“Study Him!”

“The works of the LORD are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them,” Psalm 111:2, NKJV

Why such doubt?  Why such confusion?  Have you studied Him?  Have you studied the works of our God?

Open your understanding to the truth of who He is.  Open, and expand your knowledge of our Heavenly Father.  Seek Him, and search Him out.  As the greatest treasure that is to be found, don’t stop digging till you have unearthed His glorious truths.

“His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever,” (Psalm 111:3, NKJV).  So, dig deep, my friends, and find Him for yourself.

Look through His holy pages and see Him.  See what He has done.  See the testimonies of the lives that have walked in those written lines.  See the things He performed in them and through them.  See what He continues to do even in this day.  See, and believe.

For where the truth of this treasure is, it leaves no room for doubt and confusion.  Truth eats up the empty spaces that make room for lies.

Therefore, study Him.  Let not your appetite be quenched by the false junk and ideologies of this age.  Take your fill of God, our Father.  Learn of Him.  Explore Him, and you will not only be satisfied with that which nourishes for all eternity, but you will enter an abundant adventure of a lifetime today (John 10:10).

It’s there, in those pages of the Bible.  Seek Him.  He’s not hiding from you.  Study Him, and enrich your own life further and deeper than you could have ever imagined.

“He has made His wonderful works to be remembered . . .” Psalm 111:4, NKJV

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com articles/lessons/worksheets may not be copied or redistributed without the express written permission of WordforLifeSays.com.  Please see the COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.  Blessings to you.

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You are not forgotten! | An Isaiah 49:15 Devotional

“Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;” Job 29:2

Have you ever experienced these same thoughts that Job expressed?  Have difficult times ever made you look back to times when you felt everything in your world was right?  When adversity strikes and we deal with things we do not understand, I am sure many of us like Job take our mind’s eye to those past days when trouble wasn’t knocking on our door.

The difficulty of the days he was presently in caused Job to look at those previous times as times of favor, saying, that’s when “God preserved me”.  But now, his expressions tell a different story of what his feelings are feeling.  His troubles caused him to think that just because he was going through adversity, God was not as presently with him as before.

Little did Job know, and many times we need to be reminded, that just as God was with us in the good times, so too is He with us in the troubling times.  It may look different than we are used to seeing it, and it may feel different, but just because we don’t understand and may question it, it doesn’t negate the fact that God is presently near, watching, and keeping His people.

Jesus taught, “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7). 

A bird sold is not forgotten before God, and neither was Job, and neither are you.  Our value before God is so precious and more than we could ever imagine.  The clouds that come during those dark days may try to hide that fact, but the truth of God’s Word is a fact, that no matter how we feel or how hard it may seem, God is still there for us.  Even if you are dealing with hurtful situations and even if you feel like you have been wronged, God’s loving eyes see and His precious hands are working behind the scenes, holding you, loving on you, and valuing you when others may not.

Difficult times are difficult because they are not easy.  During these times, see Him with eyes of faith.  See that He is still with you and that you have not been left in this alone (Hebrews 13:5).  Take your cares, your disappointments, your hurts, and your discouragements to God in prayer.  He is there listening.  And trust me, He does care.

Just because it hurts it does not mean He’s not feeling what you are feeling (Hebrews 4:15).  And just because we can’t figure out all this stuff, God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), and we must trust Him with it, and with all the times in between.

God is here for you today, God is here.  Regardless of what you feel or are going through, you are not forgotten.

“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” Isaiah 49:15

Instinctively His!

As I sit here working on another writing project I glance out my window to ponder a thought.  Upon doing so, a squirrel captures my attention and I am altogether fascinated by what I see.  He is hopping in mid-air from branch to branch without what seems to be care or thought in the world.

What I mean is he doesn’t stop to measure the distance to see if he can make it, nor does he seem to contemplate the physics involved that would put a web-using superhero to shame as he sails through the air, grabbing hold of the next limb, and going again with ease of effort.

Instinctively he knows and is wired to map out the trees and venture through them without slip or fail in a matter of seconds.

Every creature of God has ingrained instincts.  We are all born with a sense of knowing.  For some those senses are geared toward survival and protection.  Some naturally know how to camouflage in order to ward off predators or to find food.  Others are excellent skill-building machines that know how to make stable houses for their families in the harshest climates.

Back to our friend the squirrel.  As he bounces through the trees with his ingrained knowing, not worrying or stressing over life, I must ask, dear child of God, are we navigating life with the same confidence?  He, the squirrel, is wired to know what to do and how to live by what’s inside of him.  What of us?

