One of the things we are very excited abut here at Signs of Hope, is how we are helping others find hope. Many of you have sent in comments on how it has changed your thinking and has helped you cope. Please tell others about this site so we can reach out even farther to help others.

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We are very pleased with the amount of you who are signing up for the RSS feed. because of this we are ranked # 1 or 2 out of 15 million similar sites, according to the Google Search Rankings. Help us stay at the top by signing up today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title to do that.

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I mad an long awaited announcement on Tuesday about an exciting sale going on in our bookstore. The book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” is on sale for only $15.99. here is the BIG news. The shipping starting last Tuesday has been dropped. yes, I said, NO SHIPPINGS COST TO YOU. This is only going to last until the end of May, so click on the “bookstore” tab at the top of this page to check it out.

BTW… If you order from this site, you will receive an autographed copy of the bok. No other source can give you that.

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When we become Christians we may face persecution from many places including our own families. We will face trials and storms because of our faith.

In my devotions today I was reading I Peter 1: 1-25. It talks about hope for persecuted Christians. I suggest you read the whole chapter yourself when you have some time.

Here’s what I learned from these passages:

• When we first become Christians, we may feel a pull back to our old ways before we became Christians.
• We realize that we as Christian need to separate ourselves and can’t just blend back in with the crowd,  and yet we shouldn’t  be different than others just for the sake of being different.
• We can’t use the excuse that we can’t help our slipping back into sin. Call on God’s power to free you from sins grip.
• We can’t take God for granted. We shoudn’t ignore Him and try to wing it on our own.
• God decided that we would be sending His only Son to die for us long before He even created the earth. (I Peter 1: 20)
• A self-centered person can’t truly love others.
• We should never be proud of our “things.” Everything in this life, possessions, accomplishments, people, will eventually fade away. Only God’s Word, will and work are permanent.

We can;t think that God will always be our “sugar daddy.” He loves us, but He also disciplines. If we continue to ignore Him, and walk our own path instead of the one He chose for us, we are heading for destruction.

That sound pretty harsh,  but God is a loving AND a just God. He will do everything He can to help Him if we obey His Word, and keep Him first in our lives.

Remember:

You are not alone.

You are not forsaken.

You are not unloved.

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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* Special announcement:

We now have a book trailer on the right side that shares about the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” Check it out.

We also now have a direct connection to Amazon right above the trailer. You will see our book is priced at $15.59 on Amazon plus shipping, but on this site it is $19.99 and NO SHIPPING! You actually save money, and will get an autographed copy as well. Just click on our “bookstore,” tab to save even more than Amazon, and get an autographed copy.

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It was the great English statesman Winston Churchill who is credited with the most famous Never saying ever expressed….Never, never, never, never, never give up!

And so again in the interests of those looking at life and its prospects here are my lists of Nevers accumulated over it seems never-ending years.

• Never think God does not love or like you. Always remember He is Love. He cannot change this attribute and He never intended or intends to. It is His nature. We let others talk us down, talk God down or let our emotions and irrational thinking get in the way.
• Never believe therefore that a miracle or miracles are not for you. The scriptures say “you have not because you ask not”….but there is a rider. God only gives the good to His children therefore He will not give to you that which is not good for you in His eyes.
• Never take to heart the words “You are not good enough”.  Some of the greatest minds were hindered at times by epilepsy. Others stuttered. Others have been misshapen yet all achieved a form of greatness that overcame the disabilities.
• Never stop learning. Acquaint yourself with books,  use the Internet to look at subjects that interest you and foster your overall perspective on life as well as keeping it hale and hearty.
• If God loves you then never give up on love yourself. Sometimes we make mistakes when we are young and learning life and we think it is love but then we find out it was more lust. Love comes from learning there is more to a person inwardly than outwardly.
• For those who are sick never give up on there being a cure. In 70 years on this earth I have seen radical changes to health. Think of the Civil War in the U.S and the horror of being severely injured then…or think of diseases like scarlet fever, small pox etc which have almost entirely been eradicated.
• Never believe because one door closes that others won’t open. There are reasons doors close and it may be that the door you thought you were going to go through is not the door intended.
• Never hold onto disparaging words. People may try and put you down but again remember the scripture “if God is for us who can be against us”
• Never believe that if you failed once you shouldn’t try again. The world has been littered but in a good way but the number of inventors who keep trying until they succeeded and life today would not be the same without their inventions.
• Never think you cannot give up beating a bad habit no matter how many times you have tried. I am talking from experience and if you REALLY want to stop you will keep trying because the will to win will overcome.
• Never stop dreaming but at the same time don’t just dream but write out a list and keep it prominent of what you must do and have to realise that dream.
• Never give an opinion unless you have all the facts. There is the story of two men seated together on a plane who argued about the American economy all the way from New York to LA. A wise man sitting behind could not help but overhead and when they alighted he asked them if they were bankers or in financial institutions. They said no. “Then why have you spent five hours arguing on a subject you cannot fix”.
• Never hurt the ones you love. They never forget and it is probably true they will never let you forget.
• Finally never go to sleep harbouring unforgiveness or bitterness. Instead read Psalms 3 and 4. One is the stuff of nightmares and the other the stuff of good and godly sleep.

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.

This site shares hope to many people. We have received many comments on how it has changed someone’s life. We hope it has helped you as well. We would love it if you would tell others about Signs of Hope.

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We have a steady amount of new RSS feed subscribers each day. We have been # 1 or 2 for the past year or so in ranking according to the Google Search Rankings.

Help us stay at the top by signing up today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title to do that.

