Words of Encouragement

Like this butterfly was once cocooned, God has some of us cocooned because he wants to bring something beauty from us. He wants us to stop being a "ground dweller" and to "soar" higher than we ever imaged (picture taken by James S. Williams).


You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—John 14:14-16



God's Promises. Jesus Provides. I believe this is a good scripture for us to end the week with. Jesus says that we can ask for anything in his name and he will do it. He also says if we love him we will obey his commands and that will give us access to his Father.



The Father gives to us the counselor (the Holy Spirit) who is with us always. I don't know about you, but this is just what I needed today. You know how it is when you are having one of those times where everything seems to be coming down on you. Not enough money. Too much to do. Sick in your body. Don't know how you are going to get everything all done. And to top it all off, the enemy seems to be playing racketball with your thoughts as they go back and forth.



You just want to sometimes raise your hands and say, I have had enough. Yet, something inside softly speaks up and says, "..., just ask me for what you need." So then you say, Lord help me. I don't know how I'm going to do everything that needs to be done. I don't have enough money, I'm sick in my body and I am tired of the enemy messing with my mind. So you ask, "God I need you."



And in his God like way, he begins to remind you of who he is. He is the promise keeper. God reminds you that he will never leave you nor forsake you. He reminds you that he has a way in the desert. He is the cool refreshing stream in a barren land. He is that hightower, that fortress that protects you. He is the one that hides you under his wing so that nothing can come nigh to you. He is the lover of my soul.



Today, let us pray for each other. There are many going through some dry places and cannot see themselves through. Yet, let us band together in prayer and ask God to minister to the needs of his children. And when we pray, let us pray today as if we believe this scripture to be true. Let us pray for it in Jesus name and he says he will do it. His word is true. So when you go to worship this Sunday, go with an expectation that God is going to meet you there. He is going to meet you there to give to you that which you are seeking from him. He is the Faithful One, and I love him...

Words of Encouragement

I find encouragement looking at the beautiful things of God. If he will take such care with the flowers, surely he will take care of me. (Picture by James S. Williams)

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws. - Psalm 119:147-149

God's Promises. My Hope is in you. I can relate to this scripture. Do you sometimes wake early in the morning and the first thing you do is cry out to God? You can't see your way clear and you just don't know where to turn. So you cry out to God for his help, because you know anything else won't satisfy. You have to hope in God because you know his promises are true.

You rise early, but you also stay awake at night comforting yourself on the promises of God. If you let go of your hope in him, what would you have to hold onto?

So like the psalmist you cry out and ask God, take care of me. Don't let my life be for nothing, preserve me and rescue me from this pit that seems to be pulling me under. Lord deliver me!

Today, my prayer is for someone that is going through and cannot see there way. God is faithful! I know it gets hard sometimes to hold on, but don't let go of your hope in him. He is available to you. That is what the psalmist shows us. God is available to us. He hears our cries. He will come to see about his children. He will do it not because he has to but because of his unchanging love for us. He gave his promises to us so that we could find reassurance in him. Today, let us be reassured in our God!

Words of Encouragement

It seems as if a plane is too heavy to fly. However, they not only fly but are able to soar to great heights. It is a reminder that you and I when weighted down by sin are unable to soar. Yet, when something happens inside, we are not only able to fly, but we are able to soar to great heights in the Lord!

Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints—but let them not return to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land - Psalm 85:7-9

God's Promises. Don't Live beneath the Promise. My daughter received a full four year scholarship to Howard University. However, there are requirements for that scholarship. The school requires something for this gift. They require her to keep her grade point average at the right standard. It would be shame if she lived beneath the requirements and therefore forfeit the promise of scholarship.



This means she cannot do whatever she wants and still think she can maintain this requirement. This is the same thing the psalmist wants us to understand. We have been given a wonderful gift, the gift of salvation from God. With this gift he promises peace. The psalmist turns right in the midst of this and says, "let us not turn back to folly". He also says "salvation is near those that fear him."



In other words, do not think you will be able to rely on the promises of God if you are not completely living for him. Yes it is true that he rains on the just and the unjust. Yes it is true that he gives his mercy to whomever he wills. But do not be foolish to think you can rely on God's promises if you are not fulfilling his requirements. It would be a shame to have all these wonderful promises before you, yet living beneath the promise, never obtaining them.

