Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

Cast your cares on the Lordand he will sustain you;he will never letthe righteous be shaken. Psalms 55:22 (NIV) This verse is very similar to a well-known New Testament passage, 1 Peter 5:7 which reads: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (NLT). Is it easy to cast our cares on him? It sounds like we should be throwing our anxieties on him like we would throw our backpack on the floor when we are done with a hike. We don’t want to carry it anymore so we throw it down and let the ground support the backpack. We never worry about whether the ground can support our backpack; we are fully confident in its strength. It carries the weight of 100-floor skyscrapers so it can carry the weight of our backpack. Likewise, God can carry the weight of our anxieties. It is not Continue Reading →

Evening, morning and noonI cry out in distress,and he hears my voice. Psalms 55:17 (NIV) It is easy to forget that God actually hears the words we speak to him. When I pray I sometimes realize that I am unconsciously thinking that I am sending words upwards and I hope that they penetrate into heaven and that God hears them. But God promises that he hears us. And by “hear” we mean that he gives weight to our words and that they have an effect on him. He is the good Father who listens. Does not God dwell in our hearts through his Spirit? Are we not united to his Son? How could he not hear us? Let us be aware of how we view God when we pray and encourage ourselves that he is listening. Without faith it is impossible to please God! (Heb. 11:6) We Have A Spiritual Continue Reading →

But I am like an olive treeflourishing in the house of God;I trust in God’s unfailing lovefor ever and ever. Psalms 52:8 (NIV) When we trust in God’s love then we will flourish. We may not flourish with worldly prosperity but our hearts will enjoy God’s peace and joy, and in the next age we will flourish in every way as in the Garden of Eden. In this life we will produce fruit that lasts forever and pleases God. Therefore, we can always exclaim that we are like an olive tree constantly expanding and producing abundant fruit in the house of God, which is the community of his people in the city of God, the New Jerusalem, to which we have already come (Heb. 12:22). Not only does this Psalm remind us of Psalm 1 (God’s faithful are like a tree by a stream bearing fruit) but also of John Continue Reading →

But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.If you keep to my path,I will reveal to you the salvation of God. Psalms 50:23 (NLT) When we thank God we acknowledge the good he has done and we recognize him as good. Thus, thanksgiving is an expression of our faith in who he is and what he does. This is why we honor him when we thank him. We are declaring and displaying him to all beings in the heavenlies. If we maintain an attitude of thanksgiving and stay faithful to his teachings then we receive a blessing that is far more valuable than anything we sacrifice. We get to see the salvation of God. This is more than the privilege of living in the next age. It also means we get to see and experience his process of redeeming us now. We get to see his work in Continue Reading →

Sacrifice thank offerings to God,fulfill your vows to the Most High,and call on me in the day of trouble;I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Psalms 50:14-15 (NIV) God encourages us by promising deliverance. But what kind of deliverance does God promises under the New Covenant? Under the Old Covenant God’s deliverance was usually a physical deliverance: from military enemies, from personal enemies, from misfortune etcetera. But under the New Covenant God has not promised political or economic prosperity or freedom from enemies and distress until Jesus returns. For now, he promises something even better: inner communion with him, a cleansed heart, and interior peace that surpasses understanding. What does he ask of us? That we would trust him and thank him for who he is and what he has done – our thank offerings. That we would fulfill the commitments we have made to him – our Continue Reading →