Month: October 2025

God Loves You & So Do I

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“Hope is the anchor of the soul.” Hebrews 6:19

A wealthy man sat in his condo in Monaco overlooking the blue waters of the Mediterranean. On this particular morning he held a pistol in his hand for he had made the decision to end his life. While contemplating the hopelessness coursing through his mind, onto his television a program was just beginning, and a man in a flowing robe could be heard saying, “God loves you and so do I”. The words startled the man and he looked up. All too soon he laid the pistol down next to him and he listened.

Seeds of Hope Were Taking Root.

“Someone out there actually loves me?” the man thought. Day by day the man actually began to feel God’s love for him. At one point he asked the question if there was a symbol for hope in the Bible. The answer came back, yes, the anchor. Hebrews says that Hope is the anchor for the soul. The man contacted his jeweler and had two anchor necklaces made of solid gold. He soon flew to California and arrived unannounced at the office of Dr. Robert H. Schuller. He gave the minister the necklace and said, “I have made two of these necklaces, one for you and one for me. You gave me hope when all hope was lost. I will never forget you”. Today, let this very true story be a reminder to us that words matter. When you spread hope, you are opening all you meet to a whole new world of life.

The Best Is Yet To Come

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“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” Romans 8:28

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine the worst things we experience in life turning out for the best. Yet I’m continually amazed at how gracefully and gently God changes our seasons for us. Heartache soon turns to contentment, and contentment to joy when we

Let The Father Take Our Hand And Lead.

Paul says in Romans 8 that all things work together for good for those who love God. Yet it is completely our choice on whether we accept this incredible gift. We are welcome to take a random walk through life, letting life happen as it will, or we can live with God’s tender hand guiding and leading us along the way. Having lived in both worlds I can highly recommend accepting God’s gracious gift.

Peace

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“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

Take a breath and repeat these words: “Fear not. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” These are not just words to say, they are the very essence of faith in God’s very real presence in your life. God is with you wherever you go, whatever you are going through.

Let Peace Replace Fear.

I don’t know what you are going through today but God is still God. He is your light and your salvation, of whom shall you fear? Call upon Him. Lift your eyes to Him. The Lord is your strength, of whom shall you be afraid! 

Chains

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“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” Ephesians 4:1

We as human beings love to fight for, expound, and celebrate our freedom to be whoever we want to be, and do whatever we want to do. The reality is that no matter how free we may feel, we have all become prisoners to something in life. We have all on some level chained ourselves to romance or money or television or entertainment or sports or shopping or food or travel to the point that they have become a burden in our lives.  

Break The Chains.

You can truly enjoy what life has to offer. You can enjoy shopping when it is not your master, and food when you are not its slave, and sports when they do not rule every waking thought, or work when money is not your driving force. The true secret to happiness in life is to be “a prisoner of the Lord”, for in Christ you are truly free. Today can be your liberation day. Put God first in all you think, say and do.   

You Want Me To Do What?

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“Lord God, Behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” Jeremiah 1:6

Who among us has not uttered the words, “Who, me?” Rest assured you are in good company. Jeremiah was called to an impossible task directly by God. Jeremiah’s assignment? To warn an entire nation of their coming destruction if they did not turn back to God. And the Lord God was not subtle in handing out the task. The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations”. God is saying, not only did I pick you for this job,

I Tailor Made You For This Job! 

The problem was that Jeremiah wasn’t so sure. In his humanness, Jeremiah felt inadequate. I can see his knees shaking and hear is voice trembling in response as he said, “Lord God, behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth”. In short, Jeremiah responded exactly as you and I have responded so many times; who me? Are you sure you’re talking to me? I love God’s response in the next verse; “Do not say ‘I am a youth’, for you shall go to all whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces for I am with you to deliver you!” The lesson for us today is that when you are not enough, He is! There is no challenge to great to overcome and no dream too impossible to reach when you trust God and place yourself in His loving hands. 

The Optimist

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“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

We all know that in this world there are optimists and pessimists. The late President Ronald Reagan once told a story of optimists and pessimists. He said, there were parents who had two children. One child was always optimistic, the other pessimistic. One Christmas the parents decided to see if it was possible to change each one’s outlook, so they filled the pessimists room with all kinds of wonderful toys. In the optimists room they filled it with horse manure. An hour later they went to the pessimist child’s room and found them sulking in the middle of the floor. They asked what was wrong and the child said, “this toy will break, this one the battery will eventually die, this one will get stolen….” The child had a negative thing to say about every single toy. Then they went to the optimist child’s room, and the child was having a ball, laughing and throwing horse manure everywhere. The parents asked him what he was doing and the boy said, “I’m looking for my pony! He’s got to be in here somewhere!” Reagan then said, “I’m always looking for the pony!”

