Encouraging Words Devotional

Sometimes when you’re reading a book, a single phrase jumps off the page and catches your attention.  It happened to me this week.  I was reading Jill Briscoe’s book The Deep Place Where Nobody Goes, and the phrase that stood out to me was in the middle of a conversation that Jill was having with God.  The phrase? Simply the words “Spend me.”[i]

Science writer Samuel Alibrando proposes a challenge to anyone who has difficulty believing that God created the earth. He says,

Let’s make a huge puzzle….  And let’s limit it to say, one million parts. It includes chemicals, scientific properties, elements, atoms, cells, changing weather, bugs, fish, reptiles, plants, dirt, mammals and instincts. Okay, can you put it together so that not one thing lacks what it needs…?

Ken was still madly in love with Mary after 40 years of marriage.  Everyone could see that! But Mary unexpectedly passed away with cancer, and Ken found himself alone and heart-broken.

An artist decided to begin work on what he meant to be the masterpiece of his life.  In his mind he knew exactly what he wanted to paint. He was working on the canvas, putting on the drab colors and grays that were to make up the background, when a friend came by to see him.

I’ve discovered something I’d like to share with you. It’s based on the rather embarrassing fact that when I read a book I tend to forget what I’ve read.  Can you relate to that? Perhaps you’re blessed with a photographic memory, but since most of us aren’t, let me share something I’ve found to be helpful.

A friend sent me the following email:

Have you ever been just sitting there and all of a sudden you feel like doing something nice for someone you care for? THAT'S GOD talking to you through the Holy Spirit.

When you see a Bible, perhaps you think of it as a book full of rules and regulations--a book that tells you to stop doing what you want and insists you start doing what you have no desire to do. Be honest—is that what the Bible seems like to you?

I recently read a book where the author suggested that you replace old, negative, condemning thoughts about yourself with new, positive, encouraging thoughts and thereby raise your sense of self-esteem. She believes that by visualizing what you want your life to be, you can change it. But I have found that thinking positively about myself is simply not enough. Too often I cannot live up to my own expectations.

I like to read the Best Seller List to see what kind of books people are buying.  Many are fiction. Others are biographies—they’re some of my favorites. Most deal with various issues of life in the 21st century.  But there’s one book on the Best Seller List that dates back more than four thousand years—yet people still read it today. Of course, it’s the Bible. Amazing, isn’t it, that people still read a book that was written so many years ago!

Ray Pratchard, in his book The Healing Power of Forgiveness, tells about a wise old monk and his young apprentice who were walking together along a forest trail. Their monastery had a rule forbidding all contact with women, but when they came to a river with a fast-flowing current, they saw an old woman weeping near the shoreline. “She asked for help, saying that she couldn’t cross the river on her own. Without a word, the older monk picked up the woman and carried her to the other side. She went on her way while he and his young colleague continued on their journey. Two-and-a-half hours passed without a word being spoken, but the young monk was seething on the inside.