Encouragement Prevails

Matthew 14:28-33 “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat the wind stopped blowing. The men in the boat bowed down in front of Jesus and said, “You are truly the Son of God.” When thinking about this past week, this verse came to mind. I would have moments where I would start to fear and stress about future events that I couldn’t control. Before I could get too sucked in I could feel God nudge me and I would focus on this phrase “Count it all as joy” ( James 1:2-4 ESV ). Then I was at peace. I was looking to God not my circumstances. I was allowing God and not my circumstances to dictate me. No matter the outcome I have God. I hav...

Matthew 18:3 Then He said to them , “I can guarantee this truth: Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven...” With this verse it’s definitely easy to jump to, “What do I need to do to have the faith of a child? What is the faith of a child?” It’s easy to become focused on the law and accomplishment side of it and “what do I need to do.” For the first time I saw a different way to look at this verse. God prompted me to focus on Him. He is our Father and we are His children. How does He look at His children and their faith? As a parent you quickly realize that while children may be “pure” from not having witnessed certain things in life, they definitely aren’t sin free. They are born with it and start to sin very quickly. As a parent your responsibility is to teach your children right from wrong and guide them down the right path. Proverbs 22:6 Tr...

Matthew 5:3 NIV Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. GW Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. Have you ever been really experienced at something and still found yourself going back to “step one”. I definitely find myself doing this in my faith. Recognizing that we CAN’T do it all. That we ourselves are not equipped. That we are broken and sinful. That we fall short constantly, of our own standards and especially God’s. Humbling ourselves and recognizing just how much we need Jesus. Admitting that we are spiritually helpless, poor in spirit is “step one.” AND YET God loves us, cares for us, fights for us despite all of that. Remembering and believing in this “step two”. Romans 5:10 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Hebrews 2:17 For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, s...

I remember the day growing up when my favorite color changed. I stuck with the same color throughout most of my childhood and even though I knew I didn’t like it anymore, I had a hard time letting go.I had let it become a part of my identity. It’s easy to let things slip in and become a basis of who we believe we are. Recently I have had two instances of this. I have been exhausted a lot more often than not with 2 little ones and a desire to stay up late. With that I started to lose my memory. I have taken pride in being able to recall things very well and remember details better than most. It was part of my identity. With that slipping away I felt like I was losing a part of who I was. One morning I had set an alarm to wake up and I had quickly shut it off so as to not wake anyone else….and I fell back asleep. Resulting in me being incredibly late to where I had to be. This wasn’t a scenario I was used to. This wasn’t “me”. Both times I felt God whisper to me “That’s who y...

Exodus 1:15-16 Then the king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth, look at the child when you deliver it. If it’s a boy, kill it, but if it’s a girl, let it live.” However, the midwives feared God and didn’t obey the king of Egypt's orders. They let the boys live. WOW! I personally didn’t remember the midwives as part of Moses’ story. In my mind it went straight to his mother hiding him for a while and then putting him in the river as the beginning of his story. Yet here are these 2 forgotten women who helped bring him into the world. Who out of fear of God didn’t kill him or any of the other little boys that they assisted in delivering. Now the fear that they had wasn’t “We better not do this or God is going to smight us and burn us to dust.” It was a fear out of reverence, honour, respect. They knew God wouldn’t want them to and their reverence for Him outweighed the possibility of death itself...

While today may be my birthday, it really has nothing to do with me and everything to do with God. I used to contemplate suicide on a daily basis. No one knew. No one had any idea. Well...no one except God. If it wasn’t for God I most likely wouldn’t be having this birthday. I would have never met my husband or gotten married or had my 2 beautiful children. I wouldn’t be writing this now. I would have most likely ended my life when I felt like things were too hard and I couldn’t overcome them or achieve perfection. The ONLY thing that kept me alive was Jesus. The ONLY thing that keeps me away from going down that path of thoughts is Jesus. Life is difficult, and your circumstances are not always ones you enjoy or would have ever chosen for yourself. You may have doubts and question “Why? This isn’t fair.” You may want to throw in the towel and quit, quit what you are called to do or even life itself. Wherever you may be I encourage you to turn to Jesus. God Himself, the Creator o...

Every day we have a choice, a decision to make. What are we going to look to? Our circumstances, the waves? Or Jesus who is in the midst of it all with us? Matthew 14:28-31 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hands and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” I must admit personally when I would read this I’d have an arrogant attitude. “Come on Peter, why did you look away from Jesus? Why did you get afraid and stop walking? He was RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU. You have witnessed Him do SO many amazing things and yet you doubted? It’s so simple you just need to look to God.” Thankfully God has humbled me and opened my eyes to my own doubt and sin. How many times have I experienced God and seen Him...

