GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: July 1, 2023

Power

The power is between your ears. The power is in your heart. (Jim Brown, late pro football legend)

Brown was one of the most powerful runners in college and professional football. He knocked over or simply dragged would-be tacklers with him. Yet, he was smart enough to realize that physical strength is not the real force in life. What a pity that some fight for positions of authority while overlooking power’s true source–wisdom and compassion that come from God.

When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan (Proverbs 29:2).

Stop & Think: June 30, 2023

Relationships

If we are called to live at one extreme, it is extreme godliness. Beyond that, we must seek balance and moderation. (Beau Stanley, spiritual trainer)

Every year seems to be a political year these days. As a result, we hear loud voices at both extremes of the partisan spectrum. But, as Stanley suggests, extremism is good when it has to do with our relationship with and obedience to God. That very connection with God will lead us into moderation and balance in our application of truth in our relationships with people.

The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue godliness (Proverbs 16:9),

Stop & Think: June 29, 2023

Be Quiet

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens and nature. (Inspiration Line Newsletter)

With the rising incidence of crime, a lot of people are afraid, and that’s to be expected. Others are lonely in spite of the crowds in the stores and sports arenas. And many people are unhappy even though they have all the toys and amusements one could want. For all who are facing those tensions, the really good advice is: Slow down, go outside and enjoy God’s calming creation.

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams (Psalm 23:1-2).

Stop & Think: June 28, 2023

Adversity

Look at every adversity as an opportunity in disguise (John J. Wagner, pastor)

An old forties song told us that “Into each life some rain must fall,” and it seems that the rain always falls at the wrong time, doesn’t it? When we learn to see such things as Wagner suggests, we will look at them differently, seeing them as an opportunity to believe God. With that outlook, we can face adversity expectantly.

But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity (Job 36:15).

Stop & Think: June 27, 2023

Confidence

You must have confidence in your ability to make the shot required. This comes from practice. (Byron Nelson, star professional golfer)

Confidence is important for any athlete or artist. As Nelson suggests, you can gain that confidence only by continual practice of your sport or art. But practice itself is not enough. For, while practice may make perfect, as the saying goes, it also makes permanent, so be sure to practice correctly. Then, you can proceed with confidence in your game or art.

In quietness and confidence [in God] is your strength (Isaiah 30:15).

Stop & Think: June 26, 2023

Forgiving

Know what happens if we don’t forgive? We’ll be chained to bitterness and anger every day of our life. And that’s no life. (Former pastor)

Novelist Anne Lamotte put it this way, “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” Of course, when you’ve been hurt deeply, it’s difficult to forget the pain and overlook the offense. Our human nature urges us to expose the offender or to seek revenge and get even. It would be so much healthier to pray as the Lord taught us. . .

Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us (Matthew 6:12).

Stop & Think: June 25, 2023

Down to Earth

Sojourners who think the most of the next world are usually those who are doing the highest good in this one. (Joni Eareckson Tada, disability advocate author)

It used to be said, perhaps in a rather mocking tone, that some people “are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.” Tada argues just the opposite. Rather than seeing such people as incapable of thinking rationally, she sees heavenly thinking as the motivation for down-to-earth practical, helpful living.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking (Colossians 2:8).

Stop & Think: June 24, 2023

Anger

There are two things a person should never get angry at, what they can help and what they cannot. (Plato, ancient Greek philosopher))

Life is full of errors, faux pax, and just plain mistakes. They will happen, so how do we react to them? We could get mad, but Plato suggests if we could have helped it, we shouldn’t be angry. It would be better just to correct the error and do better. If we couldn’t help it—it wasn’t our fault, then why should we be angry, we’ll not be blamed? That should help us avoid a lot of anger.

And don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil (Ephesians 4:26-27).

Stop & Think: June 23, 2023

Living Truth

Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other. (Matthew Henry, 17th-18th century Bible commentator)

“Do what I say, not what I do” may be the clearest expression of hypocrisy. People who put on an act, talking one way but living another, may be among the least liked in the crowd. Henry states the obvious: teaching one thing as authoritative loses its impact when the same person is teaching something entirely different from the way he lives. Don’t just speak truth, live it!

Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’” (Mark 7:6).

Stop & Think: June 22, 2023

The Best

Life is a series of choices between the bad, the good, and the best. Everything depends on how we choose. (Vance Havner, 20th century revivalist)

There was a time when most American homes anticipated with excitement and received with joy the next Sears Roebuck catalog. It offered the option to choose between good, better, and best, depending upon the quality of the item. That is fine for choosing merchandise, but in life we should never settle for anything less than the best and work hard for it in every endeavor.

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce (Proverbs 3:9).

Stop & Think: June 21, 2023

Valuable Living

We have but one life here…It pays . . .to try and do things, and not merely to have a soft and pleasant time. (Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president)

Retirement seems to be the goal of most working people in America. Everything points to that—estate planning, savings accounts, even purchasing “forever homes” to be ready for the momentous day of leaving the work force. Roosevelt advises us not to look forward to “a soft and pleasant time” but to make good use of our time, even in retirement.

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom (James 3:13).

Stop & Think: June 20, 2023

The Witness to God

Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God. (Heywood Broun, 20th century American journalist)

It is an interesting observation, isn’t it? If there is no God, why work so hard to build a case against him? There are many evidences of a supernatural being (God). The precision of the creation itself and the incredible human body are among the strongest. Those two alone point to the existence of a creator God. Furthermore, the Bible says we are created in his image.

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them (Genesis 1:27).