Welcome to Psalms Of Hope with Samantha Landy, author of over 20 books, businesswoman, magazine columnist, Bible teacher, international conference speaker, and distinguished woman of the year from Northwood University. The scripture says in Isaiah 55 11, So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
It is Samantha's desire to fulfill this scripture, encircling the earth with God's word and God-honoring music, bringing the message of jesus and his love to you. And now, here's Samantha.
Welcome to Psalms Of Hope. Oh, I know you're going to love this program. Do you remember as a child following the small dots on the page to create a picture you could not imagine when you were only looking at the dots?
But following the dots, a wonderful horse appears, or beautiful flower, or even a cat. With what I call our own destiny dots, sometimes we can't see God's handiwork until we have finished that episode in our lives. You know, there have always been defining moments in history, whether our own personal history, history of our nation, or the history of the world.
Many of the defining moments, what I call God's destiny dots, in our own personal history, and that of my friends, have not been chronicled, nor have we looked at many of those seemingly unimportant events as part of who we have become. And yet, the silver thread running through these shared moments is the display of God's faithfulness in small things, as well as the dramatic events of our lives. You may have seen those charts that evaluate the stress level when certain events take place in our lives.
Even happy events or destiny dots, like the birth of a child, can also create stress. So our destiny dots may or may not be stressful, merely a happening in our lives, but nevertheless a part of who we become. And for anyone who has jesus in their heart, they will tell you that when they receive jesus into their life, when that event occurred, it certainly was one of God's destiny dots.
A time when their life took a whole new turn. A time when sometimes even friends changed, and their destiny certainly changed. They were now going to heaven.
Yes, as we draw close to jesus, even at the times of various destiny dots, it's important to keep our thoughts on God's power and His love for us. And we need to remember the promise from jesus that He will never leave us or forsake us, no matter what we're going through. Well, there's a very special song I want to play for you now.
It's a song of majesty to our Messiah. And when we are at a turning point in our lives, one of the very best things we can do to help us through our destiny dots is to simply stop and worship our Lord. So worship with me as we listen to the group called Praise and Worship.
As they sing, let it rise.
Oh, what a wonderful song of praise to our Lord. Well, the subject for this program is God's Destiny Dots in Our Lives. Before the song, I talked about the big turning points in life.
Death of a loved one, health issues, even positive events, like moving to a new city. Well, in addition to the big issues of life, in my own life, and I imagine yours, there have been what we might call little destiny dots in life. Sometimes they occur without our even noticing it.
Last summer, we went to Southern California to the beach for a few days. While sitting on the balcony of our friend's home, I watched the sailboats go by. I noticed that they don't make a big turnabout.
No, the owner of the sailboat sits at the rudder and makes small, incremental changes to make a course correction as they continue to face into the wind toward their destination. And in my life, I've been grateful when God has helped me correct my own course, when I've made a bad decision, when I've been impatient or angry. It makes me grateful that God sees the bigger picture of my life and will guide me if I let him.
Yes, it's what we do with those small correction moments in our lives, in our relationships, and in our walk with God that makes a difference. Then no matter what happens, when we willingly submit to the destiny that God brings into our lives, we can stay with the Apostle Paul in Romans 8 28. For I know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
It may take some time, so we can see our situation in hindsight. But I know God's word is true. He will work things out for our good.
God is a true and trustworthy and faithful God. Yes, it is the faithfulness of God that reminds you that he will work on your behalf. Now, here is Larry Ford singing that wonderful old hymn.
To the Psalms Of Hope program. And on this program, I've been talking about God's destiny dots in our lives, and that he will help us learn from our destiny dots, the course corrections he brings into our lives. Last summer, as my husband Randy and I were sitting on the balcony by the beach having coffee, he said, wow, look at the size of that riptide.
And as I looked, it stretched for blocks along the beach, reaching way out into the water. As we watched, the riptide became even bigger. And in the muddy, roiling water, suddenly huge chunks of dark brown seaweed were dredged off the ocean floor and rolled to the top of the waves, often being left on the beach as the waves receded.
