Tag: Chuck Swindoll

Negative News Headlines

Negative News Headlines  – Don’t Dwell

Can we please take a moment and give a round of applause for “Lazy Bones?”

“Lazy Bones?”

What’s that?

Allow me to help.  🙂

“Lazy Bones” was the name of the first TV remote invented back in 1950 by Zenith Radio Corporation.

Thanks to “Lazy Bones,” and its now more modern counterparts, we can quickly switch off the TV – tout de suite.

Negative news headlines

The remote sure comes in handy when the negative news headlines (and division-seekers with a microphone) get to be too much.

We have a choice.

Immersing ourselves in the constant gloom and doom messages every single day is not healthy. 

So what are the mental health consequences of information overload? It turns out that they may be quite significant and go beyond just a few moments of feeling overwhelmed. Information overload can lead to real feelings of anxiety, feeling overwhelmed and powerless, and mental fatigue. – Drs. Sara and Jack M. Gorman, Psychology Today.1

Please don’t do that to yourself.

Instead, I encourage you to use that formerly-called “lazy bones” TV remote, and turn it off when you can.

The Lord doesn’t want us to live in fear – that isn’t living.

How can we be effective for the Kingdom if we’re constantly consumed by fear?

We can’t.

Countering the bad with the good from God’s Word affirms our trust in God, not man.

Let’s try and encourage each other more!

Negative News and Mental Health

God isn’t surprised by any of the tragic events going on right now.

In His providential will, He has allowed these things to happen in our country.

We have to trust Him.

I encourage you to take a break from it all when you can.

The day is always a lot brighter when I disconnect from the subtle (and sometimes, not-so-subtle, fear-spreading messages) every time the TV is turned on.

Please, if you have loved ones with a mental illness, they need your voice of calm and a Godly perspective during times like this.

Part of the challenge with social media, and this topic is we are getting inundated with headlines, videos, memes. Some of it is accurate, much of it is purposefully hysterical. You know yourself. You know your loved ones. If scrolling through your Facebook feed is putting a knot in your stomach, it’s time to disconnect. – Dr. Michael L. Birnbaum, Psychology Today.2

You Have Options

When things seem so out of control, it’s nice to know there’s one thing we can control – what we feed our minds every hour of every single day.

The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. – Chuck Swindoll, Christian pastor and author.3

Have you subscribed to PureFlix for television yet?

You might want to consider it, especially now.

I am very grateful that we now have that option for real family-entertainment in our home.

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1 Quotation from Dr. Sara Gorman, Ph.D., MPH, and Dr. Jack M. Gorman, MD. Courtesy of Psychology Today online magazine, “Is Information Overload Hurting Mental Health?” Accessed June 10, 2020.  Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/denying-the-grave/202006/is-information-overload-hurting-mental-health

2 Quotation from Dr. Michael L. Birnbaum. Courtesy of  Psychology Today online magazine, “Navigating the Coronavirus and Social Media.” Accessed June 10, 2020.  Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-health-our-youth/202003/navigating-the-coronavirus-and-social-media

3 Quotation from Chuck Swindoll, influential Christian pastor and author, courtesy of AZquotes.com.

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Strength From Within

No Muscles Required

Got a six-pack?

Yeah, me neither.

Well, maybe some of you do. 🙂

Every time I go to the gym, I see beautiful people working out.

I’m talking about men and women with painstakingly acquired sculpted bodies possessing the kind of physical strength and confidence that I could only hope for.

When we ask God to give us strength, is this what we’re talking about?

Strength from Within

Possibly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in my life is a close friend of mine whom I hold dear to my heart.

When I say she is “beautiful,” I mean both inside and out.

If you met her, you’d know exactly what I mean.

What tears into my heart is that she continues to suffer from a painful autoimmune disease.

Please Lord, heal her. Ease her pain.

Throughout all of her suffering, there is something very different about her than other sufferers with this disease – the ones who have no hope.

It is unmistakable.

Her poor body continues to rage with new and horrific symptoms, and yet I see a strength shine through her that can only be described as God-given.

I treasure a card she sent me a while ago. I keep it in my office where I can see it every day. 

She told me she doesn’t concentrate on the “whys.”

In her words,

“Jesus is the blessed controller of ALL things.

Knowing Him is all I need to comprehend – not why He chose

or chooses to use instruments to draw me closer to Himself.

No, all of the ‘whys’ will one day be answered.

Until that day – please hold me accountable to a childlike faith.”

You can see why she is precious to me.

Heroic Strength

Childlike faith – having the untarnished humility of a child bolstered by unshakable love, complete trust, and dependence on our Heavenly Father knowing that He will always be there to comfort us.

Courage is keeping our focus on Christ when everything in life is trying to pull us down.

It’s the “right stuff” that enables us to go on despite our circumstances.

I’ve got wonderful news: there is hope beyond your circumstances. You can live above them.

If a man named Paul could live above his unbelievably trying circumstances, so can you. But Christ must become your central focus.

He, alone, can empower you and teach you to live above the duress of adversity. Your external circumstances may not change, but deep within, you will. As Christ is allowed first place in your thoughts, changes will occur. Those changes will be evident to your mate, your children, your friends, and your coworkers. Instead of seeing yourself as a victim, you will begin to realize a strength that is not your own.

The result? You will make a difference because of the way you respond to the circumstances that once defeated you. To the people closest to you, your contentment despite your circumstances will be nothing short of heroic. – Chuck Swindoll, Christian pastor, author and educator. 1

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1 Chuck Swindoll quotation, courtesy of Insight For Living, “Despite your Cirumstances,” n.d. para. 4. Web. Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Accessed 29 January, 2020. Retrieved from   https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/insight-for-living/read/articles/despite-your-circumstances-10196.html

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What If We’re Not Perfect?

