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Light, Love, Hope

Light in the Darkness Surrounded by Love with Hope for those in need.

Insights Into Books That Inspired Me

FamilyChristian

Inspire Your Soul

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If you’ve been with Light Love Hope for a while now, you know that we love Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen. I have read several of Joyce Meyer’s books, and I have her daily devotional on my phone with the Bible App. I also have a daily devotional book written by Joyce Meyer as well. My husband is a big Joel Osteen fan, and while we have many books written by him, my husband reads Joel’s daily devotional every morning. It doesn’t take long to read through what the devotional has to offer for that day, but the message stays with you throughout the day. You find that with both Joyce and Joel, you meditate on their words throughout the day. You find ways to apply what they’ve said to your life. I especially love the bible verses referenced and how it is biblically based. Some have argued about these two Christian speakers, but I have not found anything in my reading or in seeing them live in person that has not been in line with the Word of God.

With that said, imagine our excitement to learn that not only does Joyce have a new book to add to our collection, but Joel does as well! I can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy of Living Courageously by Joyce Meyer and You Can You Will by Joel Osteen. I enjoy reading their words of wisdom and how they speak the gospel. Having seen both Joyce and Joel in person at their events, I can almost hear them speaking with such power and conviction as I read the words in their books.

PreBuy Living Courageously by Joyce Meyer for just $14.97
at FamilyChristian.com!

PreBuy You Can You Will by Joel Osteen for just $14.97 at FamilyChristian.com

Speaking of daily devotionals, Aaron Tabor has a 365 Interactive Devotional entitled Jesus Daily. While I have not read Aaron Tabor’s work before, I am excited to see what he has to offer to inspire and uplift as we prepare to greet the day.

PreBuy Jesus Daily: 365 Interactive Devotions by Aaron Tabor at FamilyChristian.com for just $9.97

If you are looking for a good Christian Fiction book to read, you may be interested in AD30 by Ted Dekker. While I have not yet read this book, (as I tend to lean more toward self help type books, devotionals, and Non-Fiction), I may just give this book a try. From what I understand, it takes place in the year of our Lord, AD30. Wouldn’t that be an interesting read? I think so!

PreBuy A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker for just $14.97 at FamilyChristian.com

If you’re wondering where we found these jewels, it’s at a little store called Family Christian. You can shop online, or you can visit their various locations. We have two within driving distance that we frequent. I could spend hours in that store (and have … just ask my husband!). From Bibles, to candles, jewelry, prints, music, even performance tracks … they just about have everything you can think of to inspire your soul right there in their store! Check them out! They are sure to become a favorite of yours as well.

Choosing Gratitude

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Many months ago, I purchased a book entitled “Choosing Gratitude ~Your Journey To Joy.”   That book has sat below my coffee table in my living room just waiting for me to fling open the cover and dive in, to allow the message to soak into my being and bring about a greater awareness of how we all need to have more gratitude in our lives.

I have tried to be more intentional and purposeful in my way of thinking.  Likewise, I have tried to be careful of the words I allow to come out of my mouth.   If I begin to think negative thoughts, I try to stop myself and redirect my thinking to something more positive.  Is this always easy?  NO!  It’s not, especially if you are going through a very difficult time in your life.   When you’re struggling, that is when you need to find gratitude and joy even more so than ever before.  That is the hard part.  How can you find gratitude and joy in the mist of a storm?   Well, I’m here to tell you that as bad as it may be, it could always be worse.  Count your blessings and consider yourself so incredibly blessed because you do not own all of the problems in the world!    Yes, you may have it bad, but there is someone out there that has it worse.  I’m not trying to minimize your pain or your suffering.  I’m not trying to say that what you’re going through isn’t important because it IS!   What I’m trying to get my readers and myself to realize is that there is always something to be thankful for.

Immediately upon picking up this book and reading the Foreword, I had a new found appreciation for the author of this book.  When I purchased this book I did not know that Author Nancy Leigh DeMoss had been in a wheelchair the majority of her life.   If she can be grateful for her quadriplegia (as she states in the Foreword), what in the world is our problem?   We  have it so good, and yet we complain so much!   This lady has to have people do everything for her; help into and out of bed, getting her dressed, brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, blowing her nose, etc.  And yet, she finds beauty in ashes.  She finds something good to smile about and offer praises to God above with a grateful heart.

We are so blessed, ladies and gentlemen!  We truly are!  And what do we do with the gifts we have been given?   Life is not all doom and gloom, but yet the majority of our time is spent focusing on negative thoughts.  We vent to others, and instead of it making us feel better, we feel worse by having re-lived those moments and things that pained us right when it happened.   Now we walk around in a bad frame of mind with the corner of our mouths pulled downward in a frown with our foreheads wrinkled because we’re mad at the world.   At that moment especially, search your heart for the good – because there is always good – search your heart for something that you can be thankful for – because there is always something to be thankful for.  Look up to Heaven and thank God that as bad as it seems right now, it’s not any worse!    Thank Him for the plan He has for your life because He assures us in His word that He does not have plans to harm us but to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite bible verses and is the “hope” part of our name:  Light Love Hope).

