A place to find Hope

Tag: pray without ceasing (Page 2 of 2)

Man’s Way Leads to a Hopeless End-God’s Way Leads to Endless Hope

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We are in the middle of putting together a Living Will and Trust. It is extremely complicated, and has many things you have to do to make it valid. We are charging ahead however, because we know how important it is to our family.

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Here is another excerpt from my first book, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in the Unfriendly World, that won a national award.

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Man’s Way Leads to a Hopeless
End—God’s Way Leads to
Endless Hope


Chapter 5
A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD
will prosper. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in
wisdom is safe.
—Proverbs 28:25–26


THERE ARE TIMES when I think I am doing fine and do not
need to worry about tomorrow. I will be strong against the
sin that I may face. Every time I feel that way, I fall flat on
my face, and I let Satan creep in inch by inch. You give Satan an
inch, and he will become the ruler. (Another great bumper sticker!)
God has a plan for me, and I need to understand that He already
had my life planned before I was even born. A plan was begun for
mankind before God put the first breath into Adam. God knows
my every move. Wherever I go, He will be there with me.
I sent a saying to my son when he was stationed in Iraq. It said,
“I know your name, and I will be with you wherever you go.” That
is true for everyone. He knows your name. He is wherever you go.
God cares for you.
And God even cares for “little people.” What I mean by little
people are the people who come into your church—the ones youcharity store,
don’t want to sit next to because they need a bath. They need help
because they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
They are the hungry. Their clothes look like they came from a
charity store.
Let me make sure you understand! God always hears and loves
those who seek Him—little people or not. He doesn’t care what
they wear. He doesn’t care if they smell. He does care that they are
hungry. He does care that they need love—just like you do.
I realize that to love these people you are going out on a limb,
taking a risk. They could take advantage of you. They may want to
steal the church offering. But you should embrace them as people
of worth and welcome them into your church. God cares about
them—and you need to as well.
Speaking of taking a risk: Don’t you take a risk when you let
your daughter go to her first dance alone? Don’t you take a risk
when you give the car keys to your son for the first time? You worry
about them, but you love them enough to let them stretch their
wings a little. They are a little person in your eyes yet. They are
still your little girl or boy, but you trust them enough to let them
enjoy increasing independence.
Our heavenly Father takes a risk with His children every day.
He lets us stretch our wings. He trusts us to do the right things.
We don’t always do the right things, but God loves us just the same
as you would still love your children if they didn’t make the right
decisions.
We often try to make decisions without God’s help. But as the
bumper sticker says, “Man’s way leads to a hopeless end.”
Try to remember the risk takers from the Bible. Think of David
and his slingshot, Mary washing Jesus’ feet, Abraham raising his
knife to kill his son. They took the risk, but they relied on God to
help them. They had a heavenly Parent to trust them and protect
them. He let them stretch their wings because, “God’s way leads
to endless hope.”

Stay with God’s way, and the narrow path you walk will lead to
endless hope. The wider path leads to destruction, disappointment,
shame and despair. You may stretch your wings if you wish, but
stay the course that God has in mind for you, and you will receive
the fi nal reward—the eternal love of your heavenly Parent.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

—1 John 4:16
Further Adventures
Man’s way does lead to a hopeless end. We have all been there.
You think everything is going great and that you don’t need God
to help you during that time. Like clockwork, something knocks
you to your knees, and you are praying (crying) to God to help
you through it.
Let me suggest an alternative: Pray without ceasing! Let God
know every day about your day. If it was a good day, thank Him for
it. If it was a bad day, ask for His loving care. It is so easy to get in
touch with God. It is a much better way to communicate than any
electronic invention man has come up with. It is similar to e-mail,
except you would call it knee mail.


Something to Ponder
Isn’t it funny that if God is for us, no one can be against

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I will share more excerpts in the future so keep coming back to check them out. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future post will come directly to your inbox.

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Are you struggling in this not so friendly world? You aren’t alone. Many people struggle with what is happening in our world today.

FEAR NOT!! God is with you. He knows all your troubles. He knows what is best for you. Let Him guide you for the rest of your life.

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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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Everything That Can go Wrong Probably Will

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I had four days of exercise last week. At my age you would think that I was almost dead. 🙂 However, I now feel stronger, and will be doing four more days of exercise this week. We will see what happens.

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I am sharing another excerpt from my first book, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World.

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Chapter 2

Everything that Can Go Wrong Probably Will

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

 he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:4

Murphy must have been a sad soul. We all live by the laws he created for us. It seems that we blame everything that goes wrong on Murphy’s Law.

You’ve had those days. You get up in the morning and start out happy as a clam. (Not sure how happy that is.) You have some errands to do, and you begin to do them.

You run out of gas, or you have a flat tire. You forgot your grocery list. The item you thought was on sale wasn’t. There is an accident on the freeway, and you are stuck for hours.