The Bible tells us, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” (1 John 4:4).   As we are going about life we are to know in whom we belong.  “You are of God!” the Word tells us.  Therefore, because of our holy lineage, because of how we are wired through the blood of Jesus Christ, you and me are to instinctively operate like the “greater” is in you.

When faced with the adversities of life our holy intuitiveness should kick in; faith should carry us into our spiritual survival mode and say, “Hey, wait a minute!  I am more than this!  I won’t give in!  I won’t quit!  I KNOW to whom I belong!  I KNOW He that is on the inside of me, and He is greater than anything and everything I am facing!”

Our friend the squirrel went from branch to branch without worrying because he knew what was inside of him.  Do you know Who is in you today?  If you are a child of God you have the greatest living inside of you and you have to instinctively know within yourself that you are His.  Let that knowing empower you as you swing through the trees of life today.

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“Jesus, My Healing Sanctuary!”

Most often, when one thinks of healing, the mind automatically seems to focus on physical healing from an ailment or disease.  While that is true, there are other areas of life and of the person that need healing as well. Any area where we feel there is a deficit or lack, any area that experiences brokenness and needs restoration is a place that needs the healing touch of the Lord in it.

I am moved by the many times I see Jesus’ real concern and compassion for what people are going through and dealing with when He reaches into their lives with His healing touch.  From the time when sin and brokenness entered into this world, God has been in the restoration business.

In Ezekiel 47, we see a future prophecy of a river flowing from the sanctuary that healed the places where it flowed (vs. 6-12).  While that ultimate healing will come as a result of us stepping into eternal life to live with God forever, when I see those mental images of Jesus healing people throughout the stories represented in Scripture while still here on earth, that leads me to believe that what’s flowing from the sanctuary in our future is available to us now in our present circumstances or crisis.

Christ is the source of everything we need for our future and present healing, for both physical and all the not-so-physical ailments we deal with (emotional, spiritual, etc.).  “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).  

In Matthew 11, Jesus invites us to “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (vs. 28-30).  

For every burden, Jesus has become our sanctuary from where all our healing flows.  He told the woman at the well, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:10, 14).

No matter what area of our lives needs healing and restoration, Jesus Christ is our sanctuary from which all the answers for our brokenness flow.

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Complaintus Interruptus Devotional + 7 Bible Verses that Deal with Complaining

Now, if you grew up like me watching Saturday morning cartoons (which were the best) with a bowl of cereal in hand, you have probably spent your fair share of time being entertained by a certain coyote and a particular bird who were always trying to outwit one another.  One of the humorous things about the show was the fake scientific or Latin names given to these characters that expressed some funny trait about who they were or what they were doing.  Thus, in parodic form was the title of this article born of the humorous need to make it sound really scientific.

One day, I was walking with my husband and something was really bothering me I had dealt with during the day and I couldn’t wait for an opportunity to unload what occurred.  It was like I was trying to play double-dutch jump rope, looking for the right time when I could jump in and unleash my complaint.

Walking side by side with him to go into our church that evening, while right on the tip of my tongue, ready to come out, my complaint was interrupted.  We ran into another church member and what she said to my husband escaped me, but my husband’s response didn’t.  He said, “I won’t complain.”  And he wasn’t saying it in a lackadaisical church manner, for he put emphasis on his point by refusing to acknowledge the reason for the complaint.  Obviously, I was floored.  Here I am holding something that’s just itching to get out and I experienced a case of “complaintus interruptus.”

 And sometimes, that’s not a bad thing.

Often in life, we do deal with things and we look to unload the weight of it onto others.  Sometimes we feel that if we can just talk about it with someone, that act alone can help us to feel better.  And in most cases, that’s true as long as we are seeking to do it constructively, and not just to do it for the sake of wanting to complain.

There is a big difference.  Out and out complaining is negative and tells those around us that I am just not happy about a situation and I want to gripe about it.  It’s not seeking resolution, it’s just seeking to show discontent, tear down, and spew out unnecessary drama.  Whereas, constructively telling someone of your concerns and upsets, not to unleash or accuse, but to seek counsel that will help you deal with the situation, is a positive move in the right direction to wrangle in the feeling of upset and misunderstandings one may be facing.

