GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: June 16, 2023

Relationship

When you have an opportunity to deepen a relationship with a truth-teller in your life, take it! (Christian Unity Ministries)

Here’s a searching question: “Who is friend enough to speak the truth to you in love?” Do you have a friend like that? It may be difficult to “speak the truth in love,” but it is often necessary. Someone wrote, “We need to be iron to one another and allow others to be iron for us so we may be shaped and sharpened throughout life.” It would be healthy to find such a friend and to be one!

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend (Proverbs 27:17).

Stop & Think: June 15, 2023

Focus

Focus in on each shot and don’t worry about the outcome. (Jim Sheard and Wally Armstrong, golf writers)

They continue, “When you do this, the rest usually will take care of itself.” Don’t think about your iron play while you’re just teeing off. And don’t worry about putting until your ball is on the green. That’s good advice for all of us. Focus on the immediate. In this hectic world, it’s hard, but it will help if we just focus on what’s at hand now.

I focus on this one thing: . . .   I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God . . .  is calling us (Philippians 3:13-14).

Stop & Think: June 14, 2023

Flag Day

A national flag is the most sacred thing a nation can possess. (Thomas Francis Meagher, 19th century Irish nationalist)

A flag is a symbol that reflects a country’s origins and history, and it often represents all a country stands for. Unfortunately, not everyone supports his nation and its flag; some will even burn it. That may help us understand that the flag is not really a country’s most sacred thing. What’s most important is honoring and keeping the principles it stands for.

The godless nations will vanish from the land (Psalm 10:16). Godliness makes a nation great. (Proverbs 14:34)

Stop & Think: June 13, 2023

Do Your Bit

Do your little bit of good where you are; it is those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” (Desmond Tutu, late South African clergyman)

Sometimes we are overwhelmed with how much there is to be done, thinking that our little bit won’t make any difference, so we don’t do anything. But author Max Lucado reminds us, “You can’t do everything, but everyone can do something.” Let’s not be discouraged by how much there is to do, let’s focus on the one thing we can do and do it well for the benefit of others.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Stop & Think: June 12, 2023

Challenges

You don’t climb mountains to get to the top; you climb them to see what other mountains there are to climb. (TV commercial)

Why do people climb mountains? “Because they are there,” they say. For the strong and healthy the challenge is just too great to pass up. The view from the top may not have been the motivation, but it certainly can be the reward. For most of us, there are plenty of mountains we face every day. They are challenges we must accept if we are to learn, grow, and succeed.

Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Stop & Think: June 11, 2023

Faith

Faith and fear have something in common. They both ask us to trust something that we can’t see or don’t already know. (Several variations by various speakers)

Author and speaker Jon Gordon adds, “Fear believes in a negative future. Faith believes in a positive future.” People who accept a variety of propositions contrary to the teaching of the Bible exercise faith in those false teachings as much as Christians believe the Bible’s teachings. Often the difference is the historical evidence which supports Bible narrative and prophetic writings.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1).

Stop & Think: June 10, 2023

True Friends

It’s the friends you can call up at 4am that matter. (Marlene Dietrick, early 20th century actress)

Not many people have a friend they can call in the middle of the night. Jesus said, “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight wanting to borrow some bread and he said, ‘Go away; we are in bed.'” How long would you persist? Be a friend who says, “I can help you, even at four in the morning.”

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need (Proverbs 17:17).

Stop & Think: June 9, 2023

Learning

I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. (Winston Churchill)

Learning should be a lifelong practice. Some people may not have liked going to school as a child and choose not to pursue higher education. Yet, they continue learning with or without formal schooling, whether in a classroom, online, or in the “school of life.” Learning may be hard at times, but when we are willing to learn there will be no end to our education.

Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge (Proverbs 18:15).

Stop & Think: June 8, 2023

Comfort

If you want to be great, you must sacrifice your comfort. (Tim Kight, leadership guru)

Comfort seems to be the goal of a great many people. They can’t wait to retire, play golf every day, or buy an RV and travel without a care in the world. But comfort is an elusive goal, and we are told that to be successful we will often have to move out of our “comfort zone.” While that sounds uncomfortable, it may be necessary to succeed in any worthy achievement in life.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him (Romans 12:1).

Stop & Think: June 7, 2023

Friends

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends. (Aristotle, 4th century BC Greek philosopher)

We sometimes call them “fair weather friends.” They’re with us when the times are good, sharing the fun and achievements. But, let things get tough—misfortune, losses, poor health—and they disappear. It’s a difficult loss to endure, but how much more precious are the friends who stay with us, sharing in the loss and offering help and encouragement.

There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

Stop & Think: June 6, 2023

The Impossible?

When they say it can’t be done, they only mean, we don’t know how to do it. (Kenneth J. Brown, author)

When Thomas Edison was working so hard to develop the electric light bulb, don’t you suppose that there were many who said to him, “It can’t be done.” That’s probably been true of most ideas or inventions. Few of us could have imagined smart phones and TVs a few short years ago. What’s next? It’s only impossible until someone does it.

Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible (Matthew 19:26).

Stop & Think: June 5, 2023

The Right Change

Very often, a change of self is needed more than a change of scene. (A. C. Benson, English essayist)

When things get tough, we’re often tempted to take drastic steps, even move away, thinking that would somehow solve our problems. Or we wish others would change, so our lives would be less difficult. Benson’s observation is very helpful counsel. Changing our perspective and behavior is most likely the better solution.

This same Good News . . . is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives. (Colossians 1:6).