You Can Choose To Be An Optimist

In Psalm 27 David says he lives his life with confidence that he will see the goodness of the Lord in his life. David was an optimist, even though as we know from the story of David’s life that there were many times he was dealing with horse manure. David chose to be an optimist, anyway. So can we. Faith moves mountains!

Breath of Heaven

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God said, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

The mere act of taking a deep breath into our lungs calms the nerves and relaxes the mind. Now it’s time for you to take that simple act of breathing to a level far beyond your imagination. As you take that deep breath, whisper the name of 

Jesus

With each deep breath, simply say one name, Jesus. Invite the King of kings into your circumstance. “Call on Me,” God is saying to you, “and I will answer you” He promises. “And will show you great and mighty things which you do not know.” 

Above

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“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” Colossians 3:2

I’m reading Colossians today and upon reaching Chapter 3 verse 2 my mind is instantly transported to one particular day not too long ago. On that day my alarm did not go off so I’m already late for a meeting. A car then cuts me off on the freeway at breakneck speed because his alarm must not have gone off either. My friend is going through a real struggle in his life and I’m not sure my council is helping. I’m still stressed about a doctor’s report I’d just received. Our lives are filled with stress and distress.

Help Is Closer Than You Think.

Jesus informed us in John 16:33 that “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” So how are we to be of good cheer with all we have to deal with, from little annoyances to life altering events? Jesus tells us to be of good cheer because He, through His grace and mercy on the cross, has overcome the world for us! Paul picks up on this theme by telling us to “set our minds on the things above, not on the things of earth”. In other words it’s time for you to see the big picture.The further you get above your problems the smaller they will seem. Life may not always be a bed of roses, but no matter what you are going through, Jesus is always there for you! Set your mind on things above, and the things of earth will soon start to look much different.   

At Peace

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“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Romans 12:18

A few years ago a very interesting question was posed to me by my then seventeen year old daughter. She was finishing a school project and asked me the following question. “Dad, what would be your perfect world?” Without hesitating I immediately said Heaven. She smiled and said, No, here on earth, what would be the perfect world for you. I quickly said a world without war. She smiled again and said, no Dad, understand that sin still exists and that you can’t control the sin or the lives of others. Now, what would be your perfect world? The question posed by my daughter that night needled me for years because the question is profound. Deeply profound. Knowing we can’t simply control sin in the lives of others, and that others will have radically different visions of what the world should look like, how does that affect our choices and how we live our lives?

What Does Your Perfect World Look Like?

Romans 12:18 cuts right to the heart of this question. “If it is possible, as much as depends on YOU, live peaceably with all men.” The Apostle Paul is saying we have a choice. We can choose love, peace, and patience or we can choose bitterness, gossip and retaliation. For me, the best nights of sleep I’ve ever had are after a day of practicing love, peace and patience. Give it a try. After all, what do you want your perfect world to look like?  

Trust

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“The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in, from this time forth, and even forevermore. Psalm 121:8

“Life happens” is a quote you hear a lot whether something good or bad happens. I have to say that I do not subscribe to random thinking. God is a God of purpose and planning. Just take a look at the incredible detail that he poured into a flower petal, or a snow flake, or for that matter our DNA strand. Such an incredibly creative Creator would not just leave things to chance. I guarantee you He doesn’t. Don’t believe me, then read Psalm 121:8 for yourself.

Nothing In Our Lives Is Left To Chance.

But what about the age old question, why do bad things happen to good people? Quite frankly, I’ve thought about this question a lot throughout my life and I’ve come to the conclusion that it comes down to trust. For we in fact live in a fallen world that started with one bite of a forbidden apple in the garden of eden. Trust is the antidote to that bite. Trust in a God who has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Trust in Jesus as Savior in life after death. Trust that the Lord has our back no matter what hits us, for He will indeed “preserve your coming and going”. There is contentment that comes with trust beyond that which I can explain to you. You really have to experience it for yourself. The decision to trust is yours. It’s the best decision you will ever make.