We want to thank all the people who have been subscribing to our RSS feed on this site. It has been awesome! We just passed 30,900 subscribers. We averaged over 100 new subscribers a day for April, and averaging over 249 a  day for May.  Why is this happening? Because we offer quality posts of encouragement daily. Many people who come here are searching for hope. We provide this.

The latest exciting news is that we have passed the 1.35 million mark in total hits for our site. That is impressive, and you are the ones that did it.

We have been on the first page of the Google Search Rankings for over three years.  As a matter of fact we are # 2 this week. Help us stay on that page by subscribing today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title to do that.

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The book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” is now out in eBook form at all of the eBook outlets. Just recently we lowered the price from $4.99 to $2.99. That is a big savings. Don’t miss out on this great sale. It may not last all that long.

The hard back is on sale for $15.99 compared to the retail price of $19.99. There is an excellent book trailer on the right under the Amazon icon that gives you more insight to the book. Just click on it and a video will start.

This book has words of hope, not only from this site, but personal thoughts from Doug Bolton the author, and an administrator of this site. You can order a hard book or eBook by clicking on the Amazon icon on the right.

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* EXITING NEWS…there will be new book coming out this year called, “Your Signs of Hope: For The Weak Days.” (Working title) It is being written by Dennis Booth and myself. It has actual posts from this site. We had 303 new subscribers just for one day yesterday. That is telling us that what is written is reaching people who are hurting. We hope to be published by August. We will keep you posted on how it is doing.

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You know what the toxic foods are. A supersized hamburger, and a huge side of fries. It can be a heart attack waiting to happen.

What about toxicity in our own lives? What, in your life, can be considered toxic? Could it be the TV we watch everyday. TV has gone from G-rated to profanity, and sexual overtones.

Proverbs 25:26 (NLT) says, “If the godly give in to the wicked, it’s like polluting a fountain,  or muddying a stream.” You have seen the rivers swell-up when it rains. They get polluted, and full of garbage. That is what happens to us, when we allow earthly desires control us. We begin too falter, and sink in the muck and more of that river, and struggle to keep our head up. You also have seen how long it takes the river to clear up and have living water, that is almost drinkable. That also happens in our lives. Once we have sinned, it takes a long time to clear out the garbage that we allowed into our hearts.

There are also toxic words that can hurt. You may have had that happen to you. Someone tells you that you aren’t worth anything, and it causes you to have self-doubt. It may be that you say toxic words to yourself like, “I’m not worthy of doing that. I am going to fail. It’ll never work.”  It could be that a spouse turns their back on the other partner, and won’t speak to them. This is a silent form of toxicity.

Words that come out of your mouth, or are implanted in your brain, can never be erased. They have already done the hurt, and it leaves a scar. Try to think of what you are about to say, or think and see if it is hurting, or degrading to someone else or yourself. . Then think positive thoughts instead. This will clear out those muddy waters very fast.

Toxic friends can be something that pulls you down like a huge magnate. It could be “The Complainer ,Criticizer or Tempters.” They pull at your heart until you start feeling like they do.

We need to do what ever it takes to overcome all the toxicity in our lives. Paul made it clear for us through 1Corinthians “Since we have all these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reference for God.”

You have all these toxic avenues attacking you. Isn’t it time you cut them out of your life? Let God point out the different toxic parts of your life, and make you clean.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

One of the reasons this blog is so well received and subscribed to is because it speaks to where people are at. But instead of turning a deaf ear, or turning away to the problems people face, we are here to help and to hopefully show or provide or both a way to see the sun shine again.  We who write for this blog are not immune to the ills of this world so we can speak from experience.

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People throughout the world live often for hope because they only see a storm or storms ahead. Daily Signs of Hope is what we are about here and if you have been helped by what you have read please tell others. We want this world to be a better place and we value the fact that you took the time to read this. Just click on the icon right after the title to sign-up for the RSS feed, and help us grow, to reach many more people.

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Sunday was Pentecost Sunday and sadly it is a time that is either deliberately overlooked because it has offensive overtones to some, some do not even believe it and because it is attached to a word called Pentecostal which is an anathema to some.

It is a time where many however do celebrate an occasion that is in the Word whether some like it or note because it was when the Holy Spirit came to the many who had obeyed Jesus’ word and waited to an event that would change them and eventually much of the world.

For suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from above and filled the whole house while they were seated.

And then they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now some who heard this babbling which they did not understand thought that those who had been overcome with the Spirit thought them drunk and Peter had to say to them more or less…”wake up!~ How could they be drunk it is only nine in the morning.”

And of course this is where many non-Pentecostals decide that current tongue speakers are either just trying to copycat what happened in Acts and really have no idea what they are doing or that God would never allow His people to behave in such a fashion.

