Tag Archives: Encouraging

Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Rock-Solid Promise 4: We Can Cast Anxieties on the Lord

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Here is the 4th of 10 rock-solid promises we can carry with us in 2024 and beyond.

4. We can cast our anxieties upon the Lord.

There’s little doubt 2024 will bring its share of anxieties, but the Lord promises we can cast those cares upon him and he will help us find peace.

We are reminded in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Amid the anxious moments of the year, remember this rock-solid promise, and cast your anxieties upon the Lord.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll have promise 5 tomorrow at 6 a.m.

Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

The Year In Review: A simple Guide for Christians

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As 2023draws to a close, it’s natural for us to take a moment and reflect on the journey we’ve traveled. For Christians, this reflection is more than just reminiscing about the past; it’s an opportunity to look back with gratitude, learn from experiences, and set our sights on the future with hope.

Look Back With Gratitude

First and foremost, let’s focus on gratitude. As Christians, we believe that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Take a moment to think about the blessings, big and small, that have filled your life this past year. Maybe it’s the support of friends and family, the strength to face challenges, or the joy found in everyday moments. Give thanks for these gifts, acknowledging God’s faithfulness in providing for you.

Learn From Experiences

Next, consider the lessons learned. Life is a journey of growth, and each experience, whether positive or challenging, has something to teach us. Reflect on the times you faced difficulties and how you overcame them. Think about the moments of joy and what they revealed about the goodness of God. What lessons can you carry into the coming year to grow even stronger in your faith and character?

Set Our Sights on the Future With Hope

Now, turn your gaze towards the future with hope. The Bible tells us that God has plans for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). As you reflect on the year ending, consider how God might be guiding you into the next chapter of your life. What dreams and aspirations has He placed in your heart? Trust that His promises are true and that the new year holds opportunities for growth, purpose, and joy.

In conclusion, reflecting on the ending year is a simple yet powerful practice for Christians. It allows us to express gratitude, learn from our experiences, and approach the future with hope. As you bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, may your heart be filled with thanksgiving, wisdom, and the assurance that God’s plans for you are filled with hope and purpose.

Thanks for reading.

Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Don’t Be Afraid

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The stillness of their night was interrupted by the brilliance of an angel, and the shepherds were terrified. Who can blame them? An angel showing up out of no ware can be a bit frightening. But, look at what the angel tells the shepherds.

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:9-11).

Do not be afraid was the first statement of the angel. It is a statement we find often in Scripture. It is repeated over 365 times. This means we can have daily reminders we don’t have to live in fear.

As you celebrate Christmas this year, remember, the Lord is with you. You do not have to live in fear. Through Christ, our fear can be replaced with joy and peace.

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Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

What is God doing?

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Christmas music surrounds us with the message of grace and forgiveness. It can put the Good News on display, and sometimes, we do not even realize it. We’re in isle 4 picking out socks for Uncle Bob while swaying to O Holy Night. Thoughts of Aunt Susie’s ugly Christmas sweater are accompanied by thoughts of the true meaning of Christmas.

Mary, Did You Know permeates our ears with the truth of Christmas. It sends our thoughts to Jesus’ identity, and how God was working on that first Christmas. Luke tells us we’re not alone. Mary was thinking about this as well.

Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”

The last few months have been exciting. Mary has been visited by an angel, found out she was expecting a child, had to travel with Joseph for the census, and now, she’s given birth. There’s a lot of hype around her baby. Shepherds visiting and prophetic statements being made. In our day, there would be wall-to-wall coverage on the news networks, and Mary soaks it all in. What was God doing?

This Christmas season you may be wondering the same thing. All the activity in your life – the good and the bad – is causing you to wonder what God is doing. As you ponder God’s work, you can rest assured he has something great planned. You may not fully see it now, but it will be great because God is the one at work.

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Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Just Trust

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Here a snake, there a snake, everywhere a snake, snake. This doesn’t sound like anywhere I would want to be, but there was a group of people who found themselves in such a place.

This group of travelers was in the desert and growing a little cranky. One thing leads to another and Israel finds themselves surrounded by poisonous snakes, so they asked Moses to pray.

“Then the Lord told him, ‘Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it.’ So, Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed,” according to Numbers 21:8-9.

God’s answer for the people is easy. “Simply look at the snake.” In other words, “trust me.” That’s it. If an Israelite was bitten by a snake, he or she just needed to trust God by looking at the bronze snake. Perhaps they expected a more difficult process. Find a specific plant oil or hold the infected area in the sand for 15 minutes, but God’s answer was simple. The simplicity may have caused some people trouble.

It did Nicodemus, and Jesus said to him, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. So that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For this is how God loved the world, he gave his one and only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. God sent his son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:14-17). Jesus requested trust from Nicodemus. Follow his leading to eternal life, and you will be saved just like the Israelites who looked at the bronze snake.

Jesus requests the same trust from us. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he says in John 14:1. “You trust in God; trust also in me.” The simplicity of trusting him confuses us at times. We feel there should be something more, but Jesus reminds us following him will lead to eternal life. We forget all the places we see the Lord at work, so our trust may begin to slip a little. The question of is there something more I need to do slides into our thoughts.

But Jesus assures us, trusting him is the action required. By the way, we trust simple actions to do complex work all the time. We trust pushing an elevator button will raise or lower us to the desired floor without seeing the mechanical movements of the elevator. We turn a door knob to open the door without witnessing the latch being pulled back in the door. We trust Google and Alexa to turn on our lights without seeing the process go through its steps. Jesus asks for our trust. Do we trust him?

 Make a list of the ways the Lord is working in your life for reference if your trust begins to slip a little. Where have you seen the Lord at work? How has God shown himself trustworthy to you in the past?

