Encouraging Words Devotional

I was always quite close to my Uncle Phil, so when he passed away, I grieved deeply. A few days after he was gone, a long-time mutual friend, Dr. Dorothy Jean Furlong, wrote these words to me, "Don't think I'm hard-hearted, but I think sometimes believers need to remember Paul's words 'to die is gain.'" She was referring to a verse in the first chapter of the apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians. The verse says, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (verse 21).

So much of life keeps us in turmoil. Have you noticed that just when you think you can't cope with another crisis, you're slammed with a new one? Like a ship tossed around in a storm, you struggle to deal with the latest urgent situation that challenges you.

In 2001 Charlotte suffered a major stroke that resulted in her losing not only her speech but the use of both legs and one arm. But Charlotte was determined not to give up on life. In spite of her disabilities, she believed she could still fulfill her desire to share the Gospel with those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. She learned about a project to make leather bracelets that have five colored beads strung on them to represent five facets of the Gospel message.

Driving through rural Connecticut, I noticed highway signs directing people to the Thankful Arnold House—brown signs that denote a place of historical significance. I couldn't help wondering who Thankful Arnold was, what happened to him to make him thankful, and why his house is significant.

Eric Denton can't help all of the poor in Mexico, but he's making a tremendous difference for the ones he does help. He and a team of 28 people from the church he pastors in Riverside, California, went on a building mission. They started with just two homes in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Mexican border town of Tijuana. One of the homes was for a family who was living under a tree—a single mom trying to raise 3 kids, working all day while the kids fended for themselves.

Allan Franklin Davis III - Bud, as he was called - waited only until he was eight years old to do something significant, and it happened on the basketball court. By this time, he had already been playing for four years. So, when the season began that year, Bud was surprised to learn that most of the players on his team had never played basketball before. Needless to say, they lost most of their games.

For many years Drs. Paul and Margaret Brand were dedicated medical missionaries in India.

Wanting to give her daughter a beautiful wedding in spite of a limited budget, the mother of the bride gathered blossoms from friends’ magnolia trees and the night before the wedding banked the front of the church with the luscious, creamy-white blooms.

George, a young man in Greece, was planning to attend Bible college when the scholarship he was counting on was inexplicably cancelled. Frustrated and disappointed because of the closed door, he enlisted in the army to fulfill his nation's required two years of military service. George eventually completed a law degree with distinction.

Born in Mexico as one of 14 children, Graciela lost her father when she was only ten. Her mother, having no way to support the children, obtained a visa to come to the U.S. and took any job that would provide money to send home.