We find cases of both in the Bible to teach us the do’s and do not’s of what goes on in these situations.  First, we have the gripers, or murmurers, as the Bible calls them.  Those, who for the mere sake of wanting to expose their displeasure, pop the cork off their mouth and let the unhappiness flow.  We can find these types of characters throughout the Bible, particularly in those whom God delivered from Egypt. Yet, they constantly found something to complain about and it seemed they were never quite happy with what God was doing (see Exodus 14:11 and 16:2-3; Numbers 14:27 for some examples).

For these types of people, God was greatly displeased (Numbers 11:1; 21:5-7).  After only three days of their journey (compare Exodus 15:22-23) they expressed to God their discontent about their wandering situation even though it was these same people who cried out to God for deliverance because of their taskmasters.  It was hard for these people to overcome testing because their complaining spirit always seemed to win out over their emotions, thwarting their focus and devotion from God and His deliverance.

Then, we have those like King David who, in Psalms prayed, “I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.  I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble,” (Psalm 142:1-2).  He comes before God humbly, with a prayerful spirit, seeking help and consolation, not to grumble or show his displeasure about his situation.  Simply put, he was going through trouble and he took that supplication and situation to the Lord in prayer.

The Bible invites us to give our worries, upsets, and problems to God by saying, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you,” (1 Peter 5:7; see also Psalm 55:22).  This is a constructive and positive way of dealing with the hurts and disappointments of life.  We take it to the Lord in prayer and we leave it there.  We express to Him, reverently, how we feel, how we are hurting and upset, and we let Him take the wheel, and we leave it alone.  It is a matter of trusting God with our problems, and not demanding something from Him through our murmuring.

God loves those who sincerely seek Him in prayer but He doesn’t like complaining.  Sometimes we need to check ourselves and put a hand up to stop the words flowing before what we think we need to say comes out of our mouths.  Perhaps we need a case of complaintus interruptus to corral wayward thoughts and words.

Some Verses to Ponder:

Philippians 2:14 – “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.”

Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

Lamentations 3:39 – “Wherefore doth a living man complain . . .”

1 Corinthians 10:10 – “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”

Psalms 39:1 – “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.”

Philippians 4:11 – “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Hebrews 13:5 – “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

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“Our Status has been Changed!” | Word For Life Says Devotional


In the areas of social media, you have an opportunity to let people know more about you.  You can attach personal details of who you are and who you are associated with to your profile.  One of the ways to do this is by clicking the status button and customizing it to your current life situation.  If you are single, married, just got engaged or divorced . . .  Whatever your status, you can let the world know.

A lot of those statuses come by way of change.  Particularly, the change of entering into a new relationship or leaving an old one.  Because of what Jesus did, and because of those who made that decision that they needed Christ as their Savior and accepted Him as their own, now their status in this world has changed.

How awesome is that!

In our spirit, when we accept Him as our Savior, we clicked the status button and changed who we are or are not associated with.  We let everyone know that we have left our old relationship with the world and entered into a new one with Jesus.  We put it on blast that the life people used to see in us no longer exists.  We blow up the spiritual timelines with the transformation that has taken place deep down in our souls.

Now there is a special, heavenly bond between God and us.  No longer are we just mere men and women.  Now our status says that through Jesus Christ we have been changed and our position in the world is known as being His child (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26).  Now our profiles read that the condemnation that once hung over our lives has been lifted (Romans 8:1).  Now, we are now free in Him to experience life anew (John 8:36).  Now, we are able to cry out to Him, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).  Now, we are carriers of His Spirit and He lives in us (1 John 4:13).

In our new relationship with God, our focus is no longer on what has been, but now it is on the promise of what will be.  Our future now looks brighter than our yesterday.  Our outlook on this life is now based on our new status in heaven.   Our hope for a better tomorrow is completely bound up in Him whom I am connected with today!

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God,” (Romans 8:16) and our status has been changed!  

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.

Where Can I Go?

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

There is no place, O God, that can keep me from Your sight.  Your eyes see me.  Your heart knows me.  Your love shelters me.  Your mercy follows me all the days of my life (Psalm 23:6).

Help me to walk through my days in this holy confidence: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” (Hebrews 13:5).

Your Word has assured me, for it cannot lie (Numbers 23:19).  Your Spirit comforts me (John 14:16; 16:7).  With Your hand holding us, You tell us not to fear (Isaiah 41:10).

Although some days seem dismal, You are the Light that shines in my life (Psalm 18:28).

Where can I go . . .?  You have the words to eternal life (John 6:68), therefore, I will most gladly plant myself in Your presence, at Your feet alongside Mary (Luke 10:39).

