EVERYBODY MEANS EVERYBODY!

Everybody in life has something to overcome - at all times. Even if they have already overcome three major obstacles to happiness, there is still something more to do and be and achieve.

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER:

Some problems in life we must settle and resolve all by ourselves. NO one can do all of our overcoming for us. But a child doesn't learn how to talk without listening to someone. He doesn't master the art of walking without help and encouragement. We have schools and teachers to aid us in overcoming ignorance. We are trained in sports and on the job by those who already know THE THINGS WE WANT TO KNOW.

WE ALL NEED OTHERS:

The master carpenter needs a good heart doctor to stay alive. The heart doctor needs a dentist. And the dentist can't cut his own hair.

Religious people need the worldly people. Oh, they hate to hear me say that, but it's true. A beer totin' mechanic fixed their car yesterday. A cigar smokin' reprobate formed the door that they are going to buy tomorrow. A lecherous old skunk helped build the highway that they enjoy. And the cussin'est old sailor you ever saw is now retired and owns the gas station where they get gas.

Christians keep thinking what a sad world this would be if all the saints suddenly flew off to heaven. But, if God took all the ungodly people out at one time, wouldn't there still be one bunch of total confusion?

Sure, I would like to convert every nasty, mean person to Christ and watch while they become better people. I can't do that. But, I can invite them to listen to the things I've learned while I've been following Christ. And I can even learn a few things from them.The law of gravity is no respecter of persons. Jesus said: "The children of this world are wiser than the children of light in their generation." And why was that? Because, they were diligent to search out the natural laws of our existence. They had experimented and practiced and learned what they needed to know to overcome many natural problems in this life. Yes, I can learn a thing or two from someone who has studied the natural sciences of this earth. And if they will condescend to my level long enough to read my stuff, they too might learn some things about laws which they have never studied yet.

This is my way of saying, "Sure, you will hear a lot of talk about God and the Bible in this series of writings - but if you can wade through the parts you don't like or don't understand, you will gain some new insights that might help you too. C'mon, don't be a prude. Be open minded enough to search for the things that might help your marriage. Let's look for some wisdom in how to treat your kids. I'm not going to invite you to church or push salvation up your sleeve, I just want to help people. Are you a people? Good! Then, let's get on with it!

There are major problems to be solved and resolved in our lives and in the world. Together .. and with God’s help. - -we can overcome even the worst of them. With faith "Impossibilities Become Conquests"

A certain friend of mine had problems which kept causing him some major setbacks in life. He would take three steps in the right direction and get knocked back seven. I suggested that he buy a notebook and label the first page "The Overcomer's Notebook".

I advised him to write down everything that he thought was wrong in his life. I asked him to decide whether those things were worth trying to change or conquer. And then I urged him set out on a personal journey to improve his life by overcoming those things which kept slapping him down.

A year later, he was in the agony of another cruel upset. Had he started his Overcomer's Notebook? NO! Had he really made a royal effort to change his life? NO! And now - more than two year's later - where is he? Who knows? Only time will tell whether he gets worse or better.

Are you tired of being the same old you? Is there hope for anything better? Well, before this time next year, someone with your same problem is going to be seventeen strides ahead of you because they wanted change badly enough to do something about it. Three years from now - you would never know them because of the differences that have been made in their life.

But, maybe you want to be THAT SOMEBODY! Maybe you want to move out in front and leave the others in the lurch. Maybe you want something better for you and your family.

Look at your problem and ask - is this what I want forever? Well, when does forever end? Way, way off in the future? Or does it start to end - TODAY! FROM THIS MOMENT!

I invite you to write in and ask questions. Offer your comments and suggestions. Tell us what doesn't work in your life. Share with us and others the wisdom and answers you have gleaned over the years. Suggest topics you would like to read about. Say thanks when you get a really great thought or idea out of our writings. Like I said , we are all in this together!

The Curse and the Blessing of Hopelessness!

At first it was just a tunnel, You were limited in what you could do. You had restrictions. You seemed sort of hemmed in on both sides and your only choices were to go forward, backward or to sit down and do nothing. Life sort of shafted you into a pre-determined destiny that you seemed to have little control of.

Self-motivational books would tell you to "HAVE A VISION"! Positive thinkers would tell you to 'LOOK UP'. So you did ... and the only vision you could come up with was the ceiling. There seemed to be a ceiling on how high you could go at work and how high your monthly salary could be. And there you were STUCK BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE. You had the hard, cold ground of reality at your feet and an unyielding ceiling over your head. So you plod on in the only direction you can go and still feel halfway decent about yourself.

