Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

You overhear a co-worker talking about their belief that people go through reincarnation until they eventually become god. You are friends with them, and you want to talk with them about your faith. So how do you bring up the topic without coming across as combative? How do you say something that they would actually listen to? Do they have any ideas that you agree with that could be a bridge to unbelievers? What doors are open to them? Consider the following list of traits that Christians value: Now here is the surprise. This list is not from a Christian or a Christian book. It is from the secular book Positive Psychological Assessment, by Shane Lopez and C. R. Snyder, published in 2003 by the American Psychological Association (“APA”). The APA is a large secular association and we don’t know the personal beliefs of the authors. This book comes from the Continue Reading →

“The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping” (Psalms 6:8, ESV). We don’t have to be consciously communicating with God before God hears our tears. Of course, he wants us to pour out our hearts to him in conscious prayer, and this is our lifeline. But when we abide in Christ, then God hears our tears when we cry, and that moves his heart. He is like an earthly father who hears his child sobbing in their bedroom and goes to the door to listen for the reason. Will not the father try to rectify the situation in order to relieve the suffering? In the same way, our heavenly father hears our tears and they move him to action. Maybe he will rectify the problem, or maybe he will comfort us in our pain, reminding us of our ultimate destiny. (Tears won’t be eliminated until the second phase of Continue Reading →

“But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him” (Psalms 4:3, ESV). We who have chosen godliness and holiness have been set apart by God as his personal friends; we belong to God. We are the ones whom he loves and cherishes and we belong to him. It is amazing that the infinitely good and powerful God would choose weak humans to belong to him. Doesn’t this tell us how much he values these majestic human creatures he made? And even though we are corrupted with sin, all who choose to follow him are in his family. This is our identity and destiny – being united with God. And so when we call to him he hears because he treasures his own. He makes us “more than conquerors” in a destructive world and beautifies our souls. How often do Continue Reading →

“[God] is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy” (Jude 1:24, NIV). Sometimes when we are weak and faced with temptation it feels like we are going to fail. But God really does provide keys to overcoming temptation. The first thing we can do is refocus our hearts on Jesus; in other words, practice “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Heb. 12:2). Then we can focus on walking in the Spirit. We can redirect our mind to God’s Spirit inside us and let him become the influence in the moment. Finally, we can choose to live from our new self, the part of us that desires to be close to God. These three sources of power are keys to overcoming temptation. If we practice them, we can look forward to the next age when we will appear before Continue Reading →