Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

For you formed my inward parts;you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalms 139:13-14 (ESV) When God created the world, it was not his intention to govern the world by himself, or even with his angels. It was not his desire to control everything that happened on earth. He gave humans the dignity and honor of being his governors over the earth. This is what the author of Hebrews is getting at when he quotes from Psalm 8: What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Hebrews 2:6-8 (ESV) He called humans to be fruitful, rule over the earth, develop it and protect Continue Reading →

If I go up to heaven, you are there;if I go down to the grave, you are there.If I ride the wings of the morning,if I dwell by the farthest oceans,even there your hand will guide me,and your strength will support me. Psalms 139:8-10 (NIV) No matter what situation we are in, Yahweh is there with us. It may feel like he isn’t there, and we may be unable to see his influence because of all the distress, but he is with us and supports us. No matter how high from the earth we travel, even to another galaxy, he is there. Even if we descend to the place of the dead he is there. If we were to ride the morning sunbeams to the far east, he would be there. If we moved far west beyond the ocean, he would be there. We prefer to see things with our Continue Reading →

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Psalms 138:8 (ESV) It is natural to wonder if everything will turn out okay for us. It is natural to wonder if God has a purpose for us. It is natural to wonder if we will succeed in cooperating with God’s purpose for us. The Psalmist is confident that Yahweh will fulfill his purpose for him because Yahweh’s love endures forever. The same is true for you. He has a purpose for you and he will fulfill it because he loves you. His highest purpose for us is to become Christlike so that we can be united with God in love through Christ. If we endure in faith to the end then we will become like him when we see Christ as he is (1 John 3:2). His specific purpose for your life may be unknown Continue Reading →

For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,but the haughty he knows from afar. Psalms 138:6 (ESV) In January 1936 England’s King George V died and his son Edward the Duke of Windsor was proclaimed king of England. Unknown to the public, he had become romantically involved with an American woman named Willis Warfield Simpson. She had already been divorced from an American Navy pilot and was in the process of separating from her husband Ernest Simpson, an American businessman. When she filed for divorce later in 1936 with the intent of marrying King Edward the news hit the British press which scandalized the British public. The press, the public, the Church of England and most politicians opposed the marriage. A twice-divorced American commoner was not a proper Queen for England. Edward tried to find a way to appease the public but could not succeed. On December 10, Continue Reading →

For the LORD will give justice to his peopleand have compassion on his servants. Psalms 135:14 (NLT) The basic idea of justice is that those who do good are rewarded and those who do harm are penalized. In this first phase of the kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated, the servants of God are often not rewarded for doing good. Sometimes we are rewarded, but often we are ignored or even ridiculed. Destructive people often prosper, and self-centered people become popular and successful. But one day God will make everything right. We will no longer say “this world is unfair.” God will give justice to his people and reward them for all their good deeds. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Continue Reading →