Coffee☕️And Conversation A Ray🔥Of Hope

Sacrifice And Letting Go

In our daily walk with God and for God, God requires we make sacrifices. When Satan attacks us and we are in pain or when Satan attacks us and we lose people, we must let go and sacrifice our hurt to Him in order to heal. Letting go and sacrifice are in the same category of yielding up our lives to God's love, to His will, and to His mercy. Even the most traumatic of circumstances in our lives must be surrendered up or be given to God so we may heal from those circumstances. Sacrifice is the main requirement of our Christian faith. If you are willing to sacrifice your life for Christ's life in you, you will be totally overwhelmed with his love.

Luke 18:29–30---And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Coffee ☕️ And Conversation A Ray🔥Of Hope

Dealing With Depression

You may not just snap out of depression.
Dealing with or getting rid of depression takes more than just snapping your fingers. Here are suggestions on what you can do when you are depressed. The list is not complete. You may have to find your own way and develop your own recipe.
Pray
Entertain yourself
Get to work on your mission
Banish Satan as much as you can
Praise God every hour
Count your blessings, name them one by one
Worship God
Touch God
Praise others
Touch others
Join a support group
Start a support group
When you get low or down, remember your mission for God
Remember Jesus is with you if you really want Him to be
Remember His Holy Spirit is a helper
See your doctor
See other people
Call your pastor
Call a friend
Call a family member

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Executing The Same Successful Efforts

When you are successful, keep repeating your successful efforts. As extraordinary as it seems, many people behave as if they cannot stand success. Many people do not repeat successful efforts. Instead of repeating successful efforts, many people want to continually try out new approaches rather than repeating successful efforts. There is a problem with trying out new approaches when a successful approach is already in place. Common sense should dictate we should always keep doing what is already successful. However, common sense does not always rule.

Our God Is A Great God

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The Guilt Is Gone

Colossians 1:14---In whom we have redemption…, the forgiveness of sins.—

Have you ever felt so guilty you couldn’t look someone in the eye? Guilt is tremendously motivating. While the possibility of feeling guilty may not stop us from doing something wrong, once we feel guilty, we’ll do almost anything to avoid being found out. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the famed fictitious detective Sherlock Holmes, once played a terrible practical joke. He wrote an unsigned letter and mailed it to twelve prominent men. It said, “All is discovered. Flee at once!” Within forty-eight hours all of them had left the country. Guilty!

Though people in our society rarely use the word “sin” in conversation anymore, we can’t get rid of guilt, and it has a powerful effect on us. Guilt weakens and destroys. It can create a sense of anxiety—a nameless, unknown fear. It can produce a depression that hangs over our heads like a black rain cloud. It can make us feel unclean, soiled, and worthless. It can give us such a poor self-image that we become our own worst enemies. Guilt can even create physical illness; after David sinned with Bathsheba, he said, “My bones grew old through my groaning all day long” (Psalm 32:3).

There is a difference between guilt and guilt feelings. You may have bad feelings even though you’re not guilty. Psychiatrists may help you get rid of guilt feelings, but they don’t know how to handle the guilt. Many of them don’t even like the word. They use “confused” or “mixed up priorities” instead. But the Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Our guilt is so permanent, it seems engraved in granite. We cannot blame it away. We cannot push it down or trade it for another emotion.

We can get rid of our guilt in only one way—by asking Christ for forgiveness. Do you need to ask His forgiveness for something today? Confess to Him, and unburden your heart. Allow Him to wash you perfectly clean.

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Entertaining Strangers

Hebrews 13:2---Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Things are not always what they seem. People are not always who or what they appear to be. Look at this verse from a common-sense perspective. If God was going to send an angel into the world to do a special work…would God use an angel with wings and feathers or would God send an angel in the form of an ordinary person? To keep down undue attention, God would use the form of an ordinary person as an angelic disguise. From this verse, people you pass on the street, the person you stand in line with at the store, maybe even the stranger you sit next to in church, could be an angel. However, this verse is not about angels but about how we treat strangers. For many reasons, people we do not personally know need our care, concern, love, and attention. Strangers and others need to be enriched by us.

