A place to find Hope

Category: Ways to Cope (Page 24 of 24)

If You Found Proof that There was a Heaven How Would you Change?

How do we really know there is a Heaven? We read and hear about it all the time.

I have read the now famous book by Don Piper Called, 90 Minutes in Heaven. I have two copies in my library. One is signed by the author who wrote the book for Don, Cecil Murphy. I met him at a writer’s Conference. He was a really nice guy, and enjoyed talking to me. I was curious as to why he will help with a book like this. I wondered if it changed his a own life.

He answered both of my questions with, Because I totally believe there is a Heaven and we needed to get the word out.

If you haven’t read this book I encourage you to get it. It is a real eye opener.

Pastor Don Piper was on the way home from a conference. He was hit by a semi truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. However, a pastor friend was there praying for him even though they kept telling him it was too late.

The Pastor had been praying for 90 minutes when, Don came back to life. He was overjoyed and excited which amazed the EMT’s. He was excited That he saw Heaven while he was “Dead.”

Don’s life was hurtful, at best, during his recovery, but he kept telling people what he had seen. The rest of the story is found in his book.

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I saw a movie last night that was inspirational. It is call, Heaven is Real.

It is about a little boy who had a ruptured appendix and had to have emergency surgery.

His parents were told that he may not make it. The father, who is a Pastor, went to the hospital chapel and appealed to God to help. He shouted, Are you going to take my little boy away from me?

The mother was out of control in the waiting room. She too thought they were going to lose their son.

Then the doctor came in and said had he made it and to please come to be by his side. The relieved parents ran to their son and hugged him and held him close.

While he was recuperating he started telling he parents he was in Heaven. They decided he was just a little child of seven, and could be making this up.

However, as time went by he told them about things he couldn’t have ever known about. He talked about seeing his sister. He mom said that your sister is alive. He said, “No my other sister. “ The wife had a miscarriage before the little boy was even born. He even told them it was a girl, and the parents didn’t know what sex the child was. They asked him what was her name, and he said,”You never named her because she wasn’t born.”

Then the boy told his dad that he had seen Grandpa The dad said he died before you were born. The dad ran to get a picture of his father and showed it to the boy, and asked if that was who he saw. The boy said no, because he didn’t have glasses.

The father went up into the attic to find some old family pictures and found one of his dad when he was young. He took it bad to his son, and asked Is this who you saw? The boy said “YES!” People aren’t old in Heaven daddy. They all look young.

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These two events makes it very clear to me there is a Heaven.

Do you need proof? Are you skeptical? I can understand that. If you believe there is no Heaven, then you life has an end and you will rot in a grave. (I am so sorry that I am so abrupt here, but that would be the truth if you are right.)

The answers are in the Bible. Heaven is described. It is mention many times by Jesus. The Lord’s Prayer has it in it.

Some people fear this is a heaven. Others fear there is not a heaven.

Where are you? Do you fit into one of these groups, or are you like me and know for sure there is a Heaven and know you have eternal life, because of Jesus dying on the cross and coming back to life? Just like what happened in these two stories.

Take an inventory of where you are and take the right path.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

We Need to Spread Love, Not Hate

How can we exist will all the turmoil going on around us? The Pandemic is growing fast again, with even other strands coming with it that are much more contagious.

We still have huge unrest in our country. Rioting, arson, tearing down statues, killings, Looting, and terror.

Where do we go for help? What can we do to overcome this?

We have a ugly new problem raising in our country. It is the “Karen’s,” that are causing it. They verbally attack black people with hateful words and even have pointed guns at them.

They have no concept of love. They only know hate.

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What the world needs now is love, sweet love! Where do they get it?

Well… it is simple to figure out of you are a Christian. We are suppose to be the poster child’s for love, right? Unfortunately that is not completely true. There are people right in my home church who seem to love to degrade others.

I am very saddened by this. I can not understand how someone can hate so much. They must hate themselves.