The below poem was within the first few pages of the book, even before the Foreword.  Read it and allow it to speak to you:

Gratefulnesse

Thou that has given so much to me,

Give me one thing more — a grateful heart …

… I cry, and cry again:

And in a quiet canst Thou be,

Till I a thankful heart obtain

Of thee.

Not thankful when it pleases me,

As if Thy blessings had spare days;

But such a heart, whose pulse may be

Thy praise.

~George Herbert (1593 – 1633)

There’s a beautiful flower on the front cover of her book.    She’s unable to plant a garden or even walk through a meadow filled with wildflowers.   Yet, I can imagine that she still appreciates the beauty of the flowers and the Creator of all things.   So then should we!

Will you take this journey with me?  Will you join me in being more intentional on choosing gratitude on our journey to finding joy?

Choosing Gratitude

God’s Plan For Spiritual Battle Series – Conclusion

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Today, we continue on in our series Gods Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil through Life Sentence Publishing, LLC.

Author Russell M. Stendal reminds us:

The war horse in the last chapter was trained for battle, snorting, stamping, and straining to hear the sound of the trumpet and the shout of the commanders. This horse is described by the Greek word, praus, or meek, because the horse is perfectly trained, perfectly submitted to its master, and can be relied upon to obey orders even in the heat and confusion of battle.

Then Mr. Stendal goes on to give another example of meekness in none other than Moses. He reminds us that Moses started out by taking the law into his own hands, killing an Egyptian, but God dealt with him in the desert. God prepared and trained Moses to do battle God’s way. Then Moses submitted to God. He became meek, and God used Moses far beyond what he ever thought possible. God sent Moses to confront Pharaoh after that, and although Moses was probably nervous, God empowered him!

Let’s stop right there and think of the possibilities … of all the things God could do with and through us if we would only submit to Him! God has equipped us with unique gifts which are to be used for His glory. Are you allowing God to use you to His fullest potential?

In this chapter, Mr. Stendal talks about a time in his life when he wasn’t very disciplined with his school work. He would goof off and just not get his work done. It wasn’t until he had a hunting accident where he accidentally shot his foot that landed him in the hospital that he was forced to slow down and actually throw himself into his studies. Prior to his accident, he has been asking God to help him to focus more on his school work. While this probably wasn’t the intervention he was hoping for, God allowed something to happen in his life that forced him to focus more on his studies. While he was recovering, he studied and ended up finishing his course on time and also scoring very high on his college entrance exam! Some people may say they will not commit their lives completely to God then if something like this happened, as one girl did say to Mr. Stendal after one of his talks, but Mr. Stendal asks the question of what if God hadn’t intervened in his life then? Had he not been disciplined every time he needed it, he would be a mediocre Christian, doing mediocre things completely incapable of facing the enemy, of winning a victory. Instead, he was now disciplined and able to be used for God’s glory in God’s army.

This book has really made me stop to think several times while reading through it. This time was no different. Having just had an accident on a horse, it makes me wonder what area I need to stop and focus on. What does God want me to do now while I wait in recovery mode? I can’t ride a horse at this stage of the game. While my hand and hip recover, I need to seek God more to see where he wants my focus to be. And … I will.

I don’t want to give too much of this book away in this series. I would like to leave you with a desire to invest in the book and, more importantly, into your relationship with Jesus through the tools offered in this book. Therefore, I will conclude the series with a teaser for the last half of the book which consists of:

Integrity vs. Hypocrisy

The Peacemakers: Those Whom God Identifies As His Sons

Putting Satan To Flight

Virtue: The Key To Activating God’s Promises

Rebuilding The Ancient Ruins

The Seven Woes

And finally …

Overcoming The Curse

Invest in this book to further grow your relationship with Jesus Christ and seek Him fully for what plans He has for your life. Equip yourself with Gods Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil through Life Sentence Publishing, LLC.

You won’t regret a closer walk with Him!

Are You Listening? God’s Plan For Spiritual Battle Series

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I gathered my book today and devoted some time to soaking in all of the goodness of Gods Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil through Life Sentence Publishing, LLC.

As I began reading Training For The Battle, I was reminded of the importance of prayer. A lot of times people will take all of their cares to the Lord, even their lists of “I wants,” and “can you fix these” complaints. However, have you ever really considered that prayer can be a tool to connect you to God so that you can hear His voice as well? It isn’t just a gripe session. Please don’t use it as such.

