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Tuesday April 11, 2017

// April 11th, 2017 // Comments Off on Tuesday April 11, 2017 // Daily News

Trump and global leaders urge Russia to break ties with Syria’s Assad

CNBC.com

Leaders of the seven leading global economies have asked Russia to stop supporting the regime of President Bashar Assad following an alleged chemical attack on Syrians.
Boris Johnson, the British foreign minister, said at a G-7 meeting in Italy on Monday evening that this was the moment for Russia to pick a side.
“I think it’s very important that in these circumstances for the world to present a united front and for that there to be absolutely no ambiguity about the message and the message we are sending to the Russians is very, very clear: Do they want to stick with a toxic regime, do they want to be eternally associated with a guy who gases his own people or do they want to work with the Americans and the rest of the G-7 and indeed many other countries for a new future for Syria,” Johnson told reporters at the end of the first day of the G-7 meeting.
The U.K and the U.S. are reportedly pushing for more sanctions on Russia but there’s speculation that other G-7 leaders are opposed to the idea. Italian officials, hosting the meeting, invited members from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Turkey to participate in the discussions given their geopolitical importance when dealing with the Syrian war.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday his government has evidence that the Assad regime still has capacity to use chemical weapons. He urged his counterparts to agree on measures to prevent their use, Reuters reported.
The White House authorized the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Thursday evening in response to what President Donald Trump’s administration and several U.S. allies claim was a chemical attack by the Bashar Assad regime which had left scores of people dead. This marked a shift in the U.S. administration’s strategy towards Russia and global politics.
On Monday night, British Prime Minister Theresa May had a phone conversation with Trump where they “agreed that a window of opportunity now exists in which to persuade Russia that its alliance with Assad is no longer in its strategic interest.”

Today’s Inspiration

Overcome Evil with Good

by Joyce Meyer – posted April 11, 2017

Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.
—Romans 12:21

We must not use our personal problems as an excuse to be grouchy and unloving with other people. Always remember that we overcome evil with good. This is why it is so important that we trust God, and while we are waiting on a change in our circumstances, we should remember to do good, do good, and do good!

In the Bible, the apostle Paul shares how even in times when he was suffering, he believed that God would take care of those things that he entrusted to Him (see 2 Timothy 1:12-14). We can be grateful that, like Paul, we are called to give our problems to God and refuse to worry.

A simple formula for victory is trust God, don’t worry, do good, and keep meditating on and confessing God’s Word, because God’s Word is the weapon we have been given by which we can overcome evil and do good.

Prayer of Thanks: Thank You, Father, that no matter what I may be going through, You give me opportunities to do good for those around me. I don’t have to focus on myself; I can choose to help others. Let me be an encouragement and a blessing to someone today.

Monday April 10, 2017

// April 10th, 2017 // Comments Off on Monday April 10, 2017 // Daily News

Stocks climb higher as oil lifts energy stocks; Street shrugs off geopolitical tensions
CNBC.com

U.S. equities traded slightly higher on Monday as investors shrugged off rising geopolitical tensions while looking ahead to the start of earnings season.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 90 points, with Caterpillar and Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains. The S&P 500 gained 0.45 percent, with energy and industrials leading advancers. The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.5 percent.
“Until we get into earnings season, I don’t think we’re going to do much of anything. I think we’re just stuck in the middle of a range,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial.
“Of course, there are still a lot of geopolitical tensions out there, but the market could also be responding to the lack of fireworks” from the U.S.-China meeting last week, Cardillo said.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the Mar-a-Lago in Florida last week, in which the two leaders struck a friendly note. Some market participants looked at the meeting as a potential risk for stocks.
Investors also contended with a U.S. airstrike on a Syrian airfield late Thursday and, on Saturday, a U.S. official told Reuters that a U.S. Navy strike group will be moving close to the Korean peninsula as a show of force.
“The equity markets escaped through a minefield of potentially damaging economic and geopolitical news and events last week to finish the period little changed,” Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird, said in a note.
“The geopolitical developments add a level of uncertainty but could serve the markets well by keeping investor confidence from gaining too strong a foothold,” Bittles said.
Stocks got off to a roaring start this year, posting solid gains for the first quarter. That said, the surge in stock prices has increased valuation concerns ahead of a highly anticipated earnings season. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are among the companies set to report this week.
“At least right now, what I’m most interested in this week is hearing from the bank CEO’s who report earnings on Thursday,” said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. “Are companies tapping the capital markets instead of utilizing bank loans? Are companies just lessening their demand for credit because of already high leverage ratios?”
Overseas, European equities traded mostly lower, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipping less than 0.1 percent. In Asia, stocks closed mixed, with the Nikkei 225 rising 0.71 percent and the Shanghai composite dropping 0.5 percent.

