Category: Encouragement For The Downcast

^“10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” ~ Psalms 103:10-13

Our sins and our iniquities called for swift and just judgment, but praise the LORD for He indeed is good. He does not repay us as our sins deserve or deal with us as our iniquities demand. But in love, and with grace and compassion, wrapped up in a whole lot of patience does He forgive our rebellious ways, because of the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross. Every time we fail or get tripped up, God is not waiting with some big stick to give us a good whack with. But He is watching in hopes to see a true turning away from sin.

Just like we want to give our children good things, He wants to bless His children even more. Don’t be fooled by the religious spirit that tells us that God is like an old ogre just waiting to smite the next sinner. No, He sent His only begotten son to die on Calvary that we don’t have to suffer. Think about the cost of our salvation. How Jesus was beaten beyond recognition. How He suffered shame, and humiliation in our stead. How He hung on the Cross, enduring pain and more insults to buy our pardon. Now, does that sound like someone who hates us, or is trying to get us? No, it does not.

The problem is, we look at things from a temporal viewpoint, but God is seeing eternity and is working all things to the good for an eternal reward. Things that seem important to us now will not even matter in eternity. Remember no eye has seen, no hear has heard, neither can we imagine what God has in store for us in eternity. Let us not second guess God, but endure, and run the race marked out for us. Accept the bad with the good, the reward will be worth it all. Paul said these light afflictions cannot compare with what God had in store for us.

Father open our eyes to see the eternal and help us not to focus on the temporal. Help us not to get bogged down with things that are quickly passing. But rather, LORD, help us keep eternity in perspective that we might see Jesus when come to get Your children. In Jesus name, Amen.

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⁴⁹ And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” ⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. ⁵¹ But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. ~ Luke 22:49-51

Is healing for Christians alone? Do you have to be saved to be healed? Do you have to have a personal relationship with Jesus to receive your healing? I believe that anyone can be healed as long as they have faith that they will be healed.

See Jesus saw this soldier who came to arrest him in order to lead him to his death. In order to have him brutally beaten and whipped, yet Jesus still touched his ear and healed him. I believe that healing is for anyone who’s heart is willing. For a willing heart is soft to the things of God and is impressionable for FAITH to find it’s way in.

See, sometimes salvation comes before the healing. But sometimes the healing comes before the salvation. Healing is for anyone who is willing to be healed. But just because you are healed does not mean you will be saved. See salvation will keep you from returning to that disease. Some will say that a disease isn’t a spirit that comes back. The only problem is that a disease is a spirit that comes back. Even science tells us that a disease and a virus need a host in order to survive.

There are spirits that cause diseases, that cause disabilities, that cause pain. How do we know, because Jesus casted out many evil spirits that caused men to be mute, blind, lame, etc. But what good is knowing this? The spirit will return to the house it once was in and if it finds it empty it will fill it again. And that healing is overpowered by that spirit because you are without salvation. Healing is for everyone who is willing to be healed. But healing will turn only to short relief if the house has been swept clean and left empty.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Receive Your Healing and Fill Your House.

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“²⁴ And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.” ~ Genesis 7:24

Ever get tired of waiting for a promise to be fulfilled? Of course, you do. We all do. We all pray and pray and pray and wait for an answer that doesn’t seem to come. Imagine how Noah felt when the rain stopped, but the Earth was still completely flooded. There weren’t even mountains that could be seen, only water.

That’s how it is for some of us. God has destroyed everything around us that was evil, that was bringing us down, that was keeping us from Him, and we are currently seeing nothing. We look out expecting to see life and hope, but all we see is the water that took away everything.

Sometimes it feels like it will take forever for the floods to subside, but what we don’t understand is that under all that water is a new and better life. The life God intended for us. Sure some will take longer than others, but it will never come late. For God’s timing is perfect. His will for us is perfect. If we allow God to use us, He will destroy the evil in our lives and build us a new and better replacement for the old. But we have to have patience. We have to continue to try new things, Noah sent out a bird four times before he even considered taking off the covering of the ark to look.

Sometimes we have to focus on what God has for us right now, not outside of our ark. We have to wait for the rain to stop before we can send out a dove to make sure it’s safe to move on/forward. And if you listen really closely, God will tell you when to come out and go forward.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Listen To The Rain.

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“⁷ Listen to me, you who know right from wrong, you who cherish my law in your hearts. Do not be afraid of people’s scorn, nor fear their insults. ⁸ For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing. The worm will eat at them as it eats wool. But my righteousness will last forever. My salvation will continue from generation to generation.” ~ Isaiah 51:7-8^NLT

Don’t be discouraged when you are being persecuted, insulted, and excluded because of your faith. Jesus came to Earth to give all of mankind life, and they not only persecuted Him, but they also crucified Him. But He wasn’t discouraged. He did not allow His countenance to fall, for He knew in whom He trusted, and He knew the plans that His Father had for Him and the entire Earth.

