7/30/2022 Today I am meditating once again on what does it mean to have a “good day” or to have a “bad day”. Sometimes what seems good is bad for us while what seems bad is good for us. (I will not further confuse the issue by sharing the other side of this.) God promises He can and will makes all things work together for good so is everyday a “good day”? What is a “good day”? What is a “bad day”? What part does hope play in whether we have a “good day” or a “bad day”?

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

It is my belief fear leads to anger, anger leads to hatred and hatred leads to violence. Those who live by division will see the fear they cause eventually turn to violence. Where is the proof? Look around you. After years of politics and other groups gaining power by making people fear the other side we are surrounded by violence which causes fear and begins the process for new groups. The antidote is grace. It is that profound, simple and difficult at the same time.

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationsh

 

7/29/2022 If it were not for my pills telling me it is Friday I would not know. My pills fill my day and define my day by four doses to spread the help and relief all through the day. My spinal stimulator also defines time as I have to recharge myself every other day. Sleep is defined by the time my CPAP machine runs but it cannot tell if I rest. Is my hope in the pills and machines? Is grace found in them? God forbid! Hope and grace come from the Creator and His Creation. It comes from living spirits and souls and not from machines and medications.

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

(Thank you Duncan for remembering and reminding me.)

 

7/28/2022 (Over the last few days I have not felt well and have wavered between pain and dizziness. So I share with you some of the Heart Talks I had with God in the past. What do they tell you about hope and grace?)

Last weekend I felt terrible

Sweating and hard to breathe

Weak and weary not sure why

No good sleep without machine

I struggled on like a fool

Foolish fool I always am

Does it make any difference

Probably not is my reply

Lord I do not make a difference

Please let me change the way

Lead me to something else

Let someone else lead today

I am so weary and so worn

Little difference do I make

Let me rest a little while

By Your river may I lay

Why can’t I get it right

Why am I such a fright

Why am I such a sight

Why am I in this blight 4/25/16

 

7/27/2022 (Over the last few days I have not felt well and have wavered between pain and dizziness. So I share with you some of the Heart Talks I had with God in the past. What do they tell you about hope and grace?)

Parts of recent Heart Talks

I hear the Song of Heaven

Voices strong and clear

Heaven and earth for God

To worship draw so near

The tiny space is filling

With worshippers galore

As heaven and earth join

Celebrate God once more

Let me Lord join with them

Praise and glorify Your name

Speak and sing the glories

And rejoice in Your fame

For a time creation unites

The rocks lay silent still

As hearts unite to glorify

Jesus who died on the hill

 

7/26/2022 Is it Terrific Tuesday or Terrible Tuesday? The real revelation is that the day of the week does not have any impact on whether a day is terrific or terrible but it is decided by us. With hope each day and circumstance can be terrific or at least not terrible. Hope is like a medicine that builds our immunity to fear and despair!

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

My Grace Journal came from a study on Grace Relations. Here is a description of the study. I would recommend not only to watch it but to share with others..

Typical “Race Relations” efforts focus on friction, which is a symptom of a much bigger issue. Decades of secular Race Relations efforts have typically resulted in more heat than change. “Grace Relations” focuses on the heart and promotes conversations that ease friction and lead to collaborations; people of different skin tones and social backgrounds working together toward the common goal of biblical change that demonstrates love for God and our neighbor. Grace based collaborations are guided by scripture, change the heart, and engage the culture. ”Grace Relations” conforms to God’s written word and transforms culture! The ultimate goal is that we know and grow in our love for God, and our neighbor.

This self-paced online course consists of six 30-minute video sessions, each featuring Dr. Charles Ware who teaches Grace Relations at the College of Biblical Studies in Indiana.
https://answersingenesis.org/bios/charles-ware/

The videos are available through YouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWgtCwkxkAs&list=PL1v9pqs4w1mxuOZBcHb3_6L60zlbNBpeK

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

7/25/2022

Who am I

Does it matter

What am I

Does it matter

Where am I going

Does it matter

When

Does it matter

Why am I

Does it matter

How - how

Does it matter

Today I am not sure.

Is this from my mind? Thoughts I probably shouldn’t have.

 

 7/24/2022 Today is Sunday again and I am reminded of an old saying, “Remember, Sunday’s a comin!” When things get terrible and you get stuck in a bad time by grace and hope, “Remember, Sunday’s a comin!”

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

7/23/2022 Some may ask “Do you ever have a bad day?” Some will answer “I am having a bad life!” To merely respond “I hope it gets better” is not very helpful and can be a way of nicely saying I don’t care. True hope births action and is not just a statement but the foundation for actions and hard work.

