Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; Psalms 103:13 Think about how we treat children when they are in pain. Do we minimize their pain? Do we neglect them? Do we expect them to act like adults? And think about how we treat children when they do something destructive. Do we berate them or put them down? Do we punish them just to hurt them? Do we withhold our love or support for them? Yahweh has compassion on us like we have compassion on children. If we fear him, honor and revere him, then he has compassion on our pain. He cares, he wants to comfort us and he does not put us down for being fragile. When we do something destructive he may discipline us for our own growth, but he does not punish us. He does not Continue Reading →

[Yahweh] satisfies your desires with good thingsso that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalms 103:5 (NIV) In what way does God satisfy our desires with good things? In this age he does not promise abundant provision or a godly political system or perfect health. He does not promise freedom from pain, sadness or loss. He does not even promise a direct vision of himself. These are all good things that we naturally desire, yet he does not promise them. Yet. We will have all of these on the New Earth, but we do not have them now. So, what do we have? He satisfies the deepest longings of the human heart. He gives us a direct connection to him by placing his Spirit inside us. He gives us peace that passes understanding, he gives us deep joy even if it is mixed with sorrow, he gives us truth Continue Reading →

The nations will fear the name of the LORD,all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.For the LORD will rebuild Zionand appear in his glory. Psalms 102:15-16 (NIV) It can be discouraging when we look around us and see so much ungodliness and destruction. People cling to their own self-centered ideologies and teach the next generation to do the same. Whole nations choose to reject God and pursue their self-gratification. Our children are taught by teachers who reject transcendent moral values and so the children are lost and unable to navigate their world with a healthy moral compass. Yet, one day the nations will all fear Yahweh; they will honor his glory. After Jesus returns every knee will bow to him and then he will judge the nations. Those who have served Yahweh will remain and there will be citizens of every nation. These nations will all honor Continue Reading →

Know that the LORD is God.It is he who made us, and we are his;we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalms 100:3 (NIV) In our natural state we are sheep without a shepherd, imprisoned in a pasture of darkness and destruction. When Yahweh rescues us he unlocks the gate and sets us free from our prison. We enter his infinite pasture of unlimited possibilities. Best of all, Yahweh becomes our shepherd. He does this because we now belong to him, we are part of his precious flock. He treasures us and wants the best for us because he loves us. So, he lets us graze in his pasture, we eat from his goodness, the tastiest grass in the universe. We drink from his stream of living water, a river of life that flows from our depths. No matter what happens to us in this age, we are Continue Reading →

Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. Psalms 98:8-9 (NIV) We do not normally associate singing with God’s judgment. Why would someone sing for joy about the day when God will send so many people to destruction? Isn’t this a sad time? This Psalmist does not think of judgment this way. They are thinking of judgment in terms of God bringing goodness and justice to the earth. Do we not mourn all the suffering around us? Are we not sick of all the malevolence dwelling in so many people? Are we not sad about all the hearts that rebel against God and persuade others to do the same? Instead, we look for an end to suffering and neediness. We Continue Reading →