Daily Signs of Hope

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Tag: Pandemic (Page 6 of 7)

Do You Hate Being Told What to do?

August 28, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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We struggle with criticism. It is hard to be told what to do.

Proverbs says, “Timely advice is like gold and apples in a silver basket.” Another verse from Proverbs says, “The ones who listen to advice is like a gold earring. “

Why is it so hard to accept criticism? I know that we all hope we never receive criticism. It hurts, and make us feel unworthy.

At this time we need to realize that others opinions does not define us.

Now that I have said all of that, let me say that most criticism is good for us. The wise listen to others. We need to receive and assess.

So, why am I harping on criticism and being told what to do.?

If I am truly listening and assessing, it helps me growing. I filter out the negative and thrive on the good ideas.

Proverbs once again tells us, “Iron sharpens iron.” Meaning that to have someone criticise me, means I am getting sharper at what I need to do in life.

Words have power. They can help you, or they can hurt you.

Through all of this we often get down and depressed. It is can be easy to be broken and hurting. We need healing. That’s where God comes in. He is always there to soften the blows of criticism, and anger. He will be there to hold your hand, and help you to face the storm.

Have you been criticised? Were you felt knocked down and find it hard to get back up? I certainly have been there. When it happens to me is when I need to closest to God. I need to lean on Him for His love and compassion. My fear of criticism doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in God’s love.

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I have been battling lately because of the Pandemic. I have been on lock down, because I have several underlying problems. Thankfully I am able to get out and walk, but that is about it. I never thought that going on walks would be so precious to me.

My wife and I often just get in the car and drive to nowhere in particular. We have seen some places we have never been before right in our city. It has been a fresh air feeling.

There are other things that can drag you down. The rioting, shootings, looting, etc. It is very hard for me to watch the news anymore. Most of it is very negative. I have to find other things to do. I came up with a novel idea. READ THE BIBLE! (creative right?)

I make 10:00am my reading time. There are times when I learn something new every time I read. I have the Bible through several times, and yet each time I read again, I find something that I learned that was new.

Stay strong!

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Are You Desperate for God’s Word?

August 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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I am as bad as some are who don’t read their Bible every day. I think about God often. I pray to Him every day. I never miss a prayer, but I miss times I could be reading and learning.

In my prayers I need to start asking God to give me the desire to read His Word. I need to be hungry for it. I need to realize that it is life’s manual for survival.

I have come up with a plan to stop whatever I am doing and read every day at 10:00am. It doesn’t need to be a long time in the book. Just read!

It just happens to be 10:00 am, so I best be reading.

(Later)

I felt the need to read Proverbs. Most of Proverbs was written by Solomon, the son of David, who was the King of Israel.

Solomon was a very wise man. He made judgements for people. They lined up to ask him his advice.

One day two women came before him both claiming that a child was there’s. He asked them many questions to see who the real mother was and then he said, “I will have the child cut in half and you both can have him.” One woman screamed, “No Master! This woman can have my son so he will still be alive.”

Solomon instantly knew who the real mother was, and gave her the son. She truly loved her son enough to give him away so that he could live.

That is what I learned by reading today. I am blessed!

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Are you struggling during all the turmoil right now? A pandemic is killing our people. There is rioting in many cities. There are many people out of work because of the pandemic.

How can we survive all of this?

Go to the top of this page and read again. We need to be in God’s word to survive. We need to find comfort and hope through His Word.

God’s Word is a manual of guidance we can all use. Just take one half hour of each day to read His Word and grow.

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it. Your comments will not be seen by other people, just me, and I will connect with you to see if you are OK to share it.

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Remember:


You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

God Never Calls us to do Something easy

July 29, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We are certainly in tough times in our country. The Pandemic virus is growing fast. There is mass rioting throughout our country. People are out of work because of the Pandemic. Children can not go back to school to learn.

I was told the other day that this is a huge sign of the end times.

It may be, but what do we do if it is?

We need to have FAITH!

1 Faith is always true.

2. Faith always goes forward.

3. When God speaks to us we have enough faith to say yes.

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God is in the business of doing the impossible. It sure makes you wonder why he is allowing so much chaos. Remember…God is in charge.

The world was shocked when President Trump won the presidential election. Shouldn’t have happened? GOD IS IN CHARGE!

He is watching over us. The next question is… Why is He allowing so much tragedy to happen? This is a tough question. However, God gave us choices. He allowed us to make our own decisions, and then face Him later. That is why dictators exist. That is why there is sex trafficking. That is why there are wars. That is hard for us to have to face, but it is reality with god.

All the rioters, seem to think what they are doing and is noble. They think they are heroes. God will be speaking to each of them later.

