Hope for Hopelessness!

I have been encouraged by the Lifegiver! With the bad news of an economic depression most people are being tormented with fear.

Today I don't have sad news for you. I have GLAD NEWS!

Listen to these words from the Lifegiver in The Message:

Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful praise to God. I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain!

What powerful words! Even though I see and hear no hope with my physical eyes and ears, I am encouraged as I sing to Him and gain hope and strength!

Look at these seven progressive steps:

1) I have no hope of making it (reality)
2) I choose to sing joyful praises to my Lifegiver, the Lord!
3) I choose to turn cartwheels of joy to my Savior! (I push past my hopelessness)
4) I trust the Lord with His RESURRECTION POWER to PREVAIL! (Overcoming the problem)
5) I receive HOPE and gain STRENGTH!
6) I run like a deer!
7) I feel like I am more than a CONQUEROR!

This is not self-help. This is not mind over matter. This is the miracle power of praise to our Lord! This is receiving His provision and protection!

Try it! You'll like it! You will feel much better!

You are Highly Honored!

I want to honor you today. Thank you for taking the time and energy to look at my blog!

Each one of us needs to feel like we are valuable.

We all need to feel that we have a contribution to others.

You are here right now to experience hope, encouragement and value!

You are deeply loved, completely accepted and highly valued. Translating those words from your head to your heart is a huge growth curve!

The challenge comes to each of us to replace negative words about ourselves into positive words!

We are designed to think about the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly and things to praise and not things to curse!

Square your shoulders back and say, "I am highly honored" and know that you are highly honored!

Success

We all have the same needs.

Each one of us needs to feel valued.

As we value ourselves and value others, we receive hope, encouragement and success!

Someone is looking for YOU right now! Will you be the gift with a lift?

Success is not something that you get. Success is a person!

You are the success that you don't have to chase!

In the Western world, we have been lulled into a deception that success is about money and power. We have become a detached "thing-a-fied" nation with more addictions than any nation in the world.

Was Mother Teresa successful? Did she lift and encourage the sick, the weak and the poor?

It's not about getting. It's about responding to giving!

If you desire success, BE SUCCESS!

Encourage, lift and help others and you will experience SUCCESS!

Hope and Love

We all need hope. If we lose hope, we die.

We were created to live with hope. I think most people think of hope as wishful thinking. For example, we say, "I hope this works."

True hope transcends our mental and emotional realms. Real hope says "I count." I am a person who can make a difference. I have the ability to make it in life.

Our world view determines how hope works in our lives. If I see myself as the "captain of my ship" and I do whatever I feel like, then I exist just to make myself happy. Most of the time if I fit into this way of living, I won't have much hope.

If I see myself as a person in relationship with other people, then my hope is determined by how well I relate to them. If my relationships are co-dependent or addictive, I will have little hope.

If, on the other hand, I relate to people who desire to grow in love then I will have hope because hope is the foundation of love. What kind of love is critical. Is it human love or love from God?

Love from God says that I am deeply loved, completely accepted and highly valued because I am created in His image. He created me to love Him and love other people as I love myself with His love.

His love is revealed in The Message:

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. Love never dies.

Which kind of hope and love do you want? His love or human love?

Extra Movement

I recently started exercising on an elliptical machine we have in our back room at home. What a difference I have felt in my life!

I started out at pedaling for 15 minutes, then worked up to 20 the next day. The third day I made it to 25 minutes. On this, my eighth day, I just burned 404 calories in 34 minutes!

Now, I want you to know that I'm not an exercise fanatic, but I have noticed a deep healing in my mind, emotions, body and relationships through extra movement. I feel more hopeful and encouraged!

If you need hope and encouragement, why not try something different?

Start out by taking a walk around the block or go up and down some stairs. Start out slowly and then increase it a minute a day with a goal of working up to 30 or 35 minutes each day.

I heard a medical doctor once say that if you walk 20 minutes a day, you will lose a half a pound a week.

When you move, think about the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse!

Extra movement has worked for me! I encourage you to try it. Little victories add up!

New Ideas

I have taken action on some creative risk-taking ideas during the last week. They have really improved my emotional health. Let me me share them with you.

I visited a spring open house for our homeowners association last Sunday afternoon. I met three people who inspired me. One of them asked me to run for the board of directors. I did it and got elected.

Then I applied for the volunteer academy at our local police station from a flyer I found at our association open house. The volunteer coordinator was very kind and encouraging.

I asked if the police department had a chaplain and the volunteer coordinator told me no, but they would be interested in a proposal from me.

Three ideas and three steps of faith. I had never thought about or done any of those three things. I had been in an irritable mood right be before I acted on those ideas. My wife noticed my improved mood since I took action on those three new ideas.

