Hope Does Not Disappoint

This hope does not disappoint us... Romans 5:5

I was chatting online with a friend when I first read the Bible verse: Hope does not disappoint. It struck me as beautiful and I shared it with my friend.

But it does! Hope disappoints! It causes you to have expectations and you get shot down, she explained. And I realized we were talking about two different things. She was talking about hope in the things of this world; the line was referring to hope borne out of our experience of God.

I am no stranger to losing hope. For most of my life, I believed that the only way to survive was to avoid situations where I could get hurt. I put up near-insurmountable walls around me so I wouldnt get too attached to anyone or anything. What I didnt realize earlier on was that letdowns are part of life and should be accepted with an open heart. This conviction came during a particularly low day, when I was surprised by a sudden realization: No matter what happens to me, God will never allow me to be unhappy for too long. It is almost impossible to feel bad after a thought like that.

Hope in a faithful God does not disappoint. Anna dG.

Is your faith still lacking? Strengthen my hope; strengthen my faith

A Letter To You From Satan

I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you didn’t even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night.

You are so unthankful, I like that about you. I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine. Remember, you and I have been going steady for years, and I still don’t love you yet.

As a matter of fact, I hate you, because I hate God. I am only using you to get even with God. He kicked me out of heaven, and I’m going to use you as long as possible to pay him back.

You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me and I’m going to make your life a living hell. That way we’ll be together twice this will really hurt God. Thanks to you. I’m really showing Him who’s boss in your life. With all of the good times we’ve had. We have been watching dirty movies, cursing people out, partying, stealing, lying, hypocriting, fornicating, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults and those in leadership position, NO respect for the church, bad attitudes. SURELY you don’t want to give all this up.

Come on, Fool, let’s burn together forever. I’ve got some hot plans for us. This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I’d like to say “THANKS” for letting me use you for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you.

When you are tempted to sin, you give in…. HA HA HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life. You look 20 years older, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin.

All you have to do is smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and listen to and dance to the top 10 jams. Do all of this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.

Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I’ll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, confess your sins, live for God with what little bit of life that you have left. It’s not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning, it’s becoming a bit ridiculous.

Don’t get me wrong, I still hate you…… IT’S JUST THAT YOU’D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.

Strength and Courage

It takes strength to be firm.
It takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to stand guard.
It takes courage to let down your guard.
It takes strength to conquer
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain.
It takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in.
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend's pain.
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to hide feelings.
It takes courage to show them.
It takes strength to endure abuse.
It takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone.
It takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love.
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive.
It takes courage to live.

"....as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you
nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage...." (Joshua 1:5b-6a)

Words

I have always had a special love for words. Words have such power in them. The right words can uplift, inspire, heal, and create endless joy and Love in our lives. The wrong words can depress, discourage, hurt, and bring us endless misery and pain. It is so very important then to try and choose the right words in our lives. By choosing the right words I don't just mean saying the right words or writing the right words either. I also mean thinking the right words. It is amazing the garbage that so many of us allow ourselves to think each and every day of our lives.

In order to live a truly blessed life we must haul away the garbage and start to plant words that will grow into a garden of joy and light in our minds. Start today then to make the words in your life work for you and not against you. Do away with "can't" and "no". Try "can" and "yes" instead.

Say, " I can be happy, I can choose joy, and I can share love."

Say, "Yes" to life, to learning, and to growth. Begin to use words like: Wonderful, Beautiful, and Delightful when you speak to others. Find a word of Praise for everyone you know and then share it with them. Look the people you love straight in the eye and tell them, "I love you." Seek our every fantastic, fabulous, and glorious word that you can and start to use them in your life.

Words are such simple things and yet they have the power to change our lives forever if we use them right. Make the choice everyday of your life to use all of the good, positive, and loving words you can every second that you can. If you do this you will find that your life will become a paradise of love and joy, that other people will become your brothers and sisters in happiness, and that God's goodness will shine through every word you use....

Brings Those Babies To Church

My heart goes out to the parents of small children. I know first hand the kind of problems they face. Training up a toddler in the way he should Go is a constant job, a continuous battle, seven-day-a- week task, not to mention an awesome responsibility. After six days of their whining chorus at home and three hours of embarrassment while shopping, the last thing some young mothers want to face is an hour of agony and humiliation at church.

Many young mothers have asked herself, "Why do I keep bringing them To church?" As she enters the auditorium she utters a silent prayer that The kids will be good and the sermon short. The service begins. While mother is picking up toys, drying eyes, wiping noses, swatting, scolding, trying to sing, listen, and pray, the toddler is pouring juice on her dress. To the toddler, church is an exciting adventure. Songbooks are a challenge to take, stuffed toys make great missiles to launch over four or five rows, and the collection plate would make a great hat. Young parents take heart!

