Category: Peace
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Fear Not
Hey, Doug Dial here with one minute of hope.
Fear … can grip the heart. And like someone’s hands around your throat, it can choke the life out of you. Fear can bring on an anxiety attack, a panic attack and immobilize you.
BUT … God says: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name, you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:1
It’s kind of like strolling past the bully’s house with your older brother by your side. NO fear!
God is bigger and stronger than anything you and I will face today.
The six o’clock news may be scary but … FEAR NOT! Our God STILL reigns!
God is with us, dear friend.
God can be trusted.
Jesus, God’s only Son is our great hope.
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Hope in Times of Hopelessness
Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com The 16-year-old high school junior would plop himself down on the ledge in front of Dugan’s pool hall, Main Street, Presque Isle, Maine. There he sat. Down. Dejected. Destitute. Despondent. Disconsolate. Depressed. He was feeling like the worst loser ever. Just a month prior to this setting … he tried running away from home and he even failed at that. He loathed life and he loathed HIS life. What … a … loser!
Hello friend and welcome to 5 Minutes of Hope.
Today’s topic is: Hope in Times of Hopelessness.
Have YOU ever felt hopeless? Is there somebody you KNOW who … RIGHT NOW … is feeling lost and hopeless?
The young man in our earlier story, just a few months after his sit down at Dugan’s, would crash a car into a tree and be stopped dead in his tracks. But … he didn’t die. While lying in a hospital bed with a fractured pelvis, he was handed and read the “Four Spiritual Laws” tract. In his hopelessness he realized that God truly loved Him and asked Jesus to forgive his sins and be his Lord and Savior.
NOW … he had hope.
NOW … he had found hope.
Actually, Hope found Him. Christ is our ONLY hope!
But … did you know it’s possible for born again believers to find themselves in hopeless situations? GO AHEAD … ask me how I know.
It happens.
A test. A trip up. A slip up.
The devil whispers in your ear, “You’re a LOSER!” “You’re not gonna make it!” “Your situation is HOPELESS!”
Does your situation seem hopeless? It’s NOT hopeless! Does your marriage seem hopeless? It’s NOT hopeless.
Friend, look around you … VERY CAREFULLY and CAUTIOUSLY. So much of what we observe is CRUMBLING around us. Life may have been pretty spanky in this society of freedom and plenty but that has DRASTICALLY changed, and the landscape is bleak. Our Hope CANNOT be in ANYTHING down here.
♫ My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
– Edward Mote
Paul said, if we have hope in this life only, we are all men most miserable. Look up! Look up! Look up! Our Hope and our Help and our Healer is about to split the eastern skies to take His children home. Run to Him! Look to Him! Trust in Him! Open your Bible and let the Word of Christ dwell richly inside your heart and mind.
Mighty God, thank you for the hope we have in your Son Jesus Christ. Help us get close to Him and stay close to Him until that day. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we pray. Amen
Friend, may you be filled with hope today and share it with others.
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The Gift of Letting Go
she clung to her hurts
with all her might
her arms wrapped around them
she clung so tight
nursing them, rehearsing them
to all who would listen
forfeiting contentment
the peace and the joy were missing
then, with trembling heart and hands
she raised both in the air
surrendering her entire life
to the God who’s always there
the burdens she once carried
had vanished, they were all gone
at once discovering in their place
a melody, a song
♫ I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
– Judson W. Van DeVenter
Anxiety, Calm, Comfort, Depression, Faith, Father, God, Heaven, Holding on, Hope, Letting go, Peace, Rest, Stress
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The Promise of the Promised One
Our English muffins are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside … Thomas’ promises!
Thomas’ Promises.
That catchy and well-known phrase defined their company and their product. It was a marketing and advertising slogan that … promised … and delivered.
Have you ever wondered what percentage of promises MADE became promises KEPT?
Friend, my track record and your track record may not be that high up on the charts.
But there is a King in heaven, whose track record is impeccable.
Every promise He has ever made He has kept … or will keep.
And there are THOUSANDS in His Word!
