Encouraging Words Devotional

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.

God's Salad Bowl

Years ago I noticed that a preacher had chosen as his sermon topic "God's Salad Bowl."  When I saw the title, I wondered what on earth he was going to talk about.  But when I listened to his sermon, I found out. He spoke about the many times the phrase "let us" is used in the New Testament—such as, "Let us stop passing judgment on one another" (Romans 14:13) and "Let us be alert and self-controlled" (1 Thessalonians 5:6).  

Extravagant Love

The scene took place in Bethany at the home of Simon—in the Bible he's called "Simon the Leper," perhaps because Jesus had healed him of that horrible disease. At any rate, he was giving a dinner party for Jesus just days before Jesus would give His life on the cross.  We don't have the entire guest list, but we know that Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were present, along with at least some of the disciples, including Judas.

Keeping Your Mouth Shut

Sue Augustine writes, "I had to chuckle when I read what Elisabeth Elliot said about our words: 'Never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut!'"

  Then Sue continues,

Over the years, I have learned to pray, "Lord, walk beside me with one hand on my shoulder and the other over my mouth!" On days when my emotions threaten to rage out of control, my family members often overhear my hollering. "Oh, Lord—please shut my mouth before I say what's on my mind!"[1]

 

[1] Sue Augustine, When Your Past Is Hurting Your Present (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2005), 143

Grieving With Hope

"Is it wrong for a Christian to grieve?" Daisy Catchings asks in her book Under God’s Umbrella.  "Are tears a contradiction of faith? Or is faith supposed to eradicate tears?"[1]

 

[1] Daisy Catchings, Under God’s Umbrella (Palm Springs, CA: Umbrella Ministries, 1999), 105.