This portion of the book reminded me of a sermon in church a few weeks back where the preacher went over the proper way to pray. Begin your prayer with thanksgiving. Tell God how thankful you are for the day, for the many blessings in your life, and praise His Holy Name! Then you can go into your struggles or confessions, just pouring your heart out to God. After time spent with God, be sure to close your prayer with more praises to Him. Please don’t just go to God in prayer and say, “Look God, I need you because so and so is talking about me, things aren’t going right at work, my neighbor is not being neighborly, people are rude, etc., etc., etc.” Go to God with a grateful heart praising Him. Yes, even if More

Going God’s Way – God’s Plan For Spiritual Battle Series

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Thank you for joining us as we discuss Gods Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil through Life Sentence Publishing, LLC.

Author Russell M. Stendal begins this chapter with an interesting story about a time that he was asked to preach at a church where, unbeknownst to him, trouble was brewing. (Right off my husband and I said, “Oh boy!” at the same time as we have been in a church where there was division and an outside preacher came in to try to help.) Mr. Stendal did preach the morning service at this church; however, More

God’s Plan For Spiritual Battle – Series

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I was just recently introduced to Gods Plan for Spiritual Battle: Victory over Sin, the World, and the Devil through Life Sentence Publishing, LLC. While the original plan was to receive a complimentary book of my choice in exchange for a review, it has gone much deeper than that. After receiving the book and as I begin to read just the introduction and preface, I knew that a simple “review” just would not do this book justice. You see, Author Russell M. Stendal has packed so much vital information within the pages of this book that needs to be shared far and wide! There was just no way for me to narrow down some things or condense information that I felt was reaching off of the page, yearning to be shared with the world. Therefore, I have turned this “review” into a series which we will cover here. For now, I will say that this book had me from the first few pages when he talked about being kidnapped and held hostage. I was already hooked before I ever made it to the very first chapter.More

Free – Joel Osteen’s Mini Book & A Holiday Playlist

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Hello again!

December is off to a great start.  I can hardly believe that Christmas will be here in just 21 days!   Then after that, New Years!  As you’re gearing up for the grandest holiday of them all, are you considering what, if any, New Year’s Resolutions you will make come January 1, 2014?   If that’s too far in advance for you to even think about at this point, that’s okay, too!  But, in an effort to help you, we’d like to share a free offer that we came across today of Joel Osteen’s mini-book 30 Thoughts For Victorious Living.   When you click on the link, it will take you to a page where you enter your name and mailing address so that the free mini-book may be sent to you.  That’s it!  No obligation to buy anything.  No strings attached!  Just a free mini-book that will inspire you!   You could wait until the first of the new year to begin changing your thoughts so that you will have victorious living while experiencing more peace and joy, OR you could start today.  The choice is always yours. May it be a blessing to you!

We also have another free offer that we found today courtesy of People.com – they are offering a free Country Holiday Playlist with I-Tunes. When you click on the link, it will reveal a code that you can redeem in I-Tunes. For me, when I clicked on the offer, it asked if I would allow I-Tunes to be opened on my computer. I authorized this, and it took me to sign in to my I-Tunes account. When I logged in there, the download started immediately for me. I hope you’ll have the same luck on your end. These songs will surely get you in the holiday spirit! Enjoy! (The code for this offer ends 1-15-14.)

~S

Seeking Approval?

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How many of us would willingly admit that we are approval addicts?  Let’s be honest with each other.  Do we seek to please others and have them place their stamp of approval on our choices, our lives … on us, in general?   If so, we can be referred to as “People Pleasers … or called “Approval Addicts.”   I know.  I have been there, and if I am completely honest, I am there right this very minute as I tap these words out on the computer … hoping that you’ll approve of my site, that you’ll like my writings and you’ll come back to visit.  I am seeking to please you and to have you approve of me … right … this … very … minute.

We ALL want approval.  We attempt to please people and hope to “fit in” with them.  We all want people to like us, and it hurts when people reject us, don’t welcome us with open arms, or say bad things about us.   It is hard to not have the approval that we seek from others around us and to not be included.  But, the truth is that we do not need the approval of others because we already have the approval of the only one that really, truly matters any way – God Almighty.   Believe me, I have struggled with this very thing.  I know how hard it is to break the cycle and accept yourself, accept where you are, accept your walk, and accept, most importantly, that you do NOT need to seek to get from others what GOD freely gives us!  We have His approval.  We have His love.    If God is for us, who could possibly be against us?

There will certainly be people in this life that won’t be on our side.   They won’t like us, and they won’t include us.  We will be rejected more times than we care to remember or than we can keep up with.  It’s just a fact of life.  Don’t lose hope, though, and don’t stop putting yourself out there.

I have a book that I’d like to recommend to you on this subject.  I am not getting paid to promote this book or the author, but I’m doing so simply because I read the book and I could identify with the content.   I was an approval addict if there ever was one.   I could see myself in the words she’s written in this book in certain situations – not all of them – but I could see myself as a “People Pleaser” or an “Approval Addict.”     I am a lot better about this than I used to be, thank God.

This is me … admitting that I am a recovering “Approval Addict.”

If you have the opportunity, check out Joyce Meyer’s book Approval Addiction.    You’ll be glad you did!

~S

 

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