Today’s Inspiration

Evil Forebodings

by Joyce Meyer – posted April 10, 2017

All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].
—Proverbs 15:15

Shortly after I began to seriously study the Bible, I felt an oppressive atmosphere around me. Everything seemed gloomy—as if something bad was going to happen. It wasn’t anything I could explain, just a vague, dreaded sense of something evil or wrong about to happen.

“Oh, God,” I prayed. “What’s going on? What is this feeling?”

I had hardly uttered the question when God spoke to me. “Evil forebodings.”

I had to meditate on that for several minutes. I had never heard the phrase before. God had spoken to me, and I stayed quiet before Him so I could hear the answers.

I realized, first of all, that my anxieties weren’t real—that is, they were not based on true circumstances or situations. I was having problems—as most of us do—but they were not as critical as the devil was making it appear. My acceptance of his lies, even though they were vague, was opening the door for the evil forebodings. I eventually realized that I had lived in the midst of similar gloomy feelings most of my life. I was expecting something bad to happen instead of aggressively expecting something good.

I felt a dread, an unexplained anxiety around me. I couldn’t put my finger on anything specific—only that sense of something evil or terrible.

The Living Bible says, “When a man is gloomy, everything seems to go wrong.” That’s how I felt, as if something—maybe everything—was wrong or was about to go wrong.

As previously stated, I realized that for most of my life, I had been miserable because of evil thoughts and anxious forebodings.

As I continued to meditate on evil forebodings, God broke through and gave me a clear revelation. I was miserable because my thoughts were miserable—my thoughts were poisoning my outlook. My thoughts robbed me of the ability to enjoy my life. I should have been saying, “Thank You, God, for today. Thank you for Dave and my children and my friends and all Your blessings.” But, instead of being positive, I found myself even dreading to answer the phone when it rang, for fear it might be bad news.

All of this gloom and doom that surrounded me began in my abusive childhood. I endured a great deal of misery, and most of my life was unhappy and filled with disappointments. I began to live in a vague fear and dread of the future. I had not been taught to let go of what was behind. I couldn’t rejoice in what I had now and the good things going on in my life. I focused on the past and what might lie ahead—and what lay ahead was usually gloom and doom and chaos because that was what I was expecting. Satan had built a stronghold in my mind, and I was trapped until I learned I could tear down that negative, evil stronghold by applying God’s Word to my life and circumstances.

I once had a friend whom I’ll call Marlene. She lived in a state of constant chaos. One day she had health problems. The next day Marlene’s son had lost his job, and they were going to have to support him and his family. As soon as that was over, another traumatic situation would erupt. Marlene was a Christian, but she lived in fear of bad news. Marlene would not have known how to live a life that was not filled with chaos. All of her conversation was negative and gloomy. Even her countenance was sad and gloomy.

I realized that I had started to become like Marlene—I was miserable because I had allowed Satan to rob me of the ability to enjoy my life. It took a while before I was able to be positive most of the time, but little by little, my thinking changed, and so did my life. I no longer live in evil forebodings, expecting to hear at any moment of a new problem. Now I ¬purposely expect good things to happen in my life. I realize now that I can choose my thoughts. I don’t have to accept Satan’s lies.

Like everyone else, negative things do happen to me from time to time, but I don’t become negative because of them. I remain positive, and that helps me enjoy my life even in the midst of the storms.

Dear Lord Jesus, through so many days in my life, I have been robbed of my joy and contentment by evil forebodings. As those feelings come to me, please remind me that You are in control. Help me to rest in You and rejoice in Your power in my life. Amen.