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

Some may ask “Do you ever have a bad day?” Some will answer “I am having a bad life!” God’s grace is Jesus taking on our bad life (death) and giving us His life (eternal). For us grace is one person taking on the bad actions of others and in return giving them forgiveness and not responding how we usually want to.

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 

7/22/2022 Today. What an amazing word! Today is the present, a gift from God. Today is a gift of God, the I AM, who is ever present. To God all of time and even beyond time is today. God is ever present but to us today is the time we can receive hope and grace. The Bible reminds us today is the day of salvation. The past must not steal hope and grace from us today if we are to prepare for a better tomorrow, which will be today for God. If I get confused that is okay because why would I want a God I can understand?

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

7/21/2022 Have we forgotten the power and majesty of hope and grace?

“Do I forget, or do I refuse to remember?”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

Could it be possible we choose to not remember hope and grace? Why would we choose to not remember? Do we not remember because we are in the heat of the moment or because we refuse to remember? Always remember, “Questions do not lead to answers but to better questions.” Ron Ramsey

“Quotes aren’t something we use when we are lazy or can’t find the words but are to be used when they say something better than we can in our own words.” Me

 

7/20/2022 Today is my group meeting and it is a blessing, especially when I do not want to go. This quote came to me when I was looking for another quote. The language is rough and shocking but it is appropriate for the subject. Please meditate on this.

“Power itself is founded largely on disgust. The whole of advertising, the whole of political discourse, is a public insult to the intelligence, to reason - but an insult in which we collaborate, abjectly subscribing to a silent interaction. The day of hidden persuasion is over: those who govern us now resort unapologetically to arm-twisting pure and simple. The prototype here was a banker got up like a vampire, saying, 'I am after you for your money' . A decade has already gone by since this kind of obscenity was introduced, with the government's blessing, into our social mores. At the time we thought the ad feeble because of its aggressive vulgarity. In point of fact it was a prophetic commercial, full of intimations of the future shape of social relationships, because it operated, precisely, in terms of disgust, avidity and rape. The same goes for pornographic and food advertising, which are also powered by shamelessness and lust, by a strategic logic of violation and anxiety. Nowadays you can seduce a woman with the words, 'I am interested in your cunt' . The same kind of crassness has triumphed in the realm of art, whose mounds of trivia may be reduced to a single pronouncement of the type, 'What we want from you is stupidity and bad taste' . And the fact is that we do succumb to this mass extortion, with its subtle infusion of guilt.
It is true in a sense that nothing really disgusts us any more. In our eclectic culture, which embraces the debris of all others in a promiscuous confusion, nothing is unacceptable. But for this very reason disgust is nevertheless on the increase - the desire to spew out this promiscuity, this indifference to everything no matter how bad, this viscous adherence of opposites. To the extent that this happens, what is on the increase is disgust over the lack of disgust. An allergic temptation to reject everything en bloc: to refuse all the gentle brainwashing, the soft-sold overfeeding, the tolerance, the pressure to embrace synergy and consensus.”
― Jean Baudrillard, The Transparency of Evil: Essays in Extreme Phenomena

“Quotes aren’t something we use when we are lazy or can’t find the words but are to be used when they say something better than we can in our own words.” Me

 

7/19/2022 Is hope realistic? Is hope just some fantasy to make us feel better?

“Despair is a refusal of reality.”
― Marty Rubin

It actually is the other way around! For thousands of years Creation has run orderly in spite of the deep corruption of sin. Hope is natural and is the acceptance of the reality of the Creation we depend on.

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

Despair is a refusal to see and accept grace as well as hope. Even within the Church many do not truly believe in redemption which changes a person from bad to better. We see other through the distorted vision of their past and our prejudice. Reality reveals people and times change all the time!

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 

7/18/2022 “There is no way I can stand against the powerful and the evil.” “One person could never make a difference.” “Why does God let evil have so much power?” “Can tomorrow be any better?

Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? Are they really questions or are they excuses for our failure, that is failure to try? Many great things have happened because one person or a small group stand up and make things better. Some fail but even they encourage others. There are historical stories that as Christians died for their faith they sang and people in the crowd would join them in their sacrifice because they were drawn to a people who not only had something worth living for but also worth dying for!!!

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

7/17/2022 Some see Sunday as the seventh day of the week but it really is the first day of a new week. Saturday is the seventh day and the Sabbath – a day of rest. Sunday is the first day of the week and is the day of resurrection – the first day of life!!!