What we need to do is put God first in our lives. We need to try to live a life like Jesus. He never sinned. He never was mean to anyone. He loved everyone.

Speaking of posters child’s. We should be a poster child that shows love to everyone. What a difference that would make in our world today.

If you are struggling with thinking about wrong things, take an inventory of your life, and see where it is coming from. Push the negatives out of your mind and feel it with love and understanding.

Love is not just a four letter word. It is the word that changes the world.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

So many Problems Attack us All At Once

I had a great message online from my church on Sunday. I also was on a phone conference with a dynamic young man who is on fire for the Lord.

From the phone call I wrote down two of the quotes from Taylor Wilkens, area leader for FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes.)

  1. Everything can be chaos around us, but God will help us through the storm.
  2. There are so many bad reports coming from TV and newspapers, when will the good reports start coming in?

He is spot on, and we need to realize that. We are never alone in this world. God is always there for us through the good times, and the bad times.

We are overwhelmed with negative TV, and news in general. When is the last time you saw a feel good story? We need to be strong and block out all of the negativity.

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Referring to the protesters, My Pastor said, “Fireworks are exciting. The start is good, but then it is just a pull of smoke.” This reminds me of all the protesters who think what they are doing is right, but in the end they are causing more harm than good.

My Pastor also said, ” You have a house that you have built. You worry about room sizes, where to put the windows, the paintings, etc. Did you think about the foundation? Most people don’t.” Our foundation is the Bible. We get all our guidance from it. If we live by the Bible, our foundation will be strong.

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We were told that in reality we are just apprentices for God. We are still learned and growing. You never out grow being an apprentice. I am up in years and I am still learning much.

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There is an abundance of fear in our world. We can help others with fear. Reach out to those around you. See how they are doing. Help them if they are struggling. It may be right in your own neighborhood.

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We read the story about Peter wanting to get out of the boat and walk to Jesus. We need to get out of our boat and help others. What fear is holding you back from getting out of your boat? Ask yourself, “Why can’t I get out of my boat? Remember, God is not done with you yet. He needs you out of your boat. If we walk with Christ and not towards Him in the water, we are at the safest place to be. I realize that stepping out of a boat right now with all the storms around us is hard, at best, but we Have Good on our side. We win!!

Sorry for the many different topics here, but they were building up in my head, and I was getting a headache. :0

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never every give up!

Have You Ever Lost Something Precious to You?

Had a wonderful message this morning from my online church. The theme was not to forget those who are not saved.

Pastor Chris started out with a question. Have any of you lost something that was precious to you?

He shared a story about his three year old son who went missing while they were at a restaurant. The Pastor panicked when a waitress asked them if they were missing a child. They realized that they were. She said “There is a boy out in the drive through in front of the cars.”

Pastor Chris leaped over a barrier to the drive through and sure enough. There was his son, with not a care in the world, admiring the flowers along the drive through.

He ran to him grabbed him and held him his arms. He kissed him and was too relieved to be angry.

What if a driver was looking down when they pulled out and didn’t see the boy???

They saved their precious child.

I have had not one, but to things have I lost that are precious to me.

The first one was my four year old son. We were at Disney Land. We were walking through all the hundreds of people when my wife said “Where is KC?”

He was gone! I couldn’t see him in the mass of humanity. We panicked and rushed to the “lost child,” center. They put out a plea to our son that said, “KC, your parents are lost. Please come to the center.” They gave him very clear directions. Nothing! We felt the fear of losing our son.

I told my wife that I was going out to our car to get something. (Forgot what it was.)

KC was only about four years old at the time. I couldn’t imagine him finding us in that mass of humanity.

I got near the car and there was KC. He was sitting there and waiting for us! How my son found our car out of the thousands that were parked, I do not know to this day, but we had our precious one back. I picked him and told him how much I loved him. I too was too relieved to be angry.

The second precious thing that was lost was my wedding ring. It, of course, means a great deal to me.