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Christ's Beams of Encouragement

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17---Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

In the depths of our disappointment and depression, when we are crushed and have given up any chance of victory, Christ beams His light into our life. In His light we find encouragement. Christ brings us a spiritual lift encouraging us to persevere and keep going against all odds. Christ and His marvelous Light rescue us out of the depths of our despair. In this world, there are many ways to fail. In this world, we need daily encouragement to walk Christ's walk of faith. In Christ, we have a friend who will not disappoint us or find fault with us. In Christ, we have an ever-present being shining His power into our heart and life. Christ forgives us when we have fallen short of His mark. Christ uplifts us and pulls us out of our dark circumstances. Christ calls upon us and encourages us to keep trying. When we want to give up, Christ's encouraging light of love prods us never to give up or give in.

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Find Out What Others Want And Help Them Get It

Within the bounds of morality and common sense, the key to success when you work with people is helping them get what they want. Find out what others want and show others how working or cooperating with you benefits them. To help others get what they want, you have to think as they do, ask them questions, and see the world the way they see the world. To be successful with others or to lead others you have to put yourself in their shoes. When you are selfish and filled with your ego, you think only of yourself instead of others. Truly, being unselfish is the key to success in every area of life, especially when working with others. When others find out you really do want to help them get what they want, they will regard you with esteem and they will value you. Admittedly, others will be selfish. However, by finding out what others want and helping them get it you have great potential in leading them. Most often, leadership failures occur because of selfishness. Good leaders are typically unselfish people.

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Accessing God

Psalm 119:151---Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.

To be one with God in this life you need a way of accessing God, but there is no easy way to access God. You need a way of calling Him on the telephone but your telephone does not reach His kingdom in Heaven. On earth, you access God by being honest with Him. You access God by pouring out everything in your life before Him, without knowing if He will respond to you before you pour out your life. To be one with God, you need faith before you ever require God give you anything in return for your faith. To be one with God, you need to admit (to yourself and to Him) you are a sinner. To be one with God, you need to tell God you are sorry for crucifying His Son. Achieving oneness with God can require personal honesty with God causing you to do painfully honest work with your heart, mind, and soul. To be one with God, you must kneel at the foot of His cross so you can hear His voice of compassion, love, and understanding.

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PURIFIED BY THE REFINER’S FIRE

Malachi 3:3--He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness…

It sounds easy to say we will always forgive others but what happens in your heart when your own son is brutally murdered. How can God make good come from that terrible event?

For answers, we go (in two parts) to the southern Philippines where a decade ago Severino (Junie) Bagtasos, a young pastor, was sitting in the front row of his church in Alat listening to his sister conclude her Sunday message about heaven. Suddenly a man barged into the chapel. Two loud bangs were heard. Before anyone could make sense of what happened, Severino lay lifeless in a pool of blood. The killer made his escape as the distraught church members gathered around their pastor, killed instantly by gunshots to his chest and cheek.

His mother, Purificacion, says, “I miss my son. Junie was the most caring of all my children. He would always offer help when I was cooking. He would often ask me and his father advice whenever he was beset with difficulties in the ministry because his church members were older than him. I was blessed by Junie’s sincerity and faithfulness in the ministry. Nothing could hinder him from going to his Bible studies. Heavy downpours and floods could not keep him from bringing the Word of God to those who needed to hear it. Death threats did not stop him.”

There is not even a hint of bitterness as Purificacion speaks of that painful time. “During one of the services held in the wake of my son, my husband told the congregation, ‘We forgive the person who killed our son. If that person is here, I want you to know that we forgive you. If he is not here, and if anyone of you knows him, please tell him that we forgive him. The God we serve is the God of love and we want to show that love to you.’”

But there were those who didn’t share these convictions. She adds, “Some of my husband’s relatives who were also Muslims got angry at him for saying this. They were eager to avenge Junie’s death. It’s part of their culture. But my husband restrained them and told them that our God is a God who also forgives. We chose to forgive our son’s murderer.”

Purificacion shares what she thinks now were one of God’s reasons for her losing Junie. “After my son’s death, many Christians whose faith had grown cold were ushered back to the Lord.” Now after a decade has passed, she continues to see God’s hand in it all. She adds, “I believe Junie’s death was part of God’s plan. It was His way of opening the doors that have long been shut. You see, before the death of my son, Chinese-Tausug believers were scattered all over Jolo [their island in the southern Philippines. Many of them stopped attending worship services.

