Category: Encouragement For The Downcast

²⁵ 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

As a child of God, you are blessed indeed. For the blessings of Almighty God is 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 is 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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⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ~ Matthew 13:55

We’re each called to a specific purpose. Each and every one of us is called by God Himself to fulfill a specific job while on this earth. Here’s the thing, though, not everyone can see your potential. Not everyone can see what God can.

You may come from an insignificant family in an insignificant part of the world, but God uses insignificant people. Oftentimes, when we look at ourselves, we only see what the world tells us. Where we come from. What our parents have done. Our failures. Our shortcomings. Our mistakes. Our ignorance. This isn’t how God sees us.

No, we’re not perfect. Yes, we do make mistakes. These are impossible to avoid, but they don’t take away from who we are in Christ. It may seem like you have a lot going against you, but if God is for you, who can be against you? When your faith, hope, and trust are in God, then your past cannot hold you back. God will use every willing heart.

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

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²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ~ Genesis 39:21

Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers. Then once he began to make way as a slave in Potiphar’s house, Potiphar’s wife lied about him and had him thrown into prison. Joseph is one of the best examples of how up and down life can be. Some days, your life is going great, but other days the enemy is after you, and one thing goes bad after another. That’s how life goes. Life is messy. It has ups and downs. It has good days and bad days, but when you follow God and put your trust in Him, He gives you His favor and shows you steadfast love, just like Joseph.

Joseph was sold by his own brothers and ended up in prison, but he never let it keep him down. He remained faithful to the LORD. He remained encouraged by the LORD. Why? Most likely because of his dreams. He knew that he was called for greater things. He knew that the LORD wouldn’t abandon him because he knew God had called him for greater and better things. This is the same with us today. We are called by God Almighty. He has greater and better plans in store for us. It won’t always be easy, but when God is for you, who can be against you? Always remember God works all things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Trust God In All Circumstances.

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¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ~ John 15:19

We live in the world, but we’re not a part of the world. In other words, do not participate in the things of this world; they are passing away. Yes, we live in this world. Therefore, there are things that we have no choice but to participate in, such as voting, but only according to Scripture. We don’t vote for things that are blatantly against God. We need to get back to the basics where righteousness is the rule of thumb, and holiness is the way of life. We need to get back to where our main objective is to follow the teachings of Jesus and to be our brother’s keeper.

Without this, we are saltless salt. But the thing about saltless salt is when we become saltless salt, we are of no use to Jesus in His kingdom. Without action, our faith is dead. We are to work out our salvation with much fear and trembling.

But what does that look like? Well, for one, we are always self-disinfecting. We are disinfecting others. And we are always spreading the light of God with others. But before we can start correcting our brothers and sisters, we must do self-correction. We must evaluate our own lives to make sure they line up with the LORD and not with the world. Jesus should be our goal, not to be like a celebrity in the world but like the one who overcame the whole world.

We are called for greater things than the world can offer us. Therefore, we are to live in the world but not be a part of the world because we have been called out of the world. We’re not to seek approval or acceptance from the world. We aren’t of the world. Therefore, if the world hates you because you follow Jesus, cling to the Truth of what that really means. If the world hates you, it’s because you’ve left it behind and have clung to the Light of the World. You’ve clung to the cross, and you are running this race set before you with all that is in you. Be encouraged and finish your race strong and filled with hope, and the LORD will reward you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Not A Part of The World.

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¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. ~ Luke 4:18-19

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was upon Him and that God the Father had anointed Him to preach the Good News of salvation. To release the captives and heal the sick, to bring freedom to the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.

Seems to me that we are living in that time, the time of the LORD’s favor. Why? Because this is the time when anyone can bow before the LORD, call on His name, and be saved. Before the giving of the Holy Spirit, that didn’t happen. That had not yet been an option for all of mankind.

Now, because of the fullness of Jesus, or the completeness of Jesus, we have received favor upon favor, and grace upon grace, to the point where we can do all things through Christ who gives us His favor, or His grace.

In other words, His completeness, or His fullness, which is His strength, becomes our strength, and we are made complete in Him as long as we are in Him, and He is in us. Nothing is impossible for us.

There is no lack in Jesus. There is no emptiness in Jesus. There is no absence of anything good in Jesus. There is no bareness of any kind in Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is the fullness of God, made complete through His obedience as a man, obedience even unto death. That fullness or completeness is given or granted to us by Jesus when He said, “Lo, I’m with you always.” That was not just for the first century Church, but for us as well.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Dwell In His Grace.

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¹⁰ Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. ~ Psalms 27:10 NLT

Many people have this idea that serving God will suddenly fix all their problems. Like accepting Jesus will suddenly make life a lot easier. This isn’t true because as soon as you accept Jesus, you have to start running the race set before you.

The race is tiring and difficult. Many fail; few even begin. The race isn’t easy; it’ll force you to choose between life and death. This may cause all people you love to abandon you, even your parents, but God will never leave you more forsake you. Instead, God will strengthen you and keep you. He will give you streams of living water that will never run dry. Why? Because God is our good Heavenly Father. He’s perfect and just in all of His ways.

When all others abandon you for doing what’s right, and the Devil comes against you like a flood, God holds you. He goes before you and clears the way. He dwells in you so that you might be strengthened and encouraged. He sticks closer than any brother, father, or friend. Why? Because He is good and He loves us dearly.

