Words of Encouragement

Those that have the "blues" are sometimes thinking all the time about troubling things.  Yet, God can sooth the troubled thoughts.

Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger. - Psalm 55:1-3

What's On Your Mind? Troubled Thoughts. I need to take today to speak to those that find themselves depressed or troubled from time to time in their thoughts.  We (meaning the body of believers) have done a disservice to other believers that suffer from depression or troubled thoughts.  We often simply tell them, "Get over it."  If you are doubting or depress or troubled you are just not believing in God.  As if that will make them snap out of the depression.

Instead, I come and hope to offer encouragement from the word of God.  The psalmist writes to speak about his own depression. The writer is speaking about how he is depressed because of the trouble that surrounds him.  Sometimes we need to just not be so "holy" in our action as simply acknowledge our humanness.  We hurt sometimes.  We get discouraged sometimes.  We face so things that just make it hard for us to keep a "stiff upper lip."  Sometimes we are overcome by what we face.

But let me offer us some help today. The psalmist says, listen to my prayers Lord, do not ignore my pleas.  Sometimes when you are going through, you simply believe that God is not listening to you and that he has missed your prayers.  But I come to tell you he hears them.  Not only does he hear them he has the release for your troubled thoughts.

God cares about us and he will give us the strength to overcome that which brings us down.  We don't want to stay down, so we have to look up.  God will tell us "get up."  We wonder how to do that, and can't really understand the message.  Well what he is telling us is this, get up from your thoughts that way you down.  If the thoughts about how to solve your problems are weighing on you, stop thinking on those downard pulling things, and start thinking upward to me.  I am the solver of every problem.  I am the release of every captive.  The captivity of your thoughts can be released by the hands of a mighty God.

Today, I pray for the troubled minds.  I know you might think this is strange, but I ask you right now as you repeat this prayer, to trust God can do it. Repeat after me:

God, take my thoughts today and think through them.
God today I release every care of my mind into your hands.
God today, I release and yield myself to you completely.
Now that I have released myself, I ask that you would impart to me your joy.
I ask that you would give me your peace.  Give me that peace in my thoughts.  Help me to no longer think troubling thoughts that depress me, or bring me down.
Let me have the assurance in my heart that you already know all about my cares and will take care of them.  I trust in you today.  I trust you to help me, to save me and to keep me.
I ask that you would release my mind today from all the things that burden it and depress it.
I am healed NOW by your power.  I have been set free.  I am no longer held captive to the thoughts of my mind.  I am no longer depressed or confused in my mind.  I will now think on things that are pure, lovely and of good report.

Words of Encouragement

What are you thinking?  Are your thoughts scattered, or are they on Godly things? It profits the heart, if our minds are on Jesus.

"And you, my son Solomon, 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; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. - 1 Chronicles 28:9

What's On Your Mind? Thoughts That Acknowledge God.

Solomon was a man with wisdom as well as one of the most foolish men.  How can you be both wise and foolish?  Solomon shows us what happens when you have thoughts that are about God and when you have selfish thoughts.

Solomon's life was one that was greatly blessed by God.  When he acknowledge God, he had great wisdom and blessings from God.  When he was not acknowledging God in his thoughts, which translated to his action, he made foolish decisions.  He married many women that led him away from God and into idolatry.

It is something important for us to see in this verse.  The scripture says "a willing mind". What does it mean to have a willing mind?  It let's us know that we have an active part in what is on our minds.  Did you know if you are choosing to have thoughts that upset you, you are in fact willing to do so?  We might not really understand that, but it is true.

If your thoughts are taking you "captive" it is because you have given those thoughts the control and they are being able to have free to be expressed.  Instead, if you begin to willingly think on things that would not allow your mind to be held captive, you begin the process of releasing your mind to acknowledge God and follow him freely.

When we seek God each day with our thoughts, we will find him.  If we reject him in our thoughts, we will not find him.  We reject him in our thoughts when everything else is before him.  But if you and I think about him when we get up, when we sit down, when we walk or talk, we begin to place our thoughts under the control of the most high God.

Today, Lord help us to have thoughts that acknowledge you.  Help us to place them under your control so that we do not have thoughts that unwillingly go to only the bad things in our lives and miss the many things we should be thankful for.  Help us your children to change our minds to reflect more of you.

