Encouragement For The Downcast Archives

December 6, 2020May 28, 2021

The Good With The Bad

²⁸Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” ~ Mark 10:28-31

Often times, we, as a Church, only like to focus on the positive things that come with Christianity. And by no means am I saying that they won’t happen, but as Job said, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Will we only accept the positive that comes with Christianity and not the negative? Jesus never said that each day would be sunflowers and roses; instead, He said that He would give us the good, but we also have to accept the bad. Just like a rose garden has both the mud and beautiful roses, so does life. Life isn’t easy, but it’s worth it because, in the end, Jesus promises that we shall inherit eternal life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept The Good With The Bad.

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Continue The Good Fight

“¹⁹We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” ~ Hebrews 6:19-20

We have this hope that Jesus, our LORD and Savior, went ahead on our behalf to make a way for us. He not only paid for our sins on the cross, but He continues to bring us hope by bringing petitions on our behalf before the Father. He intercedes on our behalf, bringing us this hope that our prayers are being heard. Don’t give up hope when you feel like the road is getting too hard or overwhelming; Jesus is praying for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Continue The Good Fight.

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Live Your God-Given Dream

“So Joshua said to the people of Israel, ‘How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?’” ~ Joshua 18:3

Seven of the tribes had become complacent even though they had God’s promise. Has God given you a promise or spoken to you about something, maybe a ministry or a business? If God has promised, He will deliver. Don’t just sit on a wealth of potential and be satisfied with someone else’s spoils.

It looks daunting, and giants are in the land but get up and go take possession of YOUR promise, live the dream God has given you.

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His Favor

“For His anger endures but a moment; in His favor is life: weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.” ~ Psalm 30:5

If God loves you, He will discipline you; but it’s only for a short time because He loves you. Therefore, His favor lasts a lifetime. His favor will open doors that were once closed; it brings that promotion that was out of reach. It protects that wayward child and restores that broken relationship. His love is the reason why weeping will only last a night, but when the sun comes up, it brings joy, new hope, renewed mercies, and fresh blessings. Be blessed today, be joyful today, be hopeful today and be optimistic today; God loves you and cares for you.

Father, we, Your children, come and humble ourselves before You. We thank You for Your love, but as we are only human, LORD, we ask that You help our faith, our understanding, and our patience. For LORD, we do not understand all that You do, but we know that all that You do is for our best interest. Help us, today, LORD, to understand only a loving parent disciplines their child.

In the precious and Holy Name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

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The Blessings of His People

“Because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb.” ~ Genesis 49:25

You are blessed indeed. For the blessings of Almighty God are all around you. Reach up, reach out, and take hold of the blessings He has reserved just for you. Speak them over your children, and pronounce them over your family. For the blessings of God are greater than the blessings of ancient mountains, or the bounty of age-old Hills.

Heavenly Father, please bless Your people today. Encourage the discouraged, bind up the brokenhearted, and teach us Your ways so that we may know You and receive blessings from Your hand. Help us to recognize and appreciate all the blessings you’ve blessed us with. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Shout Even Louder

As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” ~ Matthew 20:29-31

Today’s crowd is even more selfish, for they don’t even want Jesus to come into their city. But the two blind men were not intimidated nor discouraged. They shouted even louder, and Jesus heard them and granted them their heart’s desire. If they had caved under the crowd’s abusive words or decided to wait for a more opportune time, they would have missed their miracle. Don’t wait, don’t be intimidated, don’t hesitate, and DO NOT BE DENIED. Jesus is passing by; this is your day and your miracle. Just reach out and touch Him, and your life will never be the same.

LORD, harken Your ear to each cry of faith today and give a healing touch to everyone who believes. Grant liberation to those who call and deliverance to those who are bound. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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The Goodness of The LORD

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” ~ Psalm 27:13-14

Sometimes we are tricked into thinking that we have hope only in eternity, and this life is only filled with hardships. The truth is, we can see the goodness of the LORD in this life, as well as the life to come if we pray and believe and wait on the LORD. Sure there will be obstacles and hardships, that’s unavoidable, but we are also promised the good along with the bad. It won’t just be all bad; wait upon the LORD and seek Him. When you seek Him with all of your heart, He will answer.