Peace. Love. Go forth and Follow Regardless.

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²⁰ Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ~ Romans 5:20-21

God is a Holy and righteous God. He demands perfection from His children, but because He knows that we in this mortal body could never be perfect gives us grace. What does that mean? Not every person is on the same level of restoration. In other words, we are all His clay pots because we are all His creation. Some of us are more broken with more dents and scratches than the others.

God is the Potter. He molds, rewords, and restores the clay pots with love and great attention. Some of us, God has been working on for a while, so our sins are (or should) no longer holding us in bondage the way they once were. Therefore, we should require (and He does give) less grace. Why? Because we should be overcoming more often and falling into pitfalls and traps set by the enemy less.

Whereas the clay that is only now getting remolded and reworked is going to struggle more. They’re going to trip up more. Why? Because they’ve only now begun to change. They’re babies in the faith still on milk. Those of us who have known the Truth for so many years should no longer be on milk but meat. We should be teachers and mentors to those young in the faith. We should no longer be on the same level as when we first started.

To those who have only just begun, be encouraged, be hopeful, and be strengthened in the Joy of the LORD. Always strive for perfection because even if you miss, you’ll land among excellence. To those who have been faithfully running the race set before you for a while, don’t grow weary of doing good. Continue to progress with confidence and endurance. Focus on the race set before you, but don’t forget the new believer. Always be seeking to mentor, teach, and guide the new believer through their journey. Always search for new fields to harvest, for the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Regardless of where you are in your faith, always press forward and never look back.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Always Move Forward.

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Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. ~ John 5:2-3, 5-9

The lame man had been lame for 38 years. The Bible doesn’t tell us how long he was at the pool for, but what we can gather is that it had been so long that the man had lost hope. His faith was almost completely gone, but something remained sparked inside of him. How can we be sure? He didn’t leave the pool area. He remained next to it. He didn’t leave the place where miracles happened. No, he stayed there whether he whole-heartedly believed one day he would be healed or not. He remained where hope was and where his best chance of healing rested.

By the time Jesus got there, the majority of his hope and faith had dwindled away. See, this lame man couldn’t walk, so he probably had to crawl to fight his way to get into the pool before other more able-bodied men and women could. Imagine day after day, year after year, fighting with all that you have within you to get to the pool first, but no matter how hard you try, you always fall short. Now, out of nowhere, a man walks to you and asks if you want to be healed. You don’t know who he is. You don’t know his power, so you just tell him that you can’t get to the pool. You’ve tried, and you’ve failed.

Sometimes, this is us. We have a heavy burden that we just can’t seem to carry anymore. We have a stronghold that just won’t let go. We have a spiritual enemy that just won’t relent. You have a sin that you just can’t shake. You’ve tried everything. You’ve been persistent, and now you’re at the end of your rope. Your faith is about done. Your hope is about dried up. I’m here to tell you to hold on. Remain in your place of hope. Remain in your place of opportunity because even if your faith is failing, that action of remaining in that place of hope will keep enough faith alive within you to catch Jesus’ attention when He passes by.

See, Jesus chose this man not because he had great faith. Not because he was a good man and deserved to be healed. Jesus chose him because he had been there a while but couldn’t get his healing. Jesus saw that the man couldn’t make it all the way, so Jesus carried the man. The man didn’t fall at the feet of Jesus and beg for a healing or reach out for a healing in faith as he touched Jesus. No. He didn’t even recognize Jesus. Jesus rewarded the man holding on to what little bit of faith and hope he had left.

When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on. Don’t let go. Don’t give up and leave. Stay in that place of hope. And if possible, keep fighting to get to the water. Don’t give up because soon, the Savior will be walking by, and He’ll be looking for someone to help. Don’t miss your opportunity. Don’t miss your chance at freedom.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remain Until The Savior Comes.

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⁵ For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. ⁶ Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars? ~ 1 Chronicles 17:5-6 ^KJV

Look at what God has said, I have not dwelt (I have not lived) in a house but have gone about with you, My people. I live among you. I move among you. I do not give Myself special treatment, but I dwell among My people wherever they go; I AM there with them.

Now, notice the next verse. I have walked with My people Israel. God did not mount up on Cherubim and fly. Neither did He just pop up to where they were going, but rather, He walked along with them, just like they walked. There is not one standard for His people and one standard for Him. God is a personal God. He will walk right beside you through the good times and through the bad times. He will not leave us, nor will He forsake us. But He will be right there beside.

So, the next time you feel like you are all alone. The next time the enemy tells you that there is no one there who cares about you, tell him he is a liar and the father of lies. Because your God is right there wheresoever you may go. God is both a Sun and a Shield. He is your rear guard, and He is your point guard, and He is your flank guard. No one can come against you except they first go through your personal God.

Jesus is our personal God. He gave His life as a ransom for many. Even for ‘whomsoever will come,’ therefore, let him or her who will come, come, and experience the up close and personal God, Who is always with us and is always for us.

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are always there beside me. Thank You that You will never leave me nor forsake me. That You care enough to walk alongside me through the hard times and through the fun times. Help me to always remember that You are for me and not against me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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