Lord's Encouragement

With the worldly ways of life we all need to seek the Lord for fulfillment. It is not the worldly things that will see us through the tough times but God’s promises. I have seen this first hand with my faith being tested on a daily basis. The challenges that my family faces over the next years will only strengthen our resolve to believe and have faith in God. This time of year everyone makes resolutions that they can not keep! This is because they are weak in faith. We can’t go through life making false resolutions that are unrealistic and hard to obtain. Focus on the internal commitment to Jesus Christ first, and then all the other things will fall in order to God’s promises.

Today my son is getting married. This is one of things that I am talking about when I speak of the Lord’s fulfillment. Debbie and I have prayed long and hard that the Lord would provide my son with someone that would change his life. “God is Great”, and powerful. God has provided a lady that is beautiful (inside and out), and loves him for who he is. She believes in God, and is the answer to our prayers.

Just as the Word of God is filled with encouraging Bible verses, so also should our hearts be filled with God’s promises. For when we are in need of an encouraging word during times of hardship, Bible verses help to remind us that we are not alone, but that God is with us. Thus we can find hope in the midst of the severest of trials as we allow God to encourage us through His Word. Of course, encouraging Bible verses also come in handy when it comes to witnessing to others who are in need of encouragement.

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 NKJV)

One of the things that makes this verse so touching is that it was written by a man who went through some of the severest of trials. For he also said this:

“I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27 NKJV)

Without a doubt, Paul was a man who had great faith; he understood what it meant to go through hard times, and he knew God well enough to depend on Him to deliver him from the hand of the enemy and to meet all of his needs in Jesus Christ.

I pray that we all could have great faith like Paul.

Happy New Year and God Bless, Kevin