Thursday, September 10, 2015

Never Lose Hope (from Harvey Mackay's Nationally Syndicated Weekly Column)

I get an email each week from Harvey Mackay University.  This particular message was something I think everyone needs to hear, read, take to heart, and pass on. We are all blessed to have so much wise counsel and wisdom available to us from those who have gone before.

Never lose hope 


The only survivor of a shipwreck woke up on the beach of a small uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean.  Every day he circled the island, looking for ships on the horizon, and searched the sky for planes, hoping for a rescue.  But none ever came.

So he scrounged around for materials to build a small hut to protect himself from the sun and rain.  His daily schedule included scavenging and hunting for food.  He kept a small fire going so he could cook whatever he found.

After his walk around the island one day, he returned to find his hut in flames.  A gust of wind had blown some embers from his fire that ignited the hut.  Black smoke billowed in the air and try as he might, he couldn’t douse the fire.  He collapsed, exhausted and dejected.  He had lost all hope.

But the next day he awoke to find a ship anchored off the island.  A life raft was headed his way!  He would be rescued at last!

When he reached the ship, he asked the captain, “What made you stop here?  I have been looking for a ship for months and saw none.”

The captain replied, “We saw the smoke from the fire you built.  It led us right to you.”

What had seemed hopeless was what saved him.

Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.  In short, hope changes everything.

My dear friend Lou Holtz always says you need four things in your life, otherwise you are going to have a tremendous void.  Number one, everyone needs something to do.  Number two, everyone needs someone to love.  Number three, everyone needs someone to believe in.  And number four, everyone needs something in their life to hope for.

What do you want to do?  You have to have hope, ambition and dreams.


         
My wish, dream and hope, aside from being a professional golfer, was to own my own factory.  I didn’t know what I would manufacture, but I always hoped to be able to walk the factory floor and be able to have my employees look up to me.

But I didn’t wait for it to fall in my lap.  I acted on that hope and made my dreams come true.

President Dwight Eisenhower, a highly accomplished man by any standard, told this story about his hopes and dreams:  When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up.

“I told him that I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner.  My friend said that he'd like to be president of the United States.  Neither of us got our wish.”

The dictionary defines hope as “wanting something to happen and thinking that it could happen.”

Just because something isn’t happening for you right now doesn’t mean it will never happen.  Hope is the little voice you hear whisper “maybe” when it seems the entire world is shouting “no.”

Believing in the future helps us to have hope.  “Hope is greater than history,” said American businessman and diplomat Dwight Morrow – more than a century ago.  Don’t let the idea that history repeats itself discourage you.  You can shape your own history if you have hope.

Consider these words from naturalist Jane Goodall:  “I carry a few symbols with me because sometimes you get a bit depressed, and these symbols remind me of the hope that there is in the world.  Without hope, we all fall into apathy; without hope, there is no hope.  I carry symbols that represent four reasons for hope:  the human brain, with the technology that we are now working to try to live in greater harmony with the environment; the resilience of nature – give nature a chance and it’s amazing how places that we’ve destroyed can bloom again; the tremendous energy, commitment, excitement and dedication of young people once they know what the problems are, and we empower them to act to do something about it.  And finally, the indomitable human spirit, those people who tackle impossible tasks and won’t give in, those people who overcome tremendous physical disabilities and lead lives that are shining inspiration to those around them.”


Mackay’s Moral:  Hope is what allows us to remember yesterday’s disappointments and still look forward to tomorrow.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Bible Study Notes: 06/26/15

Remember to please question what might not resonate with you or match up to scripture.  It is not my intent to mislead or misrepresent in any way.

James 1:21
When we were born again, our 'spirit man' was made perfect! Our 'spirit man' can't get more perfect because the Holy Spirit lives IN us [and He wouldn't be IN us if we weren't just right - which is what Jesus does for us].
"God's word was spoken so it could be written so we could hear it and so we could speak it."

James (Jesus' half brother) wasn't a believer until after the resurrection.
Genesis 1:27
  • Soul = will, mind, emotions.
  • Romans 12:1-2
  • Satan chips away at who we THINK we are. Society is twisting and turning constantly away from God.
  • Take care of the temple (body).
  • Educate the intellect (mind)
  • Fill the spirit man (spirit)
  • There's heaven. There's hell. And there's earth.
  • NEVER underestimate the power of the born again experience. It is everything!  C.S. Lewis calls it "the great exchange" - Jesus exchanged His life for us.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:45
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17
  • 2 Corinthians 5:21
  • Galatians 5:20
Guilt and condemnation kill your faith.
  • We are more than conquerors through Christ. The Holy Spirit lives in us.
  • Colossians 2:20 ... crucified
  • Colossians 2:13 and Romans 6:4 ... died and buried
  • Ephesians 2:1 ... alive
  • Ephesians 2:4-6 ... raised
  • 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 ... one spirit
  • Ephesians 1:22-23 ... His body
  • Colossians 1:27 ... He is in us
  • Colossians 2:10 ... we are in Him
  • 1 John 4:17 ... so are we in this world.
Make things happen that line up with His teaching.  Good things distract us from the best things.
  • Be aware of what you're thinking about. Think about what you are thinking about. Be mindful of your thought life.
  • You can't think and talk at the same time (try it sometime).
  • The tongue is the steering wheel of life.
  • Speak the truth of Christ - memorize it and draw from it.
  • 2/3 of our testament has to do with our behavior.
  • We are living epistles - letters from God.
God isn't moved by need. He's moved by faith.
  • He has everything we need/want. We have to reach out and accept it.
  • Faith is activated by action.
  • Proverbs 28:1  ... Boldness, Confidence, Assurance
  • Faith ... Living and acting like the bible is true. Romans 4:17
  • To be full of joy is = strength!
  • There's a difference between faith and mental assent.  True faith's first action - speak it. "Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth."
  • The word of God is faith food.

