Aug4
Category Archives: Encouragement
Jun21
Inspiration for Fathers
Happy Father’s Day to all the “Dads” in my life! Thanks for your unselfish devotion, enduring strength and excellent example…
- “And you, my son, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you…
1 Chronicles 28:9
Feb12
Rainbows in Your Soul
The soul would have no
Rainbow
If the eye had no
Tear.
~anonymous
Take the time to see God’s touch in your tears and look for the rainbow that He has provided.
Feb7
God’s Provision for His Children
Nehemiah 9:15 (New International Version)
15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
God will provide for the needs of His children. Nothing is impossible for Him…His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His solutions to our problems are divinely inspired. When His children were hungry in the desert, He rained down manna from heaven. He also provided quail for them to eat by stirring a wind which drove massive numbers of the birds from the coast into the desert, where they fell right in the camp of the Israelites. They were thirsty…He brought water out of a rock!! None of those solutions would have been possible in the mind of a human, but God, our Creator, has His own way of solving problems. He will provide for us in unimaginable ways that will meet our specific, individual needs, but we must trust Him as our Father and provider.
Lay your requests at His feet.
Many times we pray for God to intervene in a situation, but before we allow Him to answer our prayers, we try to force our own solution with our limited human ideas. If we simply lay our requests at His feet and allow Him time to answer our prayers, we might be amazed at the “water springing forth from a rock,” or the “bread raining down from heaven” in our behalf, or a “directional wind” blowing favor our way.
Pour out your heart and soul to your Heavenly Father, and prepare to be amazed at the events He will orchestrate to meet your needs in unique ways. God is the Master of thinking “outside the box.” Trust Him to provide for you in your time of need. Anything is possible with Him!
Jan17
Getting Your Hands Dirty
“Getting your Hands Dirty”
cbrown.cooksey
40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Mark 1:40 – 42 NIV
Leprosy was an incurable, disabling skin disease which terrified people. In keeping with Jewish Law, lepers were considered unclean and were unable to participate in any religious or social activity. They were the ultimate outcasts of Jewish society. They were banned to live in leper colonies outside the main areas of the cities and were not allowed to mingle with the healthy population.
However, when Jesus saw this diseased, leprous man, he had compassion on him. Despite his visual appearance and all the dictates of Jewish law, Jesus reached out and TOUCHED this man with his hand of healing. This reaction went against every belief of all those people who were watching. Jesus looked beyond the disease and saw inside the man. In doing so, Jesus demonstrated a valuable example to his followers. The real value of a person is on the inside. Outward appearances of a person’s body may be deformed or diseased, but the person inside is no less valuable to God. No person is too disgusting or disfigured or diseased for God’s touch.
In a sense we have all been diseased and deformed by the ugliness and disfigurement of sin, and we could, therefore, be considered leprous in the eyes of God. Instead of looking away from us in disgust, God had compassion on all sinners when He sent His son, Jesus, who touched us with love and forgiveness and gave us the opportunity to be healed.
When is the last time you got your “hands dirty” in the name of Jesus? When your feel repulsed by someone, take a moment and think about how God feels about that person…and how he feels about you. Stop and ask yourself, “What would Jesus do in that same situation?”
Jan1
Welcome 2010!
“In Pursuit of True Prosperity”
As we welcome 2010 today, many of us are facing a new year with hopeful anticipation that this new beginning will bring renewed prosperity. The past year continued with an unprecedented economic downturn, but we now see glimpses of recovery. Most all of us have been negatively affected in some way by the global recession, and we all hope for better times in the year to come. As I think about what prosperity means to me, I am reminded about a scripture passage I read recently which brought the term into a spiritual focus for me. “True Prosperity” can be summed up as simply the blessings of God upon my life. He knows every intimate detail about me and knows exactly what I need for a life of heaven-sent prosperity. God’s definition of prosperity is not the same as our human definition, however. His blessings upon us include peace, joy, faith, hope and love. They can also include favor, gifts and talents. No matter how he chooses to prosper us, His blessings are always superior to what we would glean from the world.
His word is very clear about His promise to prosper the lives of His children if we carefully follow all of His commands. It is also very clear about the consequences of our disobedience. Deuteronomy 30:2-3,9 NIV tells me, “..when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you…Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands…Then the LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous..” He even tells us how we can know what He commands of us: “what I am commanding is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach…No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” Deuteronomy 30: 11,14
God has created each one of us with a unique purpose in mind. He will equip each of us to fulfill that purpose and to live a life of true prosperity, but we have to choose to obey Him in every area of our lives. After reading the above passage, I am prompted to examine my heart and soul and determine if I am fully committed to obedience to the LORD. As the New Year begins, I can’t think of a better time to perform some “house cleaning” and self-examination. I pray that I will start the year with a committed heart and soul, purged of worldly worries and encumbrances which crowd out space for God to fill me with the blessing of His glorious presence in my life. I pray that He will use me in mighty ways in 2010 for the glory of His kingdom. In doing so, I will know “true prosperity!”
Oct18
Victory in the Valleys
“Fall Overlook in Dillard Valley”
by cBrown.Cooksey
Victory in the Valleys
By cbcooksey
“The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord’.” 1 Kings 20:28 NIV
I recently came across this verse in my morning devotional. I have read the passage before, but I must have skimmed right over it, missing the beautiful nugget of truth embedded within. Like the Arameans, we sometimes forget that our God is not only the God of our Mountaintop experiences, but also our Valley-low experiences as well. The story in 1 Kings recounts a great victory in battle by Israel’s tiny army, 7000 men, against the vast Aramean army. God gave Israel the victory in that battle, which was fought in a valley, and the casualties for the Arameans numbered over 125,000. The Lord wanted all to know that He not only is God of the hills, but also God of the valleys. God was glorified through this “victory in the valley.”
