Tag: encouragement
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Lessons from Suffering
Part 1 1 Peter: 3:8: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. It’s time to talk about suffering. Not a favorite topic, I know. But in this world, we are guaranteed to have troubles (John 16:33). Life can hurt, and sometimes it feels…
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Change the Moment
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). When you help someone bear their burdens, you are living out the law of Christ. You are living out love. That meal you took to the grieving family? That’s Christ’s love. The hug you offered to the one whose heart was hurting? …
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A Peace Not of the World
Advent 2024 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give I to you” (John 14:27a). My small, simple soul longs for peace. I tend to absorb the emotions of those around me, so when I am surrounded by strife and conflict it leaves…
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Gratitude Changes our Heart
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love and his wondrous works for all humanity. Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices and announce his works with shouts of joy” (Psalm 107:21-22, CSB). To quote Madame Blueberry from VeggieTales, “A thankful heart is a happy heart.” I have tested this and found it to be…
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A Prayer for the One Feeling Small
Sometimes this big world makes us feel small and insignificant. But God speaks truth into the darkness: So to the one feeling small today, I am praying this scripture over you: “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.…
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This I Call To Mind
Lamentations 3:21 says, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.” The act of “calling” something to mind implies intentional action—a conscious choice on where we focus our thoughts. When my heart grows weary, and hope feels faint, I consciously choose to remember and offer praise for what God has already done.…
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Where Do We Find Healthy Rest?
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Friend, let’s talk about rest. Retreat is not true rest. If we are not careful, we retreat not only from hard things, but we retreat from God. Healthy rest includes space for God, because healthy rest…
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Heart Wide Open
2 Corinthians 6:11: We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. I am feeling called to vulnerability. Called to a higher degree of transparency so that I can offer connection and hope to others. While I don’t think this means baring my soul to every stranger, sometimes God brings someone into…
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Broken and Brave
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). We all have strengths and gifts…
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More Than Words
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2) Do you ever crack open your Bible and the words seem to fall flat? When my heart feels this, I have…