Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Heb. 6:11 (ESV) It is easy to think that no one appreciates the things we do to help others. In their hurry they forget to thank and encourage us for our help. We can tell ourselves that we don’t really need the encouragement but it really makes a difference when we are thanked and encouraged. But if it isn’t happening we have the encouragement from this passage that God does not forget what we do. He sees our work, especially when we help His people. And even more, God actually deems our help as loving Him! We also know from Heb. 6:7 that God gives a reward to those who bear fruit for Him. Thus, God is saying to us “You fulfilled Continue Reading →

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15 (ESV) The Son of God did not just hold on to all his divine powers when he became a human. He emptied himself so that he could experience the weakness (compared to God) of being human. He did this so that he could sympathize with us! Isn’t it amazing that the Son of God had so much desire to sympathize with us that he became like us? So now, in our union with Christ, we are connected to Jesus who knows what it is like to be tempted as we are. This includes the temptation to fear, unbelief or despair when our life is filled with pain. Jesus knows the temptations of our pain and he cares. Continue Reading →

“We have come to share in Christ” Heb. 3:14a (ESV) The Greek word for “share” in this verse means participate, or be a partner. We actually participate in Jesus. Think how incredible this is! We love Jesus for his unsurpassed life on earth. We love his wisdom and love and compassion. He is the one we worship. And in spite or our faults, we are privileged to share in Jesus. This is yet another biblical mystery that even though we can’t fully understand we continually grow in the reality of it. We participate in Christ’s righteousness, in his power, in his love and in his light. We see the same idea in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (ESV) Reflection: Put your name Continue Reading →

 “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Heb 2:18 (ESV) Since Jesus felt the suffering that comes with resisting temptation he is able to help us too. How does he help us? Through the reality that all believers are connected to him like a body to a head. Thus, the same power to resist temptation that Jesus had, he gives to us when we abide in him. Temptation can include temptation to pride instead of humility, or temptation to neglect devotional time, or giving in to any of the deeper weaknesses inside us. When we feel the trouble that comes with temptation, when we feel the pull of our destructive desires, when we want to follow God but feel weak, then we can stop ourselves and put our hearts in front of Jesus. He knows what it is like Continue Reading →

“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” James 4:6 (ESV) What a huge encouragement to know that we actually receive the favor of God when we are humble! This is one of God’s most prominent traits in the Bible and this verse is actually a quote from the Old Testament in Proverbs 3:34. The worldly approach to success is to promote oneself, defeat others, exalt our abilities, etc. But God wants us to humble ourselves so that it is God who is the supreme worker in our lives. If we cling to pride or boastfulness God actually opposes us. Instead, we should adopt an attitude of the heart that reflects who we are before God, which is the definition of humility. It is okay to describe our abilities but God wants us to do this with humility and only when necessary. And we shouldn’t confuse humility with Continue Reading →