Encouraging Words Devotional

How To Find Joy In Your Grief

Gail's aunt Georgia, a widow who taught handicapped children, knew what it was to experience tragedy. She had married Walter Dickens, a railroad train conductor, and after several months she became pregnant. But their baby died soon after birth. While she was still in the hospital recovering from the delivery, she was notified that Walter had been killed in a train accident.

The Only Way To Heaven

With our world being in the state it is in these days, heaven looks more and more attractive. Sometimes I can hardly wait to go there. Who doesn't like to the read the Bible's description of streets of pure gold, and of gates each made of a single pearl!  Even more, I like to read that in heaven "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4 KJV).

How Do I Find Satisfaction In God?

Professor and author C. S. Lewis said most human beings sell themselves short in this life when they could have so much more. Wrote Lewis,

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.[1] 

 

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1629232-the-weight-of-glory,  accessed February 21, 2021.

 

Why Should I Wait On God?

Are you at a crossroads in your life right now?  You're faced with a decision regarding your future? Perhaps you've been laid off your job and don't know where to go from here. Or perhaps you're thinking of getting married but you're not entirely sure if you've truly met Mr. or Miss Right-for-you.  God has promised in Psalm 23 that He leads us "in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." But just how do you find that path that God wants you to take?

What Does It Mean To Have Hope

What is the difference between faith and hope?  Both words are used in the Bible quite frequently. Do you remember that 1 Corinthians 13 says, "Now abide faith, hope, love"

NKJV. "The word faith is used in the sense of ' trust ', whereas the word hope is used in the sense of 'anticipation'."[1] Hope always involves waiting for something that is as yet unseen but something we can count on. Romans 8:24 says, "Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?" NKJV. Yes, hope always involves waiting, but hope means we can wait patiently and confidently, knowing that what we are anticipating will eventually be reality.  "Hope is a confident expectation that naturally stems from faith. Hope is a peaceful assurance that something that hasn't happened yet will indeed happen."[2]

 

 

[1] https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-faith-and-vs-hope/, accessed 1/26/2021. 

[2] https://www.gotquestions.org/difference-faith-hope.html, accessed 1-26, 2021.

 

How Do I Put My Roots In Jesus?

My all-time favorite fruit is the Filipino mango. While mango trees can live for 300 years, how do they stay standing when typhoon-force winds blow? There's only one answer: their roots. The taproot of a mango tree can go down twenty feet deep into the soil, and, in addition, mangoes grow wide-spreading feeder roots that penetrate deeply.

God’s Lesson About Waiting

When as a parent you have young kids, it's as if you're in God's waiting room. You're anticipating the day when the "rosebuds" will mature and bloom. You nurture the plants, feed them, and care for them, but you can't make your kids "bloom."  But eventually God will--if you leave the timing to Him.

This Is What You Can Learn From Sunflowers

Ever see sunflowers growing in someone's garden? Or perhaps by the side of the road? You probably noticed that they almost always face toward the sun. In the morning, young sunflowers face east, slowly turning west as they keep their faces toward the sun throughout the day. Then during the night, they reverse themselves so they are ready to do it again the next day. Why do they do this? Because they innately know that the more sunshine they get, the better they will grow. When sunflower plants are grown indoors, in a short time they stop this habit of always trying to face the sun, and consequently they grow at a slower pace.

Find Out How To Grow In Grace

In the last verse of the last chapter of the last book the apostle Peter ever wrote, he gave us some valuable instruction.  He said, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18 NIV). What did Peter mean about growing in grace and the knowledge of Jesus?

Learn How To Be Like Jesus

Candy wrote,

"Today I lost my wallet! And I put a big bald spot in my husband's hair! Do you ever have those days where your brain is just not functioning properly???!!! This was me today.... but amidst it all, kindness shone so bright that I have to share about it."