Encouraging Words Devotional

Stop for a moment—take a deep breath and mentally come with me. We’d better tiptoe.

            See that manger? Look inside. What do you see? Nestled in the hay is a tiny newborn baby, wrapped tightly. He’s no ordinary baby. The very Son of God in human form! Who but God would come up with a plan to have a relationship with us that would begin with a baby!

For years I’ve been fascinated by John’s words in the Bible, where he wrote that when Jesus comes back to earth, we will be like him, “for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Amaziah, the king of Judah, was headed to war with 300,000 soldiers. But he didn’t think this was enough, so he hired another 100,000 from the nation of Israel, for which he paid a hundred talents of silver—a tidy sum that amounted to between three and four tons of the precious metal.

We read about it in the Bible in the Old Testament. The Philistines and Israel were about to go to war and Israel’s King Saul and his troops were shaking with fear. They were waiting for their spiritual leader Samuel to come and plead for God’s help. But Samuel didn’t come. So, contrary to God’s instructions that only a priest was to offer the sacrifice, Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

Dr. Gary Chapman has become known for his books on the five Love Languages--five ways that love can be expressed—whether to a husband or wife, family or friends.  Here they are: gifts, touch, acts of service, words and quality time. Each of us has a primary way we best respond to love being expressed to us, using one of these languages.

I read the following on a wall plaque in a restaurant:

Love puts the fun in together

The sad in apart

The hope in tomorrow

The joy in a heart.

Heather Reynolds is the founder and director of an outreach in South Africa that has saved the lives of thousands of children among the Zulu people. They call it God’s Golden Acre. In the face of insurmountable odds, Heather has provided a loving home for hundreds and hundreds of children with HIV-AIDS and those orphaned by the dread killer.

Back in the 1980s, Heather Reynolds, along with her husband, Patrick, founded an outreach that has saved thousands of children among the Zulu people of South Africa. They call it God’s Golden Acre.

Tribulation is a word that you probably don’t use every day of the week.  But you experience it nearly every day. Tribulation means trouble, problems, hardship, misery, suffering, and misfortune--I’m sure you’ve got the idea.

Mart DeHaan calls pride “a great imposter—one so clever that he deceived even the devil himself.” He writes, “I’m learning that he is no fool. He flatters us. He defers to us. He encourages us to develop an exaggerated opinion of our own importance, while at the same time letting us think negative and self-destructive thoughts about ourselves…. He has hats for every occasion and masks for every emotion. He has a different voice for every decision. Sometimes he struts—sometimes he limps.”[i] Good description, isn’t it!

 

[i]Mart DeHaan, “A Great Imposter,” pamphlet produced by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI, February 2005.