Have you ever seen a pressure cooker going full tilt? It’s a noisy, powerful event. Weights rocking. Steam hissing. The sound of boiling water from inside the cooker. It can even be a bit scary if you think about all the built-up pressure and stress – right next to you!
With this illustration, let’s discuss the pressures of life and secrets of hope.
I’m sure you’ve listened to the news . . . read the newspapers . . . listened to podcasts. Subsequently, you know the world is really struggling right now. In essence, that’s why we should explore what it looks like to have hope in terrible times.
Look with me at the hope we have in terrible times. Read More …
When you think of “refreshing and rare,” who comes to your mind? What character qualities define this person? So, are you refreshing and rare?
As you enter this next year, you need hope. The next 12 months provide opportunity to manage, enjoy, and problem-solve in your life. Thankfully, God provides refreshing and rare hope for every day. Read More …
Someone’s hanging from a high ledge, ready to fall! They’re yelling for help and losing strength. Now, they hold on with only one hand. You know emergency teams will never make it in time. Frantically, you grab a nearby sturdy tarp and enlist five or six strong-looking by-standers to hold tightly on corners and sides – a “make-shift” life-net directly below. Realizing the person is about to fall, yet is filled with fear, you yell, “Let go. It’ll be OK.”
This is #6 in a series on hope. Read More …
As I consider today’s material: “Strong Hope,” I’m reminded of a Bible passage in one of my quiet times. Simply this.
First, if I were to make a list of all the struggles, issues, sorrows, and difficulties in my life so far –
Next, if I were to put a column of dates next to them (similar to what I have in my Bible) –
Then, if I were to record a verse or promise God gave me for that particular situation in a third column –
– I would have an amazing record of God’s faithfulness in my neediness. In fact, I’d have enough material to publish a book about strong hope.
This is #5 in a series on hope. Read More …
Have you ever desperately cried out “change me, Lord?” I have.
I vividly remember a time I said this many years ago. Challenges had piled up. Demands were high. Expectations even higher. I was pulled in too many directions. And I felt overwhelmed . . . Read More …
As I write “You Are Included,” I remember a special event several years ago.
I was finishing a book manuscript in a bed and breakfast when I met a lovely couple staying in the next room. In the dining area, they invited me to join them at their table. I learned they were on their honeymoon through a previous, introductory conversation . . . Read More …
Hope is so important, don’t you agree? Sometimes it seems hope just . . . disappears! Or – you can barely it see through a pinhole of hope.
This is #2 in a series on hope. I’m excited about this series. I hope you will be, too. Read More …
To be without hope is discouraging – even exhausting. Equally, a message of hope is such welcome news. Perhaps you need that right now.
This is #1 in a series on hope. So, stay tuned! Read More …
Do you remember Aragorn’s famous quote in The Lord Of The Rings? “There is always hope!”
Then there’s another quote by the great soccer player, Pele. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” Hope and hard work are guideposts that keep you on a good path.
The first quote provides a picture of avoiding despair – when there is still hope. The second is a realistic picture of what hard work looks like.
Now – let’s tear into hope and hard work. Read More …
