Category: discouragement

Sunday 7/8 ~ Should you wait for your turn?

On By In attitude, blessings, discouragement, ego, patienceLeave a comment

The scripture for today, July 8 (7/8), is Ecclesiastes 7:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-Medium“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.”

Years ago there was a little boy who belonged to the Pee-Wee Baseball League. A lot of teams played in different parts of a very large ball field. He would get in line to wait his turn to bat the ball. But he’d become impatient, feeling that he should be able to bat as often as he wanted.

So he’d take off across the field and get in the line of another team, hoping his turn at bat would come sooner. When he didn’t go to bat as soon as he thought he should, he’d take off across the field in yet another direction and get in the line of yet another team, hoping his turn at bat would come sooner.

After doing all that, he’d finally give up and come back to his own team. By that time, if he had just stayed in line with his own team, he could have come up to bat two or three times. His pride got in the way, his impatience got in the way, and he ended up losing all his turns.

What you hope and dream for may happen today, a year from now, a decade from now. Learn to wait for your turn.

~~~BUYLINK for eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/HeroesAlone

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#prayer, #blessings, #hopes, #dreams, #desires, #impatience, #losing, #winning, #church, #Christian, #JesusChrist, #Bible, #scriptures, #pride, #ego

Thursday 7/5 ~ Oh, how we need eachother

On By In discouragement, emptiness, healing, problems, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, July 5 (7/5) is 2nd Corinthians 7:5ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

00-Cover-KINDLE-Thumbnail-New“For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn ~ conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me so that my joy was greater than ever.”

Oh how much we need each other.

Sometimes in life, we go into our own Macedonia where we have no rest and are full of fear. Our Macedonia may be religious or political or medical; or it may be at work, out on the street, or at home.

At such times we need a Titus to help us, to encourage us. Our Titus may be a relative, a neighbor, a friend, or even a stranger.

Have you been a Titus to anyone lately? Look around. Be a Titus to someone today. You are so very needed.

~~~BUYLINK for eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/500GoodWorks

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#problems, #trouble, #fear, #rest, #tired, #friend, #GoodWork, #encouragement, #help, #Christianity, #Bible, #Scriptures, #church, #JesusChrist

Wednesday 6/27 ~ It’s your assignment. Quit complaining.

On By In attitude, discouragement, healing, Loss, victoryLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 27 (6/27), is Daniel 6:27 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

10-Daniel-KindleThumnail.jpg“He [God] rescues and he saves, he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

This was proclaimed by none other than Darius, Emperor of Persia and Babylon. He normally worshipped idols. What made him respect God? It was Daniel’s example of being true to God even in the face of death.

Everyone has problems. You can consider them bad luck or opportunities. People of the world do not see any benefits to Christianity in their everyday life. You can show them the advantage by how you face your own difficulties. They will notice.

A friend of mine was a logger (lumberjack). This big guy got up at 4 AM every day and didn’t get home from work and finish eating dinner until about an hour before bedtime. So he began reading his Bible out in the forests during his lunch break. The other men made fun of him.

They had to ride a small bus together to get deep into the forest, and the guys would harass him on the bus. One day they harassed and teased him so bad because of his Christianity (he wouldn’t cuss and swear with or at them) and Bible reading, that he asked the bus driver to stop. He got out and walked ten miles toward his home.

Sometime later one of the men who had teased and harassed my friend went to him in private with a problem. He said, “I teased and harassed you with everyone else, but deep down I admired you.” Then he went on to explain his problem to my friend “because you are the only one I know to turn to.”

So today, if you are facing a problem, face it together with God. Face it with courage. Face it with the belief that it is for a reason and that reason may be so you can be an example of godly strength to others. Quit complaining and give it a try. You can do it!

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/2Itvn0d

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#troubles, #problems, #assignment, #friends, #example, #courage, #complaining

Monday 6/25 ~ You may not understand but God does

On By In attitude, discouragement, eternity, faith, knowledge, sacrificeLeave a comment

The scripture for today. June 25 (6/25) is Matthew 6:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

Do you sometimes wonder how God can allow people to starve with such a promise as this?  Try to remember the Big Picture.

