God has made great and precious promises to His children, and you can have faith that He will remain true to His word. Few things hurt worse than the bitter sting from a broken promise by a close friend, but your Heavenly Father will never falter in His promises to you. God is the ultimate Promise Keeper ~ You can confidently hold firmly to your hope in Him.
God is no mere human! He doesn’t tell lies
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.
Ephesians 4:29 KJV
Words are powerful. The right words spoken at the right time can bring about a glorious sunrise in someone’s soul. You never know when one encouraging comment can set someone’s life back on course and turn them in the direction of God’s destiny for their future…or even their eternity! Positive words are powerfully uplifting, while negative, corrupt words are powerfully destructive. Do your words “minister grace” to those with whom you communicate?
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. Proverbs 12:25 (NIV)
King Solomon, perhaps the wisest man who ever lived, said this about our words, “What you say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded.” Proverbs 18:21 (NCV) “The tongue has the power of life and death…” Proverbs 18:21a(NIV) Anything that has the power of life or death is serious business! Allow this truth to penetrate your mind and heart, and realize that careless words spoken in moments of frustration or anger can have devastating effects. Encouraging, uplifting and inspiring words can have the effect of a refreshing rain shower on a drought stricken land.
Thoughtless words cut deeply like a thrusting sword, but the speech of the wise is a healing balm.
Proverbs 12:18 (VOICE)
Try this “word edification experiment” today: Focus on your communication with others, and only allow yourself to speak words that will build up and bless those around you. Consider this a day in which you are a “minister of grace” to all who hear you speak…your spouse, children, co-workers, store clerks, waiters, receptionists, bank tellers, and anyone else with whom you might come in contact. If you are a teacher, coach, parent, manager, boss, minister, team captain, or any other kind of leader, you are in a unique position to inspire those individuals whom you lead. For some of us this experiment may be extremely challenging, but at the end of the day take note, not only of how you feel inside, but also your perception of how others responded to your edifying words. Similar to the “Pay it Forward” project in which one good deed for another can start a ripple effect of kindness around the world, this “Say it Forward” project could start a ripple effect of encouragement and inspiration around your community and beyond. (Imagine if our world leaders became part of this movement?!) Your kind, uplifting words to another might prompt them to speak kind words to someone else, and so on. If enough people embrace this experiment, we could witness the transformational power of grace in exponential proportions!
Remember, “What you say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded.” Let your words be a blessing to others. Not only will you build them up, but you will also be rewarded in ways you could never imagine. So get started with this “word edification experiment” and Say it Forward…
For our light and momentary troubles
are achieving for us an eternal glory
that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:17 – 18 (NIV)
Hard times in life may make you feel that you are at the end of your rope, but you are never at the end of your HOPE. When you face troubling circumstances, it’s easy to focus on the pain you are experiencing, but this verse encourages us to refocus our thoughts from what is happening around us to the One who lives within us.
Our problems should not dilute our faith or cause us to believe the delusion that God has abandoned us. When your trouble seems overwhelming, it’s easy to lose heart and want to quit. In the same way that athletes focus on the finish line and ignore the discomfort they endure, we should fix our eyes on the eternal reward for our faith.
“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 17 (MSG)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus,the pioneer and perfecter of faith…, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 ,3b NIV)
God’s love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.
Psalm 36:5-6 (MSG)
God’s vast love for us is unfathomable. It is deeper, wider and broader than our human minds can comprehend. His love is unchanging and never-ending. It’s sometimes difficult to imagine how the Creator of the Universe could care about the smallest details of our lives, but the truth is that even in His largeness…NOTHING gets lost. Be mindful of God’s attention to detail in your life. Share everything with Him. He cares about each tiny facet of your existence. Not a man, not a mouse, slips thought the cracks.
everyday encouragement 