The Best Is Yet to Come
Are the best days of your life behind or in front of you? Our outlook on life—and our answer to that question—can change with time. When we’re younger, we look ahead, wanting to grow up. And once we’ve grown older, we yearn for the past, wanting to be young again. But when we walk with God, whatever our age, the best is yet to come!
Over the course of his long life, Moses witnessed the amazing things God did, and many of those amazing things happened when he was no longer a young man. Moses was 80 years old when…
Regardless of how old we are or who we are, we are ALL storytellers. From the moment we take our first breath until our very last, with each new sunrise God grants us, our life’s story is being written. Along the way, there may be some chapters in our lives that are more significant than others, which we may remember more passionately. Nevertheless, each of us has our very own “special” biography to share with others; for we are all custom-made by God’s design.
After being diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer three years ago, I was to discover just five months ago that I am now living with Stage IV breast cancer; in other words, it has now metastasized throughout my body. Subsequently, I am now in aggressive therapy to hopefully put the cancer in remission, which has yet to occur.
Recently, I was asked why I wanted to write and publicly share my story. Without a moment's hesitation, I knew exactly why. It's all about H.I.M., aka Hope – Inspiration – Motivation.
It is my heartfelt passion to encourage others during their life’s journey when facing their trials and tribulations. With God’s compassion, grace and strength, it is my sincere mission to turn my life’s story into a message of H.I.M. Rather than wallowing in my own fears and tears, I am inspired, more than ever, to give H.I.M. to others, while their life feels like it is crumbling all around them.
Like Jeremiah, when we read the first two and a half chapters of Lamentations, we, too, may feel afraid, alone, discouraged and in despair. However, as Jeremiah begins to trust and seek God’s compassion and great faithfulness, which we read in Lamentations 3:22-26, he also learns to “quietly wait” (patiently) for God’s deliverance for hope, inspiration and motivation.
• Hope – “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will hope in Him.” (Lamentations 3:24)
• Inspiration – “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
• Motivation – “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)
It is, therefore, by such lessons of Jeremiah that we, too, can experience God’s unwavering love, faithfulness, and mercy cascade into our lives when we seek and trust Him. For I know, I will never be alone, while the chapters of my life continue to be written, and as I continue sharing H.I.M. to others.
When you feel you can no longer cope, remember God gently whispers, "persevere, stay calm, carry on and never give up hope."
For "true faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible" (Author Unknown).
God with Us
The chorus from the Grammy award-winning song From a Distance gives the impression that God keeps His eye on us from a long way off.
Becoming Entirely His
Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing —James 1:4
Many of us appear to be all right in general, but there are still some areas in which we are careless and lazy; it is not a matter of sin, but the remnants of our carnal life that tend to make us careless. Carelessness is an insult to the Holy Spirit. We should have no carelessness about us either in the way we worship God, or even in the way we eat and drink.
The Price of Admission
Every year some two million people from all over the world visit St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. It is well worth the admission fee to experience the magnificent structure designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren during the late 17th century. But tourism is secondary at this place of Christian worship. A primary mission of the cathedral is “to enable people in all their diversity to encounter the transforming presence of God in Jesus Christ.” If you want to tour the building and admire the architecture, you must pay an admission fee. But there is no charge to enter and…
Believing is Seeing
Familiar paths are comfortable, but it’s the unknown that forces you to trust. When you struggle and fall, faith may be the only thing you have in this cruel world. It’s a gift given to help you. Trust the Giver. And He will help you see the way again.
What We Value
Abe lived in a country that was closed to the message of Jesus. We became friends in the first month I lived there, and he soon asked me to teach him the Bible. He gave his life to Christ during our second Bible study, and he eagerly devoured whatever I could teach him.
The Teaching of Disillusionment
Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions. However, though no longer deceived, our experience of disillusionment may actually leave us cynical and overly critical in our judgment of others. But the disillusionment that comes from God brings us to the point where we see people as they really are, yet without any cynicism or any stinging and bitter criticism.
National Day: No More Prejudice
A 2010 survey by Newsweek contained some startling statistics: 57 percent of hiring managers believe an unattractive (but qualified) job candidate would have a harder time getting hired; 84 percent of managers said their bosses would hesitate before hiring a qualified older candidate; 64 percent of hiring managers said they believe companies should be allowed to hire people…
Keeping Faith
It’s tempting to think of faith as a kind of magic formula. If you muster up enough of it, you’ll get rich, stay healthy, and live a contented life with automatic answers to all your prayers. But life does not work according to such neat formulas. As proof, the author of Hebrews presents a stirring reminder of what constitutes “true faith” by reviewing the lives of some Old Testament giants of faith (Heb. 11).
“Without faith,” the author says bluntly, “it is impossible to please God” (11:6). In describing faith he uses words such as “persevere” and “endure.” As a…
The Job Paradox
A wise man once said, “Conflict is never about what’s happening on the surface—there’s always much more at stake.” Chances are that Job would have agreed with that statement. He found himself thrust suddenly and forcefully into heartbreak of catastrophic proportions. His livestock, fields, servants, and children were all destroyed in one day.
Do You See Jesus in Your Clouds?
In the Bible clouds are always associated with God. Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings, or providential circumstances, within or without our personal lives, which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. “The clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3).
Is it true that experience is the best teacher?
It’s been said that experience is the best teacher. But is that really true? Today on Discover the Word, lets allow King David to be our guide by digging deep into Psalm 27 and discovering three things David learned about God the hard way. That’s today on Discover the Word.
Are you there, God? Do you hear me?
Have you ever asked the question, “What did I ever do to deserve this?” Karen did, over and over. Her life was filled with trauma and drama including domestic abuse, her mother’s suicide, addiction, and severed relationships. Anger and guilt consumed her until she surrendered all to Christ. Listen to Karen’s story and discover how […]
Loving Can Hurt Sometimes
We all know the unexplainable joy and completeness that comes from loving someone and being loved in return. But love can sometimes also cause us deep pain. Although we normally associate these feelings with romantic love, it is just as applicable in our friendships.