Interestingly the same period in time is called the Festival of Weeks in the Old Testament and the Feast of Harvest also in the Old Testament and again the day of the firstfruits.

Now there is a subject in theology called typology which allows us to see a correlation or similarity between something that happened in the New Testament which happened in the Old Testament…if you look closely enough.

So if We have the Feast of Harvest…the day of the firstfruits…relational to what God had given His people, now the Son of God gives to His people firstfruits again….the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit…the ability to speak a heavenly language which they did not know they were uttering but in a language others who did speak it understood.

Now unless you know languages intimately I defy anyone to suddenly for instance begin to speak Mandarin Chinese.

Yet I did! When I first came into the baptism of the Holy Spirit I could feel myself speaking that language fluently because I knew the nuances of it from when I had worked in Hong Kong…but I could not speak a word of it.

Now I was and as time went on those who did know Mandarin Chinese could tell me that I was praising God.

Why would God do this when we can praise Him in our own language?

I believe it to be that sometimes we are almost mouthless trying to utter up a prayer or praise because we have no idea what to say at the time but when we speak in tongues it flows.

Ask God if you want this wonderful part of the Holy Spirit baptism and keep asking till it happens.

•        YOU ARE UNIQUE. GOD MADE YOU THAT WAY AND HE LOVES YOU.
•        ALWAYS REMEMBER…STORMS COME BUT STORMS END.
•       YOU CAN’T BRING BACK YESTERDAY, FOCUS ON TODAY.
•       AND REMEMBER THE SAYING…DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW…GOD IS ALREADY THERE.

One of the reasons this blog is so well received and subscribed to is because it speaks to where people are at. But instead of turning a deaf ear, or turning away to the problems people face, we are here to help and to hopefully show or provide or both a way to see the sun shine again.  We who write for this blog are not immune to the ills of this world so we can speak from experience.

__________________________________________________________

People throughout the world live often for hope because they only see a storm or storms ahead. Daily Signs of Hope is what we are about here and if you have been helped by what you have read please tell others. We want this world to be a better place and we value the fact that you took the time to read this. Just click on the icon right after the title to sign-up for the RSS feed, and help us grow, to reach many more people.

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Today’s guest blogger is Evinda Lepins who writes her own blog at http://chicklitpower.com/blog/

Imagine that you are standing in line waiting to go into a show, or waiting to go on a roller coaster.

Usually you need a ticket or proof of payment.

Well, I’d like to take you into the Hall of Faith and all you need to enter is a long strand of red yarn, about two feet long.

What will you use that for?

I’m glad you asked.

See, every time we encounter something or someone in the Hall of Faith that speaks directly to our heart, we need to tie a knot in our strand of yarn which we will now call our strand of faith.

I’ve done this sort of exercise a few times before in other Bible studies and it is so powerful.

Hopefully, when we are through walking through the Hall of Faith, you will be able to hold up your strand of faith and see all the knots.

Now, imagine that’s your faith.-how unlikely is it to become unraveled with all those knots?

And so it is with faith!

Let’s get started.

Oops, before we go to and through the Hall of Faith, there’s one more fact I’d like to share about faith, one that has actually revolutionized my portion of faith, breathing new life into it and I found this fact by digging in Matthew 17.

Jesus has just healed a demon-possessed boy, the one that the disciples could not cure.

The disciples asked Him in private – paraphrasing now – “so how come we couldn’t do what you just did,” and Jesus’ response is: “if you have faith as small 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.”

I know, that sounds a little fantastic when we actually contemplate moving a mountain, huh?

Well, the actual diamond lies hidden in the “mustard seed.”

See, Jesus wasn’t just referring to the “amount” of faith needed, although that is important as well because a mustard seed is barely a grain of pepper.

No, what lies tucked behind the word is its meaning.

See, a mustard seed is the only seed that cannot be cross-pollinated; therefore it is pure.

Jesus was referring the purity of our faith!

Are you walking with the Purifier of your faith?

Thoughtfully, Evinda

YOU ARE UNIQUE. GOD MADE YOU THAT WAY AND HE LOVES YOU.

       ALWAYS REMEMBER…STORMS COME BUT STORMS END.

      YOU CAN’T BRING BACK YESTERDAY, FOCUS ON TODAY.

      AND REMEMBER THE SAYING…DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW…GOD IS ALREADY THERE.

We want to thank all the people who have been subscribing to our RSS feed on this site. It has been awesome! We just passed 30,900 subscribers. We averaged over 100 new subscribers a day for April, and averaging over 249 a  day for May.  Why is this happening? Because we offer quality posts of encouragement daily. Many people who come here are searching for hope. We provide this.