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

7/16/2022 When the clouds cover the sky does the sun still shine? When pain sucks the very marrow from our bones is their still life? When grief shreds our soul can we still love? Hope gives the ability to know and see the sun beyond the clouds, life beyond pain and love beyond grief.

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

Grace needs eyes to see where feet must carry it and hands to know who needs its touch. We can teach our eyes to see the need and where grace is needed but if we are open to guidance by God’s eyes grace can reach beyond our sight and ability.

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 

 7/15/2022 Hope is not only possible in the midst of pain, grief or loss but it is essential! In the day to day when all is going well hope may be in background and not appreciated. When all seems to fall apart hope leads you to the light at the end of the tunnel of what you are passing through. Hope also helps you know that light is not a train!!!

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

Some people may not see the need for grace because they have never opened the eyes of their soul to see the grace that surrounds them. God’s grace is available for the lost as well as who have a relationship with Him. Grace is also offered by others to them each and every day. Look for grace and it will be revealed in all its wonder!

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 7/14/2022 This was not a good day. For awhile I thought saying it was a bad day or not a good day was pessimistic and so I would say it was a good day. Then saying I was having a good day became meaningless so I went to the pessimistic, possibly realistic, phrases.

Why? Oh well.

Why was the only thought that came to my mind as I stood by the side of the road next to my used to be faithful car. Why did my car break down and why now? Though is there ever a convenient time to break down?

Help was coming in the form of a tow truck so now all I had to do was wait for my knight in towing truck to appear. I looked both directions down the road even though I knew it wouldn’t help my help come any sooner. Oh well.

Why does it always take so long? Or does any amount of time waiting for help seem to be long? And why do I take times like these to become philosophical? Oh well.

Seeking any kind of diversion my mind wandered to thinking about time. After all at this time I had time and hopefully it would keep me from both anger and impatience. Oh well. Hopefully.

Is time always the same for all? Does time run faster for some and slower for others or do we just perceive it that way? Is my minute the same as everyone else? Oh well.

Suddenly I realized it had been a very long time since I had seen a car pass me. Was this road so desolate? Didn’t anyone live around here? How long had it been since I saw a house or lights? Is it possible to be that lost? Oh well.

As if in answer to my questions headlights appeared coming from the way I had come. As they slowly drew closer I could see the headlights were from a car rather than the long awaited tow truck. Oh well.

That clanking sound seemed familiar. What were the chances someone would have the same problem I did? I pulled up in front of me. What? My mind seemed to make the same clanking noise my car made. Both my car. Is it possible to break down in the same place at the same time?

What am I thinking? Of course not! Or could it? Have I lost my mind or just touch with time?

Looking up the road at myself I didn’t know what to do. Should I go and talk to myself. Did I just think that? I must be losing my mind! Aren’t I, or are we losing our minds? Oh well.

Just as I was starting to walk to my car and talk to myself headlights came toward me – us? A light bar lit up the surroundings and in shock I watched a tow truck pull up and quickly prepared to tow the car.

Then I got in the truck that is pulling my car and then it drove away. Hey! That was my tow truck! I stole my tow truck! Did I just steal my tow truck from myself? Oh well.

Is this from my mind? Thoughts I probably shouldn’t have.

(I added this new category to fit the devotions I do not know where to fit. Could I have started to get my sense of humor back? Oh well.)

7/13/2022 Wednesday has two very important events for me.

First is a Zoom prayer time with those who support the Wesleyan Covenant Association and are grieving the slow death of the United Methodist Church. When any person or group strays away from the Bible, the written Word of God you will stray from Jesus, the Living Word of God. There is the new Global Methodist Church to which many leaving the UMC will go.

Second is the pornography group meeting which is helpful in so many ways. It is where I find support and am able to support others.

In these I find both hope and grace.

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

7/12/2022 Is it possible to have hope with humanity? Whether your are an optimist (glass half full), pessimist (glass half empty), uninformed (I have a glass?) or a realist (what does the amount in my glass mean?) humanity puts great stress on our ability to have hope. You may agree with Albert Einstein.

“Two things are infinite:

the universe and human stupidity;

and I’m not sure about the universe.”

                                        Albert Einstein

Whether you see people or life itself as infinitely stupid or not hope is essential and we really cannot blame anyone else for our lack of hope. Hope is not a product of our situation but hope can help us improve our situation.

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

 

7/11/2022 Is there hope for those caught in a war they did not choose?

Is there hope for those who cause a senseless war?