How about you? Are you walking the narrow path, or the wide path to destruction? God knows and you know. He knows every hair on your head. There is no place to hide from Him.

Now, I have made God sound like a mean, awful person. Know that He loves you very much. He made you in His own image. He wants the best for you.

BUT, we have to abide by His rules, not ours. There is a wonderful manual to guide you on how to act and how to be. It is called the Bible. If you read and live by it, you are in God loving graces.

So, God never calls us to do anything easy. A friend once told me,”Life is tough and then you die.” Pretty sad. That was many years ago that he told me that, but it still sticks with me today.

Don’t be allowing the dark side to overcome you. Look to the light, which is Jesus Christ our Lord. He died so that you have a chance for eternal life. I say you have a chance, because you have to accept him as your personal savior to receive that gift.

Life IS tough, but be strong and know that God is with you during your storms.

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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

June 27, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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?

June 22, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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!

How can we face the Rioting, Looting and the Pandemic?

June 12, 2020 / / 0 Comments

The days along and tedious. The pandemic seems to be spreading again. There is rioting, looting and arson. How do we face this dilemma?

I have a lot of time, of course, to think about this. Let me share some thoughts:

Use Your Hardships to Shine

  1. There is always someone or something that is worse off than what we are facing. When I was teaching I had a young lady in one of my classes that was severely handicapped. She was strapped to a electric wheelchair. She couldn’t move and had no control of her hands. There was one thing I noticed with her. She was always smiling. She never got upset. She never got too hurt when the other students picked on her. When I came in the classroom she was the first one I would look for. Why would I do that? It was because of her attitude about life and her circumstances. She knew she was handicapped. She knew she couldn’t play on the swings and slides with the other kids, but she was out there laughing and cheering on the other kids. Believe it or not, I realized I wanted to be like her. She was a wonderful example of someone who seemed to have the whole world against her, and yet she faced the storm head on. BTW… She was a bright student. she had an aide with her at all times, and she took all the tests, by having the aide write the answers down. She was very good at math. I still think of her often.

Let People know When You Are Hurting

I had another student with Tourette’s Syndrome. That is a disease where the child blurts out nonsensical words for no reason. He also had a tic in his face. His face would twitch a lot. He had a hard time getting along with the other kids. Mostly because of his handicap. I decided to let him move his desk up close to my desk. I could look over his shoulder and see his work all day. I could see that he was very hurt by other kids picking on him. So I had a little class “counseling,” session. We sat in a big circle and I asked each kid what was bothering him/her. Most of the kids couldn’t really think of what was bothering them, but it came to my student I had my desk, he unloaded. He said he can’t help what he is doing. He said he wasn’t trying to offend anyone. He had tears flowing. I saw that several other students began to cry. I ended the session and a little miracle happened. One of the students came up and asked if my student could move his desk next to him. I agreed and the class applauded when he moved. From then on he was in the good crowd and not an outcast. What did I learn from this…Everyone needs to be heard. Being silent doesn’t help anything. Let others know of your pain and hurts.

How does this fit into you and I facing a pandemic, rioting, looting, arson?

To me it shows that we can make it through anything. We can conquer our fear and worries.

I had many other student examples of perseverance, and courage. We need to think like these children. Take on our fears. Take on the worries, and with God’s help we can conquer anything.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!

Are You Content at This Horrific Time?

June 5, 2020 / / 0 Comments

How many of you feel content? Do you feel you have everything you need? Does the end of the money come before the end of the month?

I am guessing most of you would be saying NO!

Behind in car payments. Children sick. Parents in assisted living. Rioting throughout our country. The Pendemic taking many lives.

With all this going on we seem to be trained not to be satisfied.

When is more enough?

Let’s check with Jesus to see what He thinks. In one sentence He said: ” We need to be content.”

I could end this post right here, but I am sure you need some more answers.

We need to concentrate on loving what we have.

God gives us another thought: “We have all that we need.”

Bottom line is: We need to have a gratitude attitude.

I have been watching closely what is going on in the world. A pandemic, rioting, and chaos.

It is very easy to get very discouraged right now. What is going to happen? Will my family be safe? Should I stay hunkered down?

The answer to the last question for me is yes. I have to stay hunkered down. I have several underlying problems and I wouldn’t make it if I got the virus. However, my wife and I go on walks every day. In all problems there is a silver lining. We never had time to walk together before.

As for the rioting, looting, and arson. I am very upset, because the majority of the protesters are good people just wanting to use their free speech rights. However, There are some very serious anarchist, attacking the businesses, the police, and other protesters. That have no thought of mourning the death of anyone. They just want to disrupt. I am told they are paid to come in and cause havic.

We need to be strong and pray for God’s intervention here. He is in charge.

