weekly words of encouragement

Feasting On God – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.They feast on the abundance of your house;You give them drink from your river of delights.” Psalms 36:7-8 (NIV)The ones who trust and love God are the ones who take refuge under his wings. We have placed ourselves inside him, relying on him for our life and for the protection and blessing of our souls. And since God is a loving father who wants to give joy and satisfaction to his children, he rewards our faith and love with gifts from his personal possessions. We are feasting on God. He presents us with a feast of truth, peace, and friendship. His kingdom is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 14:17) His Scripture is like honey on our tongues. His Son is the bread of life, who nourishes us with his goodness and restores the image of God in Continue Reading →

close friends

Spiritual Friends Fulfill Our Hearts – Part Four

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So far in this series we have looked at several ways for developing close spiritual friends. This week we look at accountability and healing. Many of us have a love/hate relationship with accountability. We know it is good for us, but we rarely, if ever, seek it out. And if someone tries to hold us accountable without our asking, our usual impulse is to resist it. Moreover, the idea of us holding others accountable makes us cringe because we don’t feel qualified or, we fear the disturbance in our relationship. But if we want deep spiritual friends, then we will welcome accountability. In the New Testament accountability is mentioned in the form of warning each other. Colossians 3:16 instructs us to be “admonishing one another”. The Greek word for admonish means gently warn or caution. I prefer the word warn because “admonish” is vague to many of us. Warning each Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

God’s Love For Us Is Unbounded – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens.” Psalms 36:5 (NIV). God’s love for us knows no bounds. He created us so that he could shower his love on us. He is the perfect Father who delights in seeing his children grow up, develop their gifts, and enjoy the blessings of creation. He gave us his Son (John 3:16) and his Spirit so we could reunite with him and live forever in his perfect community of love. We are citizens of his kingdom now and have the privilege of brightening up our world with his goodness and love. There is no end to God’s love for us. He did not care that we were unholy, but rather: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”Romans 5:8 (NIV) God’s love for us is unfailing because it depends on his nature, not ours. Continue Reading →

Friends people meeting laugh

Spiritual Friends Fulfill Our Hearts – Part Three

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So far in this series we have looked at four ways for developing close spiritual friends: bearing burdens, using spiritual gifts, building one another up, and encouragement. Today, we look at two more: comfort and intentionality. 2 Corinthians 11:4 teaches us: “[God] comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (ESV)  It is interesting that the Greek word for comfort is the same word used to describe the Holy Spirit as a comforter, paraklētos. Thus, believers have a role similar to the work of the Holy Spirit for each other. All comfort comes from God, and we are to be the channels. Paraklētos can also mean exhort or urge, and this is how it is used in other passages. Thus, we are to comfort, exhort, and urge one another as spiritual friends. Consider Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

God Delights In Our Well-Being – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.”Psalms 35:27 (NIV). God delights in our well-being; he has joy when we are blessed. Like a good father, God is happy when we are well. He is emotional about it; he feels delight, joy. He is pleased when we embrace the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings (Phil. 3:10), for our sake and for others. But I don’t think he delights in how we are feeling when we suffer. Rather, he is forming us so that we can experience complete well-being. He gives us tastes of that now. And God delights in our well-being of walking in the Spirit and experiencing joy and peace. He is like a good father who is just happy to watch his child enjoy playing in the park. He made us to experience well-being, and he is happy when he accomplishes his goal. When we Continue Reading →