God Has Plans For Us – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Many, Lord my God,are the wonders you have done,the things you planned for us. (Psalms 40:5 NIV) God has plans for us. This is the rock of our soul, that we know he will do good for us. For the rest of our life on earth, he will give us victory over sin and trials. We will radiate Christ’s light to those around us. We will enjoy God’s Spirit and live with inner peace and joy. God has plans for us in the next life. We will be free from our old corrupt self. We will see Jesus and be transformed to be like him, which means the image of God will be fully restored in us. We will be “married” to Christ so that his divine nature will permeate us. We will live in eternal bliss. God will reward us individually for the sacrifices and good works we have Continue Reading →

I Am Loved By God Even In Pain

Scripture tells us over and over that we are loved by God. Nothing can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:35-39). The ultimate demonstration of His love was giving His Son to become a human and die for us. He also gives us a new self to live from and puts peace and kindness in our hearts. His Scripture makes us wise and transforms our lives. His Spirit lives in us and actively and patiently works in us. God even answers prayers. And the best gift is that He guarantees us a fantastic eternal destiny. So shouldn’t it be easy to trust that we are loved by God? Unfortunately, trust doesn’t come naturally to us. Consider how often we lose our faith in His love. When life starts caving in, it is harder to keep faith that we are loved by God. We think, “God is all powerful so if Continue Reading →

God Upholds Our Steps – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

The Lord makes firm the stepsof the one who delights in him;though he may stumble, he will not fall,for the Lord upholds him with his hand. (Psalms 37:23-24 (NIV)) Our Christian life is a journey, and it comes with many twists and turns and stumbles. We may want God to give us instructions for every step, but he does not do this, nor would he want to. He wants us to learn to trust his invisible hand, which we may not even recognize. Instead of waiting for step-by-step instructions, God would like us to delight in him. This keeps our hearts abiding in him, which he honors with guidance. Then he upholds our steps. Our steps will be “firm”; they will solidly contact the ground and give us a foundation for our next step. We may stumble because of the troubles in the world or because of our lack of Continue Reading →

We Shall Inherit The Earth – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

“But the meek shall inherit the landand delight themselves in abundant peace.” Psalms 37:11 (ESV)Earlier in this Psalm, the psalmist was encouraging readers not to fret over wrongdoers because they “will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb” (v. 2). Instead, if we are patient, God will bless the righteous. It is not the violent or selfish who will eventually inherit the earth, but rather the meek, those who “trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness” (v. 3). This reminds us of Jesus’ words “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:4, ESV). He was saying that when God’s kingdom is fulfilled, the peaceful ones who followed God will rule over the earth; this is the promise of the kingdom of God. Thus, the promise of this Psalm will be fulfilled. We do not need Continue Reading →

I Am A Child Of God And An Heir

God actually adopts us into His family as His child when we believe in Christ (Rom. 8:15)! It seems too good to be true, but you are a child of God. This is our new core identity and we need to remind ourselves of this daily. When we remember who we are, we will find strength to become more like Christ. When people adopt a child they often go to great expense and effort. God did the same thing for us: the Son came to earth as a human and endured opposition and execution just so that God could adopt us as a child of God. And once He adopted us, we became one of His heirs (Rom. 8:16). In fact, Scripture says that Jesus is our brother (Mt. 12:49-50 (Mk. 3:34-35); Heb. 2:11, 17) and just as He receives an inheritance from the Father so too we are fellow Continue Reading →