Our world news is full of gloom and doom these days. From the political realm to the wars looming in the distance, life can be depressing.

But, as a Christian, there is always encouragement in living life. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

To live in positive expectation only comes in knowing God. Our continuing close relationship with God gives us hope for tomorrow, even with the devastating news abroad. We can expect great things in our future, even in our present and troubling circumstances.

God knew us before we were born. He knew the things that we would be going through today. But, He gives us a wonderful hope. If we truly believe and trust Him, He will give us the desires of our heart. Try this, it works.

Expect great things from God and believe that what He says He will do, will come to fruition.

He knows our heart. Don’t hold anything back.

Trust Him with your life today and have a positive expectation for tomorrow and beyond.

Jeremiah 3:15 - “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”

Be sure you recognize the evil one. Satan prowls around like a lion, waiting to attack in any way he can.

You can ask anyone these days and they’ll tell you, they’re so busy and their schedule is so full, that it’s hard to get everything done.

But, what is everyone so busy with? Are you busy serving people? Are you involved in bible studies throughout the week? Those are all good things.

It’s when we get busy with trivial things, like cleaning instead of reading the bible; shopping instead of joining that bible study; watching tv, instead of praying; that’s when we need to make some changes.

The devil loves to keep us busy, doing mindless, stupid stuff. He’d love for you to waste your evening watching old re-runs from your favorite sitcom.

To circumvent this busy life Satan wants you to uphold, start filling your free time with things like, volunteering at a nursing home; reading to the kids in the after-school program; joining a bible study and learning more about God.

Get busy with God.

1 Peter 5:8 - “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

I read this from a pastor’s sermon, “spiritual fruit doesn’t grow on mountaintops; it grows in valleys.”

The above statement is saying that when you’re going through life and everything is going well, and you have very few problems, don’t expect to see a huge growth in your spiritual life.

If you’ve been a Christian for very long, you know that when you’re going through a struggle, your first instinct is to cry out to God for help. You pray more, you read the Bible more, trying to see some insight to the resolution to this problem.

God loves seeing this. He sees your motives and it’s then, that He determines whether you’re trusting Him in the valley, or whether you’re trying to do it on your own.

Don’t panic in the valley. Know and believe that it won’t last long. But, most of all, know that you are growing closer to God. This too shall pass. God is there to comfort and guide you through this season. The valley may be long and laborious, but with faith, the mountaintop is just beyond the horizon.

Seek the mountaintop, persevere through the valleys, and trust God through it all.

Deuteronomy 31:6 - “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

We were all born with a human nature. But, at that moment we entered this world, there are two forces of nature competing within you. We are all born with a sinful nature. If we h ave given our life to Christ, or born again, we are re-born, given a new nature. The things we used to do, we no longer have a desire to do. Our new nature puts a desire in us to learn more about God, and to please Him.

Depending on which path we choose, if we favor our old sinful nature, we are feeding evil thoughts, and damaging habits. The more we feed this evil nature, the more it dominates our life.

On the other hand, if we intentionally feed our new nature, our spiritual side, this new nature will thrive and dominate your new life.

The point is, we have to be consistent and intentional every day, as to which nature we’re feeding.

None of us can get away from sin; we all sin every day. But, if you’re a Christian and have given your life to Christ, He can bear the burdens for us, and only He can forgive you of your sins.

Feed your mind with God’s word. Start reading it, asking God for interpretation, and you’ll be on your way to a healthy new nature that has no room for sinful acts or thoughts.

Galatians 5:17 - “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”

W.M. Lewis said, “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”

I heard on the news that depression is the second most harmful disease the world faces today.

Depression has been around since the beginning of time. There are medicines that help, but even then, depression can take your life.

I’ve had depression and anxiety. The two evils that deprived me of a fulfilled life in my early 20s and 30s. I know the loneliness, the paranoia, the anxious thoughts that deprived me of sleep.

My heart goes out to all of those battling this disease.

Even as a Christian, I convinced myself that I could beat depression, on my own.

Had I realized God was right there, waiting for me to reach out to Him, I could have saved myself from years of grief and misery.

What about you? Do you know someone living with depression? Reach out to them. Give them your time, love on them.

Life here on earth is so short. No one is promised tomorrow.

Start living today. Ask God for help. Don’t wait until you’re broken. Reach out and start living now.

Psalms 36:9 - “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

When you say you’ll do something, do you keep your word? Can people rely on you; are you a person of integrity?

If you make it a habit of promising things to people and you seldom keep that promise, people will stop relying on you. They won’t find genuineness in your promises, and will eventually not trust you.

There’s security, reliability in trustworthy people. You see their sincerity and can trust they will follow through on their promises. My verse of the year is Proverbs 4:23 - “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

God knows your heart, whether you believe that or not, it’s true. He knows if you’re just filling the air with words, or whether you speak truth.

You can fool some people. You can make promises that you don’t intend to keep, but you’ll never fool God.

God makes a promise to every person on earth. Believe that He sent His son to earth to live as a man, die on a cross, and that He was raised from the dead 3 days later. If you believe this, you’re promised a home in heaven.

Jesus awaits in Heaven until the appointed time when He promises to come again, to take His followers home to Heaven.

Speak truth. Get to know the only true and living God.

God’s promises are forever. He never breaks a promise.

Proverbs 25:14 - “Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given.”

Challenges can be exciting, or daunting. Most of us love a good challenge, a chance to prove ourselves.

Life in itself is a challenge sometimes. I’ve lived through and conquered many challenges in my life. As a child, I can remember the first challenge I was faced with. I lost my dad at the age of ten. This detour in my life journey shaped my life. It would take me decades to realize how much.

I always wondered what course my life would have gone, had my dad lived. Not then, but now I’m thankful for the challenges in my life. They caused me to find courage I never knew existed.

It took many years and I can remember early on, feeling sorry for myself. I became selfish, and didn’t let God into my world. I spent many years trying to get through life on my own, devising my own escapes in substances and devastating habits.

If you don’t have challenges in life, and you’ve always been handed things on a silver platter, you’ll probably tell yourself you don’t need God.

I’m not a fan of challenges or problems that come into my life, but they have given me the courage to accept things, ask God for help, and persevere.

God sees your motives; He knows your heart.

Challenge yourself. Strive to get into a relationship with God. He’ll give you the courage you never knew existed.

1 Chronicles 28:20 - “David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.”

I’ve done it all my working life. I schedule a vacation, and I start counting the days until departure.

I do this with other things too. But, one thing has changed. I try to make each day count. I make an attempt to purposely look for something good in each day.

Yes, some days it’s nearly impossible; seems out of reach.

Everyone has been given the same number of hours each day. What you do with yours is what’s important.

Make up your mind today to live for God. Ask Him what you can contribute to this day to make it great.

Quit harboring regrets on how you’ve wasted the last ten years on mindless or damaging habits.

Are you just killing time, or are you investing your time in eternity?

Do you find yourself wishing the day would just end?

Making the best of your day starts with how you start each day. Get the required sleep, exercise, but first and most important, start each day with God first on the agenda. I promise you, if you make this a habit, you will have better days.

Stop dreading tomorrow because it’s a work day. Start today thanking God that you have a job, and that He allows you to live another day.

Make each day count.

Psalm 90:12 - “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”