Hope for Your Soul: Words of Encouragement

By Dr. Samuel White III

Hope For Your Soul
Do you need a word of encouragement? Hope For Your Soul will lift you from the valley of despair to mountain tops of hope. Each meditation will strengthen your faith to pursue your dreams and move your mountains. This is a must read for every soul that hungers for hope and inspiration.

In a time where suicide is at an all-time high, despair and depression abound both within and outside of the Church, and the political landscape is dangerously repressive and regressive, the Prophet in the person of the Dr. Samuel White, III, stands in the ruins and says Yes there is hope.
Dr. Genetta Y. Hatcher
Vice President of Administration and Student Services
Director of Recruitment
Ecumenical Theological Seminary

One of the most difficult struggles can be the struggle to find hope. Drawing from his many years of experience as pastor, teacher, and writer, Dr. Samuel White, III helps us find our way to that elusive goal. If youre looking for a reminder of what truly matters in our lives, and a road map for how to get back there, youll find it in the pages of Hope For Your Soul.
Dr. Brandon R. Grafius
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Ecumenical Theological Seminary

Dr. Samuel White, III, encourages the reader that there is hope for the mind, body and more importantly the soul.
-Dr. Edward Knox
Author Gods Grace Through Grief

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973637318

Dr. Samuel White III

Dr. Samuel White, III is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Pastor, Spiritual Care Manager, prolific writer of 14 books, and founder of Agape Theological Seminary. Dr. White wrote this self-help book to inspire readers, to love themselves, live in the moment, have an attitude of gratitude and enjoy life with Jesus.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 Dr. Samuel White, III.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version of 1611). Public domain.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3730-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3732-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3731-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018909823

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/12/2018

Contents

Pressing On

God of Hope

Why Are You Sad?

Morning Will Come

Do Not Give Up

All Things Are Possible

Asking, Seeking and Knocking

Hope that Never Dies

Be Strong

Do Not Lose Heart

Disappointed Hope

Down through the Years

Hold Fast To Your Dreams

The Light of Hope

See the Light

Never Lose Hope

Miraculous Hope

Undefeatable

Be Optimistic

Hope Smiles

Create Something

Follow Hope

God’s Grace

Hopes or Hurts

Ripple of Hope

No Vision, No Hope

Worst of All Evils

Medicine of Hope

A State of Mind

Hope is in the Heart

Nothing can Dim Your Light

You are Close to Success

Your Choice

Learn From Your Mistakes

Get Started

Tough People

Tie a Knot

I CAN

And Still I Rise

Make it Happen

Happiness

Fight or Flight

Signs of Progress

What do You See?

Change Your Life

Keep Moving

The Good Life

Be a Dreamer

Love Yourself

Go For It

Be Thankful

Lift You Higher

The God Within

The Battle Within

Look Up

Be the Best

The Supreme Purpose in Life

Power For The Powerless

Knock Down, Not Knocked Out

Fire Shut Up In My Bones

Moving Mountains

Shaken But Still Standing

Little by Little

Beauty for Ashes

Are You Ready For Your Blessing?

Do Not Get Gentle Into That Good Night

Slay Your Giant

Are You Happy?

God of New Beginnings

Wear Your Crown

Grasshopper Mentality

Life Without Strife

Buried Treasure

Shake it Off

Face It

Carpe Diem

Who Shall I Fear?

Through It All

We Shall Overcome

Calling Those Things

Yet I Will Rejoice

Make a Difference

Something Within

Bloom in the Desert

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The Blessing of Unanswered Prayer

Be Bold

Choose Life

Treasures in Darkness

Who are You?

Life’s Not fair But God Is Good

The Power of Persistent Prayer

A Change Is Going to Come

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

Dare To Dream

As You Think

More Than A Conqueror

Fight For It

Why Are You Crying?

Out of the Cave

To

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the Hope of my soul

Christ in you, the hope and glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Endorsements

Dr. White has done it again. His books continue to be timely and relevant. In a world that’s increasingly divided and a culture where one can almost cut with a knife the ‘dark night of the soul’, we need to be encouraged to hang onto hope. In a time where suicide is at an all-time high, despair and depression abound both within and outside of the church, and the political landscape is dangerously repressive and regressive, the Prophet in the person of Dr. Samuel White, III, stands in the ruins and says ‘Yes…there is hope.’ Dr. White’s passion, honesty and experience lends to the credibility of the hope that he offers in each meditation. Both in the pulpit and in the classroom at Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Dr. White’s godly walk and theological soundness creates a dynamism that naturally summons all that he encounters to rise from their places of hopelessness and discouragement and pick up their mantel of hope so that they too can run on and see what the end is going to be.