As a child I was afraid of the dark. As an adult I’m still afraid of the dark. There is something about it that has led some of us to have a fear of it and of the things that could happen during it. What happens when you bring God into the picture though. When you seek His wisdom, guidance, and truth about the night? The night does not mean the absence of God. He is always present and always with us and always ALL powerful. There are many times in the Bible that God works at night. Speaking to His people and even protecting them and helping them win battles. We are NOT vulnerable or alone at night, or even in circumstances that feel like darkness. God is always there with us. Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hands over the sea. ALL THAT NIGHT the Lord pushed back the sea with a strong east wind and turned the sea into dry ground. God was present the whole night. Working and providing them with a path to safety. He wasn’t only doing that though… Exodus 14:19-20 ...

Have you ever been going full force with something, thinking it was God’s will and purpose for you? That you were doing something righteous for Him, in His honor. Has God ever called you to do something and you were hesitant and didn’t want to? You questioned God on it. In Acts 9:1-19 we find both scenarios and one main theme. Saul was going FULL force for God, or so he thought. He was following all of the Jewish law and going above and beyond to defend God’s honor. Only to find out that he had been missing the mark, sinning, all along. Ananias is found being called to share the gospel with someone. Someone he doesn’t want to share the gospel with. Many reasons could come into play, fear of being killed. Spite, “he doesn’t deserve to be saved”. Disbelief, “he’s not going to believe or change his ways. He’s a helpless cause.” He questions God. He tells/reminds God of who this man is that He’s asking him to go to. Both men submit to God . Saul repents and fasts not only from...

BEFORE JESUS we were only able to succeed to the extent of our own capabilities. We were stressed and felt empty. Searching for more. For something to give us fulfillment. While we may have found it here and there it never lasted long. We needed to do better, succeed more. All our future ultimately held was death. A dark abyss where unless we made a name for ourselves that would be remembered, we would be completely gone. Then we found JESUS. He who came and fixed our problems, our sin. Took them on as His own. Suffered death in our place. Who brought us truth and life. There is no more need to strive for fulfillment. The Holy Spirit fills us up completely and continuously more than anything else ever could. There is no need to make a name for ourselves. The only name that matters, that needs to be known is JESUS. We don’t need personal gain or glory when we have Jesus. All that matters is sharing the goodness of the Gospel with others and sharing this amazing life with Jesus. Will...

My husband has been traveling a lot for work. With 2 children under 4, it has definitely been stressful, exhausting, and overwhelming. The most prominent feeling though, is a feeling that creeps in at night when the kids are asleep, the feeling of loneliness. Being alone, without adult contact. Having to bear the weight of many responsibilities alone. Alone with my exhaustion and the thoughts that come with it. The other night I was sitting there really feeling alone, when God “whispered” something to me. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. God will never “go out of town.” He is always there for you, by your side. He will bear the weight of your burdens. He will ease your thoughts and troubles. Will He change the circumstances surrounding you? John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you ma...

Do you ever feel scared, uncertain, forgotten, lost? Regardless of present circumstances, these are feelings that come up in our “normal” lives far too often. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. When reading this I was reminded of a vision someone shared with me once… Picture yourself as a small child, about 3 years in age, and imagine yourself scared about something unsure of what to do. Where would a child of that age run to for help? Their parents. 1 John 3:1 The Father has loved us so much that we are called children of God. And we really are His children. God is so loving and kind. He didn’t give us imperfect parents and say “Well good luck.” They are an example of the relationship that we are created for. Back to that vision….. We run to our heavenly Father, who is in His throne room, for help. As much as tv put a beautiful spin on royalty, that definitely...

There are things consciously or subconsciously that I feel like I need to be doing or have accomplished to succeed as a wife, mother, Christian, and just an adult in general. I want to be this certain person, a perfect person. Something that was brought to mind today when coming to God with this was the Proverbs 31 woman. That I should read it. I honestly didn’t want to. I was afraid that I would just add to my list of things that I should be, as I have before when reading it. God reassured me and suggested I go into it with an open mind. So I tried to read it not as a list of things I had to do, but stuck with the theme of the first verse. Proverbs 31:10 “Who can find a wife with a strong character? She is worth far more than jewels.” What character traits does she show in the things she does? I began to make a list as I read not focusing on the tasks themselves. As I was making the list a lot of them pointed to a woman of God... wise, tender, strong, purposeful, works as thoug...