The latest exciting news is that we have passed the 1.35 million mark in total hits for our site. That is impressive, and you are the ones that did it.

We have been on the first page of the Google Search Rankings for over three years.  As a matter of fact we are # 2 this week. Help us stay on that page by subscribing today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title to do that.

____________________________________________________________

The book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” is now out in eBook form at all of the eBook outlets. Just recently we lowered the price from $4.99 to $2.99. That is a big savings. Don’t miss out on this great sale. It may not last all that long.

The hard back is on sale for $15.99 compared to the retail price of $19.99. There is an excellent book trailer on the right under the Amazon icon that gives you more insight to the book. Just click on it and a video will start.

This book has words of hope, not only from this site, but personal thoughts from Doug Bolton the author, and an administrator of this site. You can order a hard book or eBook by clicking on the Amazon icon on the right.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

* EXITING NEWS…there will be new book coming out this year called, “Signs of Hope; The Weak Days.” (Working title) It will written by Dennis Booth and myself. It has actual posts from this site. We had 275 new subscribers just for one day yesterday. That is telling us that what is written is reaching people who are hurting. We hope to be published by August. We will keep you posted on how it is doing.

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* If You don’t want to read my story, skip down to the next section. I just felt led to do that today.

I would like to spend time on this post recapping how this site has grown over the last five years.

Back in 2001, I was at the bottom of the muck and mire of life. I was considering checking out this this hotel called earth. I tried to have pity parties, but people were getting tired of my daily frowns, and poor me stories.

Then on March 31st, 2001 I cried out to God, “I can’t take this anymore!” I was sobbing in my Ford Explorer in an empty parking lot, and I felt I was near my last breath. It was at that moment that I called out to God, that day everything changed. There was a calmness like I have never felt before. It was like God was saying, “It’s about time you came back to me. Now let me carry you the rest of the way.”

My life changed that day. I found hope. I found how to persevere. I learned how to pray, and know that God was listening.  

After my encounter with God, I went home, and wondered what had happened. Why did God stop me? What does He want me to do? I prayed some more, and I came up that he wanted me to look at an old manuscript I was working on that was a manual type book for people who working in the cash flow business. I was CEO of a Factoring business at that time, and I was putting down things that worked for me, and was hoping to have the thoughts published.

I looked at the table of contents, and was amazed how the chapter titles could fit a self-help Christian book.

• Looking for Directions?
• How do you Overcome Fear.
• How Much Courage does it Take to Survive in a not so Friendly World.

There were many others that seemed to fit a book for helping people in their lives, and not a book to teach people how to be salesmen.

The rest is history. I ended up writing the award winning book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” It has received many 5 star reviews, and has a video trailer put together.

So how did this site come about?

I started an author site, www.dougbolton.com,  to promote my book,”Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.”

In the writing area, I spent more time helping people by putting in words of hope, and ways to survive. I didn’t promote my book, but the response to my daily words of hope really had the site growing fast.

I decided I needed to get back to using the author site for promotions. I put together this blog about five years ago. The results are absolutely amazing.

When I first started the site, I was overjoyed if I got one subscriber a day. After all that would be 365 new subscribers a year. That adds up! The site did average abut one a day for the first few months,  but them it was two a day. By the end of the first year, I was getting about ten new subscribers a day. I talked to a marketing guy about that, and he said it was outstanding to get 1o subscribers a day. That was five years ago.

Today we are averaging 249 new subscribers a DAY! We have about 28oo new subscribers a  month, and have nearly 31,000 total subscribers as of this posting. We, (I say we, because Dennis Booth from Australia has joined me,) give God all the glory. It is His site and we are just His messengers.

What has come out of this is a new book that will have many of the posts that have been helping people over the last few years. The post will be in devotion form, and will share hope, and ways to survive in this tough world. The book will be out by August, so come back to read updates that we will be putting up in the introduction section above to see how we are coming along. I will also be posting updates on my author site, www.dougbolton.com as well.

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Do you search for the right answers to life’s problems on your own. You can tell by my story that I did for many years.  Dr. Phil could have asked me, “How is that working for you?”

I have found that the more I pray for guidance from God the more clear things seem. When I was trying to make it on my own, the muddy waters clogged my vision, and I was drowning.

Do you wallow in you own self-pity? Are there more dark days than light days? Do you wonder of God cares?

You aren’t alone. Many people doubt there is any hope in a world that has such tragedy, and death.

However, God does listen. He cares, He made you in His own image. He wants what is best for you. He loves you.

My slogans at the end of each of my posts end with NEVER, EVER, GIVE UP! That is something to cling to. Never let Satan hang you up on his trophy wall. He has his hands full with the ones that have given up. You don’t need to be added to his list.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!