Three Encouraging Bible Verses

Finding Hope in Three Encouraging Bible Verses

Do you have a special time of day when you read your Bible?

For me, the best time is right when I wake up.

I love the peace and quiet of the morning.  

Often, I’m up between the hours of 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. 

Granted, my PJ’s are still on and my bed hair could frighten children, but God doesn’t care.

He delights when we study His Word and worship Him.

There are so many passages in Scripture to treasure, but I wanted to share three encouraging Bible verses that speak to my heart.

Finding Hope in Three Encouraging Bible Verses

When I came to a saving faith in Christ and started reading my Bible at age 30, my whole perspective on life changed.

No longer did my faith take a backseat and I earnestly sought how I could use my God-given skills to glorify Him.

In this often dangerous world that we live in, His Word is the shining light that cuts through this present darkness and lights the way to our eternal victory through Jesus.

This universal calamity we’re all witnessing is temporary.

Delight in God Because He Delights in Us

Psalm 18 is a Psalm of David.

From what we read in the pages of this amazing scripture, God brought David out of the depths of despair into a life marked by humility and gratitude.

The verses end with “. . . because He delighted in me.”

18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into an open place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me. – Psalm 18:18-19, (NASB).

Today’s world is consumed with distractions, temptations of the flesh, and fear.

It’s enough to grieve the heart of every Christian.

But, God hasn’t gone anywhere.

He loves us and delights in us as our Heavenly Father. That is the beauty of His character – we are still His children.

We fail Him daily and yet He still loves and delights in us. Someday we will be with Him in Heaven.

Talk about encouragement!

One of the reasons I named this blog “Delight-in-God” in the first place is because, as Christians, we know that He delights in us and wants us all to come to repentance in Him.

God Is Our Strength

The following verse in 2 Corinthians is a great example for us of the Apostle Paul’s complete trust in God, no matter how challenging and dangerous his daily circumstances were.

Remember that Paul was beaten, stoned, and thrown in prison several times for preaching the gospel.

2 Corinthians 12:10

I have to admit when I first became a Christian and read those words from Paul, it was a shocker.

How can anyone “delight” in persecutions? Is this for real?

Of course when you’re being persecuted, your first reaction might be sadness or anger . . . but delight?

I once read that sometimes God has to bring us to our knees for us to realize our need to trust Him, no matter what.

This is a constant lesson I need to remind myself in my very human desire to make a bad situation better quickly.

Jesus is the perfect divine example of endurance through suffering.

It may feel like we’re struggling with a mountain of issues, but we are not alone.

As I grow older and look back on the past challenging circumstances in my own life, I realize that my prayers for perseverance to cope with those situations and move forward were answered.

He Knows You and Me By Name

He knows our names

Our God – God of the entire universe knows you and me by name.

He knew you before you were even born . . . He saw you being born!

He sees you in a crowd, standing in line, sleeping . . . everywhere.

And, He looks upon you as His child, worthy of redemption and salvation through His Son – that blessed gift of grace when what we really deserve is death for our sins.)

Jesus wants to have a relationship with us.

What do you do when you love someone?

You think about them  – a lot and all the time.

Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2You know 
when I sit down and when I get up;
You understand my thought from far away.
3You 
scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways
. – Psalm 139:1-3, (NASB).

He knows us better than we know ourselves and, for that, we should be grateful.

Better Place, Divine Grace

I hope you’ve enjoyed these three encouraging Bible verses that I’ve shared.

There are many more that capture my heart that I’ll share at another time.

I’m grateful that God chose me and I rejoice with you that He chose you – my brother and sister in Christ.

As much as I love the many wonderful things that have happened (and will happen) in the rest of this life, I know that Heaven is going to be so much better.

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All scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

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No Time For Patience

Confession Time

Ssshhh, let’s just keep this private between you and me.

I have no time for patience.

It takes too long.  🙂

Seriously, practicing patience is hard.

There’s my timetable of when I think things should happen, (silly human), and then there’s God’s timing.

We know Who controls the outcome of everything in our lives, and it isn’t you and me.

Hurry Up, And Wait

As hurried and busy as we all are, it still seems we do a lot of waiting.

Waiting on this person, waiting on that thing.

It doesn’t matter what it is, even the little stuff sometimes.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Years ago, I worked for a female executive who was very generous with her gift-giving. That’s a good trait for a boss to have, right?

I’ll never forget one birthday of mine.

She gave me a nice gift certificate for a facial at a fancy beauty salon.

I was excited.

It wasn’t just any facial. It was nine layers!

Facials come in nine layers?

