GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: October 6, 2024

Get Started!

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. (Zig Ziglar, American author)

Are you often looking for shortcuts? It may be just a quicker way to get across town. Or using cliff notes instead of studying. Perhaps you want to become a musician without taking lessons and putting in long hours of practice. Ziglar has pointed to a truth that should help us understand that we have to begin with intention if we want to accomplish anything of value.

The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty (Proverbs 21:5)  Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress (1 Timothy 4:15). 

Stop & Think: October 5, 2024

Careful Words

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind. (Bernard Baruch, American statesman)

Are we sometimes too concerned about what others think about us? While we should always be careful not to offend others while remaining authentic, Baruch has good advice for us. We can’t be unduly concerned about how people react to our words. If we are truthful and real, that should be good enough. Let’s be careful what we say but always be honest.

[There is] a time to be quiet and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:7). Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them (Ephesians 4:29).

Stop & Think: October 4, 2024

Effective Leaders

Don’t dominate the people you lead; don’t stifle them—help them experience joy! (Scott Morton, fund-raising coach)

Whether you worked your way to the top or are the leader by default, it’s important that you treat those who work for you in ways that help them do well while they’re making you look good. The most effective leaders will have success if they keep in mind that their followers are part of a team that has mutually acceptable goals and loves what they do.

Wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability (Proverbs 28:2). Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example (1 Peter 5:3).

Stop & Think: October 3, 2024

Satisfied

I choose to trade safety for satisfaction. I’ll give up guarantees for adventure, and I’ll savor relationship over accomplishment. (Gloria Gaither, gospel poet and lyricist)

How important is safety to you? Do you want a guarantee for every product or service you buy? And how important is achievement to you? Important questions. Gaither has answered them to her own satisfaction with an attitude of confidence. What’s the key? For her, it is a matter of relationships. With whom do you find satisfaction, adventure, and safety?

You satisfy me more than the richest feast  . . . Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. (Psalm 63:5; 90:14)

Stop & Think: October 2, 2024

Law and Order

The law is beneficial only if it is obeyed. (Bible study notes from Romans 2)

Laws are sets of rules created to regulate behavior. They are designed to maintain order in society. But what good are they if they are not obeyed? They make the difference between right and wrong clear, but, by themselves, they are helpless to ensure good behavior. A person’s proper response to law and order makes life safe for him and his community.

Whoever obeys the law is joyful (Proverbs 29:18). Anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:19).

Stop & Think: October 1, 2024

Priorities

When your priorities are confused, don’t be surprised if you are, too! (author Kenneth Brown)

Why is it that so many of us seem to be confused today when it comes to making decisions and choices?  Could it be because we haven’t established our priorities? The constant barrage of ads in print and the media often is confusing. Selecting a product or service to purchase should be made on the basis of the lasting moral or ethical decisions we’ve already established.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (Matthew 6:33).

Stop & Think: September 30, 2024

A Written Legacy

If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing. (Benjamin Franklin, 18th century American political leader)

Franklin’s many writings, including numerous pithy adages, and his prodigious work for the American Revolution are certainly worth reading. The volumes he’s written along with the articles about him would fill a library. All are worth reading. What about our own legacy? What are we leaving from our life’s experiences that will be of benefit to our family and community?

A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children. (Proverbs 13:22)

Stop & Think: September 29, 2024

Perseverance

Genuine religion is shown by its power of persistence. (F. B. Meyer, 19th-20th century British pastor and writer)

One of the many characteristics of a person of “genuine religion” is endurance. His faith is steadfast, not giving in to momentary lapses. He or she is also persistent in reaching and helping those in need, as James describes: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.” (James 1:27)

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness. (2 Peter 1:5-6)

Stop & Think: September 28, 2024

A Positive Attitude

Better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is almost always right. (Mark Twain, 19th-20th century American humorist)

When an outcome proves the pessimist to be wrong, he can always glibly say, “Well, I didn’t want to be right anyway.” It’s important to maintain a positive outlook when difficulties arise. Rather than expecting the worst, look for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Better yet, turn to the One who can bring good from a bad situation.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28)

Stop & Think: September 27, 2024

Time

The biggest difference between money and time? (Source unknown)

The answer: “You always know how much money you have, but you never know how much time you have.” We all know there are 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day, but no one knows how many hours, days, or years he or she might have left in their limited time on earth. It’s important to use our time well, but even more important to know what comes after this life.

For everything there is a season . . . . A time to be born and a time to die. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 2)
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

Stop & Think: September 26, 2024

Contentment

When we have money and possessions, we have no rest; in poverty, [we have] no peace. (Martin Luther, 16th century Reformation leader)

Who seems to be the happiest around us—the wealthy or the poor? For the most part, neither group finds peace or rest in the little or much they have. Luther suggests a place for a more contented life: “In the middle is correct, that is, to be satisfied with one’s fortune.” Many people, even the rich, want even more. But satisfaction doesn’t come in possessions.

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

Stop & Think: September 25, 2024

Doing What’s Right

Are you willing to do what is right regardless of the consequences? (A pastor)

Your initial response might be “Yes,” but if you faced a “do or die” situation, what would you do?   To tell the whole truth or to do what we know is the right thing to do could result in personal hurt or cost. How would we decide at that hard moment? At those times we recognize the essential nature of commitment to truth and principle.

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. (James 4:17)
Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right. (Ecclesiastes 8:5)