When my son began the work in Alat a predominantly Muslim town, little by little these believers started to gather again. Junie, their pastor, loved them dearly and was truly passionate about the ministry. One by one they started coming to church again. Before long, these believers were on fire once more and got involved in the work of God.” God’s refining at work!

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Pause With The Pastor

Matthew 1:22-25---All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Before Jesus’ birth, God was remote from mankind. God was in heaven and interacted with mankind but not as a human being. God was unseen, remote, and for the most part silent. When Jesus came into the world, God was interacting with all of us on a human to human level. God chose Joseph to be a human model to be Jesus’ father. In this verse, we can see not only that Joseph was righteous in his heart, but Joseph was also willing and able to do exactly what God wanted to be done. We don’t know much about Joseph from the scripture accounts, but what we do know is more than enough to tell us about Joseph’s character and willingness to lead his life as God directed. We also know Joseph was a man who loved Mary. Let all of us strive to be like Joseph before our Savior and always strive to follow His direction in our lives.

Bought With The Blood

The Lamb Of God

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Fear and Anxiety

Matthew 6:34---Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Fear and anxiety are normal emotions. As normal as fear and anxiety are, these stress-makers shred our ability to be kind, caring, and compassionate people. Fear and anxiety turn us inward towards ourselves. Satan can and will use fear and anxiety against us at every opportunity. When we experience fear and anxiety we must take a deep breath and think about Christ and His assurance to be with us. We must remember to relax and place these negative emotions in a proper perspective. Fear is the negative emotion generated by a tangible threat. Anxiety is the negative emotion generated by an intangible threat. Fear is the result of something real. Anxiety is the result of something imagined. When we are fearful and anxious we must remember to pray. Obviously, fear and anxiety take away your prayerful moods. However, God cares about your coming to Him in prayer, regardless of your emotions or your circumstances.

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The Way!

His Sheltering Arms

1 Peter 1:3 In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

God is the power of keeping you going each hour. Physically unseen and audibly unheard, the power of God can shelter you from the torrent of adversity causing you pain and suffering. The protective power of Christ does not always shelter you from attack. However, the power of Christ does keep you smiling. The power of Christ keeps your spirits up when other people might collapse from the strain and stress of life. The sheltering power of God created the mountains, seas, and skies. His creative power enables you to see, appreciate, and comprehend the majestic love inherent in His creation. When the evil one attacks you, the love of God keeps you positively going in positive directions. Without the love of God burning in your heart, you can crumble under the weight of the darkness. With Christ, you can be resilient. With Christ, you can always come back to do God's will.

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Christ Wonderful Blessings

Luke 18:42 Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God.

Christ has blessings to give you. However, we seldom stop to think about what it takes for us to be open enough and trusting enough to receive the wonderful blessings God has for us. Our dark adversary certainly wants us to be greedy and want all the attractions the world has to offer. In addition, our dark adversary wants us to be closed off from all the blessings God has for us. To fully receive the true blessings of God requires we be humble and contrite. When we are humble and contrite, our heart and life opens up to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When we are arrogant and full of pride, we may want the blessings of God but we are be too closed off in our heart to find those blessings. To be truly receptive to all God has for you requires a simple faith and trust in God. Your simple faith and trust in God can give you a vision to see His love. Your simple faith can empower you to see His will openly displayed in your life and in the life of those around you.

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POWERFUL WORD

2 Tim. 4:17---Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

The Lord has in the past and will deliver us in the future from many dangers. We do not often know what the Lord is doing and when He is doing it. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us is our (often) silent partner. We do not generally receive audible instructions. We do not generally receive faxes, emails, or letters written by God Himself. At the end of our earthly journey, we will find the lion lying down with the lamb. Past heaven's shores, we will find the lion and the lamb romping and playing together and with us. Past this life, where the pain is no more, we will be full of power and strength. Past this life, where the pain is no more, we will live in freedom unknown on earth.

An Age Of Instant Gratification

We live in an age of instant gratification. None of us are immune. We want instant answers to prayers. We want instant works by God. We want instant tangible physical power from God. We definitely don't want to wait on God to do things in His time. We definitely don't want to perspire to get what we want. We live and want excess. We live and want to be pampered. We want a parent to look out for our every need. It is time to grow up. Being grown-up means we hold off on what we want. Being grown-up means we don't get what we want and we then go on and do the job anyway. Being grown-up means we sacrifice. Teaching a child to sacrifice is one of the greatest lessons any parent can teach because there is no progress in a person's life without sacrifice. No person, society, church, organization, or social entity can endure without sacrifice.