Words of Encouragement

The things we can think of!  As we allow the desires of our minds to grow, we want more things that would please our fleshly desires.  If we are not careful those desires that may not start off bad, can grow and pick up speed!  Like this fast car, we can look around and our fleshly desires can speed away from us.  Are we being mindful?

The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. - Genesis 6:4-6

What's On Your Mind?  Unholy Thoughts.  What a statement to be made about man. God looked upon the face of the earth and he saw the wickedness and it grieved his heart.  He saw mans heart and his thoughts.

The scripture says that man's every thought was evil all the time.  What was so evil about the thoughts of man?  It was said to be evil not by man's standards but by God.  Whenever man thinks about himself and not about the things of God, God says that is evil.  It may not start off being evil, but when the mind of man becomes fixated on himself, his thoughts begin to turn to thoughts that fulfill the desires of the flesh. Even the things we believe are good, are evil in the sight of God if they are not in line with what he tells us to do.

I do not know about anyone else, but surely I would never want to be in a place where God looks at me and says I grieve him.  I do not want to grieve him because my thoughts are selfish.  You know the kinds of thoughts, "I am only worried about my cares and concerns and I do not have time for anyone else but myself."  You know the thoughts that dwell on me and what has happened to me or about my circumstances.  Instead, even in the midst of my own difficulties, I want to dwell on the goodness of God.  I want to think about his goodness, his mercy and all his attributes so that I can stand in his favor.

Man was wicked.  Man's thoughts were wicked, which lead to wicked deeds, which leads to death.  I do not want to die a senseless death because of foolishness of the heart or mind.  Instead, Lord today we ask you to help us to be mindful of your desire for your children.  Help us to have your thoughts. Lord think through us, give us your thoughts so that we will not sin against you.

Today, Lord we want to change.  All thoughts that would lead us away from you we release them into your hands this day, so that we can have our minds renewed.  Touch us and regulate us, amen.

The Week In Review

A woman that seeks – marks of a virtuous woman

Many have preached about the virtuous woman (Proverb 31) and I have heard the consensus from women and that is, “I cannot keep up with that woman, she does too much!” It can be overwhelming to think, I have to be “THIS” woman? Yet, what is important for us to see about this woman is more than simply what she does, but how is she able to do it?


We have read the scripture, but let’s take a quick inventory of a righteous woman:


1. She is priceless (vs. 10)

2. Her husband trust her completely (vs. 11)

3. She is her husband’s support (vs. 11)

4. She looks for great deals on clothing (vs. 13)

5. She willingly goes distances for great deals on food for her family (vs. 14).

6. She rises early to start the day (vs. 15)

7. She invests in ventures that allow for her families finances to grow (vs. 16).

8. She has energy to do her work (she must exercise regularly) (vs. 17)

9. She does whatever needs to be done to keep her family supplied with what they need (vs. 18-19).

10. She cheerfully gives her service to the building of God’s kingdom (vs. 20).

11. She provides for her family in all season (vs. 21-22).

12. Because of her life, her husband gets to brag to his friends, coworkers and those he fellowship with among the people of God (vs. 23)

13. She is an independent businesswoman (she makes and/or sells things to earn extra money or in our day, she has a job or career) (Vs. 24)

14. She has a good reputation and is respected by others (vs. 25).

15. She has a hopeful spirit; she looks to the future with joy (vs. 25).

16. She has control over her tongue and her actions. And because of it her family praises her. (Vs. 26-28).

17. Her husband not only brags to his friends, but he tells her often how much she means to him, and that there is no other wife for him, but her (vs. 29). – Note to men, if you have a wife doing all these things, then you need to make sure you are doing this verse often.

18. A virtuous woman, a righteous woman praises God and because of it, is rewarded for her sacrifice to her family (vs. 30-31)

So the question is, what does virtuous mean? It is showing moral excellence and righteousness, goodness. So what makes this woman righteous and good? Verse 30 of this section of scripture gives us the source of her righteousness, and that is God.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. – Proverbs 31:30

So you are this woman if you are a woman that fears the Lord. And if you looked at your own life, and counted up all the individual things you do, and how important they are to building your household, you would really be surprised at what you do. Many of us look at this woman and think I can’t do that, because we underestimate our value of what we do in our daily lives for our husbands and children.