God has "paid" the cost for us so that we do not have a debt we will not be able to pay waiting for us at the end of our journey. My daughter can't pay the cost of Howard, but the cost has been paid for her. So when she gets to the end of her journey there she will not have a debt she cannot pay. God wants you and I to follow his commandments closely because he has paid our debt and he wants us to come to the end of our journey "debt free". This is his promise to us, if we just obey him. Let's live so that our lives don't fall short of the promises and then we are required to pay the debt we cannot ever afford.



I pray for us today, that we would rejoice in knowing that God promises us peace and the freedom from the debt of our sins. Let us take advantage of this opportunity. Let us also hear the words of the psalmist, let us not go back into a place of folly. Let us live for God so that we do not live beneath what God has for us. Sin will keep you from obtaining the promises. Don't let sin cancel your promise of being set free, and debt-free!

Words of Encouragement

This is my daughter and I at her senior luncheon. I made a promise to her that I would be consistent in her life and by the grace of God I have. How much more then is God, the good Father consistent with us?


He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. - 1 King 8:55-57



God's Promises. His word is true. The ark of God is brought to the temple. Solomon is now king and he summons all the people during the time of the festival in the seventh month.

The bases of this chapter is to remind the people that God's word has not failed. God promises things to David that he fulfilled. He made promises to the people even when they were in captivity, that he has fulfilled. He promised them rest and he has fulfilled it. Not one word he promises through his servant Moses has not been fulfilled. The request is may God be with us as he was with our fathers and may he never leave us or forsake us.

God's word is truth. In a time when things can be "sometimey", God is always true. Even as they were trying to worship God, it says it this chapter the priest could not go in because the Lords glory filled the temple. God had promised that he would be with the people and in their midst he was. It is the same for us. God promised he would be with us and his Spirit is in us. He promised to never leave us or forsake us, and he keeps his promise. He promises us rest from our burdens and our "wars" and he is a God that will keep his promise. He will give us rest from those things that burden our lives.



Are there some promises of God that you are trusting in? Or have you began to doubt because it seems to be taking so long to come? It is not our ability to know and to predict when God will fulfill his promises. It is however, our responsibility to trust that he will.



I pray for us today to hold on to the promises of God. We can rejoice as Solomon did when he saw the fulfillment of God's promises. We can however take it a step further. We can begin to rejoice NOW, even before we see in our natural eyes what God is doing spiritually. We should rejoice until the natural meets up with the spiritual and then we will see the miracle unfold, the promises fulfilled.

Words of Encouragement

The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. - Joshua 21:44-45

God's Promises. He Fulfills. I saw a wonderful sight last Friday. I was in the grocery store and it began to storm. As quickly as the rains came, they went. When my husband and I went out of the store we saw the most wonderful sight, a rainbow. It is hard to describe. The rainbow filled the sky. It was a perfect arch. It was vibrant with colors and you could clearly see it lite in the dark sky. Then right above it was a second rainbow. People stopped to take pictures with their cell phones, but I couldn't move as I tried to capture in my mind's eye the beauty I was looking at.

As I saw it several things crossed my mind. First people were saying they were going to get the gold at the end of the rainbow, but I thought about the promises of God. God had promises he would not destroy the world again with water and this was a sign of his promise. God keeps his promises even when we don't remember what they were. Secondly, the second rainbow simply said to me, I confirm what I promise. IT was like the confirmation of his promise. Because who can confirm God other than himself?

That brings us to today's scripture. God made a promise to the people of God and he was fulfilling that promise even to the generations that came after. The scripture says all the promises God made were fulfilled.

That is something for us to rejoice in. Do you know we are living some of us off of the fulfillment of promises God made to others? The prayers your parents made for you many years ago, God is fulfilling right now. Or prayers you prayed many years ago, God is now fulfilling.

Let us rejoice today in knowing God is a promise keeper. I pray for us today that we take courage in knowing that God will keep all his promises. Not one will be lost. He will continue to keep promises because he is a faithful God.