Bible Study Notes: 06/12/15

Every time we come together more and more is revealed to me. Here are my notes from our gathering on June 12, 2015. Remember to please question what might not resonate with you or match up to scripture.  It is not my intent to mislead or misrepresent in any way.

Luke 8:11 .. the seed is the word of God.

See ourselves as God sees us - fully redeemed. We  live with Christ IN us.  When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we [you and me] were raised with Christ.

Our lives are a walk of faith, a stand of faith. Our bibles are the instruction manual [how to] for this walk. Don't let it sit around collecting dust.

  • EVERYTHING was created by God for good!
  • God's will for all men for all time is represented in Christ.
  • God calls all things to be, that aren't.
  • We don't have to live with the things we don't want. Turn to the Bible.
  • God gave us dominion [sovereignty; control] over our world, our lives, our circumstances, but not over other people. We are to guard and tend to our world and make all things flourish.
  • God is not the God of our flesh, our mind (our earth suit). He is the father of spirits

"You will never miss a God opportunity when you're in the house of God."

"Never run at your "giant" with your mouth shut."

Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest prophet and even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.
  • The bible is plan A.  There is no plan B.
  • Be careful what you hear. No self pity, no sympathy.
  • The more self conscious you are, the more pain you are in.  The more God conscious you are, the more victorious you are.
  • Self help is God.
  • We create our world through our spoken words.  Proverbs 18:20
Spirit man is suppose to be the dominant, the one in control of the earth suit (body) and soul man (feelings and emotions). Soul man makes decisions and is feed by the spirit.
  • John 6:63 .. my words are spirit and they are life ..
  • We are to feed our spirit with spirit food (The Word).
  • To be full of something is different than being being the real thing.
  • The Word fills our spirit so we can be more like Christ.
  • We're suppose to imitate Christ - own it, believe it, take it in all the way through.
  • Don't harden your heart.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Bible Study Notes: 06/05/15

Another wonderful session with WOG (Women of God).  Included below are my notes (and some thoughts) from our time together. Please question what might not resonate with you or match up to scripture.  It is not my intent to mislead or misrepresent in any way.

Genesis 8:22 - The Law of Genesis (Seed time and harvest)

  • Seed produces it's own kind
  • God's word is the seed - our hearts are the soil.
  • God is a God of increase.
Isaiah 55:11 "... goes forth from my mouth ..." God's word.

We live in a word based world; His word - God's word creates

Psalms 107:20 ... sent forth His word ... healed and delivered from (removes) all obstacles.
James 1:17 ... the same today, tomorrow, always.
John 17:17  ... Jesus is the high priest over our words. He intercedes on our confessions/our words. Give him something to work with.

The word of God is the vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to produce. God gives us everything we need.  His word and the Holy Spirit always work together.

The word of God is a seed, planted in our hearts so we can see ourselves as God does. To be operative in our lives, we must renew our minds.  We have the power of God! See ourselves in the Bible. We [I] are complete in Christ. Own it!

Hebrews 11:6 ... God is a rewarder for those how honestly seek him.
God calls us trophies of his grace.

Romans 5:14 ... Jesus has been called "the last Adam."

Romans 8:9-10
Romans 8:32 .. when our prayers are answered God's glory is revealed.  God wants us to ask BIG!

God doesn't use anything "bad" to teach us anything.
Mark 7:13

We are in control of Satan's reign and have POWERFUL weapons to battle him:
The name of Jesus
The blood of Jesus
The word of God
The armor of God

Give no place (not an inch) to the deivl. Be strong in your "spirit man".  We are holy.  The Holy Spirit wouldn't/couldn't live in us if we weren't. Remember, we are BOLD WOMEN of GOD!

Do what the bible says - CAST DOWN [throw off] EVERY thought that is not of God.
Thoughts have no power over us unless we take ownership of them with our words.  We "take a thought" by speaking it - saying it out loud.  Don't be all about feelings [sensual], speaking what you feel, what you think, etc.

"Facts are subject to change. Truths are constant. Speak truth."
Ex: The fact is that we might be struggling with allergies. The truth is that Jesus bought our freedom from sickness (by His stripes we are healed).  We have it. Claim it. Own it.