Hello friend and welcome to 5 Minutes of Hope.
Today’s topic is: The Promise of the Promised One
♫ If Jesus said it I believe it, His Word cannot lie.
If it’s written in the Bible, I’ll believe it till I die.
Though the mountains be removed and cast into the sea,
God’s Word will last forever, throughout eternity.
Oh, the promises in God’s Word:
They convey comfort.
They raise hope.
They foster faith.
They elicit expectation.
They persuade believers.
They spawn joy.
They prompt praise.
They reinforce reassurance.
They breed encouragement.
They effectuate expectancy.
“Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.
And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way.“
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:1-6 AMP
Now THAT … is a promise you can sink your teeth into, dear friend!
Eternal life!
In our eternal home!
With Jesus Christ our eternal Savior!
FOREVER!
A myriad of promises foretold His first coming as a baby in a manger. And EVERY one of those promises, right down to the most microscopical detail, played out EXACTLY as predicted and promised.
Well guess WHO promised WHAT? A SECOND coming of the Lord! Oh YES, my friend!
Is God a liar? NO!
Will ALL His promises be fulfilled? YES!
Is Jesus Christ returning to this earth as the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords? YES!
Dear one, are you looking forward to His return? Are you ready for His return? TODAY is the day of salvation. This world and all it has to offer is fading away. There is no satisfaction for the searching soul outside of the Savior. Friend, turn to Christ this very hour and find your hope in Him!
Mighty God, we thank You that YOU are a promise keeper and the promise of eternal life with You brings us hope. Help us to hold on tightly to Your promises and even tighter to the One who promised. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we pray. Amen
Friend, may you be filled with hope today and share it with others.
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Calm in the Midst of Chaos
For a small monthly fee, you can purchase an app that goes by the name of Calm.
C A L M, Calm.
Now, I have NO idea where in the world they came up with THAT name.
I mean, in a nation RAMPANT and overrun with agitation, alarm, anguish, anxiety, anxiousness, apprehension, apprehensiveness, uneasiness, vexation, and worry, who … needs … calm?
Just because a majority of the populace seems agitated, discomposed, disquieted, disturbed, keyed up, perturbed, upset, and vexed … what would cause one to think there might possibly be a need for … calm?
Dear one, I have seen and heard this word … calm … COUNTLESS times in the last several weeks and I’m … just … wondering …
Hello friend and welcome to 5 Minutes of Hope.
Today’s topic is: Calm in the midst of Chaos.
I’m relatively sure we all know that:
♫ He spoke the words that calmed the waters
He walked upon the troubled sea
He called my name when I was lost in sin and shame
Jesus, the man of Galilee
– John Morin
But … THAT storm was without.
Listen to the storm within:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!“
“Martha, Martha,“ the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.“
Luke 10:38-42
Did you catch that? Martha was: distracted, worried, and upset about many things.
Is there a lot going on? Yes.
Is there a lot to do? Yes.
Must we allow the clamor and chaos to distract, dampen, and destroy our calm? NO!
I wrote a little poem just for this occasion:
Calm in the midst of chaos
Quiet amid the clatter
Confidence in the King of Kings
For Christ is the crux of the matter 3:15
Stephanie Cary said,
“Faith doesn’t look at the chaos.
Faith looks beyond to the One who calms the sea.”
LOOK at Mary!
She was chillin at the feet of The Christ.
She was … quiet.
She was … still.
She was … listening.
Now we obviously cannot camp out there. We’ve things to do.
But we MUST start our day there and we MUST revisit that place now and again throughout the day and we MUST end our day there.
Dear one, we need to purposely make and take time to:
… linger at the feet of Jesus
… bask in His presence
… read and meditate upon His Word
… listen to the voice of our Savior
We will find the strength to maintain our inner calm in the midst of the chaos … at the feet of Jesus.
Mighty God, thank you for the calm that YOU ALONE will provide for the one who abides in You. Help us sit at Your feet. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we pray. Amen
Friend, may you be FILLED with hope today and share it with others.
5 Minutes of Hope 