Well, in thinking about this program, I wondered if sometimes when you feel you're in a riptide, that the ocean of life is so strong that you're being tossed about by the events of your life. Do those events sometimes bring out the worst in you? And perhaps out of the depths of your being come words of jealousy, resentment, rage, any myriad of emotions, flung around on anyone who happens to be there.
And yes, like the ugly brown seaweed, it gets tossed up on the beach of your life for everyone to see. Well, I have to admit, a short time ago, someone wrote me a letter needing a reply. But I was rather overwhelmed at the time, and my reply some weeks later was not as loving as I should have been.
I probably made them feel like they were a bother, rather than a friend that I appreciate. I think my ugly brown seaweed was tossed around, and I'm still sad I wasn't as caring as I actually feel. Since they haven't replied back, I guess I lost a dear friend.
Sometimes our destiny dots, as I talked about in the past segment, may be caused by the stress in our own lives. But oh, what a blessing to know that the beach patrol, our precious jesus, will come alongside you and help you clean up the mess. There's a song that says, there is no problem too big, God cannot solve it.
There's no mountain too tall, God cannot move it. Listen with me now, as the Gaither vocal band sings, He will carry you.
Yes, God will help us with our problems, won't he? On this program, I've been talking about the destiny dots in our lives. For years, I've been writing columns in newspapers and magazines.
I've also written 14 books. Well, my newest book is on God's destiny dots. You can get it from my website.
In my book, there are many stories of the various destiny dots in my life and others that I've written about. One story was of Alice, who had begun riding her bicycle in races across the country at age 15. But at 30, she came down with an illness that prevented her from cycling in races again.
One day, she read some stories about missionaries who have to walk many miles from village to village. And so she began raising money for bicycles for them. Now, 20 years later, she has given over 1,500 bikes in 89 countries, not only to missionaries, but special bikes for disabled people as well.
With God's prompting, what appeared to be the end of her dreams, God has used as a destiny dot to give her an even bigger dream. Are you to place in your life where your dreams haven't seemed to work out? They seem to dissipate in the wake of your difficulties?
One of my favorite ministers recently said, Has your dream not come true? Did it just not work out as you planned? Well, don't get stuck there.
Ask God to give you a new dream. Yes, that's what I'm saying to you, dear listeners. Let God use those destiny dots in your life, even that riptide that almost overwhelmed you, to give you a new dream, a new vision, so you can get your joy and excitement of life back.
Yes, friends, no matter what your age, God always has something for you to do. It may be as simple as a kind word, a hug or a smile, or it may be a brand new dream like Alice had, a dream so big that only God can help you accomplish it. There's a song that says, Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.
Here is Dottie Rambo singing her song, Oh, I hope you were encouraged by Dottie Rambeau's song. I have so many friends who've used the destiny dots of their lives, even sometimes the riptide, to dream new dreams, to reach out to their world in new ways. And like the apostles who were just ordinary people, yet they spread the good news about jesus all over the known world, people today are using their changes, their destiny dots, to ignite new vision in their own lives.
A friend of ours, Herb, had retired from the movie industry in Hollywood due to some heart problems, and not long after, his beloved wife died. Retirement made him feel useless, and now with his wife gone, he had lost his zest for life, just going from one day to the next. Well, one day he joined my husband Randy in a new project, and now when we meet with him, he laughs a lot and loves each day that God gives him, even in the difficult times.
Recently, his adult son mentioned to us that he was glad to have his dad back with the old sparkle in his eye and his zest for living. Had he not retired from the rat race of Hollywood, he would not have been able to dream new dreams. Are you feeling useless, over the hill, too old for God to use?
You may want to check out my website. My new book, God's Destiny Dots, will be a source of encouragement for you to help you learn and grow from your own destiny dots of life. Well, I hope you've enjoyed our time together as well as the music.
Do email or write to me, and for any size donation, ask for the CD of this program or any others that have ministered to you. I hope you'll write to me today. And do tune in same time, same place next week.
This is Samantha Landy, and it's my prayer that you will put your hope in God.
Thank you for listening to Psalms of Hope with Samantha Landy. Email her at samanthalandy.com. That's landy.com.
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That's facebook.com/thesamanthalandy.
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