I know, It doesn’t seem right that He is allowing all this to happen. Why would He? It is because He gives man the freedom to choose. We are not robots. We do our own thinking and cause our own actions.

Stay the course, and stay close to God. We will overcome these storms together.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

Don’t Pass Your Fears Onto Others

June 1, 2020 / / 0 Comments

There have been very trying times in our country lately. There is the Pandemic that is causing havoc. Now there is rioting all over this country.

There is widespread panic and people are full of fear.

One of the most important things we can do is to not pass our fears onto others. Yes, we do have fear, but please do not let it spread.

There are many things that are hurting people. Think of the high school students who can’t do their sports that they love. I certainly understand that. There is also no graduation ceremony. This will be the year they will want to forget.

As Christians, we must remember that God is always there. Jesus is always there.

We don’t need to find proof that they exist. We know about faith through God’s Word and His promises.

Yes, real faith doesn’t have all the facts. There all those who don’t believe just because they don’t have all the facts. True faith takes us beyond the facts.

What does all of this have to do with riots and the Pandemic? Both of these are major storms in our lives.

These storms may be more than we can handle, and God says to turn all your worries over to Him.

Let’s make this clear…. God didn’t cause the virus, or the riots. He doesn’t want any of His people to be hurt.

Things to think about during these tough times:

What do you think God is saying during this Pandemic, and rioting?

What do your think God is doing during this time?

What can YOU do to find rest during this time. ?

Be strong for not only you, but your family. Spreading fear is like putting gasoline on a fire.

I need to remind myself, and you, that all this pain and suffering is not going to waste. God in charge and He will figure everything out for us.

He is standing in the fire with us.

I guess the overwhelming question is….What is it going to be like after the Pandemic.? What is it going to be like after the rioting stops. Only God knows, and we need to trust Him and allow Him to take action for us.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

This Pandemic is Causing Pain and Fear

May 20, 2020 / / 0 Comments

With this Pandemic causing much pain and fear, we need to know that God is here for us.

The power of prayer comes to mind when I read that first sentence. We need to put out a plea to God to calm our spirit and help us keep strong.

My prayer last night was short, but very powerful:

“Thank you God, that you are good. Thank you for being with me during this chaos.”

This brings to mind about Biblical events where God was with someone and saw them through a storm.

Paul had every bad thing possible happen to him. Snake bites, ship wrecks, and of course he was put into prison. Did he curse God and become angry? No he didn’t. While in prison he converted several guards, and refused to have a pity party.

He knew God was with him and that he would do many great things in his paths ahead.

Did he have down times? Of course! Did he wish he could be freed to continue his mission? Yes. However, was he afraid? No. He knew God would take care of him, and see him through this storm.

Fear is a huge mean demon that over takes us far too often. It is said that 99% of what we worry about never happens, and we should turn the rest over to God. Make sense doesn’t it? God has huge shoulder, and will calm the storm.

What about this Pandemic in our lives right now?

Fear is rampant in the world today. People are hunkering down in their own homes, with no relief in sight. Some are becoming angry and wanting to be allowed to go back to work. They fear they will lose their homes and never recover.

Jesus said, “Fear not!” Only two words, but the most powerful two words in the Bible. He also said, ” I will be with you , and you will be with me.”

One thing we need to remember is to trust. Trust in God during this Pandemic makes the fear fade away.

+ If you like what you see here, subscribe at the link above. When you do, all future posts will go directly to your in box. Please tell others about this site to give hope.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!

Why Can’t we Just be Content?

May 19, 2020 / / 0 Comments

During our troubling times, we wonder what is ahead. What will happen next? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

This Pandemic knows no boundaries. This is world wide. Everyone is in a panic. Let’s talk about how to handle our fears. We have ways to accept our problems.

Why can’t we just be content?

Are you content with what is happening? I know I am not. Why is that? I have all I need. I have a wonderful family to support me. Life should be good. But….We are actually trained to not be satisfied. We haven’t learned when more is enough.

I once lived the life of trying to take one step higher, and one step further. I was a full member of the rat race.

Then a wonderful thing happened by “accident.” I was reading the Bible and came across this verse: “Be still and know I am God!” (Psalms 46:10.)

I realized that I didn’t need ANYTHING from this earth. This is just a temporary home. What is important to know is that When we ask, What do we have? ” The clear answer is , “All that we need.”

God provides all we need. He knows our needs. He knows what is good for us and what isn’t good for us. Why do we scramble to try to reach the top of mountain of success, when God provides everything?

Think one this…

I know it is very hard right now. I am climbing the walls! But when ever I get too worked up I go back to my verse, “Be still and know I am God.

Use the words below to help you make it through the day.

Remember:

Your are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!

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