Heavenly Father, there are many of Your people who may be somewhat disheartened with life. LORD, please minister to these needs today. Heal sick bodies, restore broken relationships, give favor and success to those who are job hunting, and give wisdom to the businessmen and women. Father, bring hope to the hopeless situation. Bring joy and peace to turmoil.

In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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What Do You Want?

“The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him because his hands refuse to work.” – Proverbs 21:25 ^NIV

What do you want in life? Success? A spouse? A family? A job? To lose weight? Get in shape? Spiritual growth? Run a 10k? Get your degree? We all have desires. We all have dreams. There is something that all of us want, but not all of us get them. The majority of the time, our biggest problem is us. We allow laziness, procrastination, fear, lack of determination to overtake us. We’ll settle for less than because we don’t want to put in the work, or we’re too afraid to fail.

But what do you want? Because success won’t hunt you down, neither will a job, weight loss, a spouse, or anything you want in life. You have to go out and take it. You have to go out and fight for it. Work for it. It’s not enough to want it. It’s not enough to pray for it. Sure God will help you, but you have to do your part, get the ball rolling. Once you get the ball rolling, God will help His children. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Do. Don’t wait for tomorrow to do what you can today because tomorrow may never come. Don’t wait for the perfect time because there is no such thing as perfect timing.

Whatever you do, do it to the best of your abilities. Give it everything you have. And as you go through your day, I pray this blessing over you, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalms 90:17 ^ESV) Decide what you want in life. Get the ball rolling. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Do it today.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Get The Ball Rolling.

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The Heartbroken

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” ~ Psalms 30:5

Needless to say, heartache is a part of life. It is inevitable, and especially when you have loved ones, because life does not last forever. Someone today may have their heartbroken for whatever reason. Maybe it’s the death of a loved one or the death of your innocence. Maybe it’s words that have cut through your very soul. I’m here today to let you know it’s not the end of the world. It is not the end of your dreams.

I know it hurts now, but God has promised: “Joy will come in the morning.” So hold on, hold tight, don’t lose sight of where you’re going. The LORD is your very great reward. Begin to put this into practice bit by bit daily, and you will receive the joy of the LORD, which will be your strength. Be encouraged today for the pain you feel now won’t last forever, for you have been promised the joy of the LORD.

Heavenly Father, please bring Your peace to troubled lives, bring comfort to the brokenhearted. And as hard as it seems to us, help us to forgive others who have hurt us needlessly. Restore relationships, put the broken pieces of shattered lives back together, and bring Your overwhelming peace into our fragile lives. I ask this all in Jesus’ name, amen.

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Your God-Given Mission

“³¹He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³²He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ He said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” ~ Mark 8:31-33

Jesus was on a mission, and when He shared His mission, it was different than what Peter had in mind. So what does Peter do? Peter rebukes Jesus in an attempt to discourage Him from His God-given purpose. Now, what does Jesus do? Let’s look at verse 33, Jesus turns and looks at His disciples. He was refocusing, reevaluating His mission, and when He saw His disciples, He was reminded why He had come. He had come to die for these lost souls and, indeed, all the lost souls of the world. If you are ever discouraged, turn, look, reevaluate your mission, and never ever let anyone, no matter how close, talk you out of your God-given purpose, for it is for the Glory of God.

Heavenly Father, we know the enemy is stomping around like a roaring lion seeking someone or some ministry to destroy. We realize he will use anyone or any situation to achieve this. LORD our God, we ask you to rebuke the devourer today on our behalf and to deliver us from discouragement. Send someone along today to encourage your people because You love us and care so much for us that You shed Your blood to redeem us. Thank You, Father, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

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