Romans 8:30 He approved of those whom He had called and He gave glory to those whom He had approved of. 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our approval, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. As scripture says, “Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done.” Time to brag! How amazing is God?! He approves of you. Soak that in. An approving, loving Father that created the world. That doesn’t approve of you because of anything you do or can do. That approves of you, because of what Jesus did. WHO HE SENT TO DO IT!!! He approves of you completely of His own accord and will. He has called you to be His. He has picked you! You are chosen! Oh the weight that lifts off of my shoulders. The motivation that gives me to better myself, to pour into others. On top of it all He not only did all of that for you, but continues to do more by equipping you with the Holy Spirit to be able to achieve what H...

My mind started to wonder, what kind of an impact did that good act have? How much was done by obeying God? How amazing would it be if one day, in heaven, we got to see just how huge of an effect those things had. The domino effect it had. How many people it truly reached and how much it really changed things. How much God’s kingdom was affected by it. Then I had another thought… I really don’t want to see the effect my sin had on things. I don’t want to see how much I ruined something or hurt someone. How much I messed things up by not obeying God. God immediately interjected. Or do you want to see? See how much I am really working. See how great of a God I really am. See how despite you falling short, sinning, My plan was not ruined. See how I still saved that person and brought them to me. See how someone else was blessed in getting to be the person to do that. John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. B...

“GOD ONLY GIVES YOU WHAT YOU CAN HANDLE” This is a term I am definitely used to hearing in regards to a tragedy or very difficult time in someone's life. When they feel incapable of being able to handle a situation. Usually a situation that is considered bad or even evil. 1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. Psalm 145:9 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good - except God alone.” Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” James 1:19 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. God IS good. He is no...

Hebrews 7:26-28 We need a chief priest who is holy, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, and who has the highest position in heaven. We need a priest who doesn’t have to bring daily sacrifices as those chief priests did. First they brought sacrifices for their own sins, and then they brought sacrifices for the sins of the people. Jesus brought the sacrifice for the sins of the people once and for all when He sacrificed Himself. Moses’ Teachings designated mortals as chief priests even though they had weaknesses. But God’s promise, which came after Moses’ Teachings, designated the Son who forever accomplished everything that God required . IT IS FINISHED! Sin and death have no hold on you. Jesus defeated them once and for all on the cross. He is our perfect Priest and King. He has forever accomplished everything that God requires. There is no accomplishment we can have or do that can win us God’s love and affection. He has already accomplished everything. All we are called to do is ...

It’s almost a natural instinct within us to want to do stuff ourselves or by ourselves. We want to feel the satisfaction of accomplishing something on our own, in our own power.  As I attempt to write this my daughter is doing exactly that. She is trying to accomplish something in her own power that she’s not ready for yet, wiping. While I encourage all of her efforts and am thankful that she is motivated, I have to make sure the job is completely done and done the right way or it could hurt her in multiple different ways. Just like a small child we cannot do everything on our own. We need help in a multitude of different ways and not just here or there, but really throughout our whole day. If we don’t ask for and receive help we could get hurt in multiple different ways. The main way that we need to reach out and seek help is by praying to God. Praying for wisdom and guidance. Praying for patience and peace. Praying for healing and miracles. Praying to see if and who we should rea...

Psalm 27:14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. It takes bravery and courage to be patient. Whether it’s something small like trying to put a baby to sleep or big like waiting for results to see if you have cancer, you are overcoming a certain amount of fear. Fear that the baby won’t go to sleep, fear that the results will be bad. Ultimately it all comes down to faith. Having faith in God and His plan. Having faith in the promises that God has made you. Genesis 12:1-3 The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your relatives, and your father’s home. Go to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. Through you every family on earth will be blessed.” Abram, a 75-year-old, went to a land he has never been, with this promise from God. Knowing that his wife, Sarai, wa...

“Get a Life”, definitely a familiar phrase growing up. So familiar it tends to sneakily lead our thoughts. We long for lives that we want to “get”, usually revolving around an accomplishment or achievement. I haven’t really lived until ____. I’m not succeeding in life because I’m not ____. I just want a life where this coronavirus thing doesn’t exist. I just want my life to be as great as it is right now and not change. Even when we obtain those lives that we’re striving for, how long does it last until we’re wanting to “get” a new one, a better version of the one we have. We are constantly searching for more in our lives. We are created to want more. John 7:38 “As Scripture says, ‘Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.’” Jesus said this about the Spirit, whom his believers would receive. The more we are truly longing for, the life we are truly thirsting for, is one where we are living in closeness with God. He created us to walk wit...

The other morning I was laying in bed trying to fall back asleep after my husband had left for work. I didn’t get much sleep at all that night and just wanted a day where I wasn’t exhausted and moody. My 4 month old started fussing. My train of thought went something like this. “Nooooo…...please go back to sleep. God please have him fall back asleep so I can have more rest. I need it. I’m tired. You love me right? You’ll give me rest. …. No he’ll probably wake up, because you don’t care and I’ll have an awful day.” Ohh how God convicted me that morning. “If you love me you’ll _____”. I’ve heard talks on this many times and know we aren’t to treat God as a genie. He isn’t there to grant our wishes and give us whatever we want. Yet, still I fall into this. Is it wrong to pray and ask God for things? Absolutely not. To throw a fit when we don’t get what we want? That’s not really a respectful attitude to the Creator of the universe. To doubt that God won’t do something, because He does...

