Hope Surgery for Christmas

Merry Christmas my friend!

I didn’t record a new episode for Christmas. In fact, I hope you don’t even hear this today. But just in case you’re driving or working out and need something to listen to, here’s one of my favorite episodes ever, because the best Christmas present I could give you would be to teach you how to find hope no matter what you’re going through.

So here’s Hope Surgery, with a little Christmas music thrown in.

It's time for some hope surgery!

Life can be very difficult, and sometimes it seems like we're all alone and without hope in a dark world. But here's a few minutes about the self-brain surgery technique that will help you find hope and see the light again!

Scriptures mentioned in this episode

Habakkuk 1:2 “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?”

Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.For the Lord is a God of justice.Blessed are all who wait for him!

Habakkuk 2:3 “Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Isaiah 1:19 IF you are willing and obedient, (THEN) you will eat the best from the land

Deuteronomy 28:1 IF you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, (THEN) the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

Daniel 10 (NIV)

2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, 5 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

7 I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.

10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

Romans 4:18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.

Hosea 12:6Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice,And wait for your God continually.

Psalm 27:14Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage;Yes, wait for the Lord

Psalm 33:20, 21 NIV “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.”

Psalm 33:3, 4 NLT “Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy. For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.”

Romans 15:13 NLT “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Psalm 27:14 ESV “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 46:1-3 CSB “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah”

Psalm 121:1,2 NIV “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Listener did this- look for help!)

Romans 8:37 NIV “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” We will conquer the gap with self-brain surgery of doing, seeking, praying, trusting, pressing in, looking for help. Hope-tox doesn’t inject itself.

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Ephesians 3:

“14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

John to Know, James to Grow bible study

Books mentioned in this episode 

Almost Everything: Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott

I've Seen the End of You by Dr. Lee Warren

Tommy Walker's song, Wait on the Lord!

(Music shared on The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast is authorized under BMI license #61063253 and ASCAP license #400010513 )

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