GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: May 9, 2024

Family

The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only – and that is to support the ultimate career. (C. S. Lewis, late British professor)

Lewis’s observation might not be widely accepted in modern Western society. It’s evident that the nuclear family is not valued as highly today as it once was. In fact, some are trying to destroy the whole idea of family. Yet, it cannot be denied that where children are raised in a two-parent home there is a much greater success rate in nearly every measurement considered.

She carefully watches all that goes on in her household; Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her. (Proverbs 31:27a; 28)

Stop & Think: May 8, 2024

Accountability

What gets measured gets managed. (Peter Drucker, late management consultant)

Another motivational speaker put it this way, “You don’t get what you expect, you get what you inspect” (Paul J. Meyer). These maxims relate directly to business and management efforts, but they are just as appropriate for personal application—individually or in family relationships. When accountability isn’t practiced, disappointment, if not disaster, is sure to follow.

What will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? (Job 31:14)

Stop & Think: May 7, 2024

Little or Much

My heart rejoices at the sight of all the things I do not need. (as told by Joshua Becker, author and philanthropist)

That was the response of  Araneus who lived an austere, simple, solemn lifestyle when he visited the great city, wandering through its bazaars and markets. He was not there to buy the limitless offerings for sale; instead, he was content with the lifestyle he had chosen to live. What a contrast to 21st century society. The more we have, the more we want.

I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. . . . whether . . . with plenty or little. (Philippians 4:11-12)

Stop & Think: May 6, 2024

Maturity

Maturity is the ability to bear an injustice without wanting to get even. (Quoted in a Dear Abby, column)

This newspaper quote closely reflects a biblical principle. Most of us are eager to get even with someone who offends us, and we’ll go out of our way to render our own kind of justice. We don’t realize that “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” was not a requirement but a limit for retaliation. When we retaliate, we often hurt ourselves more deeply than our offender.

Never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

Stop & Think: May 5, 2024

Remembered

Get old sharing the things you believe are most important. (Arthur C. Brooks, author & public speaker)

As we grow older, we sometimes wonder what our legacy will be; how will we be remembered by our family, friends, and associates? Brooks suggests, “Excellence is always its own reward, and this is how you can be most excellent as you age.” If we share what is important to us while we still have influence with others, we will most likely be remembered well.

Those who are righteous will be long remembered. . . . Their good deeds will be remembered forever. Psalm 112:6, 9)

Stop & Think: May 4, 2024

Faith 3

You can do very little with faith, but you can do  nothing without it. (Nicholas Murray Butler, American educator and Nobel Peace Prize winner)

The British writer, C. S. Lewis, put it another way: “True faith is never found alone; it is accompanied by expectation.” Hope-so-faith is of little value; you don’t really expect anything to happen. Genuine faith, the kind God offers in his Word, is placed in the One who never fails, so the believer’s hope is always expecting God to keep his promises.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23)

Stop & Think: May 3, 2024

Faith 2

You can’t predict the future, so plan for it. (Edward Jones, investment advisor)

Some “advisors” think they have the unique ability to see into the future. On that basis they want to give direction and hope to their patrons. While financial advisors may be able to predict market futures, no one actually knows what tomorrow will bring. It’s better to plan carefully on the basis of knowledge and experience, coupled with faith in a sovereign God.

How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? . . . What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:14, 15)

Stop & Think: May 2, 2024

Faith

Faith sees the invisible, but it does not see the nonexistent. (A. W. Tozer, late spiritual mentor)

Tozer also wrote, “Real faith is not the stuff dreams are made of; rather it is tough, practical, and altogether realistic.” Faith is only as good or strong as its object. Trust in a broken chair or thin ice would certainly not be well placed. But faith in a tested and proven object or in a person of character and integrity will bring results that are satisfying and fulfilling.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. . .  . [I]t is impossible to please God without faith. (Hebrews 11:1, 6)

Stop & Think: May 1, 2024

May Day

Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun. (Kahill Gibran, Lebanese-American writer and poet)

To some  people, the first day of May is their first real day of spring. It’s a good day because the flowers are in bloom, and they bring joy to the warmer weather. But, as others have observed, every day is a good day to be alive, whether or not the sun is shining or the flowers are blooming. Let the pleasant expression on your face brighten someone’s life today.

A glad heart makes a happy face . . . As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. (Proverbs 15:13; 27:19)

Stop & Think: April 30, 2024

Happiness 2

Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. (Ben  Franklin)

Franklin continues: “The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one.” Few people seem to be content with what they have. Perhaps it’s part of the American dream, not just to reach a level of comfort, but to try to satisfy the desire for more. People who learn to be satisfied with things more important than money, may, indeed, be happy.

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

Stop & Think: April 29, 2024

Happiness

Work like you don’t need money; love like your heart has never been broken; dance like no one is watching. (Aurora Greenway, actress)

Some workers would probably like to take their job less seriously—which is hard to do if you lack cash. The heartbroken probably do have a better understanding of what love is and will experience it again. And people who don’t have good rhythm may be happy enough to dance even if they’re not in private. How do you gain this kind of confidence?

[W]hen people [mistreat] you because you follow the Son of Man. . . .  [B]e happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. (Luke 6:22-23)

Stop & Think: April 28, 2024

Love is to Share

The love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay – love isn’t love until it’s given away. (Oscar Hammerstein II, songwriter)

Because mankind was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and God is love (1 John 4:8), we were given hearts capable of love. The songwriter was right when he noted that love isn’t meant to remain unshared. Loving others is in the very DNA of one’s spiritual being. To love in the deepest way is to act in the best interest of another, as God works through the lover.

You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. (1 Peter 1:22)