None of these new adventures pay me any money. I am not really overflowing with money right now, but I know that opportunities will come as I serve and give my time, energy and ideas and learn new things on my new teams.

Why not try something new? What do you enjoy? What comes naturally to you? Think of some ideas and take some daring action. Keep trying different things until the doors start opening and you find yourself with safe people at the right time.

Sometimes the the way we receive the hope and encouragement we need is to give ourselves to a cause that is larger than we are. I have discovered that our Creator has a perfect plan for you and me. All we have to do is start knocking on doors that interest us.

We will always find fulfillment, hope and encouragement as we give ourselves away to bring hope and encouragement to others! Dare to step out of your boat and walk on the water. It's fun and exciting!

Being

I can't do it on my own. Every "do it yourself kit" I have ever tried left me frustrated, disappointed and discouraged. You can't do it on your own. Our American culture has been influenced by the Greek and Roman cultures. Those cultures function out of fear, individualism and control. Nearly all of our American churches have been influenced by our culture. It's all about performance. We measure success by how rich we are, how strong we are and how smart we are.

Survival of the fittest works in the animal kingdom, but we are not animals. We are created in the image of the One who created us. We have created an individualistic, external, thing-a-fied culture in America. We are designed to live from a state of being with an internal, interpersonal community with Who before the what. You are a person. You were created for community. You can't hug a TV.

One of the main reasons I have created this blog is restore people into the image of the One who created them. We are created for community with the Safe One and safe people who will give you hope and encouragement. That means you or anyone who reads this post. Are you disappointed? Are you discouraged? Have your expectations not been fulfilled? Are your circumstances painful?

I have good news for you! You are deeply loved. You are completely accepted. You are highly valued. If you are tired of measuring up and unable to reach the bar that gets higher and higher, listen to the Voice of the Person who will fill you with Hope and Encouragement. He is your Hope. He is your Encourager.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." (Philippians 4:6-7, The Message)

Abba, I ask that you heal and bless my friend through Christ our Healer this day. Let Him Lift You and Encourage you today!

Pain Transformed into Peace

Pain indicates a problem. Sometimes the pain we experience is so intense that we either destroy ourselves or we destroy others. Murder is the ultimate expression of the pain of rebellion. Suicide is the ultimate expression of the pain of rejection.

Most of us experience pain on a sliding scale somewhere into between those extremes. But if you are reading this post and your anger has boiled over to the point of wanting to murder someone please listen to me. There is a way out. Abba, our Father in heaven sent Christ to take your anger, violence and murder and give you His peace. Christ was rejected so you can be completely accepted. He took the anger and violence that led to His murder so you can have His peace. He was killed as an innocent victim, but He was raised from the dead and is ALIVE right now.

Your anger is a result of being abused. Christ was abused to bring healing to you. All you need to do is come to Abba, our Father in heaven through the person of Christ. Say, "Abba, I come to You. You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be sacrificed for me. He was killed, but He was raised from the dead. You are alive, Lord Jesus. I believe that You love me and I want to be Yours. Walk into my life. Be my life. Be the One who will reconnect me with my Creator, my Father. I now experience the greatest exchange that ever happened. Take my life and and I receive Your life. Place me with the right people in the right place at the right time to experience the fullness of life in Christ."

The same transaction will occur for anyone contemplating suicide. Jesus told us, "I came so that they (you) may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance to the full, 'till it overflows." (John 10:10 Amplified Bible)

All of us have disappointment and discouragement. The only way I know how to deal with those two challenges is to come face to face with Christ. God reveals Himself with a gift.That gift is wrapped in the person of Christ.

Listen to The Message Bible in Matthew 11:28-30 where Christ Jesus is speaking:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

This morning I was experiencing a heavy weight of disappointment and discouragement. I came with my wife and son through Jesus to Abba. We poured out our hearts to Him and heard His voice through the Matthew 11:28-30 passage. I now feel free and light.

He is our Strength. He is our Hope. He is our Life. He is everything we need Him to be.

Friend, receive Hope and Encouragement from Him today! He is your Hope. He is your Encourager. Abba is your Father. He loves you!

Failure: Your Best Friend or Your Worst Enemy

Failure. What do you think of when you read or hear the word? I used to feel it was something that I was to avoid at all costs. Looking good was my goal.

Now I see failure as my best friend. If I never make a mistake, I can't learn or grow.

It's not what happens to me, but how I reflect on it.

I am learning to enjoy how to fail well. After all, I can either enjoy the process or be destroyed by it.

I choose life. I'm tired and worn out with performance as the barometer of my state of being. I'm burned out with religion. I am learning to live out of my state of being.

The who before the what. I love my wife my son and my friends with the who first.

Our Creator made me and He deeply loves me, completely accepts me and fully values me. He feels the same way about you!

Failure. Your best friend or your worst enemy. How do you deal with failure?