Hope For Today Videos

It’s normal to feel sad sometimes.  Where can we find help when we feel sad? There are many factors that bring sadness at various times. But usually the cause of the sadness is not the first question in our minds. What goes through our thoughts over and over again is:  Does anyone notice?  Does anyone care?  Does anyone understand? Is there anyone to help me? The strong answer is "Yes."

What are you afraid of today?  What kinds of things easily make us fearful?  What can we do so our emotions and behaviour choices are not controlled by our fears?  God keeps it simple for us.

We all experience hard times.  Disappointments come and we are brokenhearted.  Difficulties pile up and seem to crush us.  As followers of Jesus we are not exempt from these kinds of moments. But God - two beautiful words. But God is with us to comfort and support us and to show us a good way through the challenges.

When I read this question in a devotional I consult, it set me thinking. The question was, “Am I treating the gospel as a life hack or am I genuinely pursuing the kingdom of God? What was the author trying to communicate?

What are we thankful for today?  Or I suppose I should ask, are we conscious of things we have to be grateful for? How often do we rehearse the events of the day or even the past week and remember how God has been good to us?  I don't know of any practice that brings joy, builds strength, and gives hope more than the practice of giving thanks.

What do we know?  Who can we trust? In what way can we be assured that something is what is claimed and someone will do for us what they promise in the moment? These are significant questions and we hear stories that challenge us in the area of trust almost every day on the news.  I suppose that’s why I find the words from the Bible we will look at today comforting, particularly since there are many people through the centuries who have found them to be true.

We live in a culture and time that focuses on the needs and conveniences of the individual first.  It's something we are probably not often even that aware of but it's there. We check first if something fits into our schedule, our budget, our plans for what we want to do. We also live in a world of great need and human suffering, so much of it that we hit the "off" button because it seems overwhelming to us especially in light of the resources we think we have. God is inviting us today to look with His eyes, consider with His compassionate heart, and ask Him what we should do.

We can all feel pretty good about things when we are doing well or someone around us is doing well and our circumstances are okay but today we look at the kind of encouragement that is there for us through thick and thin, through our successes and our failures, through our times of well-being in relationships and when things are seemingly hopeless messed up.

The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. Isaiah 50:4 How do these words inform my choices and behaviours today?

Is there anything that we've been holding against another person for a while? Maybe it's time to release the person from the resentment or grudge and unforgiveness we've been holding and let a fresh start happen for them and us.

Something fundamental happens to us when we invite Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and turn our will and our life over to the care of God.  Things that were dead in us come alive and we are able to desire new things, think new thoughts, understand life in a new way, and actually behave differently. 

Within each personal story of the journey from bondage to freedom is the power of our amazing God to save those who are lost. When we tell our story, our lives are simply giving witness to God’s amazing grace and mercy for us and through our own experiences, we get to point others to the pathway of their own healing journey with Jesus.  This is the “carrying the message” part of Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.