Thank You, for Your knowledge of me, O God.  Thank You, for Your precious thoughts toward me (Psalm 139:17).  Thank You, for anchoring me and not leaving me on the waters of this life to drift about aimlessly (Hebrews 6:19).  And thank You, for leading me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:24).

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Copyright © Word For Life Says.com articles/lessons/worksheets may not be copied or redistributed without the express written permission of WordforLifeSays.com.  Please see the COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.  Blessings to you.

Please Note: Ads below or referenced on this site are prefabricated and mass-produced (of which I currently have no control over) and DO NOT necessarily represent the views and/or beliefs of this site and its admin.

God, Our Immutable Constant!

“The joy of the LORD is your strength.”  Those words penned from Nehemiah 8:10 we generally claim or hear quoted when people are experiencing adversities or may have a monumental task ahead of them.   Sometimes they are even expressed in moments of celebration.  For days of sorrow or for days of peace, any day is a good day where a child of God can declare, “The joy of the LORD is your strength.”

One thing I have learned in life is that we do go through many different seasons and circumstances.  Some good.  And yet, some which can make one feel a little void or empty.  Happiness and joy can’t seem to be found in any activity or normal pleasure.

During these seasons, one must remember that life will always act as a variable. It may seem a simple thing to say or write, but in the midst of the challenges and sorrows, yes, it is sometimes hard for us to see these truths, therefore, we must be gently reminded of how things really are at times.  And that is life changes.  Things get added and taken away.  Some changes affect how we feel and when we base our feelings on these variables we experience many ups and downs.

What then?  It is the unchanging, the solid, the constant that we need to build everything else upon.  As long as we live in this world things will always change.  One hundred percent of our time will not stay in a state of sameness.  We will have times of exaltation, growth, and increase.  But, we will also experience those things that grieve us, break our hearts, and spend our energies with the multitude of tears flowing from us (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-11).

Therefore, since we are susceptible to these changes we must base our life, our joy, our foundation to everything else upon Him who never changes.

God is our constant!  “For I am the Lord, I change not,” He exclaimed in Malachi 3:6.  We also have this promise written through James: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” (James 1:17; emphasis added).

Our Heavenly Father will always be the wonderful, Heavenly Father that He has always been.  No matter how your circumstances may feel to you right now, that truth will never change.

That being said, if the happiness and joy you once felt or usually feel have escaped you today, perhaps it is because we have become more dependent on too many changing factors rather than filling our heart, mind, soul, and life with the true joy of Him and from Him that never changes.

In dealing with many sorrows and afflictions himself, David penned his own beautiful words, declaring the assurance of his joy.  He stated, “And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation,” (Psalm 35:9).

When we bring our all to focus on God… When we tune our souls into the proper source, we will find that situations may still be adverse, but because I have Him, because I have a relationship with God, and because His salvation has raised me from far worse than where my soul would be without Him, I can still rejoice!

I think it’s safe to say that we all want it to feel good all the time.  But feeling good and have everything go our way or turn out just as we desire is not a prerequisite for true joy because those things and feelings will also and always change.  But my God won’t, and when it is He that I open my heart to and allow all that He is to shine on me and everything that I am feeling, then I can experience that true, unchanging joy!

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Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

Overcoming a Shutdown

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If my computer shuts down unexpectedly while I’m online, when I sign back on, in the corner of my screen there appears a button that says “restore.”  This button is designed to take you back to the tabs and sites you were visiting or working on before the crash or shut down occurred.  It is there to bring you back to the place where you once were.

Have you ever experienced a shutdown moment in life?  A time when it seems that the walls came crashing in and you lost sight of where you were?  Has there ever been a time when you just need a refreshing?  You needed to step back, evaluate everything presently before you, and start again?  I’m pretty sure we can all raise our hand to attest to being in similar situations at one time or another.  A time when you just felt depleted and needed to be restored.

Restoration is right up God’s alley.  Everything in the Bible points mankind to His holy desire to see people restored.  God cares about us.  Not only the spiritual us, but He cares about all of us.  Every tidbit in life, He is well aware of.  Many people only look to God in the big and dramatic areas of life, but God is concerned about your well-being in the whole of your life.

John once wrote, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth,” (3 John 2).  I believe that John wanted us to walk out the restored life in our daily living.  Not just claiming it for our salvation (which, needless to say, is very important), but to have it as an active mindset that goes before us and prospers us in every part of our daily living.