Remember the Jews being in slavery in Egypt for 400 years? They must have prayed thousands of times to be freed, but most died still in slavery, believing their prayers never had been answered. God had a greater plan for them ~ a plan to give them time to multiply from the original 70 people who went to Egypt to the over 3 million who left Egypt.

So, too, God has a Master Plan for each person and each nation. It is your assignment to hang on and keep believing in Him and that which you do not understand. That means you may have to sacrifice something important to you for a future generation. It may even mean sacrificing your life for a future generation.

You may not understand, but God always does.

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/stephenmartyr

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#starving, #hungry, #slavery, #troubles, #tragedies, #sacrifice, #prayers, #answers, #Egypt

 

Friday 6/15 ~ What if “God’s time” for you never comes?

On By In discouragement, faith, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 15 (6/15), is 1st Timothy 6:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“…which God will bring about in his own time ~ God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords!”

But it’s hard to know just when God’s time is. You may think it is when a certain opportunity arises, but something happens and it doesn’t turn out. So later another opportunity arises, but something happens there too and it still doesn’t turn out.

This verse can carry you from hope to hope from discouragement to discouragement. That is because you cannot see what God sees.

Your life is like a line drawn across a piece of paper, and you have to stay on that line. That line is all you see.  But God looks down and can see the entire line all at once, and he can also see everything going on around you. Those other events may not be good for you to become involved in.  There may never be a time when events around you will be good for you.

