Encouraging Words Devotional

You Can Have Peace Without Knowing The Future

Dr. Glenn Burris tells about the time that he stopped by an airport kiosk, and his attention was caught by a nifty earpiece that conveniently collapsed into a very small, convenient-to-carry size.  He bought it.  After paying for the item, the vendor added that for eight dollars more he could buy a two-year replacement agreement.  Although he didn’t buy the extended warranty, the thought stuck in his mind.  He reflected on how nice it would be if in life we could pay just a little extra and buy some certainty concerning everything in our lives.[i]  But it just doesn’t work that way.

 

[i] Dr. Glenn Burris, Jr., “Journey of Faith” Prayer Guide, November 30, 2009

The Secret To Navigating Tough Times

When circumstances are tough, our natural tendency is to focus on the problem. We struggle to get ourselves out of the dilemma we're in. And in trying to solve our difficulty, the problem begins to occupy nearly all of our attention. Soon we hardly believe that even God can fix it. We forget that Psalm 23 tells us, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

When You Don’t Understand What God Is Doing

Sometimes God allows painful experiences in our lives, and we simply don’t understand why.  You know that God can heal, yet at times He allows your illness to continue. Perhaps you have a problem that lands you in court, and although you ask for God’s help, you don’t win the lawsuit. You have a financial need, yet you don’t get hired at that new job you applied for. Those are the times when our faith is tested.

How To Comfort A Friend

Once when we were walking through the ruins of Petra in the country of Jordan, a woman in our group became dizzy and lay down on the sandstone floor. I stayed with her while the rest of the group continued the tour. In a short time, a number of the local men came and sat nearby. I could see compassion on their faces, though they never said a word.

Surviving Calamity

On January 12, 2020, Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupted.  Our friends Len and Mari Cris Faustino had developed a farm located 16 kilometers from the volcano--filled with crops, fruit trees, coffee trees, rare plants and a number of animals. When the volcano erupted, Mari Cris posted pictures on Facebook of the gray, ash-coated farm that looked as if they had been taken with black-and-white film, and we wondered if the farm would ever again produce the beautiful crops for which it had become well known.

I Will Come And Get You

John 3:16, the verse that probably more people know than any other in the Bible, tells us that if we believe in Jesus, we’ll not perish but have eternal life. That’s a wonderful promise.  But there’s a verse in the 14^th chapter of the book of John that somehow is of even more comfort to me. It’s verse 3, which says, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:3 NLT). In this verse Jesus promises not just eternal life, but eternal life with Him

The Tortoise And The Snail

Have you ever dreamed that you were trying to run in your sleep? Isn’t it frustrating? Try as you will, you can make very little progress. And if you are trying to run from some danger, the dream turns into a nightmare.

Jesus Does The Impossible

The man had been lame for thirty-eight years—so lame that although he lay right by the Pool of Bethesda, he couldn’t get himself into the waters. “When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’” (John 5:6 NLT).

They Soon Forgot What He Had Done

I’ve noticed that many of the Psalms repeat the story of the Israelites as they made their way from Egypt to the land that God promised them. Over and over you will read similar accounts of those same events.  I used to wonder what the reason was for the repetition. Didn’t the Israelites know the story already?

When Life Knocks You Down

A friend of mine had worked untiringly on a project, and finally it seemed there was a breakthrough and she would be able to put the project together. But then someone confronted her in a very abrasive manner and told her she was wrong, out of God’s will and that she should abandon the whole project. As the saying goes, she had the wind knocked out of her sails. Was God speaking to her through this person, or was this Satan trying to defeat the endeavor, she wondered.