A tunnel is one thing, but why did the lights have to go out? Where in the world is all this 'sunlight of God's love' that people keep talking about? It sure wasn't in your part of the world. So now you plod on in darkness, not knowing for sure if there is a God or not. Not seeing any sign of His life and power and presence in your life. Not understanding why you are living. Not knowing what this life is really all about.

Depression has been a routine part of your life. The 'Cheerful Charlies" don't understand. There is no way you can conjure up a 'bubbly' personality that gushes out excitement just knowing you are alive. You shake your head at those kinds of people and wonder where they are coming from. You feel like God may have short-changed you somewhere along the way. Why didn't He give you all the blessings these other people have? How many times have you given up on yourself, on God and on life in general? But, nobody will let you give up. They come along and demand to have breakfast. They insist on collecting for the light bill. They push and prod until you have no choice but to get up and get going again. Plodding your way through the tunnel of life.

People keep talking about finding 'THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL'. Well, you've waited and waited for that BLESSED LIGHT. And then, THERE IT IS! A NEW OPPORTUNITY BREAKS OPEN FOR YOU. Things start looking up. Maybe, just maybe there is a good reason to be alive. Maybe you have discovered your purpose for being on the earth. You pick up your pace. Your heart does a little extra giggly, pitty-pat! "Hey! We're getting out of this mess!"

That's when you find out - THAT LIGHT IS NOT A WAY OUT! It's just a real bright spot in front of an impossible situation. It's a lantern in front of a brick wall. Oh, you have light all right, You can see that you can't turn to the left or the right. You have a ceiling over your head and the solid rock of hard reality under your feet, And now ... you can see that you aren't going anywhere. The road in front of you is blocked off securely. If you complained about limitations before, guess what you are going to do now?

You can't go back. You can't be 12 years old again. You can't be a six year old that climbs up in his mother's lap to be held and hugged and lulled into a blissful sense of security. You can't go back into your mother's womb and try it all over again. YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE - and now it is a certainty that it is not getting any better!

Why, oh why were you ever born? You didn't ask to be here and now you can't get out. And it seems impossible to change the course and destiny of your life. Talk about misery. You've got it from head to toe. If misery were a recognizable disease you would already be in the hospital - in the intensive care unit - with a dozen nurses frantically trying to help you. But, the truth is - you are stuck in a dark closet of life all by yourself and no one seems to even care that you are alive. Do they not know or do they not care? Or do they feel helpless and hopeless too and just don't know WHAT TO DO TO HELP YOU?? Who knows?

Even if you weren't feeling bad before you started reading this article, you should be by now. By my words I've painted you into a dark and terrible corner and made you feel a little bit of the gloominess of tunnel living.

My words came from thoughts. Thoughts activate feelings. If I were to write seventeen pages of such words - how would you feel by the time you got to the end? Terrible! Just terrible! If you didn't want to feel down and depressed you would have to jump up and run for the antidote for such poison. You would have to go outside, sit in the sunshine or even walk in the rain. You would have to do something else besides mulling over such words of misery.

Well, I don't have to write those seventeen pages for some of you. Your daily thoughts are giving you that accumulation of 'HOPELESS THINKING'. Your system can stand only so much before it will start shutting down on you. You need some help. And that's why l am here!

A certain lady has called me several times during the past two weeks. Their family has been going through a severe crisis. It involved someone outside the home. Then it involved others. Now it has blown open and is affecting an entire community. Things went from bad to worse to 'just horrible'. She was in danger of feeling the effects of 'total hopelessness'.

But my words kept her going through the first few stages. Yesterday she cried uncontrollably. It was a time for crying. I let her do it. I even helped it along a little bit. There is a time and a purpose for letting the grief and helplessness and anger run down your face. At least it is out of your system where it had the potential of doing the most damage.

Today, I painted her a picture of 'THE BEAUTY OF REALITY". The tone of her voice changed. Her attitude began to jump up and down with the relief that was coming to her spirit. She had been concentrating so hard on THE UGLY OF REALITY that she was losing sight of all the good that was around her. She was painting the future darker than it is really going to

be. She was the one who was guilty of laying the bricks, row upon row, She was building her own wall and calling this event THE END OF THE TUNNEL!