Slumps are all around us, but we are not called to be slump dwellers.  We have a choice of how to handle the strains and afflictions we face in this life.  Peter gives us this advice:

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5:6-10)

In these few verses, Peter doesn’t hide the adversities one faces, but he highlights what to do with them.  First, he states to humble yourself before God and let Him exalt you (vs. 6).  When God is the one exalting you, you are restored!  Next, in verse 7, he tells his readers what to do with all those cares that are weighing you down, all those things that are making you feel like you are in a shutdown mode.  He says to get rid of them.  And, we are not to dispose of them any kind of way.  We are to give these burdens to God because He is the One who truly cares for you.  Once again, if God is caring for you and helping you to deal with your burdens, you are in a restored position.

There are things that can try to hinder and rob you of the restored life.  Following the above two verses, we see some of the afflictions and dealing with the enemy that people face and how we are to be on guard against the advances of it and be steadfast in our faith through it all. We have a responsibility to protect our restored status while pushing forth in the faith.

And lastly, in verse 10, Peter lets us know that though there may be suffering at times, it will never compare to the glory that we inherit by our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is He that will see us through.  It is He that will make us perfect.  It is He that will “stablish, strengthen, settle you.”  It is through Him you can be restored!

In our everyday life, as well as in the time to come after we pass from here, in Christ, we live a restored life.  Once in a while, we may feel that we have been knocked off our rocker, but remember who you are and whose you are.  In Him, we don’t have to stay in that “knocked off” state.  Follow Peter’s advice and give what you are dealing with to God and ask Him to hit the restore button in your life.

God wants you to be blessed in Him.  He wants you, more than anyone else, to live a successful Christian life.  Let Him in your world, your circumstances, and your situations, and lean on Him for complete restoration and healing.  He will pick you up, polish you off, and make you like new again.

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details. 

“Get Your Hopes Up!” – Word For Life Says

When discussing your dreams, ambitions,  and life goals there are two types of people you deal with: the pessimist and the optimist.  The pessimists have the habit of speaking negativity into everything that comes across their path.  And, if one is really stepping out on faith and shooting for the moon with a certain determined objective in mind, one that doesn’t fit into the ordinary way one may think, it usually eggs this negative Nelly on to speak even more of all the things that could go wrong.

Whereas, the optimist doesn’t see the same barriers the pessimist sees.  The optimists believe that if you want to shoot for the moon, shoot, and don’t stop until you land on it.  For this one, there is no such thing as an unattainable goal.  “If you can dream it, you can live it,” is their life motto.

There are a lot of things that many of us want to do in life but setbacks cause some to shrink away from those dreams.  The fighting to press forward before can damper the will to fight again to see desires fulfilled.

But, in our Christian journey, if we do nothing else, we walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7).  Everything we believe in and look forward to is based on hope and expectation.  There are many things we can’t see in this present day, but a glorious future is whispered in our ears by the voice of hope; the voice that never stops believing there is more.  There is greater to come because God has declared it throughout His Word.

While the world tries to dim your light and say, “Don’t get your hopes up;” I say, “Get your hopes up” and get excited about what God wants to do through His people in this new year!  Enter this year with expectations raised higher than ever before!  Don’t shrink back, but stir up the hope within and believe so much more!  Reach beyond even the positivity of the optimist and declare, “I am a hope-imist!”

Why?

Because…

“I am a child of God who is favored!” (Num. 6:25-26; Ps. 5:12; 30:5; Gal. 3:26)

“I have an enduring hope!” (Ps. 71:14; Pro. 23:18; Isa. 40:31; Mk. 9:23)

“I am special to God!” (Jer. 1:5; Luk. 12:7; 1Pet. 2:9)

“His plans for me are so much greater than I can envision!” (Jud. 6-7; Pro. 9:2; Jer. 29:11)

“I have a reason to believe!” (Gen. 15:6; Ps. 112:7; Joh. 3:16; Mk. 11:24)

“I have a reason to keep pressing on!” (2 Chr. 15:7; Job 17:9; Gal. 6:9-10; Phi. 3:14; Jam. 1:12)

“I have a reason to expect victory in the end!” (Deu. 20:4; Joh. 16:33; Rom. 8:37; Phi. 4:13; 1 Joh. 5:4)

“I am in the plan of God!” (Ps. 138:8; Mat. 6:25-34; Eph. 2:10; Phi. 1:6)

…Therefore, I will get my hopes up!  I will believe in the best for this new year ahead!

Scripture Prayers:

“Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.” Psalm 33:22

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13

Text Free Image by Nanne Tiggelman from Pixabay

Reposted from a previous article