Let me assure you of this:
1. Your children do not disturb others nearly as much as you think they do.
2. If people without children are determined to sit at the back of The church, then they deserve any distraction they get.
3. Most people really do understand your plight and remember back to The days when their children were infants and toddlers.
4. Remember that you are both wanted and needed in the worship service.
5. Have faith that the hand, which now hurls crayons, will one daySpread the seeds of the Kingdom.

Author Unknown

A Gold Metal Fish

Ten seconds can make a man a name known around the world if that ten seconds happens to be in the Olympics and he happens to spend those ten seconds running the hundred meter dash! And if he happens to win the gold medal! Around the world the winner of that event is hailed as the world’s fastest human. Now, most of us have watched that exciting event, but, most of us don’t realize what ultimately makes a man the winner. The obvious answer is he runs the fastest, but in a sense the winner is the one who slows down the least. Newsweek’s coverage of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta included this headline, “He who decelerates least wins!” The concept of deceleration seems pretty odd to us casual observers because it appears that the runners are speeding up continually. In fact, the sprinter usually peaks between 50 and 60 meters. Newsweek says the start can lose a race, but it seldom wins it. The coach of the US mens Olympic tract team said, “Nobody kills anybody in the first 50 or 60 meters, the key is not to decelerate as much as the other guy.” So, that’s the key to winning uh!

There are a lot of people who get off to a great start, spiritually, but they don’t finish well - they decelerate too soon. Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest it we do not give up.” Now, maybe you’re getting weary in doing good and you’re beginning to decelerate, but Jesus is saying today, “Keep your speed up man, this will pay off, don’t slow down now!” That’s why Hebrews calls us to “run with perseverance the race set before us.” It’s why Paul wanted his testimony to be at the end of the race, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” That’s II Timothy 4:7. God cares how we finish!

Somewhere back there you started running some race for your Lord. Your uniform carries not the name of your country, or your church, or your organization, or even your own name, it carries the Name of Jesus Christ. The One who felt like letting up as He approached the horror of His last lap but who did not decelerate. It could be that you’re getting ready to slow down, or even to drop out. The race has had some discouragements hasn’t it? You’re tired. There isn’t much support from the stands, maybe. Your opponents are tough. You’re starting to think about yourself a lot. Can you hear Jesus, your coach, calling to you from the finish line, “Not now, don’t give up now, don’t slow down now! You’re about to win.” Or maybe you’ve been running for the Lord a long, long time and you just want to rest this last lap. Or maybe you’re getting a little careless and you’re tempted to even take a major detour here near the end. Oh, don’t do it.

You’ve run too long, you’ve run too well. Don’t leave the track now. Go out in a blaze of glory, finish well - like a champion! You’ll have plenty of time to rest up, you’ll have plenty of time to celebrate when your race in finally over. But right now in these limited years we have here, there is still ground to cover. Don’t slow up! Don’t give up! Don’t stop until you run across that finish line and you hear your coaches long awaited praise, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

by Ron Hutchcraft

About Love

Don’t think that love, to be true, has to be extraordinary. What is necessary is to continue to love. How does a lamp burn, if it is not by the continuous feeding of little drops of oil? When there is no oil, there is no light and the bridegroom will say: “I do not know you”.

Dear friends, what are our drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things from every day life: the joy, the generosity, the little good things, the humility and the patience. A simple thought for someone else. Our way to be silent, to listen, to forgive, to speak and to act. That are the real drops of oil that make our lamps burn vividly our whole life. Don’t look for Jesus far away, He is not there. He is in you, take care of your lamp and you will see Him.”

~ Mother Teresa ~

Voice Mail

Most of us have now learned to live with voice mail as a necessary part of our lives. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing the following:

Thank you for calling heaven.
For English press 1
For Spanish press 2
For all other languages, press 3
Please select one of the following options:
Press 1 for request
Press 2 for thanksgiving
Press 3 for complaints
Press 4 for all others

I am sorry, all our Angels and Saints are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line. If you would like to speak to:

God, press 1
Jesus, press 2
Holy spirit, press 3
To find a loved one that has been assigned to heaven press 5, then enter his social security # followed by the pound sign.

For reservations to heaven, please enter JOHN followed by the numbers, 3 16. For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, life and other planets, please wait until you arrive in heaven for the specifics. Our computers show that you have already been prayed for today, please hang up and call again tomorrow.

The office is now closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday. If you are calling after hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local pastor. Thank you and have a heavenly day.

Author Unknown