- Dr. Genetta Y. Hatcher

Vice President of Administration and Student Service

Director of Recruitment

"One of the most difficult struggles can be the struggle to find hope. Drawing from his many years of experience as pastor, teacher, and writer, Dr. Samuel White, III helps us find our way to that elusive goal. Building off quotations from both the Bible and spiritual and secular leaders, the meditations in Hope for your Soul can help us find the light in whatever darkness we may be facing. If you’re looking for a reminder of what truly matters in our lives, and a roadmap for how to get back there, you’ll find it in the pages of Hope for your Soul."

- Brandon R. Grafius

Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit

"The Doctor of Souls, Dr. Samuel White, III, writes and encourages the reader that there is hope for the mind, body and more importantly the soul. As God leads us on this journey of faith; let those who have ears to hear and hearts to receive find hope as you travel through this publication."

- Dr. Edward R. Knox

Author of God’s Grace Through Grief

Acknowledgment

I acknowledge the hope of my soul, Jesus Christ who gives my life meaning and purpose. It is because of Him that I became a Christian writer with a vision of comforting and challenging the people of God. I wrote this book to please Him and to share my hope with others.

I thank God for my family. My wife Sandra gives me a sense of hope as we enter the evening of our lives. Her love and devotion make me hopeful about our future together. I praise God for our children, Alexandria and Samuel who give me hope for our world. Their passion for academic excellence and willingness to work in the medical field, gives me hope that our world will continue to experience the healing of the Lord. I thank God for my siblings and especially my dear mother who always encouraged me to remain positive and hopeful.

I praise God for the members of Friendship Baptist Church and all the difficult challenges that we faced together these twenty-two years. It is through the crucible of adversity that we have developed an understanding of hope that inspired us to heal to the least, lost and left out.

Lastly, I praise God for the endorsements, and everyone who has read my books. A special thanks to my member, friend and editor Elaine Rainey who worked on my manuscript. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me, encouraged me in ministry and gave me the gift of hope.

Preface

I have always believed that God gives the preacher the message first because he or she needs it the most. The Word of the Lord does not come to us out of thin air, but from a Holy God to an unholy person with strengths and weaknesses; vices and virtues. Sermons are developed in the crucible of human experience with its kaleidoscope of feelings and needs. God addresses the needs of the preacher so that he or she can preach to the needs of the members. Therefore, many of the meditations were sermons inspired by the Holy Spirit, developed from my experiences and preached to the people of God.

My thirty-seven years of pastoral ministry have been filled with blessings and burdens. I have pastored United Methodist, Disciples of Christ and Baptist Churches. I have known the blessings and the burdens of the ministry. Some Churches have affirmed me in ministry and showering me with love and respect. Other Churches ignored my teaching, ridiculed my preaching and rejected my ministry.

There have been Sundays when I was fired up and eager to preach His Word to a spirit-filled congregation. Also, there have been Sundays when I felt sad and dragged myself into the pulpit to preach to empty pews and disinterested members. It was during those difficult days, I needed a Word of hope for my weary soul. Fortunately, the God of Hope never disappointed me, His Word always inspired me to keep pressing on. As God gave me hope, I gave hope to Gods’ people.

Hope is vital to human survival let alone success. Our souls desperately need hope. It does not matter who you are, what you do, or how long you have been in the Church, you need hope. I have seen faithful members of my Church looking helpless and hopeless as they did the work of the Lord. They were lukewarm in their worship and service to the Lord. Consequently, they were going through the motions, lacked motivation and desperately needed hope.

I have pastored single mothers struggling to raise their children and working two part-time jobs, who needed a word of hope. These hardworking sisters were overworked and overwhelmed with the pressures of life. They needed a word of hope to keep going.

I have listened to retirees and seniors express their boredom and emptiness. They have nothing to live for and have stopped dreaming. They feel unwanted and unappreciated. They needed a message of hope that would motivate them to create new meaning and purpose in life.

The bereaved person who is experiencing the sting of death, lacks hope. Their grief and loss has drained them of joy. Some of them are so depressed that they find it hard to get up in the morning. Death has robbed them of the will to live. They need a message of hope to resurrect their broken spirit.

Some people feel that life has treated them unfairly. They are the victims of abusive relationships, impoverished communities, devious friends, corrupt leaders, unrequited love and tragedy. Consequently, some are angry and frustrated. Others feel sad and pessimistic. All of them need hope.

I have been a hospice chaplain who served terminally ill patients who struggled with their faith in God. Their debilitating illness drained them physically and spiritually. They prayed that the God of hope would answer their prayers and heal them. Hope was medicine for their soul.

I have counseled members who were attempting to control their loved ones from abusing drugs and alcohol. Many expressed rage, frustration, sadness, bewilderment and hopelessness. For them, life was a rollercoaster ride with its unpredictable twists and turns eroding their peace of mind. They wanted the ride to end with their loved ones healed and sober, but every day it continued,