Can you afford to ignore God?

Some are so busy worrying about their stomachs that they do not allow their food to digest.

It is wise to be concerned about life.

It is foolish to become so anxious that you cannot face life.

        

To gain strength for TODAY, REMEMBER:

   

                                                                          

You are unique.  God created you that way.

You have some unused strength.

Evil seeks to defeat you by making you afraid.

Created in the image of God, you have

sources of strength provided.

You can associate with God.

Without God you are like an unplugged light bulb.

Jesus is saying to you daily, “Come unto me...”

YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO IGNORE HIM!

What can we do about anxiety and stress?

More students have anxiety (FIVE TIMES AS MANY) as they did during the Great Depression of the 1930’s.  (USA TODAY, 12 January, 2010)

Materially this generation has more

fantastic “things” than any in history.

What seems to be lacking?  A genuine reason for living in this world of STRESS.)

What can we do about it?

As starters, those of us who are adults (chronologically) could MAKE time to talk to young people about topics like these:

1.      The origin of the political freedom that we have in this nation. Consider the significance of our pledge of allegiance… the Declaration of Independence… the Constitution.

2.      Encourage the reading of the New Testament book of Mark to see in the example of Jesus the meaning of courage, discipline, greatness and hope both in this world and the next. 

What keeps your heart running through the darkest days and longest journeys of life?

Hope is the fuel that keeps our hearts running through the darkest and longest journeys of life.

BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE CREATION OF HOPE

1.      God knows you…your predicaments, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses.

2.      God cares for you…He is patient.  He allows you to start again…to get up again.  He always sees the best within you!

3.      God is stronger than evil. Therefore, history, your history, is going somewhere with purpose.  The final word will not be disappointment but fulfillment...not defeat but victory…not death but life.

These sentences are punctuated into reality by the coming of Jesus, His life, His death, His resurrection, His kingdom, His invitation and His promise to bring all history to a glorious conclusion.

Choices Are Personal

OUR PREDICAMENT

“Human life has within it the element of despair… This despair is caused by a gap between what man is and what he knows he ought to be… The human situation has at the very heart of it an element of tragedy.  We are all disappointed.”  Gerald Kennedy, THE LION AND THE LAMB

THERE IS HOPE FOR US

No one can go back and make a “brand new start” but each can start where she/he is and make a “brand new ending.”  It is the final score that counts in the game of life.

KEYS TO THE “BRAND NEW ENDING”

“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”  2 Timothy 3:16.  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”  Jesus, Matthew 7:24

THE CHOICE IS A PERSONAL ONE!!

CARPE DIEM

CARPE DIEM (Seize the Day)

This day is “opportunity gift wrapped in a few short hours.”

Seize this day with the determination that you are going to make a step towards being the person that you want to be.  You will discover that if you “begin to weave, God will give you the thread.”

                  REMEMBER

        Habits are “trait jackets.”

The good ones have to be cultivated.

        The bad ones grow wild.

For all of us life presents the choice of “more rigor” or “rigor mortis.”  Choose “life as the journey of long obedience” in God’s direction rather than stagnation and death in the blind alley of careless indifference.  

Concerning Happiness...

Three Simple (not superficial) Principles:

1.      Give to others. COURTEOUS

            ACTIONS AND KIND WORDS

            are always welcome.  No great

            talent or money required.

2.      Forgive others.  Remembering how

            God has forgiven me through

            Christ will certainly enable me

            to forgive another.

3.      Counting blessings.  More than

            simple grade school math

            required.  (Try beginning by a

            quick contrast with other nations.

            Why did I deserve to be born in

            the USA?)

Would you consider these resolutions?

RESOLUTIONS TO MAKE “TODAY” BETTER…

MAKE time to encourage a young person…

VISIT a “physically challenged” older person even if it is by cell phone…

EXAMINE your mind to see what is being allowed to grow there…

TALK to God, your Creator, with the assurance that He always listens…

PRAY for the leaders of nations…

REMEMBER that Jesus said, “But seek first His (God’s) kingdom (respect for His authority) and His righteousness (faith and obedience in His direction).”   Matthew 6:33