When the world attacks you, don’t be discouraged because God is for you. He will bring you through this persecution, through this pain, through this suffering. Your treasure isn’t here. Your home isn’t here. Your reward isn’t of this world because you are not of this world, which is why the world will never accept you as its own. Both Peter and Paul understood this, which is why they both tell us to rejoice in persecution.

Our reward is Eternal Life with Christ, Jesus. No more pain. No more suffering. An Eternity where only love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control abide. So, let us not focus on our current persecution, for as Paul said, this is only light affliction to what is to come.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Focus On Your Eternity.

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“⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.” ~ Isaiah 53:6

No one is perfect. God didn’t get off of His throne to die for the sins of only some people. He didn’t pay the debt for only certain sins. God died and paid the debt for each and every sin known to man. Past, present, and future, doesn’t matter. God paid for them all.

We should’ve been the one on the cross, but instead, Jesus took our place. He took our punishment so that we didn’t have to. We don’t have to go through Eternity without Him; we can receive forgiveness for every sin we’ve ever committed. All we have to do is repent and confess. That’s it. Repent for our sins and confess that Jesus is LORD. We don’t have to live broken, fearful, ashamed, living in bondage because of our sin; Jesus came and paid our debt. There is no sin too great for God. There is no one too dirty for Him to clean.

You don’t have to clean yourself before going to Him because you can’t clean yourself. The whole point of going to Jesus is to be cleansed by Him. If we try to clean ourselves, it would be about as productive as washing a dirty body with a muddy rag. We can’t fix ourselves. We can’t clean ourselves. We can’t heal our own wounds. Only our creator can fix His creation. A broken pot cannot repair itself; it needs the potter to come and make it new. We are the broken pot, and God is the potter.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Him Clean You.

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“¹ But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.” ~ Genesis 8:1

After God punished the Earth, He remembered Noah. God didn’t leave Noah alone. He didn’t forget Noah. God sent a wind, so that the waters could be removed, and Noah and his family could exit the ark and enter into the new world that God had washed clean for them.

God may remove you from a situation that you’re in, but could it be so that He may cleanse the land of wickedness and bring you to a new land that is not corrupt so that you can thrive? God doesn’t change, and if He remembered Noah, He will remember you.

So don’t be discouraged by your current circumstance, for God may be creating for you a new world to flourish and grow. Not every loss, is a loss. Not every break, is a time of punishment. Sometimes God removes you from a situation, so that He can bring you into a better one. And when the land is ready for you, God will remember you and bring you into your new land.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Encouraged.

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“¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. ¹⁶ So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” ~ Genesis 4:15-16

Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy, then lied to God about it, and even in all of that, God still had mercy on Cain. Before there was The Law. Before there was redemption, Cain sinned, but God didn’t leave him there. He was punished, but God still had mercy on Cain. We live in a time of grace when God can still be found. When God has already paid for your sins and offered you forgiveness. He has paid the price and taken the weight on His shoulders.

Cain lived in a time that had no law. Had no way to be justified, yet God still found a way to give him grace. Don’t be ashamed to come to God. Don’t be ashamed of what you have done, for your Heavenly Father’s arms are opened, and He is waiting patiently for you to return home to Him. There is nothing you can do that is too hard for God to forgive and cleanse you of, so return home for His mercy is great, and His love for is never-ending.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enter Into His Grace.

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“⁵ You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you” ~ Psalms 86:5

The Psalmist describes God as forgiving and good. He goes on to say that God abounds in love. What does that mean? God is love. His love cannot and will not ever run out. Because God is infinite, His love is infinite. No matter how far we’ve run. No matter how much debt we’ve collected, when we call on Him, He is faithful to answer. He is faithful to forgive us. He is faithful to love us. We are His children, so let us all return to our Heavenly Father, for He is forgiving, good, and abounding in love.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Return To Your Good Father.

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“¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” ~ Ephesians 6:15

Paul tells us to put shroud our feet with the gospel of peace, but why our feet? Why not our mind? Could it be because Jesus gave us the gospel of peace so we can walk on stable ground in an unstable world? Even if everything else around us is in chaos, at least the ground we walk on is sturdy, never changing. So we don’t have to worry about the troubles of the world, but instead we can literally walk with/on peace. In this time of fear, anxiety, and panic we can hold to the promises of God and put on the Gospel of Peace as Paul instructed.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Put On Your Gospel of Peace.

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