Is there hope for those sold for their bodes?

Is there hope for those who sell those created and loved by God?

Is there hope for the victims of theft, graft and corruption?

Is there hope for those who steal even hope from others?

My hope is that each question can be answered yes! For if not no one has hope even of hope!!!

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

Do people want grace?

Does grace limit and enslave?

Is grace a sign of weakness?

Is grace hopeless?

I hope in grace like I hope in hope!!!

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 

7/10/2022 Sunday is a miracle of hope and grace.

Jesus rose from death and became the first fruit of resurrection

Anyone and everyone can come to Jesus and become a fruit of resurrection

The hope of every generation is fulfilled as Jesus died for us with our sin

The grace of God as Jesus “became” sin for us.

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

7/9/2022

If there is no hope I must hope in hope

If all seems beyond I must hope in hope

If I am not sure I must hope in hope

If I do not care I must hope in hope

For in the end all I have is hope and without hope – what is left?

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

If I want grace I must be graceful

If I want safety I must be graceful

If I want security I must be graceful

If I want hope I must be graceful

I must be full of grace till it runs over into the lives of others!!!

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 

 7/8/2022

What will today bring?

I have hope

What will I face today?

I have hope

What will I do today?

I have hope

What will I think today?

I have hope

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

What will today bring?

There is grace

What will I face today?

There is grace

What will I do today?

There is grace

What will I think today?

There is grace

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

7/7/2022 Some days are longer than others and do not just seem longer but are longer. Time is more than just seconds, minutes and hours but is also the events in our lives. Some events make time seem to last longer or shorter but when those events come or clump together time runs very differently. Like all of Creation time has been marred by the fall and its therefore subject to our fallen natures. We see time as a steady and constant progression because that is how we perceive it in what we call normal or peaceful times. Time preceded the fall and is a part of Creation and has also been perverted and distorted by the fall. Yet God is the I AM – the always is - God and so hope and grace are available in all of time.

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

 7/6/2022 Do you have someone to share your innermost self with and they will not turn away? If not FIND someone! The options are limited by you and your needs so discover who can be your support. We all need people who can see us for who we really are and not turn away. This can be a source of hope and grace in our life.

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

7/5/2022 There has been some outrage over the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V Wade and return the decision about abortion to the states. This is a constitutional decision rather a societal decision.

But the battle is not really about the law but about making wrong legal and thus giving it a facade of being right. Where is there a right to kill others? Especially unborn babies?

 

7/4/2022 Happy Birthday America! While we can argue if America is a Christian nation there is complete historical evidence that many of the founding principles come directly from the Bible. The real importance is that more than any other nation America at her best lives and works through Biblical principals.

 

7/3/2022 This Sunday we will celebrate our nation and the good it has brought to so many. This is not burying the bad and evil things America has done but a recognition and celebration of the good America has done. A recognition America is still a place people seek to come to from all over the world.

(While we celebrate America let us celebrate even more the Church which has brought light, hope and blessing to so many despite its human frailty and faults.)

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

Perfect grace comes from God and is often mangled as it is passed on by humans but a mangled grace is so much better than no grace!!!

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 

7/2/2022 Is there hope for you? Is there hope for your family? Is there hope for your congregation? Is there hope for your community? Is there hope for your nation? Is there hope for the world? If there is no hope we can only sit and watch it all collapse around us. Do you have hope?

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

The hope for us is grace. Grace is a powerful force and can overcome all that seeks to destroy us all.

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.

 

7/1/2022 TGIF. Thank God it’s Friday is a phrase used to celebrate the coming weekend and the reprieve from work. Is there a saying about how bad Monday is? Maybe Monday should be Hope Monday. The hope of having a job and being able to enjoy the weekend rather than hoping Monday will be the day you can get a job. Hope is the opportunity to celebrate what you do have!

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me hope, beyond hope.

As revealed through the suffering of Jesus grace is not a promise we will not face pain but we will not only have victory within pain but also bless others.

I love the story about a Christian who was imprisoned for sharing his faith and sentenced to I believe 10 years. He was placed in the top floor of the prison and after a while he was sent to the next floor down because prisoners and even guards were coming to Jesus. Then he had to be placed in an underground floor where the hardened criminals were for the same reason. Here he tried a different way and asked the guards if he could clean the hallway and the cells which were filthy after his labor time. As he cleaned he shared and the dark prison was soon alight by those who came to Jesus Christ. He was given early release soon after.

From my Grace Journal to remind me of our need not for agreement but grace in our relationships.