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Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Thomas’ Question

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Taking in all this news was hard. There was a great deal to process as they had an intimate conversation with their leader. He was preparing the group for what was getting ready to happen. He was going to be handed over to enemies, and he was going to prepare a place for them. When the place was ready, he would come back and get them. Much was said, and Thomas was taking it all in, which leads to his question.

John 14:5-6 says, 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Perhaps Thomas was asking a question the other disciples wanted to know, but did not have the courage to ask. They would not be able to find the destination unless they had the address.

Jesus tells the disciples the address is him. The way to get to the place he is describing is him. Jesus is the way. It is in his truth and the life he offers we find our way into Heaven.

Jesus says no one gets to the Father except through him. No one finds the Lord’s gift of grace except through him. No one finds the Lord’s peace except through him. Jesus says he is the way, the truth, and the life. Forgiveness, peace, and life are found in Jesus.

Perhaps Thomas’ question is one you are asking. The address to the destination is Jesus. He is the way.

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Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Today’s Enough

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How full is your calendar today? If you are like me, it is pretty full. Between work, getting the kids to school, and running errands, there is just not a lot of time for anything else. Especially worry about tomorrow. That’s why it is encouraging to find this nugget of wisdom tucked away in Matthew 6.

Jesus says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow for today has enough worries of its own” (Matthew 6:34)

As we think of all that is coming and all that may happen tomorrow, it is easy to let worry creep into our lives. However, Jesus encourages us not to worry about those events and days in the future. We are reminded the Lord has our back. He is going to take care of tomorrow. After all, today’s agenda is full; there’s no room for worry about tomorrow.

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The Great Time Taker

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It sneaks up on us and steals our time. It can take a minute hear and a minute there, or it can rob us of a whole day without our realizing it. It is the plague of worry, and it steals much of our time.

According to a study conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati, the average person spends about 1 hour and 50 minutes per day worrying. This adds up to a total of about 12 hours and 50 minutes per week or 672 hours (or 28 days) per year. That is a when our peace is robbed from us.

This is why it is important to fight the plague of worry. As worry creeps into your day, try challenging yourself to remember the words of Matthew 6:33. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 6 reminds us birds don’t worry, and flowers don’t fret. Jesus promises the Lord will take care of birds and flowers, and will take care of us as well.

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Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Fight Back

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Don’t get pushed around without fighting back.

James says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”  (James 4:7).

This doesn’t mean he won’t fight our resistance, but with the Lord’s help, we can win the fight. Perhaps the best weapon to use is Scripture!

Jesus used Scripture to win the fight. Jesus was in the wilderness, and Satan tried tempting him numerous times (Matthew 4). Each time Jesus quoted Scripture and caused Satan to flee. Satan kept trying – just as he will with us. But Scripture kept him fleeing – just as it will with us.

Keep resisting and the devil will keep fleeing.

Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

More Than Romance

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Valentine’s Day is approaching and love is in the air, but there’s more to love than romance.

Attend a wedding, and along with the decorations and beauty of love on display, you’ll probably hear this passage read, or at least, referenced.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says:

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 

This passage certainly describes the type of love a husband and wife should have for one another, but it goes farther. It truly describes the type of love Christians should strive to imitate in all of our relationships. This passage does a marvelous job describing it, and the Gospels give us explicit illustrations of how Jesus modeled it.

Jesus’ Patience

On one occasion, James and John came to Jesus desiring to be called the greatest. They wanted Jesus to promote them to places of honor. His response demonstrates his patience.

The NIV Jesus Bible remarks, “Consider the passage in the Gospel of Mark in which James and John asked Jesus to do whatever they asked of him. They boldly asked—maybe even with a hint of demand—to sit on either side of him in glory. However, rather than chiding them for such brashness, Jesus spoke to them patiently (Mk 10:35–40).”

Jesus’ Kindness

Jesus’ disciples felt Jesus was busy and would not have time to visit with some families who brought their children for Jesus to bless. Matthew records the disciples rebuking the parents and trying to send the families away, but Jesus showed them kindness. Matthew 19:13-15 says:

“13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” 15 And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.”

Jesus was not Proud

As he was approaching the time on the cross, Jesus and his disciples were in the upper room having a meal, but the disciples forgot to wash their feet. This was a dirty job, and it was usually reserved for the lowest servant in the home. Seeing the need, Jesus took it upon himself to wash the disciples’ feet. He was humble enough to perform this task. He did not consider himself to good to do it.

Jesus was not Easily Angered

According to the NIV Jesus Bible, “Jesus was not easily angered, either. The careful reader might immediately think of the Lord driving out the moneychangers in the temple. Clearly, these people angered the Lord. However, Jesus’ anger was not an easily triggered rage over something insignificant. Instead, love for his Father’s house consumed him (Jn 2:17).”

Jesus Delighted in the Truth

John 18:37 says, “37 Pilate said, “So you are a king?”

Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

Jesus Never Gave Up and was Always Hopeful

Jesus continued following God’s path even though, for him, it became unimaginably hard. He knew the Father could raise him from the grave, so he laid his own interests aside to take up the interests of the world. He truly demonstrated love.

Jesus’ Perseverance

“Scorning the shame, he endured the cross for his people (Heb 12:2). This patient, kind, truth-rejoicing, protecting, trusting and persevering love kept no record of wrongs (1Co 13:5). Because of Jesus’ death, the amassed wrongs committed by the people of God were forgiven. The love demonstrated on the cross will forever remain unmatched (1Jn 4:10),” states the NIV Jesus Bible.

Is this the type of love you are imitating?

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