GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: January 20, 2025

Doing your “Small Thing”

If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. (Martin Luther King Jr, late civil rights activist)

Many would note, of course, that King did accomplish some “great things” in his efforts to do away with ethnic inequality. His statement is a challenge to the rest of us to be involved in worthy projects. The total of all of us doing “small things” would achieve a lot more. Mother Teresa adds, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”

Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus: “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. (Mark 12:42-43)

Stop & Think: January 19, 2025

Stress

Stress is a powerful motivator. It can help us to focus and achieve our goals. (Fatima’ UK Campaign)

We’re told that Americans consume over a billion dollars a year of anti-anxiety drugs. Yet, there must be a better way to handle the normal tensions of life. Recognizing that stress can be a powerful motivator can help us focus on our goals. Stress is normal and can give us energy and motivation to tackle our challenges and achieve our goals.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Stop & Think: January 18, 2025

Hospitality

Hospitality is a matter of the heart that is revealed in our actions and in our words. (Author unknown)

Is hospitality a lost art today? With the business of life in the 21st century, there seem to be fewer and fewer occasions for inviting people into your home for a visit or a meal. It’s so much more convenient just to meet at a coffee bar or restaurant. Except for a few holiday occasions, we seldom get close enough to others to let them into our hearts as well as our homes.

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (Hebrews 13:2)

Stop & Think: January 17, 2025

Kindness

We never know when some small kindness will forever make a difference in the lives of total strangers. (Chelle Thompson, Inspiration Line)

Thompson continues: “Continuously performing good deeds … even without recognition … will create a trail of miracles in our wake.” The Bible says that doing good deeds—even praying—just to be seen doing it may bring, at best, only temporary recognition. Doing good for others brings good results for those you’ve served, and your blessing may come much later.

Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)
Good deeds done in secret will someday come to light. (1 Timothy 5:25)

Stop & Think: January 16, 2025

Life Moves On

The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. (Niccolo Machiavelli, 15th-16th century Italian philosopher)

Today we’d probably be watching a digital clock or watch to reveal the passing of time. But an ancient hourglass is a really good picture of life’s fleeting moments. And the reminder that observing an hourglass is helpful, too, because life’s values and purposes should be clearer as time passes and we learn from experience and life itself. Live and learn!

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. (Ephesians 5:15)
For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. (Philippians 1:21)

Stop & Think: January 15, 2025

Kind Words Help

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. (Mother Teresa)

It is true, of course, that harsh or unkind words can have a devastating and long-lasting effect on someone who is hurt by them. Thankfully, the opposite is true, too. Many people have been helped through life by kind words spoken many years before. Often, such helpful words of encouragement have motivated someone to live a joyful, fulfilling life many years later.

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:19) 

Stop & Think: January 14, 2025

Words Can Hurt

Be careful what you say. You can say something hurtful in ten seconds, but ten years later, the wounds are still there. (Joel Osteen, TV evangelist)

Have you ever met someone who never seems to be content with life and you wondered about the reason for such ongoing unhappiness? It could simply be the result of an unkind observation or a misunderstood remark someone made years ago. It’s a reminder to all of us to choose our words very carefully lest they be harmful tomorrow.

The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking … The lips of the godly speak helpful words. (Proverbs 15:28; 10:32)

Stop & Think: January 13, 2025

Dare to Fail

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. (John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. president)

Note that Kennedy didn’t say that to succeed you had to “fail greatly.” The challenge it to “dare to fail greatly.” That’s a big difference, isn’t it? No one wants to fail, but to accomplish anything of value, you may have to risk failure. Be prepared to continue trying after each failure. Persistence with courage is often the key to success.

The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. (Proverbs 2 4:16)

Stop & Think: January 12, 2025

Knowing & Doing

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. (Kary Oberbrunner, author and motivator)

We sometimes joke about the scholar who has a lot of letters after his name (ThM, PhD. MD, for example). We may say that the more degrees they have, the hotter they think they are. Of course, they have earned those credentials, and what they have learned can be of great value. But only if the knowledge is applied and, perhaps shared with others, will it make a difference

Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control … The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be … (2 Peter 1:5-6, 8)

Stop & Think: January 11, 2025

Concentration

Our appetite for distraction is nearly infinite. (Aldous Huxley, 20th century English philosopher)

It’s often difficult to concentrate on a particular event or project for an extended time. The drone of a professor’s voice or a classmate’s whisper can easily distract a student in the classroom. Our enjoyment at a concert is sometimes interrupted by random thoughts unrelated to the music. To accomplish what we should, we must discipline ourselves to pay attention in the moment.

To learn, you must love discipline. (Proverbs 12:1)

Stop & Think: January 10, 2025

The “Extra Mile”

It’s never crowded along the extra mile. (Wayne Dyer, self-help, best-selling author)

Dyer’s reference to “the extra mile” is from a Bible text where Jesus speaks of his true disciples as those who go beyond what is required when asked to serve. In today’s self-centered society, it’s rare to find someone with that attitude. Too many are trying to get by with doing only what’s required. Going the “second mile” is truly evidence of someone with a servant’s heart.

If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. (Matthew 5:41)

Stop & Think: January 9, 2025

Success

The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job. (Zig Ziglar, late motivational speaker)

Those who climb “the ladder of success” often look for that better job or a higher position in the firm, thinking that is where success will be found. As Ziglar points out, however, success is not so much in the job but in the success-seeker. The more we develop our skills, especially relationships, the more likely we will move up to greater opportunities to serve.

I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. (Revelation 2:19)