Rather than give up on God and decide he doesn’t really love you like he claims, amidst your tears of disappointment, stretch your spirit and praise him anyway. Acknowledge him. Then rest until his own time, whether it be soon or in eternity.

~~~BUYLINK for eBOOK & discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/stephenmartyr

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#hope, #disappointment, #timing, #discouragement, #time, #timing, #plans, #opportunities, #breaks

Monday 6/11 ~ Let your heart yearn with them

On By In discouragement, emptiness, faith, healing, LossLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 11 (6/11), is Job 6:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-new“What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects that I should be patient?”

Many people use the expression, “patience of Job.” But he had on-and-off patience, for he was very sick. By descriptions he gave of himself ~ sores, rancid breath, low voice, partial blindness, skin turned hard and black, bloating, nightmares, extreme pain, unrecognized by his closest friends, some believe he had a grotesque form of elephantitis leprosy.

What did he need from his friends? He surely didn’t get it, for they spent their time trying to prove that he had sinned and God was right to be punishing him. His reply? “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?” (Job 16:2f).

So how do we comfort someone who feels utterly hopeless? We certainly don’t put the blame on them, nor do we tell them it’s “all in your head’ or to “snap out of it”. We can share times when we felt hopeless. We can weep with them. We can hold their hand. We can sit with them in silence. We can pray aloud for them. (Some people have never heard their name mentioned in a prayer.)

And we need to let them talk. Sometimes they will say things they don’t mean in the long run, but at that brief moment, they do. Or sometimes they need to talk through things they are unsure about. They may even say contradictory things.

At one time Job said, “Surely, O God, you have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household…God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me” (16:7f). But another time he said, “I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end, he will stand upon the earth…I myself will see him with my own eyes ~ I and not another. How my heart yearns within me” (19:25f).

Do you have a very sick friend?  Let your heart yearn with them.

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and Discount PAPER: http://bit.ly/Hearts-Afire

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#illness, #dad, #sickness, #loss, #discouragement, #hope, #denial, #depression, #healing, #hospital, #funeral, #prison, #faith, #emptiness, #Job, #Christianity, #Bible, #Scriptures

Saturday 6/9 ~ When you are desperately low, your job is just to hang on

On By In death, discouragement, emptiness, Loss, persecution, victory, weakness2 Comments

The scripture for today, June 9 (6/9), is Job 6:9-8 found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-LgThumbnail“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!”

Job was suffering terribly. The Bible says he had sores all over his body. There were other symptoms listed elsewhere in Job that indicate he had a form of leprosy. Now he just wanted to die.

When we get into a life problem that seems hopeless, do we just give up and say, “God, I can’t go on like this. Just take my life right now. It’s too hard. I can’t do it anymore”?

God knows what you are going through. God knows that Satan is attacking you. When things are desperately low, your job is just to hang on. It often takes God time to shift around a lot of other people’s lives in order to alleviate your pain.

Remember, God hurts just as much when you suffer as when he watched his own Son suffer on the cross. His Son’s suffering accomplished something wonderful for others. So too, someday your suffering will somehow in some way accomplish something good. And ultimately, just by surviving, Satan loses and God wins.

This too will pass. You may not think so, but it will. You may think you will never smile again, never want to go around people again, never sing again. But you will. Just like Job did.

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/HeroesAlone

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#endofrope, #deadend, #attacks, #persecution, #illness, #troubles, #problems, #suffering, #giveup, #Bible, #Christianity, #Scriptures

Wednesday 6/6 ~ My boss is unfair, but I need the job

On By In attitude, discouragement, Enemies, humility, Inspirational, problemsLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 7, is Ephesians 6:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

03-Naaman'sMaid-ThumbnailCover“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”

God had just previously said that we were to obey our earthly masters (bosses). But, as hard as you try, sometimes what you may be told to do is very hard to do, especially if your boss is rude, or someone was promoted ahead of you, or you feel like s/he is being a “slave driver.”

At times like those, do what is asked of you anyway, knowing that you are really doing it for God. The next verse says, “because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”

What you do as an employee in a difficult situation does not go unnoticed. God sees and God will reward you.

–BUYLINK to eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/2JDQYaG

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#wisdom, #bosses, #jobs, #employment, #promotion, #scrouge, #Christianity, #Bible, #Scripture

 

Monday 6/4 ~ Have you ever walked away from God?

On By In attitude, discouragement, emptiness, forgiveness, loveLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 4, is Psalm 6:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-New“Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.”

Have you ever walked away from God then couldn’t figure out how to make a turnaround and get your life back on track? Are you there now?  Stop! 

Stop whatever you are thinking and feeling and considering.  Look behind you.  God is a gentleman and will never force himself on you. When you turn away from him, he turns away from you.  But, oh, how he misses you.  He wants you back so you can feel his love again. 

All you have to do is stop everything and call for him to come get you. “Turn, O Lord! Turn! Deliver me!”

Why would God be so good to someone walking away from him? Because he loves you and is always listening for your voice. His love is unfailing.

 

~~BUYLINK for eBOOK and discount PAPER:   http://bit.ly/2tukMA0

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#troubles, #problems, #forsaken, #alone, #pardon, #breaking, #turning, #returning, #WalkingAway, #mercy, #sorry, #Christianity, #Bible, #Scriptures

 

Saturday 6/2 ~ Too busy to be inconvenienced?

On By In attitude, discouragement, good works, judging, loveLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 2, is Galatians 6:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Cover-KINDLE-Thumbnail-New“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

In case you’re thinking people should take care of their own problems, you are right. But the term “burdens” here refers to overloads.

The main reason this is hard to do is that taking on someone else’s overloaded burdens upsets your daily routine and our peace of mind. It is inconvenient. 

Just remember, it is always inconvenient for those people to have an overload of burdens. They don’t want them. Many times they didn’t ask for them. But, even if they did ask for them with foolish acts, can we not roll up our sleeves and help them out for a little while (not forever)?

You do not have to take on all their problems. But you can give them relief of some of the basic problems so they can concentrate on the more serious ones.  If they need a babysitter, find one for them. If they don’t have decent clothes to go to work, take them to Goodwill.  If they’re behind financially, buy them a tank of gas.  If they haven’t written their parents for a year, sit with them while they write that letter. Take their overburden from them.

What if Jesus had said, “Hey, it’s not my problem! Those people on earth mess up their lives all the time. Why should I leave the comforts of heaven to live among sinners and misery?” But he didn’t say that. Thank God he didn’t say that.

Inconvenient for him to take our overloaded burdens to his cross? Yes. Did he want to do it? No. But he did what was necessary to rescue us. Do we really and truly want to be like Him?

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/500GoodWorks