Life is Hard, by Steve Campbell

LIFE IS HARD

It’s a fact soon discovered by all who experience life.  

However just accepting the reality of life’s challenges does not ensure happiness, success, or contentment.  

Those qualities seem to come more readily to those who learn to embrace the challenges of life by learning to choose wisely “their hards”.

Allow me to illustrate what I mean: Marriage is hard.  
Divorce is hard.  –Choose your hard.  

Being overweight and out-of-shape is hard.
Staying fit and trim is hard.  –Choose your hard.

Being in debt is hard. Being financially responsible is hard.  –Choose your hard.  

Having broken and unhealthy relationships is hard.  
Maintaining healthy relationships with friends and family is hard.  –Choose your hard.

Life will never be easy. It will always be hard.  –Choose your hard.  

Choose wisely. 

Wise choices are almost always accompanied by long hours of hard work.
Though they appear easier initially, unwise choices always result in even harder consequences.  

Often the choices that at first glance appear to be the most difficult turn out to be the best.  
Conversely, choosing the easy way frequently proves to be the most difficult in the long run.  

The Bible tells us that the popular way, the easy way always turns out to be the path to destruction.     

Any way you look at it, life is hard.  –Choose your hards.
But choose them wisely.  

Steve Campbell

 

Daily Encouragement

 Daily Encouragement for the Soul.org

Inspiring with new confidence and courage, renewing hope and helping others live their best life in Christ through daily, biblical encouragement.

You are glorious! Are progressively being transformed into his image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who] is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Amplified)

Here, Paul sums up the entire Christian life and journey and uses the word “glory” twice, but they are not the same. The first glory focuses on the Old Covenant: the Law of Moses and the second is about the New Covenant: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But both reveal astonishing splendor of God’s creation. From beginning to end we are a glorious, wonderful creation and recreation of our heavenly Father: redeemed from sin by the blood of Jesus, sanctified through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and supported on earth by the grace of God so we can make it to our glorious transformation in heaven. From glory: conception, to glory: heavenly transformation. It is a wonderful, albeit bumpy journey, but God is with us every moment of it doing whatever is needed to deliver us safely home. Our glorious transformation is not dependent upon how we feel or even think about ourselves at particular points but based upon God’s design and promise over us. The devil will never see us as such and will never tell us the truth about ourselves, we just have to know based upon the promises and Word of God from beginning to end we are truly his glorious creation, living in glorious grace and bound for a glorious destination. Let’s Pray

Dear God, you are truly glorious and now you have put your hand to us that we might be glorious also. Thank you for your careful covering and keeping and promise to deliver us home. We are glorious from beginning to end. Amen

Questions for Soul-Tending

Have you every thought of yourself as God’s glorious creation?

How will you incorporate todays message into your plan of soul-care?

R

2020 and 2021

Don’t Feel Sorry for or Fear for Your Kids; Raise Them up to Walk in Faith

By: Alex Cravens 

Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be.

God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident.

Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God.

Train them up in the authority of His Word.

Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control.

Empower them to know they can change the world.

Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan.

He knew Daniel could handle the lions’ den. 
He knew David could handle Goliath. 
He knew Esther could handle Haman. 
He knew Peter could handle persecution. 
He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!

Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose you to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime. Rise up to the challenge.

Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers, and Peters!

God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world.

He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth.

Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this.