Who knew?

nine layer facial

I’ll never forget it. The day arrived, and I lay there on the salon table in a small backroom as the esthetician smoothed each layer on my face. There were layers of seaweed and clay, plus lots of other rejuvenating, moisture-producing, ingredients mixed in.

It felt good, and it smelled good.

Time to close my eyes and relax.

This facial is great.

Aaahhh, so great.

Truly.

#reallygreat.

The Reveal

The tech told me to relax for the next hour as the facial mask did its work.

She then abandoned (I mean left) me alone in that little room.

Everything was fine for a few minutes, and then the ingredients started to harden on my face.

The nine layers stiffened up like concrete.

My head, weighing about a thousand pounds now, started to hurt.

The new age music she piped into the room began to creep me out, and the blanket on top of me was getting all kinds of warm.

Where was she? How long has it been?

I tried to move my concrete head. 

Fear took over.

The Bible says many times not to fear.

No time for patience

Does that command include suffering through a nine layer facial mask?

Where was she?

What if they all leave and forget about me back here?

After one of the longest hours of my life for the sake of beauty, the tech finally came back and took off my constricting layers.

I silently assured myself that I would never go through that again.

No Time For Patience? Practice Makes Perfect

I am not a fan of feeling out of control.

Roller coasters scare me.

On a serious note, how often does that happen to us in life?

We go into a situation, and it doesn’t quite turn out the way we planned. In fact, things can go terribly wrong. Layer builds upon layer of disappointment and we feel suffocated in misery.

Turn Your Impatience Into A Strength

We can get ourselves into so many predicaments, and then we want God to bail us out.

It could take awhile.

While we’re waiting, whether it’s a few minutes or even years, God hasn’t gone anywhere.

He’s still in control, loving us with His perfect love, and He knows full well our real pain and suffering.

Sinclair B Ferguson quote

Restlessness Is Another Opportunity To Pray

God always has a reason and can use our trials for His glory. We may not understand the reasons for our predicament at the time, but when impatience hits, instead of grumbling about it, why not stop and pray silently?

Pray for God’s will, His timing, and His grace.

Lord, please help us with our lack of patience.

Help us to trust You more, no matter what.

Don’t Move Ahead Of God

My husband and I talk about how often, when we’ve blindly rushed headlong into making a big decision, it turns out to be wrong every time. On the other hand, when we’ve specifically prayed, waited on God’s timing, what we thought was good for us either rightly fell into place or it didn’t. We know God was with us throughout and we trust His ways are best, even when His answer is No! Perspective and perseverance are essential.

Whether it’s waiting for the right job or trusting God through our illnesses, we should seek His comfort through the valley of frustrations.

The Apostle Paul encouraged believers in the book of Romans to remain firm in their faith.

Faith is living and active. It represents our confidence in God’s grace.

**12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. – Romans 12:12, ESV.

Keep your sense of humor, and know that the One who created that beautiful sunset outside, also created you. God never makes a mistake.

God created the sunsets

I hope this post has brought you a smile and some encouragement.

God bless you.

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*Sinclair B. Ferguson quotation, public domain and as quoted from Christian quotes.info

**Scripture quotation is from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Rose Among The Thorns

Be The Rose Among The Thorns

Has all the election buildup driven you nuts?

I completely understand.

I’m glad the election is over now. I believe that Donald Trump and his Christian running mate, Mike Pence, can do a lot of good for our country. We need to pray for God’s hedge of protection over America and Israel.

Friends, we have work to do.

First and foremost, no matter who is president, Jesus will always be our glorious King.

The Battle Isn’t Over

We must remain watchful. Haters of Christianity haven’t gone anywhere. Pray for them and shine your light to the world.

Child of God, no one can take away the love God has for you.

His love for you is eternal.

Jesus is coming back for His true believers and that’s why the devil hates us so much. 

It doesn’t matter how powerful the enemies of our faith seem, when it comes to God’s enduring protection over His sheep, evil is ultimately powerless.

I’ve seen some of the nasty comments from those who are upset over the election results. It’s sad that people can act that way on social media and television. Even so, we must respond with grace.

Be the rose

Be The Rose

You won’t hear this on the news, but here’s the truth:

  • God is never surprised.
  • His ways are not our ways.
  • His plan is working itself out.
  • There are many lost people in this world. They’ve turned their backs on God and His Word. They’ve bought into man’s vision of a utopia. Pray for them.
  • The spiritual battle rages on. Rely on the power of God.
  • Put on your spiritual armor, the Word of God. Commit His truths to your heart.
  • We will continue to feel the sting of this broken world, but the future Glory is ours.

Remember, we’re just passing through this world.

Be the rose among the thorns.

God Bless America!

 

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