Start Your Day Off Right Series 4/4

https://youtube.com/shorts/6IPnSTjcJLs?si=dnhGfS4yRPwZPGE2

Here is some food for your Daily Bread!

4/4–Start Your Day Off Right Series

Quote:

Help people even when you know they can’t help you back

Story:

Sir Winston Churchill once irritated Lady Astor to the point that she angrily retorted, “If I were your wife, I would give you arsenic to drink.” Churchill calmly responded, “And if I were your husband, I would gladly drink it.”

Scripture:

Proverbs 17:28

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise:

and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

Humor:

Bridge To Hawaii

Hold On To Hope With All You Have

There are moments in life when everything feels uncertain… when the road ahead looks unclear, and the weight of yesterday presses heavily on today. In those moments, one thing can carry us through—hope.

Hope is not just wishful thinking. It is a quiet confidence that says, “God is still working, even when I cannot see it.” It is the steady anchor that keeps us grounded when the storms of life begin to rage.

I once heard a story about a man who found himself lost in a dense forest. Night was falling, and fear began to take hold. But in the distance, he saw a faint light. It wasn’t bright, and it didn’t show him the whole path—but it was enough to take the next step. And step by step, that small light led him safely out.

That’s what hope does.

It may not show you everything at once, but it gives you enough strength to take the next step… and then the next.

The Bible reminds us in Romans 15:13:

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

Notice that—abound in hope. Not just a little, but overflowing. That kind of hope doesn’t come from circumstances—it comes from trusting God.

No matter what you’re facing today—health struggles, uncertainty, discouragement—don’t let go of hope. God is still writing your story. What feels like the end may just be the beginning of something greater.

Start Your Day Off Right Series 4/3

https://youtube.com/shorts/jpmEnJuwAY0?si=n4TQI6RjBe_6mwUD

Here is some food for your Daily Bread!

4/3–Start Your Day Off Right Series

Quote:

4/3–Don’t waste your time & energy on worry

Story:

4/3–There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out.

Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him. “I can see that something is troubling you,” he said.

 

After listening to the executive’s woes, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.”

He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.”

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

“I can erase my money worries in an instant!” he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.

“I’m so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn’t been bothering you. He’s always escaping from the rest home and telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller.”

And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he’d been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after.

Scripture:

Matthew 6:34

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Humor:

A violinist noticed that his playing had a hypnotic effect on his audiences. They sat motionless, as though they were in a trance. He found he had the same effect on his friends’ pets. Dogs and cats would sit spellbound while he played. Wondering if he could cast the same spell over wild beasts, he went to a jungle clearing in Africa, took out his violin and began to play. A lion, an elephant, and a gorilla charged into the clearing, stopped to listen, and sat mesmerized by the music. Soon the clearing was filled with every kind of ferocious animal, each one listening intently. Suddenly another lion charged out of the jungle, pounced on the violinist, and killed him instantly. The first lion, bewildered, asked, “Why did you do that?” the second lion cupped his paw behind his ear. “What?”  

Bits & Pieces, July, 1991.

Forgiving Will Bring You Freedom

Forgiveness is one of the most powerful gifts you can give—not just to others, but to yourself. Holding on to hurt, anger, or bitterness may feel justified, but over time, it weighs down your heart and steals your peace. Forgiveness, on the other hand, lifts that burden and replaces it with freedom.

We all have moments when someone says or does something that wounds us deeply. The natural response is to hold on, to replay the hurt, and to build walls to protect ourselves. But healing doesn’t come from holding on—it comes from letting go.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean what happened was right. It doesn’t excuse the wrong or erase the pain. What it does is release you from the grip that pain has on your life. It says, “I choose peace over bitterness. I choose healing over hurt.”

In Ephesians 4:32, we are reminded: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Think about that—God’s forgiveness toward us is complete, undeserved, and full of grace. When we forgive others, we reflect that same grace.

Forgiveness is not always easy. Sometimes it’s a process, not a one-time decision. You may have to choose it again and again. But each time you do, the weight gets lighter, and your heart grows stronger.

Today, take a moment to search your heart. Is there someone you need to forgive? Don’t wait for an apology. Don’t wait for things to feel fair. Make the choice to forgive, and trust God to handle the rest.

When you forgive, you’re not setting someone else free—you’re setting yourself free.

Seek The Deep Things Of God

https://youtu.be/9KDfPPNtnzs?si=D0d8pThdOvyTQWuL

Don’t stay in the shallow, the treasures are in the deep!

1 Cor 2:9-12 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Start Your Day Off Right Series 4/2

https://youtube.com/shorts/mkYanFU2JfI?si=uliPEZZNzWGl5UWh

Here is some food for your Daily Bread!

4/2– Start Your Day Off Right Series

Quote:

4/2–Power is actualized only when word and deed have not parted company.

Story:

4/2–Napoleon’s horse was once startled and raced away out of the control of the famous general. An alert private mounted his horse and quickly brought Napoleon’s horse under control. Napoleon responded, “Thank you, Captain.” The soldier was taken aback, yet saluted and snapped, “Thank you, sir.”

He immediately headed for his barracks, packed his bags and moved into the officers’ quarters. 

He requested a new uniform also. By the general’s word, his rank changed.

He didn’t argue or question—the one with the authority had spoken. He accepted that authority. 

By His death on the cross, and by His authority—we are saved. Not only is our rank changed from lost to saved—so is our eternal destiny. The One with the authority has spoken.

– adapted from In the Eye of the Storm, Max Lucado

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 13:1

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

Humor:

Fred and Mabel were both patients in a mental hospital. One day as they both walked beside the swimming pool, Mabel jumped into the deep end and sank to the bottom. Without a thought for his own safety, Fred jumped in after her, brought her to the surface, hauled her out, gave her the kiss of life and saved her.

The next day happened to be Fred’s annual review. He was brought before the hospital board, where the director told him, “Fred, I have some good news and some bad news: the good news is that in light of your heroic act yesterday we consider that you are sane and can be released from this home back into society. The bad news is, I’m afraid, that Mabel, the patient you saved, shortly afterwards hung herself in the bathroom with the belt from her bathrobe. I’m sorry but she’s dead.”

“She didn’t hang herself,” Fred replied, “I put her there to dry.”