All posts tagged: hope

Patience: the Rose among many thorns

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Somebody once said that if you ask God to give you patience, “he may allow difficult situations in your life to help you cultivate it.” Unfortunately, these situations are never pleasant and none of us look forward to any one of them. But apparently, they seem like the most logical place for patience to develop. Paul understood this very well. Remember the thorn in his flesh? Speaking to this very situation he said, “In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We “patiently” endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.” 2 Corinthians 6:4, 5 NLT In the same chapter he adds the following We have been despised We have been slandered We have been called impostors We have been ignored We live close to death Our hearts ache We are poor We own nothing In such difficult times and dark situations, there is one word that stands …

3 Incredible Promises & 1 Big Reason

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“But now, God ’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead-end— Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.” Isaiah 43:1-4 MSG Check out The Promises: When you are in over your head – I will be with you When you are in rough waters You will not go down When you’re between a rock and a hard place It won’t be a dead-end Check out the …

7 steps to a better life

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Everyone is looking for a better life, but just how to get that life can prove a little elusive, especially if we go about seeking it the wrong way, or pursuing the wrong things. Let me propose 7 steps to a better life. The list is not exhaustive, but I am sure you’ll find these steps very useful: 1. Make curiosity your best friend Curiosity is the desire to learn or know more about something or someone. Plutarch once said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” Curiosity is the very thing that fuels that fire and makes for a better life. 2. Put Christ at the center of everything you do I know a man who ran after the pleasures of this world. But at the end of his life he realized that it was all vanity – a chasing after the wind. So remember God, fear Him and keep his command, in everything you do do it all the his glory. 3. Let simplicity be your …

Can you feel it? It’s in the Air tonight

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O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth Long lay the world in sin and error pining ‘Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn Fall on your knees O hear the angel voices O night divine! O night when Christ was born O night divine! O night, O night divine! [Choir:] Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains He shall break, for the slave is our brother. And in His name, all oppression shall cease Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we Let all within us praise His holy name Christ is the Lord! Their name forever praise we Noel, Noel O night, O night divine Noel, Noel O night, O night divine Noel, Noel O night, O holy night

10 Best Loved Christmas Books | FaithGateway

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Christmas is wonderful time to sit in your favorite reading chair, with perhaps a fire and a mug of hot chocolate nearby, and enjoy a great book! Here are 10 touching and inspirational Christmas books that will prepare your heart for Christmas and get you in the spirit of the season! Celebrate Christmas this year by sharing these best-loved Christmas books with your family and friends. On This Holy Night Rekindle the true meaning of Christmas with the help of six gifted Christian authors, including: Max Lucado — a look into Joseph’s story, a man caught between what God says and what makes sense Rick Warren — the real gift of Christmas is that God sent His own Son to connect with the human race David Jeremiah — why the name of Jesus is so important and perfect And many more! Read more… The Hope of Christmas Go on a journey… from the promise of the Messiah given to us in the Old Testament… to the promise of Jesus’ birth in the New Testament… to …

It rains fish in desert places when God gets ready to bless you!

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I am about to tell you a true story that will blow your mind. The country is Australia. The town is Lajamanu and it is about 400 miles south of Darwin and Alice Springs, almost on the edge of  the Tanami Desert in Australia’s northern territory. It was sometime in April or March of 2010 that hundreds of fish began to fall from the sky as rain fell over the town. Residents of this desert community were left speechless as fish – some frozen, others still alive fell from the sky. For seven days they ran all around town collecting buckets of fish  that had fallen from the sky. A brief look at history will tell us that this incident was not unique to this Australian town: In the 1st century there were storms of frogs and fishes. In 1794 French soldiers reported toads falling from the sky. In 1857: Sugar crystals as big as quarter  of an inch in diameter fell over the course of two days in Lake County,  California. In 1940: A tornado in Russia brought a  shower of coins from …

A Rugged Disposition doesn’t know when to quit

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A Rugged Disposition doesn’t know when to quit Just a few before service pics from the weekend. I preached at TAG Church. We are in the second week of a sermon series entitled “Momentum.” Momentum is often described by the force that can stop it. This weekend we talked about the forces that can stop your momentum. Some times it is as simple and dangerous as discouragement in the face of opposition. The temptation to give up and throw in the towel. In Nehemiah chapter 6 we highlighted about seven forces that can stop your momentum as he said NO to a proposal to meet with Sanballet and friends in the land of ONO. But in this post we would like to emphasize the temptation to get discourage and give up pressing on in your momentum. Have you ever noticed? When we are doing great in life ministry and mission, that’s when he shows up to get us off track? Tell him – Oh No! I am doing a great work and I am not …

two unchangeable things about God

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So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. Hebrews 6:18 How certain are the promises of God? The writer of the book of Hebrews claims that the certainty of God’s promises are guaranteed by God’s own perfectly trustworthy character. To illustrate this and prove the certainty of God’s promises, the writer uses Abraham as an example of one who through faith and much patience inherited the promises of God. As if that illustration was not enough, the writer makes a bold statement about two unchangeable things about God. What are they? And how important are they? The two unchangeable things are: God’s promise/purpose God’s Oath one deals with the fact that all the promises of God are yes! and the other is more like an assurance that he will certainly deliver on what he promised. Hebrews 6:13 says, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had …

What My Soul Needs is God

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Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. This is one of my most favored Psalms of all-time. It has a humble and longing posture that is most important to anyone who truly wants to know and experience God. The idea of running after or seeking after God is exciting and adventurous. To me, His ways are past finding out, and you might be surprise about what you might discover about Him as you attempt to seek more of Him. Therefore, for the soul to truly live and thrive, and experience God in meaningful ways, one must understand the things that keep the soul alive and thriving and fight the things that try to hinder it. Because the soul is easily cast down. It easily loses hope and is easily troubled. So here are a few things to consider: A sustained hunger and thirst for God through shouts of worship and praise (verse 1 and …

Praying Scripture over Oklahoma

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Isaiah 48:8 In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances Isaiah 58:12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called repairers of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. Isaiah 61:4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations Thank you! May God Bless these families!