Ever had those kinds of days? Let me tell you about mine! I had volunteered to help my son Greg out when he vacationed in Disneyland with my granddaughter Molly. I told him I would pick up his mail every day, put the garbage cans back on Tuesday, and feed Charlie the cat all week.

Everything went well Sunday through Tuesday. But on Wednesday, the worst thing happened. I lost the door key. I had it in my summer shorts when I went to shower. I took off the shorts, showered, and then put on a clean pair of shorts. I left the house and headed over to my son’s house.

Charlie was waiting for me, and already had started his purring sound to let me know he was glad to see me. I got the mail, walked up to the door and reached into my pocket to get the key. It wasn’t there. Charlie was looking up at me looking like, “Why are you taking so long to open the door?”

“Sorry Charlie,” I muttered, sounding like a tuna commercial. “I have to go back home and get the key.” He wasn’t very happy with me as I walked to my car. I felt badly.

I got home and looked everywhere for the key. It was nowhere in sight. I even dumped out the hamper where the dirty clothes were. Zilch! Notta! Ouch!

I remembered that we had a bunch of extra keys in the desk drawer that had no names on them. I dug all of them out and drove back to my son’s house. You guessed it: None of them worked!

I was desperate by this time. I thought that I might have to call a locksmith, or call my son and have him Fed Ex his keys to me.

I prayed for help from God and immediately thought of calling my wife Charlotte to see if she had any ideas. (This was my close encounter with God.) I probably sounded shook up when she answered the phone—maybe because my only words were, “Now what do I do?”

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’ve lost the key to the house, and the cat food is on the inside.”

Without hesitating, she suggested, “Go to the grocery store and buy another bag of cat food and feed Charlie outside. He’s an outside cat anyway. Greg can make a new key when he gets home.”

Charlie was really mad at me when I left the second time without feeding him. I returned with a tasty tuna and salmon meal (yum). He gobbled it up and was purring again when I left.

Of course, going to the grocery store was the obvious choice. (You realize, of course, that I actually knew it all along. I was just testing Charlotte.) The important thing was that the answer came after I had prayed for help. Charlotte was the messenger, but God answered the prayer.

God can answer prayers in many ways. It can be directly, or it can be through someone else. Charlotte was my answer to prayer. She knew the easy solution I needed, but I wasn’t able to think of.

Do you call on God to help you when you have a problem, or do you panic like I did? (God has a speed dial you know.) At least, I knew I couldn’t do it on my own and turned to God for help. The calming feeling that came as soon as I finished praying was very reassuring.

It was in God’s hands, and I knew something good would happen. Charlie got fed, and I have a whole bag of cat food for future lockouts.

Don’t let obstacles stop you. Turn your problems over to God. Let Him figure out a solution. It may not come as fast as mine did, but He will work it out the way He knows is best for you.

Since I am on the subject of prayer, please don’t just call on God when there is a problem. Talk to God every day. He loves to hear from you.

I know it is hard to pray when you are at work. It is hard to pray while you are driving. But you know what? When you are driving might be the best time to pray. It is when you are likely to be tense and need a calming spirit. A guy is blowing his horn behind you. Pray seeking patience because you do not know what is going on in this man’s life. He may want to get home because his wife called and is ready to have their first baby. Wouldn’t you be honking?

Prayer should be done without ceasing. Pray each and every day. Use it to praise God. Use it to thank Him for your good health. Use it to pray for peace. Whatever is on your mind, God wants to hear from you. It should be like He is sitting in the room with you. Carry on a conversation with Him.

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6–7

Further Adventures

Have you gone along in life thinking that everything is fine, only to have a day that makes you realize that the world is not always a rose garden? First of all, remember that we can’t look at everything through rose-colored glasses.

Second, when a bad day comes knocking at your door like it was your long-lost relative, make sure it understands that it can only stay for that day. Then boot it out at the end of the day by giving it over to God in prayer. You should never let your bad days stay longer than they should.

Something to Ponder

Isn’t it funny that we always have a direct line to God, but we sometimes think the connection is dead?

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I will be sharing more excerpts in the future so keep coming back. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will directly to your inbox.

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Does it seem like the storms are coming too often? Would you rather stay in bed all day?

FEAR NOT!

God is with you 24/7. He will never forsake you. Lean on Him as your fortress. Never give in to the darkside.

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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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Storms Are Not Optional, But Inevitable.

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Got my booster shot! Now I can take on the world. (Not really!)

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There are some alarming things happening in our world right now.

An article I read stated that Presidnet Biden is a scapegoat. He is making all the mistakes and taking all the blame. This is what the rest of the democrats want. This is an opinion article, but I am not sure if this isn’t really happening.

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China and Russia and teaming together to do military exercises. Doesn’t sound too good to me.

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I always say this, and I have to repeat it: GOD IS IN CHARGE!

We have many bad things happening in our world, but He knows it and is dealing with it in His own way.

I will not fear. I will not panic. I will depend on God to protect me.

