Encouraging Words Devotional

Don’t Lose Heart

The disheveled man had been washed up on a small, uninhabited island—the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Every day he prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. And every day he scanned the horizon for help, but to no avail. Eventually he managed to build a little hut out of driftwood where he could store his few possessions and get some protection from the sun and rain. At least now he somewhere to call "home."

Here Is How God Works

People still talk about a sermon illustration my Dad used many years ago. As people walked into church that Sunday morning, they saw a small table sitting beside the pulpit. On it were some small food cartons, a bowl, a measuring cup and a large spoon.  What in the world was all of this doing in church?

Use What You Have

She lived in Joppa, a coastal town on the edge of the sparkling Mediterranean.  Day after day after breakfast she picked up her needle to create coats and garments that she had envisioned in her mind. The Bible tells us her name was Dorcas, and she "was always doing good and helping the poor" (Acts 9:36). Actually, we don't know if she made clothing for the poor or rather used the profits from selling her handiwork to help them. But we know from scripture she was called a "disciple."  And probably she was a widow, for when she died, the widows of the area came to mourn her death.

Go Just A Little Farther

For years my mother faithfully subscribed to the homemaker's Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I used to look forward to turning to the last page of each issue to read a column that Bill Vaughan wrote under the penname Burton Hillis.  His witty observations of everyday life touched a warm spot in the hearts of his readers. 

Why You Should Give Thanks

A mother whose name we don't know wrote the following,

            My little girl went out the door;

            I hugged and squeezed her just once more,

            Reminding her as oft before,

            "Remember to say thank you."

 

            And then the thought occurred to me,

            I'd better check again to see

            How long since I on bended knee

            Remembered to say thank you.[1]

 

[1] Eugene L. Clark, My Hope (Lincoln, NE: Back to the Bible Publication, 1979), 119.

A Brand New Beginning

I wonder if your past is keeping you from being your best right now, in the present. Past sins do that, you know.  David Eckman writes,

Sin walks us into a huge warehouse filled with video clips of us and says, “This is your life. We have thousands of clips of your failures. Many of them are so embarrassing that you wouldn’t want to show them to your children. That is all you are, and we have the record of it. So you might as well surrender to sin within, because you can’t be better than this. You are these [video] clips—and nothing else.”

The Future Is Bright

Strolling through the mall one day, I caught sight of a T-shirt with a catchy slogan that read, "The future is so bright, I need shades."

Patience Requires Faith

Usually we think of "patience" and "waiting" as passive terms.   If you were to define waiting, you might say that waiting is "doing nothing until something happens."  And you might define patience as "being willing to do nothing until something happens." Right?

All Of Me

A pastor tells about the time his young son burst into his office after the morning session at the church's preschool.

Leave Room For God

In Robert Morgan's small but very practical book called The Red Sea Rules he tells about a time when he was exceptionally worried about a situation that faced him. While reading his Bible, he came upon the words "Leave room for God's wrath" (Romans 12:19). The context is that we shouldn't try to get even when someone harms us, but instead leave room for Him to settle the score.