Monthly Archives: November 2010

Ministry, Uncategorized

HOPE!

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I have a friend who will sometimes think that I am crazy for not just giving up.  He has this unspoken idea that the grass is greener on the other side.  He looks at me, like I am crazy when I tell Him that I am where God wants me to be and I am doing what God wants me to do.  This week, for some reason, I have been thinking a lot about this!  I have come to this conclusion:  God in His GRACE has placed HOPE in my heart and this keeps me going, even when the going gets tough.  Below I have listed seven activities of hope that I have found challenge me to do and be better!  I hope they will challenge you!

1.) Hope looks for the good in others instead of critiquing the bad! I don’t want to critique the bad, but I sometimes get caught up in this game that most of the world plays.  We have all been created by God and that means that there is good in every human being.  I want to find that good and grow it for God’s glory!

2.) Hope opens doors that others close! A closed-door is not always God saying no.  Sometimes a closed-door is God’s way of saying” “You’ve got work to do!”  May I always be willing to do whatever needs to be done so that the doors that God has put in front of me might be opened for His glory and all of our blessing!

3.) Hope see problems as opportunities! Many times when a problem comes our way, we get frustrated and want to give up.  Live on this earth long enough and you will have problems, I want to use my problems as learning opportunities that will help me to not keep making the same mistakes over and over again!

4.) Hope uses the light to illuminate the darkness! Knowing that God has a future for me lights the way, so that I can follow the path into His perfect will.  Hope allows me to chase away the darkness with what God says can be!

5.) Hope focuses the possibilities instead of dwelling on the impossibilities! I make the choice to focus my energy and efforts in the direction of what can be done, rather than what can’t be done!  This is a daily battle, but one that is well worth the fight!

6.) Hope lives in reality and refuses to die even when attacked by cynicism! I do not live in some fantasy world.  I live in the world created for me by my Creator!  I know that my hope of something better will be continually attacked, but I refuse to give up or give in, because I know who I am and Whose I am!

7.) Hope draws its power from trust in God and the goodness that He has put into man! I grow my hope when I spend time getting to know and grow my trust in God by spending time with Him.  I grow my hope when I risk experiencing bad by investing time with others that are just like me.  We can grow one another as we acknowledge our bad, believe that we were created for better and commit our lives to being helped while helping!

I hope these seven give you a greater hope today.  God has you where you are, it is no accident and God will use where you are in an incredible way to grow you for His glory, if you will allow Him!  Enjoy the journey, appreciate the grace and thrive in the hope!

Message, Uncategorized

Five Steps To Grow A Heart Of Thanksgiving!

Psalms 100:1-5 1. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3.  Know that the LORD is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5.  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Here Are The Five Steps!

1.  SHOUT FOR JOY!  (v.1) God has filled us with the good stuff of Himself, we cannot keep that in!  It has to come out and it should come out powerfully in a shout for joy!  God has filled us with Himself, so that we can share Him with others!  Take some time today to think about God’s goodness in your life and start shouting for joy!

2.  SERVE WITH GLADNESS!  (v. 2) We worship the Lord by serving the Lord and we are to serve Him with gladness!  One of the best ways that we can serve Him is by serving others.  Service alone is not enough, it has to be service in the right spirit and that right spirit is service with gladness!  Get busy serving God by serving others and do it with an attitude and spirit of gladness which says:  “I get to!”, not “I have to!”

3.  SING JOYFUL SONGS!  (v. 2) God wants our happiness!  He really does desire for you and me to live happy and fulfilled lives!  We can live these lives of joy and we should live these lives of joy in His presence and for His glory!  Remember real joy starts with you and the attitude of your heart and life!

4.  SENSE GOD’S GOODNESS!  (v.3) Look at your body, it really is amazing that God would bless us with the ability and senses that He has blessed us with!  We can see beauty all around us.  We can hear the gentle whisper of love spoken from those we love.  We can smell the fragrance of sweetness and taste the goodness of God’s surprises.  We can touch and be touched and feel the warmth of love in shared experiences.  God has already blessed us with all of this and He is not finished with us yet!  God made us and we are His.  Sense and appreciate His goodness!

5.  SHARE THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE!  (vv. 4-5) Everywhere we go, we are in the presence of God!  Thanksgiving and praise should be a continual part of our lives!  God is good and His love is everlasting, meaning that it will never run out and it will always be around!  God is faithful and so should we be!

Take these steps and you will be well on your way to growing a heart of thanksgiving!