Never lose hope, it will come

   I remember reading the poems of Langston Hughes as a student. One of them stuck with me, especially after it became the subject of the play “A raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry.

  The poem was called “A dream deferred” It asked the question, “What happens to a dream differed, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

   The short poem defined the frustrations of the youth of my generation who burned down Watts, rioted after the assassination of Dr. King, shouted Black Power. 

  

We were angry because the dream of justice and equality seemed like a hopeless nightmare.

   Hughes's poem said when hope is lost it may fester like a sore and run, stink like rotten meat or it might explode.

   Today, another generation is angry because of hope deferred, it’s marching and screaming, too.

   As a young man, I found hope in the promises of God. I learned to constantly push to make dreams happen, but despite the frustrations, never lose hope.

  I kept the promise of fulfillment in front of me. I found consolation in Proverbs 13:12 which says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

   Whatever your dream, don’t lose hope. Keep working to make it happen. 

   If God has blessed it, it will happen.

Auto Correct me, Lord

    I write my thoughts on my cell phone or I pad, but sometimes I notice that my final product is not what I wrote. It appears that my phone has a feature called “auto correct” that suggests the correct spelling of a word and allows me to use the suggestion.
   

AutoCorrect Me, Lord

But sometimes, I notice that even after I have typed correctly what I wanted,  the cellphone changes my word and puts in another. Once I sent a message to a man named Jesse. The message was “Jesse, this is my email address” but Jesse was replaced with Jesus and the message became “Jesus, this is my email address”

   Since the phone, computers, and iPads remember our most used phrases, it assumed that I really want to say, “Jesus” instead of Jesse. Not that time.
  

 As Believers we do have an autocorrect feature, however, He is called the Holy Spirit. He works on our conscience when we know we’ve done wrong and prompts us to correct ourselves.
 

 The prophet asked God to correct him. He said it was a good thing. He said in Jeremiah 10:24, “Correct me, O Lord, but with Justice, not with your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.
 

  We Thank God for the Holy Spirit it corrects us automatically every day and the blood of Christ erases our mistake automatically giving us a clean slate.
  

 Thank God for auto-correct.

The 190 Foot Cross makes travelers look twice

    A few years ago our youth group, on a summer trip, traveled down 1-40 near Groom, Texas and saw an awe-inspiring sight 20 miles outside of the small town.  A giant cross loomed in the air. 
   We stopped when we got there in wonder at this huge 190-foot tall cross that invited truckers and travelers like us to stop and worship while on the road.
   

That Sunday, we did just that. We stopped and worshipped at the foot of that humongous cross.
   In Southwestern Ohio, there is 62 statue of Jesus with his arms lifted up in a pose similar to a referee’s touchdown signal in football.
   The giant Jesus has hands big enough to hold a truck. It has caught the imagination of believers along I-75 because the state reports that the number of highway deaths in that area dropped to zero immediately after the Jesus statue was erected by a local church.
   Jesus and the cross are mysteries to those who don’t believe.
   I doubt that a statue of Christ stops highway wrecks, but I do know that if Christ is lifted up, he will save those who believe in him from their sins.
   It doesn’t have to be 190 feet tall and neither does it need to dangle around your neck, but the cross of Christ, when it is carried in our hearts, reminds us of God’s saving grace.
   We should lift up his name in any way we can like the folks did in Texas. We will reflect Jesus' words in John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
    Like the statue on I-75, Jesus stands in front of us showing us the way to victory over Satan and the problems he causes in our lives.
    It’s up to us to trust him.

Dreaming about riches

 Most of us have dreamed of being rich at one time or another because we connected riches with happiness. We saw ourselves living in big mansions, with swimming pools, cars, diamond rings, gold platted bath tubs, and servants.

My thoughts were altered after I saw a movie about the last man on earth. Everyone on earth had disappeared left him with the best of everything. He had access to fine apartments, suitcases filled with money, and fast cars..everything! He was rich, but he soon tired of all because all of his riches had little purpose. I concluded it was better to be comfortable and living with a purpose than rich and my only purpose is to get richer. Even though we know money can't make us happy, we take every chance we get to be sure. The believer can handle life any way that it is served. If we are rich, we'll serve the Lord, but if we lose it all or never get there we're still happy in the Lord. Happiness is tied to things, but joy comes from inside and is not dependent on things.. It comes from the Lord. Our attitude of joy in any situation is reflected in Philippians 4:12 "I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need." If you measure yourself by the size of your bank account, house or car, you'll always be unhappy. Because we know the Lord, we measure ourselves by our ability to fulfill our life purpose; that gives us joy. Most of us aren't rich, but we look at our families and what they are becoming, we are content that we have successfully accomplished God's will.

Let it go and be at peace

 Two men walked through the woods until they came to a wide river. Each one carried a backpack that contained all of their worldly goods. At the riverside, their feet began to sink in the muddy waters and the weight of their backpacks pushed them further into the mud.

It appeared that they would never cross. As they slid deeper into the mud and drowning became inevitable.