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Walking Everywhere You Go!

A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father who was a minister if they could discuss the use of the car. His father took him to his study and said to him, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study your bible a little and get your hair cut and we'll talk about it." After about a month the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss the use of the car. They again went to the father's study where his father said, "Son, I've been really proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you've studied your bible diligently, but you didn't get your hair cut." The young man waited a moment and replied, "You know Dad, I've been thinking about that. You know, Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair!", to which his father replied, "Yes, you're right, and they also WALKED everywhere they went!"

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When We Are Separated

When the darkness falls, we will be separated from people, things, ideas, and old but comfortable surroundings that give us security. There may be a torment of the soul, and pain in our body. For the person who has no faith there is no future, only a dark tunnel that has no light at the end. What a tragic future! What a terrible present! Without Christ, without an abiding love of God through Christ springing up within us when the separations of life come, there is a horrible ripping of the soul. Even with Christ, when times of separation come we are in deep pain. Even Christ wept at the tomb of a friend. So none of us is immune from the grief of separation. Yet we can all be healed from this grief. Oftentimes we cannot do anything about the separations here on earth. Separations come as surely as night follows day. However, we have a way to deal with separations. When we surrender our life and our soul to Christ, we can look up to heaven and look within ourselves, both at the same time, and find the love of God pouring down upon us. In Christ, with Christ, and because of Him, there is always a unity or bond between us and Him. No matter what kind of separations we must undergo here on earth, Christ comes to comfort us and console us if we open our life to Him. We must not deny that separations hurt. We must express our sorrow, especially to God. For when we are torn apart, it is always God who listens and it is He who is always working to help us.

Angels And You

What To Expect In The Future If You Are Saved

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Faith that Pleases God

(Hebrews 11:6)But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Are there things that you believe just because the right person says so? Are there people who believe things just because you say they are true? How does that make you feel? How do you feel when you are not trusted? How do you think others feel when you don’t trust them? How about God, how much do you trust Him? Do you ever give much thought to your faith in Him actually pleasing Him? Does that motivate you to greater faith? Trust, or faith in a person, is something most of us want but we have a difficult time giving it. Many people go to great lengths in their efforts to please God yet fail to realize the key ingredient in doing so is faith. When we seek to serve in a way that pleases God, faith must be at the core of our service. We serve well when our faith believes God will work through our acts of service to benefit those we serve. It is our knowledge that God has changed us that allows us to believe He can change others. As you pray, ask God to increase your faith in Him and in His ability to use your works of service. Pray that He would surround you with people who help you to grow in faith.

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A Broken Spirit

Psalm 51:17---The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Before God, we cannot be “together.” Before God, we cannot be proud, or arrogant, or puffed up. Before God, we cannot be selfish. Before God, we cannot be rude. Before God, all of who we are is exposed. Before God, we will be humbled. Before God, we will fall down. However, when we fall down before God He will most surely pick us up. God has a reason for wanting us to be humble and contrite. For when we are humble and contrite we are then able to listen to God’s wisdom and truth. When we are able to listen to God in our humility we are then able to become more like the person of love, caring, understanding, and compassion He wants us to be. On the surface, a broken spirit appears to be a bad thing. However, with God, there is power in His humility. The power of His humility is the power of God in our hearts molding us and shaping us into His likeness.

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Dealing With Grief Is Never Easy

2 Corinthians 1:3-5--- Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

Grief rips away at the heart and can turn a life teeming with meaning into an empty wasteland. When tears well up in our eyes and grief fill our soul, what are we to do? In a time of grief, our first instinct should always be to run to God. In God's arms, we find the comfort and warmth of His love. In God's arms, we can find new meaning and new purpose when the dark days of grief attack us. However, when we lead lives apart from God in the present or when we think we do not need God in the present, then when grief comes, God is hard to find. When we share all we are and share all we have with God when the times are good, He most surely guides and comforts us when times of grief overwhelm us. When you pour out your heart and love for God today, no matter what grief might fall into your life tomorrow, all the love you gave Him comes back one thousand fold when you need Him the most.

