Encouraging Words Devotional

There are times in my life when I’d just like to be invisible.  I don’t want to hear anyone call my name for help, or ask me one more question, or expect anything from me.  Do you ever wish you could just stay in bed and pull the covers up over your head for the entire day?

Just over one hundred years ago a baby girl was welcomed in Saskatchewan, Canada and named Audrey. She grew up on the Canadian prairie, learning at an early age to churn butter and to bake bread in a wood stove.

There is so much we don't understand about life.  For example, why is it that a really fine Christian may be killed in an auto accident while the drunk who hit him walks away without injury?

Five times in the New Testament, John is called "the disciple whom Jesus loved." What is interesting, though, is that all five occur in one of the books John himself wrote, the Gospel of John.  In other words, John uses this expression of himself. 

Rachel's parents were teenagers, and both were deaf and unemployed. When her mom was pregnant with Rachel, her dad stabbed her, hoping to kill his unborn child. A divorce soon followed, and Rachel and her mother went to live with her grandparents and two uncles. When she was five, Rachel's uncles began to make sexual advances, beating or burning her if she resisted.

During the years when Harold and I were raising our family, I came across a little paperback book called "Your Teen-ager and You" by Anna B. Mow. There is hardly a page in the book where I have not underscored at least one sentence. And her words carry a lot of weight with me because she raised four teens at the same time!

She crossed the finish line of the Boston marathon and was able to receive her Abbott World Major Marathon 6-star medal for running the top 6 marathons on the world! Her name: Jane-Jane Ong, a dear friend of mine from Cebu, Philippines.

Elizabeth Gilbert writes,    

Some years ago, I was stuck on a … bus in New York City during rush hour. The bus was filled with cold, tired people who were deeply irritated with one another, with the world itself. …. No mercy would be found here.

I really like this story from the book of Matthew:

The Pharisees—that is, the religious leaders of Jesus' day—came to Him plotting how they might entangle Him in His talk, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"

One Bible student has counted 3,237 different people mentioned in the Bible. Granted, we're not given all their names, but still, each one serves as an example—for good or bad. One is a man called Onesiphorus, a friend of the apostle Paul.

The apostle Peter urged us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Knowing that's what God wants, my friend brought up very practical issue: "If I have 1,001 things to do every day, how can I grow in my relationship with the Lord when sometimes a quick prayer is all I have time for?"

Though my dad was in ministry for more than 70 years, my mom rarely spoke to groups in public. That's why after she passed away, I was so happy to find some speaking notes of hers. She brought a message based on Romans 12:1, where the apostle Paul writes, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice"--reasonable in light of all that God has done for us.

I'm stunned by how much God loves us--no, actually I'm stunned by how much God loves me, especially on those days when I can't seem to do anything right and I feel so unlovable. Mornings when I stay in my pajamas until noon. Days when I resent being interrupted to help someone else. Evenings when I stay up too late doing "whatever" on my laptop or phone.