Encouraging Words Devotional

Learn to Submit to One Another

The Bible says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). Women, do you hate that verse? Well, maybe “hate” is too strong a word.  But do you wish God had not put that verse in the Bible about submission?

Start Studying God's Promises

Ruth Graham, beloved wife of Evangelist Billy Graham, told of being jolted awake suddenly in the night by the name of someone she loved dearly who was trying hard to run away from God. In the darkness her fears ran rampant.

How to Walk With God

Jesus once told the crowds listening to Him: “Learn from me.”  

            Because some of us know a lot of facts about the Bible, and we know a library-full of Bible stories, and the basic doctrines of the faith, we think there’s probably not much more for us to learn. It’s easy to fall into that trap.

Someone is Expecting You

Back in 2008, because of the global financial crisis, the Baikalsk Pulp & Paper Mill shut down. Now, for most towns, this would create a serious problem for those who worked at the mill.  For this little town, located in the wasteland of Siberia, it was a full-blown crisis, for the mill was the primary source of jobs for the 17,000 people who lived there.  When the mill shut down, other businesses folded. People went into survival mode, unscrewing all but one light bulb in their homes to save money on electricity.  They stayed in bed in the mornings because there was nothing to get up for. Alcohol consumption rose.

How to Age Well

Okay, okay, I admit it.  I’m a senior.  And I don’t always wake up in the morning bounding in energy these days.  My responsibilities have certainly changed from the days of parenting young children.  And while Harold and I travel a good deal in ministry, I do have more hours at home than I used to.

Running to Us with Forgiveness

You probably know it as the story of the Prodigal Son found in the Bible in Luke 15--the familiar account of the son who asks his father for his share of the inheritance, goes off and wastes it all and ends up penniless and hungry. Eventually he decides to go home to his father hoping that he can get a job as a hired servant.

Praying for Your Grown-Up Kids

Whoever thinks parenting ends when a son or daughter turns 21 doesn’t understand that a parent never quits caring.

            I always feel a heart-tug when I read the apostle Paul’s words: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 1:19 (NIV). Isn’t that a good description of your concern for your kids’ spiritual welfare--it’s like childbirth. If you have a personal relationship with Jesus, you long for each of your kids to make progress on their journey into grace too.

Paula's Story

In desperation, she grabbed two bottles--a bottle of whiskey and bottle of pills--and headed to the beach. At last she would end her pain. Two years of struggle and depression since her divorce had destroyed any thread of hope for the future. Why keep trying?

On Dark Days

When Harold and I were first married, we visited the coalmining region of England for the first time.  The weather was cold and gloomy as we entered a little town whose buildings were darkened by the coal smoke. The laundry hanging on the clotheslines looked gray and dirty even though it had just been washed.

The Value of a Child

When does a child get his soul—that part of a person that never dies? It’s a question that people have debated for centuries.

To start with, let’s go back to Adam.  The record in Genesis says that the Lord formed Adam of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). The initial thought, then, might be that a child receives a soul when he takes his first breath.  But I, for one, believe it is much earlier.