May 2025
Issue 230

God wants to change you

That is the ongoing story of your life and mine. God wants to change us. Why?

Any Christian with two honest brain cells knows they're missing the mark. Big time. You and I are not what we should be, and left to our own way, we get farther and farther from the mark, not closer.

That's because the mark is Jesus Christ.

God wants to change you to make you more like Jesus. This lifelong process is called sanctification and is such a big job it takes the combined work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in your life.

Until we understand that God's motive behind this is not dominance but love, we fight him tooth and nail. Spiritual maturity begins when we realize all God's actions toward us come from a heart of love.

God wants to change you. See how you can help him speed up the process.

Now we see

Misunderstood.
He was unrecognized
as the Ultimate Good.

But He knew.
By Himself He could do nothing
of what He needed to do.

He found power.
Father and Spirit supplied him
in His darkest hour.

Three days in death's prison.
Until an angel shouted,
"He is risen!"

Now we see.
Now we see.
And He passes his strength on
to you and to me.

~ Jack Zavada, www.inspiration-for-singles.com, 2025 ~

Are you drowning God out with noise?

We don't like silence. Our minds race and the inner critic starts up. We second-guess everything we said and did in the past week—or year. Music or a TV program is a welcome distraction.

Sometimes we even tune in Christian TV or radio, but we can make too much of that good thing too.

God talks to us only when it's quiet. He won't shout over your music or TV to get your attention. If you want to hear from God, you have to shut off the noise, and that includes your phone too.

If that seems like an insurmountable challenge for you, learn why you may be drowning God out with noise.

"Wouldn't that be something?"

In fact, last month I said most people don't really want to solve their problems. Let's face it. Change is difficult and scary, so scary that people put up with the same aggravations for decades. Does that sound like you?

In his Poor Richard's Almanac, Ben Franklin said, "The Lord helps those who help themselves." We help ourselves when we step out in faith.

That's what getting Hope for Hurting Singles requires: faith. Faith that it can help you with things like loneliness, depression, anger, bitterness, fear, or low self-esteem. After working on these problems for 40 years, maybe I know something you don't.

Maybe you'll learn something in the pages of Hope for Hurting Singles that will put you on the path to a happier life. What would happen if, for $10.99, you found a solution for even one of your problems?

Now wouldn't that be something?

May QOTM: Wise words from Stormie

You and I have seen it often enough to know it by now: a powerful person who thinks their money, fame, political clout or popularity will be enough when a serious problem faces them. Inevitably they flounder, like a drowning man thrashing his arms.

Then they go through rehab or read a book or "reconnect with their inner self" and boast about their miraculous recovery.

Baloney.

I like Stormie Omartian's writing because she's brutally honest about her battles and how it was God, and nothing else, that brought her through them. Check out her books. They help.

The magnificent thing about being a Christian is not just salvation and eternal life. That would certainly be enough. No, it's the ongoing, minute-by-minute help God gives us to get through the frustrating here-and-now.

As the old hymn, There is Power in the Blood says, "There is wonder-working power." It's available to you, single friend, this minute. Claim it.

Know who you are and have more good days

But if you are a Christian, you need to remember that you are a daughter or son of the King of the Universe. Your Father God has adopted you into his family, making you a joint-heir with Jesus in an incredible legacy.

Unlike other estates, you don't have to wait until this father dies to get it. God can never die, so he gives you your birthright right now.

When you understand what that legacy is and what it can do for you, you'll start to have more good days as a single person. Read up on the great things God has waiting for you to claim.

Do this to transform a dull life

That's going from wise to stupid.

The great majority of us trudge along from day to day, doing what has to be done, fulfilling our responsibilities, and obeying God. One simple change can breathe new excitement into your routine: Always have something to look forward to.

This requires some work and planning, but it centers around activities that are enjoyable for you. You want things you'll anticipate with joy, not dread.

Those events are unique to each person. They also don't have to be expensive, elaborate outings. Simple pleasures work best. We all plan fun things from time to time, but this strategy calls for daily treats.

I don't mean you should scarf down a pint of Haagen-Dazs every night, but you should inject something fun into your life every day. And you should space these things out, so you always have something nice coming up, every week, every month. Anticipation is a great motivator.

Here are some ideas on how to find something to look forward to.

Two very silly mottoes

Because high school boys can eat like garbage disposals, Dave came up with the motto: "Hog down all you can get." My motto may have been a premonition of my lifelong singleness: "Treat yourself—'cause nobody else will."

We lost Dave, pictured at left, to pancreatic cancer in 2019. I miss him every day. At his funeral, the large number of people who showed up proved he had forgotten that silly, long-ago motto and became a man who loved his family, made friends, and helped others.

Meanwhile, I am still treating myself, but I have learned it's more fun to treat others. About 15 years ago, I switched to a new motto: "Trust in the Lord and do good." (Psalm 37:3)

How about you? Do you have a personal motto? If not, it's time to get one, and biblical mottoes are the best.

It will give your life focus and give you a reason to get up in the morning. Make up a little plaque and put it where you can see it every day, as I have. And if you do, please share it with the rest of us through our secure contact form, which will route your email to my personal inbox.

That wraps up our May newsletter, single friend. I hope you found something in it that made you think.

Thank you for the privilege of visiting you this month. God willing, I'll see you again in June,

PS: Not a Christian yet? Find out how to become a Christian.