Month: April 2021

Encouraging Words for Your Soul

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Yesterday as I was walking through Kroger to get a few things for my sister in laws birthday, a gentleman stopped me to share a few words of encouragement with me. I was shocked. All I could think at first was, how did he know I needed to hear those words? How did he know I needed those exact words of encouragement to keep going another day? How did he know that I was feeling tired and out of sorts and needed. . .God. That is how he knew. God knew. God sent me a sweet word of encouragement through a total stranger.

Has that ever happened to you? Have you received a word from a total stranger that encouraged you and turned your day around? Or have you been led to speak words of encouragement to someone you did not know? It is such an amazing gift, no matter what side you are on, the giver or the receiver. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Kind words are like honey – Sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” An encouraging word offered at the right moment can be the difference between a good day and a bad day, between finishing the race and collapsing, or even between life and death.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” It can not get any clearer than that. We are called to encourage one another. We are called to build each other up. We are the hands and feet of Jesus here on Earth and when you feel that nudge to speak words of encouragement to someone…anyone…do it. The words will be sweet to their soul and your soul.

Lord, thank you for encouraging words. Help me to be sensitive to others needs and give me the courage to speak encouraging words to those whom you place my path. Amen.

Good Gifts

Matthew 7:11 “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

My son is struggling with English this semester. English has always been a challenge for him but this semester they are reading Shakespeare’s Macbeth and a book called Brave New World.  Neither story is an “easy read”. So, in order to help my son get through this class and graduate on time, I have decided to read Brave New World myself, learn what he is being taught in class, then reteach it to him in a language he will understand. Timing and circumstances make this the best solution for us right now. Now some of you are probably saying, “UGH! Not me. I don’t think I could do that.” But when you love your child and want the best for them, you may sometimes sacrifice your wants and needs in order to help them.

This got me thinking. If I, a sinful human, am willing to do this for my son, how much more does God want to do good things for me. In Matthew 7:9-11, during his sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs us to be persistent in our pursuit of God by continuing to ask, seek and knock on the door. God loves us so much that he gave his only son to die for us, so of course he will give you good gifts when you seek to understand his will for you, just like I want to give this good gift to my son.

Please note, Jesus said ‘good gifts’, not ‘everything your heart desires’. If a child asked their parent for a poisonous snake, of course they would not give it to the child because the parent knows that a poisonous snake is not a good gift. In the same way, God does not give you everything you ask for because even though you want it, it may not be a good gift for you.

So, how can you know what a good gift is? As you learn more about Jesus by hearing and reading the Word, your heart, mind and soul will be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Then you can be confident that your prayers are in line with God’s good and perfect will for you.

Dear God, thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to die for me and the Holy Spirit to guide me. Please help me to seek you so that I may know your will for my life. Amen.