We've had miserable, miserable weather for a week. But, today, the sky is terrifically blue. The temperature is just right. It's a balmy day. The kind of day that makes people want

to run to the beach, have a picnic or go for a nice drive. But, she wasn't even aware of all that. All she could see was this great disappointment which was giving her the right to throw away all happy feelings whatsoever. Happiness was something that the family might, just might find a little bit of in about six or seven years from now.

What has happened has happened. She can't change it now. If other people are upset, they will just have to be upset. But, she is going to go out and work in her flower bed. She is going to sit on the swing and enjoy the beautiful blue sky and the nice weather. She is going to think some good thoughts, sing some good songs, and generate a few good feelings for herself in the midst of trouble and distress.

That might only last for 15 minutes or even two hours. Somewhere along the way her mind will be dragged back into the ugly of reality. But with what I've taught her, she also has

the right to just drag her little old self back into the sunlight of the BEAUTY OF REALITY -

OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN - UNTIL THIS WHOLE ROTTEN THING IS PAST.

Hopelessness is a mental state that can be changed. Even when circumstances can't be changed - the feelings of hopelessness can be dealt with, minimized, and even evicted completely.

You can keep scribbling darkness and melancholy all over your soul, but it is not going

to make your outside situation any better. In fact, it will probably make it worse, because you

will begin to make decisions based on such faulty attitudes.

Shut up! Those are strong words. But use them against that negative mind set that threatens to ruin you. Tell your mind to SHUT UP AND BE STILL! Make the panic of your soul quiet down. Say to yourself over and over again 'BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD'!

Quit going through the mental gymnastics of frantic thinking. Quit trying to blame yourself or others. Blame has never saved a drowning man - but calm thinking has. Blame has never put out a fire - but a calm spirit has gotten people outside where they were safe while all else burned down around them. Are they homeless today? No! Are they miserable today? No! People came to their aid. Things were replaced. New things came into their lives. And some

of them are much, much better off now than they were before their calamity.

Get around someone who is not boxed in by your circumstances. Listen to their perspective on the situation. Give someone else a chance to do some thinking for you. Listen to what they are saying. If you get hold of another negative person - run from them! Run as fast as you can. You don't need more poison for your system. You need words of life and faith and peace and power. You need a healthy dose of the 'NEW SANITY' which will counteract the 'insanity' that is trying to overtake you. Blood transfusions can keep some people alive long enough for the doctors to treat the real problem. Maybe you just need some 'THOUGHT TRANSFUSIONS" to get you back on your feet again. Flush out every thought of HOPELESSNESS! There are probably sixteen answers to your problem ... answers which you can't see because you are blinded by despair.

Be still. Be calm. Be at peace. You may not know how - but things can get better!

THE OVERCOMER'S NOTEBOOK

Designed especially for anyone who has every been born into a human body.

Because EVERYBODY in the world is continually faced with the need to overcome something!

You are no exception!

Are you standing still - just watching everyone struggle and not going anywhere yourself? Your life is sort of stationary. You're not going backwards or downwards. But you don't seen to be going upwards and forward either. Are you going to stay there like that forever? Some of you are just beginning the upward ascent! You don't even know what's in store for you yet! Are you ever in for a rude awakening! Maybe you are the one who has already overcome a major hurdle? Are you going up your second mountain or third? Do you ever wonder if there is a last one? Are you the one who has already taken a fall? Was it financial failure? Deep personal sin? Did someone you were trusting in - just collapse and cause you to go to pieces? Have you been mortally wounded?

Are you the lady that is hanging on with all her might "Resisting Temptation' while other women are tumbling into "unfaithfulness" against God and family.

Are you the guy who is stuck on the side of a cliff. You've gotten yourself into a situation where you can't go up and you can't go down. You are hanging on for dear life lest you make "one more slip" and lose it all?

Are you the guy who made it to the top and got cocky, proud and careless and then you blew it. Now your life is a shambles and getting worse?

There is an "Easier Way" to overcome.

Some people have found it.

Jesus said, "I AM THE WAY" He also said, "Come unto me and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Living by the principles of Jesus is still an upward struggle - but with His strength and guidance and grace, it's much easier than trying to scale the mountains on your own and by yourself. The people who are joined to Christ and then joined one to another by love and mercies and prayer are those who are going to make it all the way.

Are you a "Leader" of Christians - taking giant steps for God and man? Or ... are you

the "Tail-end-Christian" - going along with the crowd but always holding back?" Always? Why?

