things as only he can do.

Rest –"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

     What an offer! Jesus was telling us in this verse that if we will give him all of our burdens, he would give us his rest. That’s a great promise to hold on to when the going gets tough.

Trust – “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

     This may be a familiar scripture, but it is so true. If we lean on our understanding, we will mess things up every time. No matter how difficult this season is, try to make an effort to trust the Lord. Trust Him that he will help you with the pain, with the memories, with whatever it is that you need in your life right now.

     All of this takes me back another familiar scripture found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

     Oh, my friend, how the Lord wants to comfort you! He wants to comfort you so that you have peace as you receive His comfort. But he also wants to comfort you so that someday you will be able to share that same comfort with someone who crosses your path and is need of healing from the scars of life.

     In closing, While the pain you’re experiencing is real I want to encourage you that it’s not the end. God wants you to move forward with your life. He wants to heal you of your pain so that you can be his instrument of comfort to someone else along the way in your journey. I am speaking this to myself as much as I am you!  Be encouraged, because of Jesus Christ, there is hope ahead!

ABIDING IN THE RUSH

 Thanksgiving is tomorrow. After that it’s Black Friday and the things kick in to high gear to get ready for Christmas. But… I got to thinking…

 When most people read John 15:1-14 they usually end up talking about bearing fruit for the kingdom of God.  That is an important principle for us to live by.  If we’re true disciples of Jesus Christ, we should desire to bear much fruit for the sake of the Gospel.

However, as I read this recently, I had a different perspective on it.

In this passage in John 15 two verses stood out to me. The first is in verse 5, which says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” As I read this, I thought about how we all are in the “rush mode” getting ready for Christmas. The Lord spoke to my heart through this and reminded me that we must keep our focus on God, His Word, and his son, Jesus -the reason for the season.  Maintaining this focus will help us be less stressed with more opportunity to bear fruit for the Lord.

Understanding that in this passage Jesus is the Vine we’re to abide in, let’s see what we can learn about abiding in the Vine. I have made an acrostic of the word “abide” from which we can glean five principles of abiding. Apply Build Involve Deny Examine.

Apply – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15KJV - If we’re going to walk in tune with the Lord, we’re going to have to know his word. I don’t mean that you have to be a scholar or read twenty-five chapters a day. Just be consistent to read something from the bible every day.

Build – ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)   Ask the Lord to help you build these qualities in your life. They will certainly be helpful in the crowded stores! (smile)

Involve – ⁴⁶And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47NAS)  The believers in the early church stayed in close contact encouraging each other and they were committed to involvement in their local church.

Deny – “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)  Again, if we keep Jesus first in our life, and think of others more than ourselves, we’ll be less apt to growl back at another tired shopper.

Examine – “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless indeed you are disqualified.”  (2 Corinthians 13:5) We must regularly take inventory of our lives to make sure that we’re living in righteousness.

Earlier I mentioned two verses that stood out in John 15. We looked at verse 5. Now let’s look at verse 11.   John 15:11 - "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”  “These things” refer to the scriptures Jesus just share in verses 1- 10. So, what Jesus is saying to us is that if we abide in him, we will have JOY.  What a promise to hold on to for the rest of this month and next! The stress of shopping, the pain of being alone, missing a loved one, financial strain, etc.  As we abide in Jesus in the midst of it all we can still have joy in our heart.

Be encouraged, my friend.  Even in the stresses of life, even in the rush of the holiday, we can call on the grace of God to strengthen us as we abide in him. If you are struggling, pray the following: “Lord, I am hurting, I am tired, I feel so alone. Please send your Spirit, the comforter to come alongside me. Help me to focus on You so that I may have joy in this season of celebrating the birth of your Son.  In Jesus name, amen.”

Until next time, I pray that you are filled to overflowing with the joy and love of the Lord!

 

 

ANCHOR OF HOPE

      Recently I have had a few conversations with people who are facing some tough things in their lives. There is much devastation all around us. There is much turmoil over the recent elections, the state of our economy, etc. And there is the stress of the holidays. This caused me to wonder what kind of hope people are holding on to. How can we persevere with hope during our trials? What can we be thankful for this Thanksgiving? Then I thought about Hebrews 6:19, which says, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”  As believer’s we have hope! Let’s look at an acronym for the word HOPE.

Hear God’s Word- “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14

     We need to hear the word of God on a regular basis, not just on Sunday morning. I would encourage you to listen to teaching tapes or CD’s during the week.  We need to be feeding our spirit a daily dose of biblical teaching. And doing so will help build up our “hope tank.”  Remember in Romans 10:17 it says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Obedience – “…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” 1 Samuel 15:22

      Sometimes we think that by doing good deeds or giving money to the church will pacify God. But if we genuinely want to walk in hope we will need to walk in obedience. You see, when you walk in complete obedience to the Lord you can live with the hope of Heaven in your heart. In recent weeks, the Lord has really stirred within me this thing of obedience and drawing near to Him, nearer than I have ever been.

Prayer – “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” Romans 12:12

     Prayer. There is so much that could be shared about this subject. Since our time and space are limited in this column let me simply say that spending quality time in God’s presence is one of the best things to do when you need hope restored in your life. Notice I said quality time, not quantity. While it would be great to spend several hours a day in prayer that just is not realistic for most of us. Let me encourage you to have a set aside time of prayer every day for at least ten minutes. When you begin to consistently do this you will be amazed at how long you actually end up praying.

Expect a move of God – “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; he will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” Hosea 6:3

     One of the ways we show that we expect a move of God is study the bible, pursue having more knowledge of God and his ways. Notice I did not say know about God, but to know him. Have a relationship with him. When we are anticipating something good like an upcoming vacation, or a visit from a special friend it fills us with hope of something to look forward to.

     As we close let’s look at another scripture passage. Look at Romans 5:3-5… “3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

     When we go through rough times these verses promise us that if we stay connected to the Lord, the trial will produce his character in us, and we will once again experience hope as God pours his love into our life.

     There is no doubt in my mind that someone out there reading this needs to be encouraged to hope again! God has a purpose and a plan for your life, and it is good. Yes, there may be some hurdles to jump and some dark times to endure but as the scripture says, joy comes in the morning! Hallelujah!

     If you are struggling and need a word or prayer of encouragement, please feel free to drop us a line or give us a call.