Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

The Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him, (Psalms 32:10, NIV). We have many challenges to faith in God in our lives. We are constantly tempted to worry instead of trust. We are constantly tempted to fix problems on our own because we do not want to entrust them to God and let his words guide us. We are tempted to shade the truth and deny the truth about ourselves. In short, we are tempted to live in fear and self-reliance instead of living surrounded by God’s love. This passage promises us that we are surrounded by God’s love when we trust in him. What is more secure and comforting than that? True, we can’t see him, and we don’t hear his audible voice telling us that he loves us and will work all things together for good. But we do have his promises. So it is Continue Reading →

Today we look at Psalm 31 and how the Psalmist was responding to suffering. In this psalm the author describes his miserable life. It is so bad that he says his whole life is consumed with anguish, and he has spent years groaning about it. His neighbors hold him in contempt. His closest friends dread the sight of him! Apparently, his life was so disastrous that his friends didn’t want to talk to him anymore because they didn’t like being exposed to his misery. People on the street actually fled from him. 10 My life is consumed by anguishand my years by groaning;my strength fails because of my affliction,and my bones grow weak.11 Because of all my enemies,I am the utter contempt of my neighborsand an object of dread to my closest friends—those who see me on the street flee from me.Psalms 31:10-11 (NIV) Have you ever been in a situation like Continue Reading →

The Lord is my light and my salvation —whom shall I fear?The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? Psalms 27:1 (NIV)This passage is a reminder that Yahweh is our light, our rescuer; God is our protector. His light enables us to see what is true and what is good. On our own we would just stumble. And he saves us, he rescues us, from ourselves and from everything that tries to steal our happiness. Finally, he is our protector, our fortress against attackers who slander us and damage our lives. Nothing can separate us from his love. That is why we don’t need to fear. And since he is Lord, Jesus is also the one who is our light. He is the light of the world (John 8:12). He is also our salvation because he is the door to salvation (John 10:9). Remember that Continue Reading →

He guides the humble in what is rightand teaches them his way. Psalms 25:9 (NIV)God wants to guide us and teach us, but if we allow pride to reside in us, then he is not so willing to guide and teach. Why? Perhaps because he doesn’t want to encourage and magnify our pride by giving us more blessings. Instead, God’s blessings flow when we keep in mind that all the good that we have began with God’s grace. He guides the humble, not the self-sufficient. We are weak and corrupt by nature, but he still accepts us. We can think of ourselves as students, not masters. We can remember that in our ministry, we are just messengers of his teachings; we did not create the truth. We can understand that we are servants of God and others, not kings over others. In short, if we embrace an attitude of the Continue Reading →

No one who hopes in youwill ever be put to shame.(Psalms 25:3, NIV)It is interesting how fear unconsciously and semi-consciously influences our lives. Is it not true that one of the reasons we do not trust God for difficult things is that we fear it will not turn out well? We fear he doesn’t hear us, or that he won’t act, or that we won’t like the way he acts. We fear letting go of our attachment to something in order to trust God in that area. We even fear that he won’t keep his promise to reward us in the next age for our sacrifices now. Yet God promises in his word that if we put our trust and hope in God, then we will not be put to shame. In the Old Testament, to hope in God meant that God will give faithful believers material blessings, prosperity or Continue Reading →