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I told you last week I was going to make a huge announcement about our bookstore. Well, here it is. From today until the end of May, the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World,” is not only on sale for only $15.99, but the shipping has been dropped as well. Yes, I said, NO SHIPPING COST!

This will only last until May 31st. So go to the “bookstore,” tab and check it out. This book reaches out to those who may be suffering from anxiety, fear, depression, self-doubt, addictions, hopelessness, and the many other usual suspects. You must know of someone who could benefit from this book.

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We have another big announcement. On the right column we now have a book trailer about the book, “Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.” Check it out to see what the books is all about. We are doing other changes, so bear with us while we move things around.

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Today injustice is running rampant, but we can’t let our concern cause us to doubt God, or rebel against Him. Realize that God is doing right even when you don’t understand what He is doing.

Instead of questioning the ways of God, we should realize that He is totally just,  and we should have faith that He is in control and that one day evil will be utterly destroyed.

Sometimes God even punishes us for something we have done that is not to His liking. God will use whatever unusual instrument He chooses to correct us.

I learned that if I put other things before God, I face punishment.

An example is this site. I was feeling down last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, because the RSS feed subscribers count went way down. We were averaging 35 a day, and  the count dipped to 15 a day. I couldn’t figure out what was happening.

Then my partner, Dennis Booth, who writes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, suggested that I may be caught up in the site , and it may have become and Idol. It may have taken the place of God. How did he know this, because he felt God speaking to him during his church service last Sunday. The amazing thing is that I felt the exact same thing when I prayed to God about the same time that Dennis was in Church, thousands of miles away in Australia!

I thought about it for three days, and then yesterday I came to the conclusion that Dennis was right. I worried more about this site than spending time with God with daily devotions. I had stopped doing them, because I felt I needed to be working on this site and other projects.

I am convinced now that God was telling me that this site will live without me, and I need to stop worrying about the number of people who are signing up.

I started doing devotions again yesterday. It had been a while, and I had no idea where I wanted to start in the Bible. I prayed about it and did a crazy thing. I decided that I was going to grab the first tab I reached for when I opened my Bible. It was Habakkuk.

At first I thought. This can’t be…what a boring book of the Bible, but I stayed with it.

My friends…this is exactly what book God wanted me to read. Let me highlight some of the thoughts from this book.

• Money is not evil, but God condemns the love of money and the evil means of acquiring it.
• Be careful not to hunger for wealth so much that it is put in front of God in your life.
• Don’t let money take the place of friends, family, or God.
• If we say we worship God, but put our trust in bank accounts, homes, or  businesses, then we are idolizing.

Something else I learned from Habakkuk…

When nothing makes sense, and when troubles seem more than you can handle, remember that God gives strength. Take your eyes off of your difficulties, and look to God. God’s people need to live in the strength of the Spirit, confident in His ultimate victory over evil.

God is in control of this world. We can’t see all that God is doing, and we can’t see what He will do. We can be assured that He IS God and will do what is right.

Hopefully knowing this will build confidence for you, and give you hope.

Remember:

You are not alone.

You are not forsaken.

You are not unloved.

Above all…never,ever, give up!

What I have learnt in 70 years and am still learning.

1.  The choices you make when young will ultimately affect you later…if you think smoking and drinking to excess is part of growing up, you may not end up growing up.
2. You may see your parents as ogres for the way they patronise you when you are young or seemingly over disciplining you. Remember they grew up too and do not want you to make the mistakes they may have made.
3. Some people think they are slow or dumb because they cannot get the concept of something so they withdraw and push it aside. It is best to speak up and better still for someone to ask the question, what can you not understand instead of believing everyone should.
4. My talents displayed after school were not allowed to be displayed in school because no one was interested in teaching journalism to a 14-15 year boy. Stick by your aims in life if you think you have a talent for something.
5. If your harbour unforgiveness and bitterness toward someone it will ultimately fester and that person may not even know so they walk around unaffected while you become ill and a cloud hangs over you. Get rid of it and live longer.
6. I remember my mother saying eats up all your greens and think about the poor kids in China who have nothing. I am beginning to think the poor kids in China fathered and mothered richer kids than there are in many places in the world today.
7. When we are young and fall in love for the first time and it ends it is as if the world has come to an end too. But was it really love or that someone took our heart away for the first time. It is marvellous how re-marrieds are much happier the second time around.
8. That councillors or Alderman sit on a council to do what is right for their constituents; council staff are on council and sometimes think councillors and Alderman are a pain in the butt and should in fact butt out.
9. Your opinion of me is just that…your opinion. I am validated by what God thinks of me and it is to that end I live and will die.
10. You may find yourself one day out of a job and seemingly all alone…you will be if you foster the belief that you are but always believe instead that someone has something in store just for you.
11. There is nothing quite like someone saying “I love you” …learn to say the same and you will make them feel the same.
12. We see charisma as what defines a person with zest and personality from the mundane but it can also be window dressing.
13. Saving for a rainy day is a saying that seems to have passed into history. And even rainy days may have too if global warming is a reality.
14. 50 years ago…half a century…..we rarely if ever had heard of the word terrorism and its repercussions…our children live in a far different and ominously dangerous world.
15. 50 years ago…it seems that long anyway…they announced God was dead. Clearly those saying that never turned up for any autopsy because there never was one.
16. Never think yours is the only culture and that everyone else should live like you or live in your country. Respect those who have lived in different cultures all their life and hope they will respect yours.
17. That when I die that on my headstone there will only be these simple words…Lord..I tried!