The Gift Of Hope

One of the heavenly gifts God pours into our heart is the gift of hope. Circumstances might look hopeless here on earth. However, there is hope in heaven. When we think about the hope of heaven, we store hope away for ourselves. What we put on the shelf in heaven appears in our heart here on earth. Notice what we store up in heaven is where our heart is here on earth. When we think about our future, we do not always see the best and brightest aspects of what will happen. When we are young, we can seemingly almost see forever. When we grow older, there is, realistically, more of our earthly life behind us than ahead of us. However, no matter what age we are, what condition we are in, where we are, or how we are, there is for our hope in heaven. There is for each of us hope for an eternal blissful life in heaven lasting for eternity.

Control In Life

Much of life comes at us and we think we have limited control. Sometimes our life seems to be out of control.

●A million refugees are driven out of their homes.

●Six million Jews die in a Nazi death machine.

●The doctor says, "I'm sorry, there isn't anything we can do."

●Jobs are lost.

●Time slips away and we find out it is too late to do or be whatever it was we wanted to do or be. However, maybe life is not always what it seems. Maybe there is more going on around us and through us than we can imagine. Jesus tells us there is more going on around us than what we see, hear or touch. Jesus tells us there we have a storehouse in heaven. What the storehouse contains is up to us. We control what we store away. We cannot put things of earth in this warehouse in heaven, but we can put the things of heaven there. Where your treasure is your heart is. Notice what we store away goes before our heart. Jesus says we must be actively storing away at all times.

Poured Out Like Water

Jesus And Angels

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Our Victory Is In Jesus

Proverbs 24:26---An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

We may think we cannot do many things when we are burdened down and in great pain. We may think we have no choices. We may think there is no end to our plight. We may think we cannot deal with things as they are. However, when we are in the deepest darkness, we must be willing to admit we can be wrong and we must be willing to admit we can be deceived. When we think we have no choice, we must be honest. For when we have Christ alive within us, He gives us the power to do many things we cannot normally do when we are burdened down. When we have Christ in our life, our pain may not stop, but our victory over the pain can still be achieved. When we have Christ in our life, we have many more choices than we think we have if we are honest about how things are and what we have done and not done. When we have Christ in our life, there is for us a great and victorious end to our plight. In Christ, there are victories to be won every minute. In Christ, there are triumphant moments every moment. In Christ, we have won even when we seem to have been pounded down in utter defeat. In Christ, the trials and heartaches of this life grow dim as we come to Him seeking His healing love. In our life, there is more to life than the reality of our trauma and tragedy. In our life, we have a mountain of great power where we can go and kneel down in prayer. In our life, our mountain of great power is a place called Calvary. On Calvary, a place where Christ suffered more than we have suffered or will suffer, our victory over every moment of our trauma and tragedy was won. On Calvary, Christ died to set us free forever.

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Hope And Despair

It is a scientific fact that depression caused by despair impairs our body's ability to function properly. When we are depressed or in despair, our body cannot fight off disease, germs, viruses, and other elements that attack our immune system. When we are depressed or in despair, our immune system becomes compromised. Experts tell us our emotions affect our body on a physical, cellular level. Hope in life, the hope we hold within us, is an emotional and spiritual choice. Active, positive hope can affect every area of our life including our physical bodies. Likewise, fear and despair have a negative physical influence upon us. We have often heard where there is life there is hope. However, the opposite is also true. Where there is no hope there is death. A life devoid of hope for the future is a life being lived in darkness, dread, and emptiness. A life without hope is a life being lived as if death has become a reality.

Hope And Despair

It is a scientific fact that depression caused by despair impairs our body's ability to function properly. When we are depressed or in despair, our body cannot fight off disease, germs, viruses, and other elements that attack our immune system. When we are depressed or in despair, our immune system becomes compromised. Experts tell us our emotions affect our body on a physical, cellular level. Hope in life, the hope we hold within us, is an emotional and spiritual choice. Active, positive hope can affect every area of our life including our physical bodies. Likewise, fear and despair have a negative physical influence upon us. We have often heard where there is life there is hope. However, the opposite is also true. Where there is no hope there is death. A life devoid of hope for the future is a life being lived in darkness, dread, and emptiness. A life without hope is a life being lived as if death has become a reality.