Got A Minute?

What if we're not perfect

Please take a few minutes and think about a friend in your life, one whom you hold especially dear.

Even though that treasured friend may live thousands of miles away, the distance doesn’t matter, does it?

All you have to do is pick up your cellphone and call that special person.

God has blessed us with amazing technology, hasn’t He?

Fortunately, we don’t need a cellphone to talk with God.

No iPhone required

Special apps? No

Cell towers? No way

The signal strength and connectivity are buried deep within your heart.

Do you want to thank God for His blessings, or talk about problems in your life?

He will hear you right away.

How fast do our prayers travel up to Heaven?

Faster than the human mind can even measure.

What if we’re not perfect?

We’re absolutely not “perfect,” so why would God want to hear anything we have to say?

He owes you and me nothing.

There was only one “perfect” person on earth.

Jesus Christ – fully God and fully Man – sent to us by God as our redeeming Savior.

Son of the living God

For God so loved

So why would God even consider us, wretched sinners who often fail Him?

Because He loves us.

Delight in the Lord.

Make your life count for Him!

What is God looking for? He is looking for men and women whose hearts are His — completely. That means there are no locked closets. Nothing’s been swept under the rugs. That means that when you do wrong, you admit it and come to terms with it. You long to please Him in your actions. You care deeply about the motivations behind your actions. God is not looking for magnificent specimens of humanity. He’s looking for deeply spiritual, genuinely humble, honest-to-the-core servants who have integrity. – Chuck Swindoll, Christian pastor, author and educator. 2

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1 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

2 Chuck Swindoll quotation, courtesy of Insight For Living, “Becoming a Man or a Woman after God’s Own Heart,” Insights (April 1997). para. 4. Web. Accessed 4 January, 2020. Copyright © 1997 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Does God Love Me?

Does God Love You And Me?

Did you know that every month, on average, there are no less than *1300 online searches for the phrase:

“Does God love me?”

That’s a lot of searches.

Friends, when you think about it, that is heartbreaking.

Does God love me

God does love you

Why do you think people are searching for “Does God love me?”

There could be any number of reasons.

Perhaps something horrible just happened in the searcher’s life, or maybe he or she is just curious.

Whatever their reasons may be, this statistic is undeniable proof that people are desperately searching for reassurance that God loves them.

We don’t know who these people are, but we can certainly pray for them.

Taking The First Step

Don’t you wish you knew who they were so you could bring them good news?

Their hearts are open to the gospel, or they wouldn’t be searching.

Who are they?

  • Could it be that lady sitting on the park bench?
  • Your child’s soccer coach?
  • The friendly person you chatted with for awhile in the grocery store?

Here’s one thing we can do: We can ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. We can pray we will know without a doubt when an opportunity arises to share our delight in God.

Immeasurable Love

God is a righteous judge.

Although we deserve everlasting death for our sins, through Jesus Christ, we can have eternal life.

There is no greater expression of God’s love than this undeserved pardon.

 

**8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8, NASB.

Remember the excitement you felt when you understood what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

I certainly do. My heart filled up with joy, and I could hardly contain my gratitude when I grasped the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice.

Jesus did that for me?

We need to share this precious knowledge of God’s love with those around us.

Sure, we’ll get some push back. It’s a fallen world after all.

As Bible-believing Christians, however, we know the truth.

We are warriors for Christ. That means we pray something serious and trust the Word of God.

It won’t be easy.

Satan will put up every roadblock to try and force us off track.

Our faith will be tested

No matter what, we must stay the course and rest in the assurance of His great love for us.

Chuck Swindoll quote

God bless you this week!

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*Source: https://serps.com/tools/keyword-research/
**Scripture quotation taken from The New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
***Chuck Swindoll quotation, public domain and as quoted from Christian quotes.info

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Selflessness: Where “Less” Is More

Big ego

“What an ego!”

Do you ever feel that way when you’re flipping TV channels, and you see another celebrity bragging about their reality show?

Specifically, I’m talking about reality shows where foul-mouthed, combative people take each other on in a shout fest. There doesn’t seem to be an ounce of humility in these folks.

People can be so awful to each other, and it’s all displayed right there on TV where kids might see it.

This past week, I heard two separate celebrities talk about how funny it is when they let their young kids curse, even though the kids don’t know what the words mean.

Is it funny?

Backwards-thinking is more like it.

*The world’s smallest package is a man wrapped up in himself.
– Chuck Swindoll, Christian pastor, and educator

The Value Of Selflessness

The people who get my respect are the “real” superstars in my opinion. They are genuine heroes from everyday life.

We hear about their stories sometimes on the news. Their stories of heroism are like sweet music to my ears.

It doesn’t matter how old they are.

Here’s a glimpse of a young heroine, that still brings a few years to my eyes.

It’s refreshing to hear that story again, even though it’s an old one from a few years ago.

Little Savannah is a shining star.

Selflessness: Where “Less” Is More

Have you noticed that when many heroes are interviewed, with all humility, they steer the praise away from themselves and give the glory to God?

I love that!

God providentially knows who the heroes and heroines are in our world. Will you be one of them?

Selflessness: Where less is more

No Greater Love

In John 15:13, Jesus said to His disciples,

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13, KJV, King James Version, public domain.

Agape Love is the highest form of love.

There is no greater example of Agape Love than that of Jesus Christ and His selfless death and Resurrection on the Cross for an undeserving world.

God bless you this week!

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*Chuck Swindoll and A.B. Simpson quotations, as quoted from Christian quotes.info
**Scripture Reference: King James Version, (KJV) Public Domain.

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