Are you the low man on the mountain.

Does everyone else seem to be above you, ahead of you and stronger than you - while you are lost in your own little world of inferiority and insignificance. You're having a hard time just getting up to the bottom level of achievement.

Welcome! - To My Little Corner of the World.

You're invited to browse through the pages of The Overcomer's Notebook! and (my kind of thinking). Let's hope that something I say might comfort you in your struggles and distresses! Perhaps my words of encouragement will spur you on to become all you can be!

I hope to create faith and courage in your spirit. I want to motivate you to try again or to try harder or longer. I challenge you to accept the difficult and tackle the impossible. If perfection seems "Out of Sight", I'm going to "spur you on" to improvement and more improvement until total victory does seem possible.

I'm going to warn the careless ones - to the limit of my ability. Because there are real dangers along the way! Disaster is a possibility. Grave consequences await the foolish!

I'm going to "Goad" the Apathetic and the lazy ones! I will show them what Great Rewards there are for those who overcome.

I'm going to paint pictures of faith for doubters! I will show them the great potential and possibilities that are before them. I will do all I can to persuade them to believe!

My words will be like a "Rope" being thrown to the weak and the faltering ones. The strength of my convictions will grab their minds and pull them back in line.

I will teach the "fearful" not to "Look Down" but to "Look Up" - unto Jesus the author and the Finisher of our Faith! We can overcome in the name and by the strength of the Holy One! Believe It

The Blessing of Hopelessness!

When the light at the end of the tunnel is only a lantern in front of a brick wall! And at the end of self...there is GOD!

Sometimes - there is a great blessing which comes with hopelessness. People call on God. If it weren't for hopeless times, many people would never find God to be real in their lives. The tragedies which threatened to push them over the brink, pushed them into the arms of a loving God instead.

Man in his independent pride and self-sufficiency tends to push God out of his life. But in hopelessness and sheer desperation, he changes his mind.

A pilot, shot down over enemy territory, has an immediate need to cry out for help. He cries to someone who is not helpless, someone he never needed until just that minute. And that need suddenly becomes very, very real.

Accidents, incurable diseases, a home being ripped apart and other calamities have a way of bringing us close to God.

If your hopeless situation will cause you to seek God with a fervent heart, then there really are blessings in the midst of hopelessness.

But, the sad part of life is that some people do not turn to God in hopeless situations. And thus, the curse of hopelessness continues to claim it's victims.

There are more people who die of hopelessness than any other cause in the world. That's because their eyes are blind to the help that is all around them - or - they are too proud to reach out for that help.

Hopelessness makes them give up when they should be looking for new avenues of escape. Hopelessness makes them give up when they should be struggling even harder to make it. Hopelessness is a tool of the devil, a weapon which he uses to finish off someone he has been working on for a long time. Hopelessness turns off the light of creativity

Thomas Edison conducted over 1,100 experiments in trying to invent the light bulb.

He could have given in to a feeling of hopelessness after 320 experiments or 750 or 980. But, he NEVER, EVER GAVE IN TO THAT DIABOLICAL OBSTACLE OF HELL!

He hung onto hope like a bulldog would hang onto a bone that was being taken away from him. He persevered in hope, knowing there must be an answer he hadn't thought of yet.

Most Christians think we are saved by Grace - through FAITH. (Just because the Bible says so.)

But, the same Bible says: "We are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope." If we are going to quote what Mr. Paul the Apostle says about faith, then we ought to also quote what he has to say about hope.

There are millions of people who do not have faith. So when the faith advocates keep preaching their positive gospel to people who don't have faith - discouragement sets in. That's because they know they don't have faith. So they throw away their hope also and give up.

A widow woman came to an unjust judge every day. She begged for his help. But, the judge kept pushing her away. She did not have faith. Faith comes by hearing a Word Of Promise from the one who can help. This man had promised her nothing.

But, she had a strong, driving hope. She knew he wasn't a kind and a generous man. She knew her chances were slim. But, she was in a hopeless situation. She could not save herself. She could not depend on any other asset of her own, except the rare quality of a persevering hope.

She badgered that man night and day until he couldn't take it any longer. He just wanted to get rid of her, so HE PROMISED TO HELP HER!

Ha! Ha! Ha! And Ha -lelujah!

Now she had faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by a word of promise from the one who has the power to carry out the promise. The woman walked away from the judge knowing He was going to do what He said He would do (for her).