Finally, one man said, let's take off the backpacks and swim for the opposite shore. The other man was reluctant to let go of his backpack because it contained all of the stuff he thought he needed to survive.

Eventually, both men dropped their packs and swam safely to the other side. However, once on the other side the second man complained that he had lost his backpack and all of his stuff; he was very unhappy. The first man said, "Your feet are safely only dry ground and all you can worry about is the stuff that nearly killed you. Be at peace, the stuff you are worrying about would have killed you if you had not let it go."

Are you trying to move to another level but "stuff" is holding you back. Sometimes it might be better to leave it behind, be at peace and be glad you can stand on dry ground.

To be at peace think about 2 Thessalonians 3:16,  "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you."

If it's dragging you down and has you stuck in the mud, let it go and be at peace.

Don't ring the bell

 In 1997 there was an exciting movie called “GI Jane” that caught the imagination of many people. It featured Demi Moore as the first woman to qualify for the Navy Seals program.

The Seal trainees faced grueling tests of strength and endurance including what’s referred to by trainees as “hell week” in which they had little sleep, ate food from the trash, and faced an exhaustive physical test.

GI Jane won the hearts of the male trainees when she cut her hair like a man, trained like a man, and eventually saved the life of her master Chief.

They tried relentlessly to get her to drop out by ringing a large bell saying she gave up. She refused and became a Navy Seal.

Sometimes life puts all of us through a grueling test of endurance, but we have resolved not to drop out, give up or ring the bell.

That's the message of 2 Chronicles 15:7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

We choose to never give up but trust God.

Don’t give up and don’t ring the bell in defeat.

It's terrible to doubt yourself

  Doubt is a dream killer.  

  How do you expect to accomplish a Godly purpose if you doubt your own ability, even under God's power?

 

Moses told to speak to Pharaoh. It was a simple task, but since he didn't speak well he doubted himself.  He responded to God's command with “What ifs.” What if they don’t believe me? What if they don’t listen to me or laugh at me? He paid more attention to the prospects of failure than he did to the victory. 

  God promised victory, but Moses responded with “buts.” What ifs are victory killers, and zeal quenchers. 

 Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

  Excuses will relegate us to second best. 

  God uses what we have, and has never demanded from us what we do not have. We will never know the full potential of what can be done until we are willing to offer it to God. God is not looking for excess ability; he is looking for availability.

  Whatever you do, don't doubt what you can do with God by your side.

So many dreams, which one do I pursue?

   Is it possible to have so many dreams that we miss out on the big one trying to chase after every little dream we can think of? 
   Sometimes our real dream can get lost in the shuffle while we are chasing after everything else.
   
Consider the hungry wolf who dreamed of having chicken for dinner. So he watched the hen house carefully and saw all of the fat hens moving around. Finally, he chased after one big fat hen, but just as he was gaining on the hen a rabbit crossed his trail. It was the biggest rabbit that he'd ever seen. He instantly forgot about the Hen who was eluding him and started to chase after the rabbit that seemed bigger and closer. After a few twists and turns, a squirrel appeared in the road. The squirrel was so close that he could touch it, so he changed course and went after the amber little animal. Just as he was about to catch the squirrel, it disappeared. He spotted a rat and chased it for a small distance until the rat ran into a hole.
   As the sun went down he found himself standing outside waiting for a rat to come out. He started out looking for chicken and dumplings and ended the day standing guard over a rat hole!

   Many of us are guarding rat holes when we should be doing much more. Many are satisfied and have lost the desire for dumplings but are content with rat soup.

   Ecclesiastes 5:7 says, For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.

   Try focusing on your God-given dream rather than chasing every empty one that crosses your path. It's the God-given dream that will fulfill you. The others will be empty.

We moved three times and carried our home with us

 
How many times have you moved? When my wife and I married we lived in a three-room shotgun-style house. 

   Later, we moved to a house with two bedrooms, but the landlord sold the house from under us. We later moved to an apartment that had a few more modern amenities. 

  We moved out of the apartment when the rent increased to $150 a month. I thought that was outrageous. That was 1976. 

  My mother died and we moved in the house she left behind. We've lived in that house for over 40 years, rent-free. 

  I was in my 20s then, young people in their 20s move a lot. Others move, too.

  We all move around a lot. Every if we buy a house, in reality, it's not permanent. One day, we'll leave it behind. 

   Every place we live is like a little condominium or travel inn that we occupy for a while and then leave behind.

  We are on a journey that will take us to who knows where. Jesus said those who trust him will finally have a permanent home with him in heaven. 

 John 14:2 says, “My Father’s house has many mansions . . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you” 

  Whether we live in a shotgun house, a condo, or a mansion, it becomes a home when there is love inside the walls, otherwise, it’s just a house, a place to lay your head.

  We should remember the words of C.S. Lewis who said, “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.” 

  Home is where the heart is. Where we live now is just a comfortable rest stop on our way to our real home which is in heaven where we will be with the Lord forever.