Encouraging Words Devotional

Where Do You Focus Your Attention?

We just went through a medical emergency in our family.  When that happens, I'm sure you remember the way your whole body goes on alert.  All you can think of in the moment is how to best help your loved one.  Then, when the emergency passes, you sometimes are left a depressing feeling of "How am I going to cope with the results of this emergency? Life is never going to be the same again!"

Hold Onto God For Your Strength

The book of Job includes a very interesting picture of the person who forgets God in his life. Listen to this:

    Such is the destiny of all who forget God...

   What he trusts in is fragile;

            what he relies on is a spider's web.

He leans on his web, but it gives way;

    he clings to it, but it does not hold" (Job 8:13-15).

This Is Why You Should Live For Now

When my Uncle Phil passed away with cancer, it was very difficult for my aunt, Margaret, for they had been so happily married for nearly 60 years. They had done everything together.

Start Putting Your Life Into Perspective

Declaring His love puts our lives in perspective. When we think about how much God loves us, we’re compelled to show Him love by how we use the day He has given us. The Bible says, “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them” (2 Corinthians 5:15). The principle of living for Christ instead of ourselves affects every decision we make in a day. Living for Christ is life in its highest form. Living for ourselves brings neither happiness nor significance.

Why Did God Create You?

Imagine being able to have anything you want—anything. No limits in size or amount or intricacy. You could just "speak it" and it would be in existence. That's how it is with God. The God of the universe can create anything He desires. And He did.

Do You Ever Feel Invisible?

There are times in my life when I’d just like to be invisible.  I don’t want to hear anyone call my name for help, or ask me one more question, or expect anything from me.  Do you ever wish you could just stay in bed and pull the covers up over your head for the entire day?

Teaching The Next Generation

Just over one hundred years ago a baby girl was welcomed in Saskatchewan, Canada and named Audrey. She grew up on the Canadian prairie, learning at an early age to churn butter and to bake bread in a wood stove.

Understand God’s Timing For Death

There is so much we don't understand about life.  For example, why is it that a really fine Christian may be killed in an auto accident while the drunk who hit him walks away without injury?

You Are A Disciple of Jesus

Five times in the New Testament, John is called "the disciple whom Jesus loved." What is interesting, though, is that all five occur in one of the books John himself wrote, the Gospel of John.  In other words, John uses this expression of himself. 

4 Steps That Can Bring Healing

Rachel's parents were teenagers, and both were deaf and unemployed. When her mom was pregnant with Rachel, her dad stabbed her, hoping to kill his unborn child. A divorce soon followed, and Rachel and her mother went to live with her grandparents and two uncles. When she was five, Rachel's uncles began to make sexual advances, beating or burning her if she resisted.