She knew he had the power to do that for others. She knew he was willing to help others. But, she had to buck all the odds in the book to get him to be willing to help her.

So there is nothing wrong with 'PRAYING IN HOPE’ . You may not KNOW that God will help you! But, you keep praying until something in your spirit lights up and you can know that God has heard your cry and that He is going to help you.

Too many people are discouraged from doing that kind of praying and thus lose out on answers that they could obtain by hanging in there until the last minute.

In a time of desperation in my own life, I told God, "You shouldn't have put that story in the Bible if you didn't want people coming back to you over and over and over again. And because you did put it in the Bible I'm going to do it!"

And I would add a PS saying, "You don't have to give me what I want, but you are going to have to listen to me crying out to you night and day--- night and day ---- and night and day!"

I prayed that way for five years for one particular thing I didn't want to give up on. I told Him He was going to have to listen to that repeated desire until the day I died, because I wasn't giving up. I kept crying out to Him in hope until the day that desire began to emerge as a reality - as an answer to prayer - as a bonafide miracle which could not have happened without God's involvement in the matter.

Sure, I've given up on some prayers that I've prayed. Because of the chance that I was asking for something that wasn't necessary or something that might not have been good for me. When we are truly content not to have what we began asking for, it might be all right to lay it down and to get on with the rest of life.

But, the Bible says: "If God gave us His own Son, how much more will He not also (with Him) freely give us ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN UNTO LIFE AND GODLINESS!"

If the answer to a prayer is a necessity of life or will make you more like God - Go for it! Don't lay off. Don't let up. Don't give in to doubt, unbelief and uncertainty. Ask for the maximum and dare Him to give you more than you ask for. The Bible tells us:" He can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all you can ask or even think of asking for."

Don't ever let God put things like that in the Bible without challenging Him to DO IT IN YOUR LIFE! If you want more peace, love, joy, self control, tolerance and forbearance, don't ever stop asking for it. If you want more faith, wisdom and power to live a good and Godly life, by all means, pray in hope and don't throw that hope away.

The Bible says: "Cast not away your confidence." That word confidence is speaking about the hope that is more than a wish or a desire. It's a hope that is built on confidence.

I have read stories of people lost at sea. They often felt that all hope was gone - yet they hoped on - and obtained a miracle rescue that many would marvel at for years to come.

If you don't have any hope for the future - at least cry out to God and ask for the spirit of Hope which will keep you going. And that spirit will keep you going until you can begin to truly believe for the miracles you need.

Sure, there will always be people whose hopes have been dashed to pieces. There will always be those who did not hold out long enough. There will always be stories of people who were not saved, rescued, or helped by miracles from God. But, right behind them there are a thousand more stories of people whose hope was rewarded in marvelous ways.

I'm not to decide who is rewarded and who isn't. I'm not God. Don't hope in me. When all else fails: Hope in God!

TRAPPED IN A MINE

There once was a man who was locked in a mine shaft that caved in. He was in total darkness. He felt his way to the end of the tunnel. There was nothing but solid mountain in front of him and tons of caved in rock behind him. But, hope drove him to feel along the walls of that tunnel, first on one side and then the other, in hopes that he would find a way out.

Suddenly, there it was. Bricks. Bricks. Bricks. A wall of bricks instead of stone. Someone had bricked off a dangerous side tunnel years before. But there was nothing more dangerous than staying where he was. So brick by brick that wall came down until he could crawl through that wall of hopelessness.

He was still in danger, but it was a danger with a greater degree of hope involved. He had no certainty of being saved, but his hope was strengthened and renewed and built up. The other end was shut off as well and he couldn't dig his way past that barricade. But, he was now exposed to an air vent light of day and into the arms of loved ones - who had almost given up hope - but not quite. For they kept praying that God would have mercy on them and find a way to reach their loved one. They prayed in hope, when it seemed that all the odds were against them.

They prayed in hope when everyone else started walking away and going home.

They prayed in hope when nightfall came and the workers had to wait till morning to try again.

They prayed in hope - until they heard the report that a voice was heard beyond the barriers. Then they prayed in an earnest and desperate hope - knowing that a possibility still existed.

That's the story of a man who refused to sit down and die when there might still be something he could do to save himself. And there was. He found the extra passageway and the air vent.

He still couldn't get out by himself, but his efforts did make the difference.