How do you feel about all of this? Is it getting too scary for you? We also have the pnademic in our lives. What can we do with all of this piling up on us?

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  1. Do not panic. God will deal with it.
  2. Pray without ceasing.
  3. Much of what we worry about never happens. Turn the rest over to God.

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Here is a prayer that I sent up to God yesterday:

Father, I know that storms are not optional, but inevitable. And I know that you use the trials to transform me into the person you have deigsned me to be. Let me rejoice when I face trials and struggless and trust that you have a reason. Form my character through the fire. Make me look more like Jesus. Let me face each trial with expanding faith. Let me bring your glory as I tell of your faithfulness to me. Let me encourage others in their struggles as well.

In Jesus’s name, amen.

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I have been reminding you that I am almost finished with my second book called, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. You can see excerpts of it on my author site at: www.dougbolton.com.

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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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+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 from this site, please let them know.

Challenging Times and Fear Often Equal Dispair

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We are very challenged in our world today. There is fear and discourgement all around us, but we do not need to feel defeated.

The first things to understand is that following Jesus attracts oposition.

People have equated blessings almost exclusively in terms of material and comfort.

There is a spiritual battle taking place and it is intense. It is going to be more intense.

The battle begins with the self serving politicians. They are doing destructive things that you have to face.

They wreak havoc within the ranks such as the pandemic, and making the church suffer.

This is all happening becasue of fear.

How do we fight back?

It starts at home. Love those closest to you. Bring your children up with love. You are not only parents of your children, you are also their spiritual guardians.

Is this easy? No! It is a battle.

If they struggle. Pray, pray, and keep praying!

In our day and age there are three things we need to have in our live:

Prayer

Perseverence

Be prepared

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Why Pray?

  1. Prayer keeps our focus on God, and not our enemies.
  2. Prayer spurs us into action in the face of oposition.
  3. Never think of prayer as always get relief. It may get worse after you pray. God is in charge though.
  4. Pray without ceasing. God loves to converse with you.

BTW… You are not alone. God will fight for you.

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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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+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 from this site, please let them know.

Time for Prayer Warriors to Pray Without Ceasing

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It is time for prayer warriors to step up to the plate and hit a home run.

We can’t let the world control us. That is exactly what has been happening in the last few months. The government is dictating to us as to what we should do. That is called Socialism.

It has me boiling. I am not one to complain too much, but my rights are disappearing.

We need to stand and be recognized. Many feel the same way, but they just go with the flow hoping things will somehow get better.

We need to be strong and pray to God for help. He knows what is going on, and He wants His children to cry out to Him. He does answer prayer so we need to send our petitions to him and seek help.

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How are you dealing with the situation in our world? Does everything seem fine to you, or can you see the darkness coming. Come towards the light of Jesus, and leave the darkness.

As a group if we all send fervent prayers, God will listen and answer our prayers.

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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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+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 from this site, please let them know.

Being a Servant to Others Can Change the World

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It is another day of sitting here in my PJ’s and typing. I guess that is one plus to being on lock down.

The vaccine is on its way. It will take a while to get down the list of people, but it is available now. Stand strong and this will all be over in the next few months.

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I learned through prayer that during this horrific time, the best we can do is be servants. Too simple, and yet the outcome is huge, if we all took this approach, what a difference there would be in this world.

What does it mean to be a servant? It doesn’t mean you are a slave for someone. It means you are reaching out and helping those around you who are hurting.

An example of this is right in my neighborhood and just two houses down from me in our cul-de-sac.

The husband and wife there have both come down with the virus. It had gotten pretty serious for the wife. She was sent to the hospital with double , Severely dehydrated, and failing kidneys.

It didn’t look good for her at all. I shared her problem with a breakfast of Christian men. There were ten of us. We all prayed for the family yesterday morning. This morning we got an update and the wife did a complete reversal. The doctors were dumbfounded. They didn’t think she would even recover. She will be coming home once she is stabilized.

Prayer is powerful!!

The men at the breakfast didn’t know who the people were, they still prayed for them. They were acting as servants for this couple.

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Where can you be a servant?

Reaching out to those around you is a great start. You neighbors may be hurting. Give them a call and see how they are doing. Some may be ill. Some may be depressed. Check with your family as well. You call may put a smile on their face and give them hope.

Go volunteer at your local food bank. There are huge lines all over this country. They will be so thankful that you have come, and will place you where they need you the most to help out.

Set up prayer groups, and find out where prayer is needed. There are hundreds of people suffering right now. Pray without ceasing. God will hear you!

Come up with your own ideas on how to serve. You will feel that you are doing God’s work, and you will be helping people that need help.

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When I think of being a servant, I can not compare my self to Jesus Christ. He came onto this earth to be a servant. Everything He did was to serve others.

If we could just try to use Him as an example in everything we do, miracles would happen.

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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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+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 from this site, please let them know about it.

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