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Having Eternal Life

1 John 5:11-12---And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Most of us are not persons of power or influence. Most of us live day to day doing our tasks as best we can. In our world and in our life, darkness can come in and we find our life has been diminished. The trials and tribulations of this life try to take us down. All in all, we could say we do not have much of a life. However, when we think or we say we do not have much of life we are wrong. In Christ, all of us can live in spiritual abundance. Even when it seems we are facing the end of all things or when it seems there is no hope, we have hope in Christ. In Christ, we have hope eternal and in Him we have life eternal. The hope we have in Christ helps us overcome our not having much of a life while we walk the earth. The hope we have in Christ gives us energy and enthusiasm for living we can find in no other way.

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Time To Grow Up

For every person, whether Christian or not, it is time to grow up spiritually. It is always a time to mature, for all of us have room to grow. All of us have untapped spiritual potential. For all of us, it is time to get off the baby bottle. In growing spiritually, there is good news and there is bad news. The bad news is you may live your life on this earth and always be poor, sick, downtrodden, meek, humble, and a failure in the eyes of the world. The good news is that in the eyes of Christ, you can be poor, sick, downtrodden, meek, humble, and a failure in the eyes of the world and still be His most important lamb on earth. The good news is that no matter what the exterior appearances of your life might be like, God's presence changes everything in your life from the inside out. No matter how your life appears on the outside, you can still be full of the love of God. No matter how things appear to others, you can still be happy, fulfilled, and overflowing with joy. The sufferings of life may take away some of the joy for the moment, but God's eternal joy remains. The poverty of life may grind you down for the moment, but the eternal wealth of God's love remains forever and ever. The devastation put upon you by Satan may empty your heart for the moment, but the fulfilling love of Christ fills your heart for eternity.

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Sending Out God's Healing Force

Matthew 22:37-39---Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

"But what about me? What about my need for healing? Never mind what others want, I need my healing now!"

Although we would never say we want healing before anyone else gets their healing, some persons have that kind of attitude. If you stood before God, totally immersed in His immense love, and He gave you the choice of receiving healing for yourself or sending out healing to others, what would you choose?

Your spiritual life is determined by what you are willing to give rather than what you want to get. Always choose to heal others before you get your own healing. Be willing to step aside and let others go before you. All of us will receive our healing. All of us will receive the greatest healing we could ever imagine when we see Christ. Whenever we need healing, let all of us remember Christ's call to put others before ourselves by sending out God's healing force of love.

A Ray🔥Of Hope By Way Of Coffee ☕️ And Conversation

Giving And Sacrificing

In the First World War, there was a young French soldier who was seriously wounded. His arm was so badly smashed the arm had to be amputated. The soldier was a magnificent specimen of young manhood, and the surgeon was grieved the young man must go through life maimed. So the surgeon waited beside the young man's bedside after the surgery to tell the young man the terrible news about having to amputate the arm. When the young man awakened from the anesthetic and the young lad's eyes opened, the surgeon said to him: "I am sorry to tell you that you have lost your arm." "Sir," said the lad, "I did not lose it; I gave it for France." Jesus was not helplessly caught up in a mesh of circumstances from which He could not break free. Apart from any divine power He could have called upon, to the end of His earthly life Christ could have turned back and saved His life. However, Christ did not lose His life; He gave it. The cross was not thrust upon Him; He willingly accepted the cross for us.

A Ray🔥Of Hope By Way Of Coffee ☕️ And Conversation

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

The word touch means many things and the meanings of touch are all ways Jesus can change you.

To touch means to come to Jesus comes to us as we ask Him. Since God knows no time or is timeless, what we ask, when we ask, can be delivered as we ask or at any time in the future…even after we are with God. In faith, all our prayers are answered…in God's way and in His time. In faith, when we ask Jesus to come to us He will come and be with us, perhaps in ways, we do not know about or fully understand.

To touch means to reach or reach out to In the life of Christ, we can see Him always reaching out and touching others. For us, He is always reaching out to us to touch us, to help us, to heal us, and to save us.

To touch means to compare with: No one compares to Christ, and nothing in your life will ever compare to the love you receive from Him.

To touch means to make or draw a line with: When Christ is part of your life and you are willing to let Him be part of you, Christ draws a line over which Satan cannot pass to get to you to hurt you or devastate you.