At times we find ourselves in a “valley of life,” and it is easy to lose sight of the fact that God is right there with us, fighting our battles for us. Presently, we are in a type of economic valley. The current global recession is a deep dip in our business cycle. We all feel the pain of the slump in our economy, and each one of us has felt some degree of financial discomfort as a result. Yet through this precarious monetary situation, we must learn to place our trust in our Heavenly Father instead of our bank accounts or retirement funds. In Deuteronomy 8:17-18, we are reminded, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to
produce wealth…” And despite the downward slide of the stock market on Wall Street or the downturn of real estate values, we can hold fast to His promises. “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.” (Isaiah 33:6) God is the Lord of the highs and the lows of the financial markets.
Another type of low point some may experience is an emotional valley. By definition, a valley is also known as a depression, which is a widely diagnosed condition in our society. Those who suffer from this prolonged state of emotional dejection, sadness and withdrawal must realize that God is right there with them in their hopelessness. His word speaks life and hope into the depths of their despair and promises that “…there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress…The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:1 -2) God’s love can shine brilliant light into the deepest caverns of your heart and soul. God is the Lord of the highs and the lows of our emotional state.
An illness is a type of physical valley that we all suffer through at times. Some illnesses take us to greater depths than others. While our bodies wage war with the invading infection or disease, we must remember that God is with us through every step of the process. In our weakened condition, His word gives us encouragement, “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40: 31) His word also provides comfort and assurance in our most critical illnesses, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Our God, The Great Physician, is the Lord of the highs and the lows of our physical state.
The death of a loved one is perhaps the most painful low we can experience. Mourning is a valley of sadness that we experience over the loss of a beloved person in our life. It can last for a prolonged period of time and cause us to feel like we will never come out of the vast canyon of grief. Yet even at a time when no human comfort is effective, God promises in His word, “…I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.” (Jeremiah 31:13) God, our Comforter, is Lord of our sorrow.
Interestingly, geographic valleys are places of lush, fertile land. Mountaintops are not known for growing an abundance of crops. Over time, the elements have eroded the peaks, leaving very little topsoil for vegetation to grow. For example, the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges have very little vegetation growing, yet Napa Valley down below is one of the most fertile regions of the world for growing world-class grapes. The rain and snow drain down from the mountaintops and flow into the valley, carrying rich nutrients which feed the crops and vegetation growing there. Likewise, our valleys of life can be fertile grounds for producing bountiful spiritual fruit. Most spiritual growth is a result of the valley experiences we face. God can use those experiences to harvest a bumper crop of fruit in your life. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:21-23) He can also use those times to draw us into closer relationship and total dependence on Him. Without our time in the valleys, we would not experience such an abundance of spiritual growth.
When you find yourself in a deep gorge of life, look up and realize that your heavenly Father is the God of your hills and your valleys. He is the one true God and wants to bring victory in the valleys for His children. He will receive glory in the process, and all will know He was and is Lord of all, forever!
“Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:5)
Sep26
Refuge from the Storm
“Rogers Bridge Over Chattahoochee River”
By cBrown.Cooksey
The scene above shows the Chattahoochee River on a peaceful summer day. In the past week, however, the rivers and streams in our area of Georgia have become inundated with record rainfall, causing historic, catastrophic flooding. Creeks and rivers have overflowed their banks, causing massive destruction to anything in their downstream paths. Roads and bridges have been washed away. Homes, businesses, churches, schools and other personal property have been destroyed. Lives have forever been changed. Even at this very moment, more rain is pelting our roof and flashflood warnings blare on the television. Through all of this, I know that I must trust firmly and completely in God.
At times our lives can seem as though we are consumed by floodwaters in other ways. We can be overwhelmed with financial strain or relational struggles. A longterm illness can drain our strength and sink our hope. The death of a loved one can engulf our hearts and take us to the miry depths of grief. Regardless of the crisis in our lives, there is One whom we can call upon to save us. He is our Solid Rock and our Firm Foundation. He is our Refuge from the Storms of Life. Call out to God in your distress…He is listening! “Save me, O God…Answer me out of the goodness of Your love; in Your great mercy, turn to me. Come near and rescue me!” Let this be your prayer…
Psalm 69
1 Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
14 Rescue me from the mire;
do not let me sink;
15 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up …
16 Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
18 Come near and rescue me;
Sep1
First Gleam Of Dawn
First Gleam of Dawn
18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
Proverbs 4:18
First Gleam Over the Atlantic
cBrown.Cooksey
Aug3
Go For It!
Go For It!
cBrown.Cooksey
This image inspires me. It motivates me and urges me to just “Go for it!” It makes me think about chasing my passions with unhindered enthusiasm and belief in myself. There are those of us who dream, and there are those of us who follow our dreams. The distinction between the two categories is enormous. I could sit around all my life and imagine what it would be like if I were truly pursing those “wildest dream” interests imbedded deep within my soul, but without action I would never achieve anything. In order to fulfill my aspirations, I must capture a vision of my goals and leap forward in unbridled pursuit. I must unleash myself from self-doubt, worry, excuses, fear, what-if’s and negativism, while allowing myself to jump off the platform of my sure-footing toward the direction of realizing my full potential.
Let this photograph be a motivational scene for you, as well. Is there anything that has always been in your heart that you know you were created to do? Have you defined your true purpose in life? What action do you need to take to leap in the direction of your passion? Set goals for yourself and visualize your new future. Launch forward in pursuit of your dreams!
everyday encouragement 
