There’s enough bad news today, what we need is good news. I think you’d agree !

There is really good news, life does not have to be a continuous series of bad news reports of some form or another. Life can get better. That’s only the beginning of the good news.

You may not feel loved. There is someone who loves you. You may feel alone, there is someone who cares for you. You may feel a loss of hope. There is someone who can give you hope.

Whatever the case - I know, from personal experience, and from what I have been taught and have learned and from gifts I’ve been given - there is good news. I hope you’ll take a few moments and hear it.

I’ve been hopeless and “now!” even though many might describe my circumstances as difficult at best and overwhelming at worst - I am very hopeful. Why? Because anyone can change for the better and that is just a small part of the good news. What if we all were able to do that? We are, once we have what we need.

Are you stuck in the rut of ‘cynicism,’ skepticism’ or ‘sarcasm’ or ‘pessimism’ and can’t see your way out of the whole mess. There is a way !

What do we need? Two things is all, at least initially. One is we need to change. The other is we need to have faith in something greater than ourselves. Simply stated we need help. Help needs to come from someone we can truly trust, who is faithful, gives us hope and loves us in a way that helps us grow.

Someone who is faithful, is there for us when we need them. Someone who gives us hope, will help us change for the better, even when we find out that we have erred and perhaps made a mess of things, harming others or ourselves in some way. Someone who is loving helps us grow in good ways, informs us when we err, picks us up when we fall and helps us get back on our feet again, even though we may not deserve it. We all need corrective measures when we err, sometimes we don’t realize it till we see the consequences of our errors. Sometimes - our habitual behaviors - are simply harmful. How we respond to situations and life - there is hope.

If you found out you were hurting or harming the people you loved, or other people who are affected by what you do, would you want to change? The first step, is a step of the heart, you need to feel sorrow for the harm you have caused, for that which is inside you that prompts you to harm others or yourself... How would you know if you are harming those you love or other people for that matter? There is a way.

If you knew how to get better and not bitter would you choose the route to betterment or the one to a world of bitterment... We can grow to be more loving, faithful and hopeful, and thus be able to pass those wonderful traits on to our children and share in the task of passing them onto others who we relate to in life. There is a way.

Yes, again, I say yes, “There is a way !”

Why do I have such hope. If you had been where I’d been, you would feel the same way and seek to learn more and would receive such profound reassurance you would be trying as best you could to share that good news, too, I hope.

There is someone you can trust, who will help you. If you had heard that millions of people said I trust this person to help me, might you consider believing in what they had to say? I hope so. You would do even more so as you learned the truth, that what they say is true, and that what they have said are confirmed by your life experiences. And, when you consider that millions of others also agree, might you stop, take a moment, maybe a whole lifetime to listen to the good news. Like watching a heartwarming movie over and over again.

There is someone who said, in effect, “I will help you, I am concerned about you, I will put your needs above my needs, I can help you, listen to me, I have the words of life...” And when you found that this person gave up their life for you, perhaps you would finally realize, they love you, - you can trust them.

These are the words that I am referring to. “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:29

If you are worn to a frazzle, perhaps burnt out, need rest, and need help from someone who will work with you, and self help books have not helped, you’ll find that Jesus is, as He says He is, “I am the way, and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” - John 14:6

Why do we want to change? Basically, as we grow and get older we learn habitual behaviors or ways of responding to people and life’s situations. This tendency turns into a trend and we can end up getting into more and more trouble as life goes on or we can change and get better and better - we can heal. And - we can help others to heal, the gift of healing we can perhaps pass onto others.


Simply stated we end up listening to the ways of the world or to the ways of God. Our ears and our behaviors get bent in one direction or the other. Either we grow closer to God or we turn away from Him and when we turn away, we suffer as a result, others may suffer too. Our suffering or our behaviors which cause others to suffer is His form of getting our attention, as He is then disciplining us so that we might turn back to Him, listen to His Word and be healed. If we do not listen to the truth, we end up erring more and more and we may perish - like spoiled fruit - becoming rotten worthless in this world where there is such a great need for good things. If life around you seems to have a bad aroma, realize there is hope, and it is found in changing. In the Bible it is called repentance. It occurs after we realize our efforts miss the mark, meaning we do not achieve the good character development goals that God has planned for us, as each individual He intends to mold.

John 3:16 states why Jesus came, in large part to let us know we are loved... “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It goes on further giving us a sense of the need the world has for Jesus. In John 3:17 it says. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

I hope you will come to appreciate the words, “O come taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” - Psalm 34:8

God is good, He loves us, and He wants us to grow into faithful blessed children. Jesus His Son gives us the Holy Spirit - if we repent from sin, and have a contrite heart we can then be open enough to accept that Jesus died so that we can be forgiven and so He can gives us the Holy Spirit.

To check to see if you are troubled in your relationships to God, the work God has for you and in your relationships with other people, use the Ten Commandments. You’ll see that you err in one or more of them. We err, but as it says in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will purify us from all unrighteousness.” Keeping a clean heart helps us to live the life God meant for us. We can also pray about our problems, and God will answer in a way that is best for us, though it may not be what we want or right away. Some people say with regards to our prayers, God says, “Yes, No or not now.”


If this has helped you - Give God the glory for what He has done !


Updated January, 2009