Category: Religious Messages

You Can Never Be Too Grateful For Anything

Each day surrender yourself anew to Me, to My service. A re-dedication is necessary, then everything becomes alive and vital and nothing is taken for granted. You know yourself when you are taken for and take anything for granted life becomes stale and dull and lifeless but when you appreciate everything and are appreciated, everything changes and glows and becomes Light, and life is worth living and is very, very good.

So why not now in this very moment of time surrender your whole life and living to Me anew. There is no time like the present to take action. Accept this is a new day and a new way, and dwell not on the past. There is far too much to be done in the ever-present Now, the glorious Now.

Never cease to see My hand in everything that is taking place and never cease to say ‘thank you.’ You can never be too grateful for anything, you can never say thank you too often.

~ guidance received by Eileen Caddy,

The Message Of Jesus At Christmas For These Times

“Jesus has been given the title of The Great Teacher by many people who have studied and applied his teachings throughout history.

The surprising thing is that Jesus was not the typical philosopher or preacher that people were used to. Unlike some other people Jesus tried to make his advice understandable to the common man, sometimes using stories or symbols, but always keeping his message simple, straightforward, and practical.

Jesus dealt with many aspects of human life but the one that he spent the longest on was the need for love. His focus was not just on the love for our friends and family, but something much more challenging, a love that tests every nerve and sinew.

‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’  (Matthew 5:44)

He spoke of a love for those who we want to hate, a love for those who already hate us. This love requires effort, strain, and every ounce of self-command that man can summon up.

It is the easiest thing in the world to hate, to let the desire for revenge grow in our hearts. Indeed vengeance may even have the shadow of justice attached to it, but in reality, it leads to dark, unadulterated hate and a spiral of destruction.

To be truly happy we must rise above the bigotry and jealousy of others. We must love even if we are hated for it. Love and do not hate, for surely love is the only path to peace, freedom, and happiness.”

messageofjesus.co.uk/jesus/love.php

 

 

Hope And Optimism

“Hope is confidence in God … not wishful thinking.  To have hope is to trust in God to meet our needs … even in the midst of difficult times.  When we do go through tough times our confidence in God can get a little rattled, as the Old Testament figure Job experienced.  In the midst of his pain and heartache he cried out, ‘Where then is my hope?  Who can see any hope for me?’ (Job 17:15)

Ultimately, hope comes from God.  The Scriptures say, ‘May the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’  (Romans 15:13)  Hope is an essential element of the Christian’s life.  In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul included hope as one of the top three qualities of a person’s life: ‘And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.’ (1 Cor. 13:13)

Can a person be filled with hope without being filled with optimism?  According to the encyclopedia, optimism is ‘to anticipate the best possible outcome.’  Can we demonstrate hope in God without anticipating the best possible outcomes of the situations we face?

I believe we can.  In fact, I think hope is best exemplified when it is demonstrated in the face of negative circumstances.  There are many times when hope and optimism go hand in hand.  David had both when he faced Goliath. He had confidence in God and he expected the best possible outcomes … Goliath’s defeat and an Israelite victory over the Philistines.  And yet, there are many examples of people who had hope in God but did not anticipate the best possible outcomes.

Simon Peter is a good example.  He and the disciples had been fishing all night and had caught nothing.  They had worked so hard and yet still had nothing to show for their labors.  And then Jesus tells them to cast out the net one more time.  Simon did not expect to catch any fish.  He was pessimistic.  But, he had confidence in Jesus, so he cast the net.  Though the circumstances did not look promising, his hope in God made up for his lack of optimism.

The point is this: hope and optimism are not the same thing.  You can still be hopeful even if you are not optimistic.  You can still be a dispenser of hope even if you think you are going to face hard times ahead because you know that God will meet your needs.

Hope doesn’t mean that the best possible situations will always occur, but it does mean that in some way God will bring something good or useful out of the situation.  As we look into the future, we many not always be filled with optimism, but we must always be filled with hope … God is still in control!”

www.healthandwellnessfl.com, By Paster Timothy L. Neptune