For a large part of my life I dealt with loneliness. I felt as though no one cared about me except my family. I longed for friendship. I went about 5 years or longer wishing and praying I had a friend. I honestly was praying God would give me a friend and make this friendship just happen. I didn’t want to be rejected or step out of my comfort zone. I didn’t want to have to work for it. I just wanted this longing in my heart to be fulfilled. The whole time God was working. He was showing me people I should seek friendships with. He was preparing relationships for me. None of it could happen though without me taking a step. There are definitely times when we are called to wait and be still. Such as now. Besides staying home and taking some precaution there isn’t much we can do to end this. We just have to wait for those who can. While we are in a time of waiting though we are called to act. One of the hardest things about this is being separated from those we love. Feeling lonely...

I don’t know about you, but I have had a lot of moments recently where I have felt like I was “drowning”. Completely overtaken by the rough waves of life. Waves of anger, pain, sorrow, fear, loneliness, chaos, you name it. Acts 20:9-11 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in a window. As Paul was talking on and on, Eutychus was gradually falling asleep. Finally, overcome by sleep, he fell from the third story and was dead when they picked him up. Paul went to him, took him into his arms, and said, “Don’t worry! He’s alive!” Then Eutychus went up stairs again, broke the bread, and ate. When praying over this set of verses I was led to think about our sin. We don’t want it. We don’t want the troubles of life. We want to connect with God and receive the Holy Spirit and all He promises us (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control). Yet time and time again we slowly allow ourselves to drift away from it. We drift and drift further ...

Something I have been struggling with lately is being screamed at, what feels like constantly. My 3 year old has decided that screaming is her way of communicating every emotion. I'm upset - scream. I'm bored - scream. I'm excited - SCREAM. I also have a 3 month old that is just finding his voice and is witnessing it all. Which has of course turned into him wanting to scream. I want attention - scream. I'm happy - scream. If they're not both screaming just because why not scream back and forth for fun, then one is screaming demanding my attention. It's exhausting and sometimes defeating. At least that's how I feel as an imperfect parent. 1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! Psalm 116:2 Because He has inclined His hear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. Psalm 18:30 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a sh...

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind stays on you, because he trusts in you. Throughout the whole day, my daughter kept looking at the scrape on her knee. “There are holes in it!” (scabs) As well as going back to the cut on her finger. “My finger is broken!” I tried to reason with her every time she brought it up. “It’s getting better! It’s healing! God made your body to heal itself.” Time and time again she kept bringing them up, worried, and not convinced. Later on in the day, she asked if she could help me with dishes. “You can, but you have to wait. I just washed knives and they could hurt you. Don’t touch anything on the counter, because you could accidentally touch a knife and get cut. I don't want you to get hurt.” Her response? “If I get hurt God will heal me.” For the rest of the day, she did not refer to any of her owies again. The moment she spoke God’s truth over herself and received it, she didn’t have a worry. She knew God would heal her. That H...

During this time of uncertainty there is only one thing that can truly bring me peace. That can give me patience and peace. That one thing is God, the Holy Spirit. How though? How do I receive the fruit of the spirit? I believe. I've been baptized. I pray. I read the Bible. I check off and have checked off all of the things on the "list" and I don't have it! Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. I'm standing at the other side of the door. Ready to let God in. I go to open it and it's stuck. I pull harder and harder! "God please take this fear away! Please take away my anxiety and stress, my anger. Why aren't you coming in!? I'm inviting you in! Please!" It's so easy to come to God in a panic. When I do I'm still having the fear, anxiety, anger, etc. be my main focus. Yes, I'm calling out to God, but...

Acts 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. I heard this as my husband sat in our hallway at our little girls door reading the bible out loud as she fell asleep. SO many things come to mind with this verse as well as this scene. During our time at home with our families, roommates, etc., we will be challenged and tempted in many ways. We are likely to be tempted to get impatient, lose our temper, shut down, be full of fear, and a lot more. When we give in to these things and slip up, we have to remember these words: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” We have been made clean by God. We are not made impure by our slip-ups. He died for them before we were even in our mother’s wombs. When you slip-up don’t let Satan get a foothold with his whispers of “You’re not good enough” “You’re an awful ____ (parent, friend, spouse, person, etc.)”, but proclaim back “DO NOT call God’s child who He has made clean impu...