But, there's the story of the man who found no extra tunnel and no air vent. He got weaker and weaker through a lack of oxygen. Hour after hour, his own energies left him, leaving him in a more hopeless condition than before. But, he hoped on. But, he was not hoping in His own efforts or energies to save himself. He hoped in God. He prayed in hope. And when he couldn't even speak his prayers anymore, he thought prayers of hope. He kept thinking, "All things are possible with God!" And before he died, God had led rescuers in a miraculous pathway of circumstances that saved his life.

Whether you are hoping that YOU can find a way out, or whether you are hoping in others or whether you are hoping entirely in God -- don't give up hope. Circumstances will not always provide you with hope. What you see may tend to rob you of hope. What you have been told by others may tend to turn your thoughts toward despair. But, don't look to circumstances or what you can see, feel or hear. which kept him alive, while he prayed that rescuers wouldn't give up until they found him.

His prayers were answered and he eventually walked back out into the Look to God who can make a way where there seems to be no way. Hope in the Lord! And you shall not be disappointed.

Guard your HOPE like you would guard FORT KNOX.

Guard your HOPE like you would guard your eyes from extremely bright glare ... or from flying metal.

Guard your HOPE like you would guard your diary from prying eyes and possible gossip.

Guard your hope like you would guard your wallet at the National Pickpocket's Convention.

GUARD IT !

WHAT AM I SAYING?

Hope Is a valuable commodity of gain. It is a passport to JOY & HAPPINESS.

It is not the destination. It is simply the passport that guarantees that you can get through. Faith is the ticket that says your trip is already paid for.

Faith is what we want ... because it is the SUBSTANCE of what we HOPE FOR. But hope comes first. It is the generator which starts the process from which faith comes.

HOPE IS NOT WISHING

A wish is a desire. A wish is the sad look on a 7 yr. old as he watches his friend eat an ice cream cone.

Hope is the strong confidence that the FRIENDSHIP IS STRONG ENOUGH to bring about a sharing.

Sometimes the wish has no basis for hope. The boy may be an enemy.

TURN THE WISHBONE In another direction.

Just because the mean boy will not share ... does not mean that the wishful boy's desire cannot be fulfilled.

He may TURN HIS WISH TOWARD HOME. His mother does love him. She MAY give him the money for a cone. FAITH IS WHAT HE HAS WHEN SHE SAYS: "Yes, after you rake the yard." There is a condition, but there is a promise.

Hope is the confidence in her love and willingness, before he gets her promise. But, if he throws away that hope before he gets home ... he will never even ask her! He may use doubt to talk himself out of the desire before there has been any preparation for the desire to be fulfilled.

And even if a loving willingness has to say: "I'm sorry honey, there is no money in the house," a STRONG DESIRE WITH A STRONG CONFIDENCE AND EXPECTATION IN THE POSSIBILITIES ... will merely turn itself in yet another direction. There are other sources of nickels, dimes and quarters.

CAN I RAKE YOUR YARD LADY?

That question is asked once, twice and three times. Yet, no money has appeared In his hand. That devil of defeat says, "Give up. Nobody wants their yard raked."

Our little friend has an opportunity to THROW AWAY HIS CONFIDENCE. He has a chance to cast away his hope.

Does He do it? No! Absolutely not! He says to himself, "The world Is full of lazy and busy people. I WILL FIND one or the other. I can have my ice cream cone.

WE ARE SAVED BY HOPE

We have heard it said that we are "saved by GRACE". (Eph. 2:8) But another scripture says: "YOU ARE SAVED BY HOPE. ' (Rom. 8:24)

We know that a hope that is already seen, experienced and fulfilled is no longer a hope, but a reality experienced. It is a HISTORY. A thing already accomplished.

Our little boy had a VALUABLE THING ... something that would produce what he wanted. Others are stuck in poverty. They have no hope for the future good that they desire. They sit on the curb wishing forever or until they even give up wishing. That's really sad!

The scripture says: "DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE." Heb. 10:35)

Even if you lose confidence in yourself or in others or in your present means and opportunities turn your confidence toward God and toward other means which are NOT YET SEEN! Hope on! Hope on !

"SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND"

God cannot lie. Hang onto the confidence that THE SEEKING HEART WILL BE REWARDED. Somehow. Sooner or Later.

H. Having H. Hang

0. Optimistic 0. On

P. Persistent P. Persevere

E. Expectations E. Endure