GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: July 20, 2019

Tomorrow

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President)

Most people have high hopes for tomorrow. Little Orphan Annie sang, “The sun’ll come out… Tomorrow so ya gotta hang on ’til tomorrow… You’re only a day away.” It’s a pretty good reminder that today’s doubts and fears won’t stop the future. Roosevelt continued with a good challenge: “Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:34)

Stop & Think: July 19, 2019

Never Give Up.

It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. (Babe Ruth, early baseball star)

No doubt, Ruth played with a lot of good athletes, some of whom made it big in sports and others who faded rather quickly. His statement highlights one of the important differences between success and failure: never give up. Endurance, perseverance, old-fashioned “stick-to-itness”—whatever you call it—is an essential to winning; it’s “hard to beat.”

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Stop & Think: July 18, 2019

Words

I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody. (Benjamin Franklin)

The 19th century pastor and writer C. H. Spurgeon also wrote, “If there were no gratified hearers of ill reports, there would be an end of the trade of spreading them.” These observations provide possible solutions to the disunity we see and hear all around us today. We would do well to follow the admonition, “If you can’t say something good about a person, don’t say anything.”

The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain. . .[they] encourage many. (Proverbs 10:11, 21)

Stop & Think: July 17, 2019

Diversity

Give others freedom to be themselves. Appreciate the differences between their ways and yours. (Jennifer Chen, freelance writer)

Most of us like to be around people like us—similar habits, dress, tastes, etc. We sometimes find it difficult to spend time with others who are different from us. The exchange of ideas seems awkward, and we gravitate to our like-minded friends. But, if we follow Chen’s advice to acknowledge the opinions of others, we can all grow in understanding and appreciation.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well (Romans 12:6)

Stop & Think: July 16, 2019

Teamwork

Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story. (Casey Stengel, late professional baseball manager)

Stengel was noted for his malapropisms like “All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height.” But his statement above makes a lot of sense. There are many gifted athletes who can run faster, throw harder, or jump higher than others, but putting them together to make a winning team, as Stengel says, “is another story.”

Make every effort to keep yourselves united . . . binding yourselves together with peace. (Ephesians 4:3)

Stop & Think: July 15, 2019

Pressing On

I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday. (Quoted by Dan O’Deens, cross-cultural worker)

We sometimes want to give up because we haven’t seemed to make much progress. We’re so short of our goal that we think we might just as well give up and try something else. But as O’Deens has discovered, if we’re making even a little step forward, we are nearing the goal bit by bit. So, keep your eye on the target and keep moving forward.

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race (Philippians 3:13-14). 

Stop & Think: July 14, 2019

Opportunity

No great man ever complains of want of opportunities. (Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century essayist))

In fact, F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “Our lives are defined by opportunities—even the ones we miss.” Sometimes we’re frozen in waiting for opportunity to knock at our door. But, as these writers have said, we are surrounded by chances of all kinds; we simply need to be looking for them and pursue them to the best of our ability. We’ll be known by how we respond to them.

Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone. . . . Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. (Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 5:16)

Stop & Think: July 13, 2019

Abundance

The more men have, the more perplexity they have with it. (Matthew Henry, 17th-18th century Bible commentator)

Henry continued, “It is the folly of most men, to mind and pursue that which is for the body and for time only, more than that for the soul and eternity.” We’re living in a time of abundance—at least in the western hemisphere. We rent storage places, because we don’t seem to know what to do with all our stuff. It is dangerous to be working only for what is temporal and passing.

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? (Mark 8:36)

Stop & Think: July 12, 2019

Advice

There is a fountain of youth. It’s your mind. When you learn to tap this resource, you’ll truly have defeated age. (Sophia Loren, actress)

Men have looked for the fountain of youth in vain, but Loren’s observation is helpful. We can stay young mentally if we exercise our thinking abilities. But former US President Woodrow Wilson had another helpful idea: “We should not only use the brains we have, but all that we can borrow.” Use the brains God has given you, but don’t hesitate to use others’ as well.

Those who take advice are wise. … Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. … Plans succeed through good counsel. (Proverbs 13:10; 19:20: 20:18)

Stop & Think: July 11, 2019

Ready or Not?

If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin. (Ivan Turgenev, 19th century Russian author)

Advance planning is essential if we are to accomplish anything of lasting value. We are almost certain to fail if we don’t develop a plan, gather the needed resources, and consider the pros and cons of the venture. To want to get everything ready before you launch a project is a worthy consideration, of course, but you have to get started sometime, or you can’t possibly finish.

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. (Proverbs 19:21)

Stop & Think: July 10, 2019

Storms

Not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path. (Fernando Cabrera, city council member)

After a heavy spring storm season, there is a lot of cleanup to do. Getting trees and storm debris cleared away must be accomplished quickly to make way for traffic and to restore life to normal. In a similar way, if we can look beyond life’s personal storms to see how they have “cleared the way,” we will be better able to endure those “storms.”

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. (Romans 5:3)

Stop & Think: July 9, 2019

Teaching

A mentor knows how to stretch without insulting, affirm without flattering, release without abandoning us. (Chuck Swindoll, pastor and author)

Who were the most influential people in your growing up years? Think about your high school and college teachers, for example. Did you learn most from those who put you down, or were quick to criticize, or just left you off to yourself? Not likely. Learning to influence others in the ways Swindoll recounts will enable you to become the best kind of mentor.

In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. (Titus 2:7-8)