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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.  If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! ______________________________________       Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post:       https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_Podcast04202020_How_to_Have_Hope_When_Things_Seem_Hopeless.mp3 ______________________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, April 20, 2020. Today’s Podcast is Episode #16 in Series 2020 and is titled “How to Have Hope When Things Seem Hopeless." Lately, I've been deeply saddened by the rising number of suicides as a result of the Corona virus. I read of a young nurse in Italy who killed herself when she was diagnosed with the virus. Others are killing themselves as a result of the recent sharp dives in the stock market that have drastically cut their life savings. What do all of these people have in common? They have all placed their hope in the wrong place. You see, where we hang our hope will determine if our hope will carry us through bad situations. The people mentioned above hung their hope on things of this world--things that had no solid foundation. Things that will not last.  Where are you hanging your hope? If on the things of this world--your IRA, your savings account, your job, your vitamins, your medication, your social distancing--all of these things are temporary and will not ultimately protect you. Only Jesus Christ can and will protect you. There is only solid and secure place where we can hang our hope, and that is on Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 3: 6 the Bible says this about hoping in Jesus: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...." Notice this verse calls Christ our "living" hope--a hope that is alive and will remain alive forever. So, if you want to have hope when things seem hopeless, turn to Jesus Christ, the perfect Hope-Giver. If you have not yet asked Jesus to come into your life and be your hope, do so now. Please pray this simple prayer with me: Lord Jesus, I have lost my hope. I am discouraged and depressed. Sometimes I want to give up. But You are offering me true hope. So I receive You now as my Savior and Lord. Fill me with Your hope, the hope that never ends. In Your Name I pray. Amen. If you prayed this simple prayer, please write to me at drmaryann@maryanndiorio.com. I would like to send you a little booklet that will help you get started in your relationship with Jesus Christ. I also encourage you to get yourself a Bible and read it every single day, starting in the Gospel of John, which is in the second half of the Bible. The Bible is God's love letter to you, His manual for your life. In it He reveals Who He is. In it He reveals His infinite love for you and instructs you how to live. Finally, ask the Lord to lead you to the church of His choice for you where you can learn about Him and have fellowship and encouragement with other Christ-Followers. For those of you who may not know, I write fiction about many of the issues I deal with in this blog and podcast. I also invite you to visit my website at https://www.maryanndiorio.com/book-table. There you will find a complete list of the novels, novellas, and short stories I have written about characters with problems like yours. One such story is my latest novel, In Black and White. BUY NOW! On my website,