I woke up one morning. Walked to the den where I always put my watch and ring, and the ring wasn’t there. I did the whole house search routine. Nothing.

I remember that I had stayed at a buddies house after a late football game. I called him and told him about my ring. He told me he would look in the room where I slept. Nothing.

I have been searching for that ring ever since. I have never found it. When I do though, there will be great rejoicing like when I found my son.

What the Pastor’s message told us about, was the parable about the one sheep that was missing out of the flock. The Shepard left all 99 sheep and hunted for that one sheep. When he found it he rejoiced. He even went back to his town and told everyone about his blessing.

Yes, we have to think…leave the 99 and try to find one?

What is taught here, is that we may have some lost sheep in our neighborhoods, at work, even at church. We need to reach out those few and try to save them.

Then we can rejoice, and be blessed, because that one person has become one of the flock.

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If you are down and out. Reach out for help. Don’t wallow in your own self pity. None wants to come to your pity party. Seek help. Pray to God for His love, and His guidance. He will be there to see you through your storms.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

The Sky is Falling-Chicken Little

This blogger has been reeling from all that is going on around me. The Pandemic is getting worse; There is still protests, and our country is severely divided.

It is hard, at best, to be cheerful, and excited. It takes every bone in my body to face each day.

I think I have scars from all of this. I actually hurt. (I know, that’s old age)

Then I thought of Jesus. He had scars all over His body, from thorns, whippings, a spear in his side, and spikes through His hands and feet.

However, the greatest pain He was going through was our sins.

There is one big difference. He will never lose His scars. They are scars of victory. The victory of eternal life for you and me.

When I think of that, my “poor me,” attempt is out the window. No one wants to come to a pity party.

What I need is to buck up and face my storms. When I am a afraid and discouraged, I need to remember that God is always with me. Where there is fear, God brings courage.

Have the fear dying from the virus? Well, to be honest, we should fear from dying and not knowing God.

God will lead us through the fires we face.

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How are you doing.?Do you not turn on the TV, because it is mostly bad news? Do you wish you could stay in bed all day?

We certainly hear you. Never let the dark side tell you the world is coming to and end. The sky is not falling like Chicken Little said.

Just be courageous, and stead fast in all of this turmoil.

GOD IS IN CHARGE!

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!

How Can we be Humble Through the Pandemic, and Rioting?

Pandemic, rioting, businesses being burnt, statues being tore down, people being killed, and much more. So what can we do to counter all of this?

I have been thinking of this for several months. It was overwhelming for me, and I did not have good answers.

I watched my church message online yesterday, and they shared some ideas.

The first quote I heard was, “Nothing is impossible with God on your side.” That got me in a better mood.

Then they spoke of being humble. What? I am suppose to be humble when the world is crashing around me?

Then they hit me with a verse that woke me up! “Everyone who exalts himself will humbled, he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 5:4-6.

They mentioned that we need to stop going on rabbit trails. They are scattered and often lead to nowhere. I was doing that. I was running around trying to understand what was happening.

Then our Pastor give us four things to help us be humble:

  1. Love God more than yourself. We need to know who is in charge and lean on Him during the storms.
  2. Love others by serving them for God’s glory. When we reach out and help, not only does the person we help feel good, but so do we.
  3. Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit. I often take this for granted. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us at hard times.
  4. We need to hang out with people who are also pursuing a God fearing life. Just being in a group of believers can give us a lot of confidence, and love.

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Are you fearful of what is happening? Are your storms getting to hard to face? Do you want to stay in bed all day to avoid the world?

You certainly are not alone.

I feel your pain, and I suggest you totally depend on God as your fortress. he is stronger than any Pandemic, He will hug you during the rioting. He will give you wisdom to understand. He has told us many times:

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Pretty clear there. We just need to rely on Him to protect us and guide us.

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Remember:

You are not alone.

You are not forsaken.

You are not unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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