Is this true? Can we really be this “Virtuous Woman?” Come back next week for the next installment.

Week In Review

“Why are you feeding the dead?” (Part 4)

March 25, 2007

Preached in Wisconsin by Jewel D. Williams

So why are we breaking God’s heart? Because he has given us all the tools we need to be successful in every place he has planet us, but we are not using these tools and we are trying to do things in our own steam and power. We are trying to make our marriages work based on our own understanding and not Gods. Husbands are refusing to look at the biblical example of what is God’s plan for the husband, and are saying instead, no thank you, I’ve got this one, and in doing so, are living by the flesh. To live by the spirit, it calls for you to love you wife as Christ loved the church. Many say this is impossible to do, and that the Bible is too idealistic in this request. Yet, I have to disagree, if God says it, then it can be achieved. It calls for you to follow. Are you sacrificing yourself? Are you sacrificing your time, your actions, and your energy to ensure that your family, your wife and children are loved, and cared for? Yelling at them, abusing them, with your words or actions is not in line with what the Bible teaches. So it does not matter how many times you get up to pray and worship before the Lord, until you get that right, you are hindering your own prayers, and you are eating from the garbage can and offending God.


Wives, I’m not leaving us out, are we honoring and respecting our husbands? Do we love them, as the Lord has required? That means even when they are being what we would consider unreasonable or put another way, a knot head. Guess what, that knot head is the one you married, so you better not talk about them too bad, cause what does that say about you, you married him? That means we cannot belittle them, disrespect them and think we can continue to seek God’s intervention if we are not doing as he is telling us to. God is not pleased with these actions, either. We need to check ourselves to make sure we are in line with God’s requirements. Do not be fooled that because things seem to be going well for you that you can continue to disobey God. We cannot take his mercy and grace for granted. That’s what Paul says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (6:1-2). And again anything, anything that is a willful moving away from God’s ways, is sin. If you know you are to be one way, but are choosing to do something different, you are in sin.

God may simply be holding back our punishment because he is giving us time to repent and come back to him. I’m still talking about the battle between the flesh and the spirit. As long as we are trying to do things from our flesh, we are not going to do this marriage thing right. God says stop offending him by eating the garbage we are eating. He says stop eating the advice from you friends, talk shows or people that mean you no godly good that tell you to abandon your commitments, he says stop eating that garbage that tells you, you have a right to find happiness outside of your marriage relationships. Garbage!! God says come and take what we need from the word to help us. So if we are not living as we ought to in our marriages, we need to look up every scripture that talks about love, marriage, sacrifice, and read them over and over again until they come out of our very pores. If we need to be the first ones seated at every marriage conference, then so be it. Because then we are coming to the Lord’s Table and partaking of the sustenance we need to keep our relationship and union with God in tack. That’s what the feast from Matthew reminds me of. Our union with Christ is hinged upon us being at the feast at the table and supping with him and we cannot be offensive at the feast. We must be attired in righteousness. But we will not be if we are eating from the garbage can. We will have the stink of that garbage on our clothes. And when we see the flesh trying to rise up, we need to simple beat it back down, we need to beat it like it stole something, because it is trying to steal your place with God and we need to speak the word of God to it and tell it, it has no place here. If your spouse isn’t what they ought to be, then pray for God to first have his perfect will in their lives. I know the temptation to pray your laundry list of God fix him or her, but instead I realize as much as I want a good marriage, what is more important than that is that my husband does not lose his way with the Lord. That is part of what it means to live by the spirit. When we live by the spirit we are willing to go through some hard times, so that God’s will can be done and not our own. Paul calls that in the 12th chapter, being a living sacrifice. So I want to encourage those that are right now going through that hard place of feeling rejected, alone, and do not see any release in sight. I know that pain, and I know it is hard to hold on. But I say to you, get a hold of the word of God and let it get a hold of you and that is what will hold you through. Turn your focus away from the problem and begin to ask God to help you pray in his perfect will. Ask him to help you pray for that spouse that is not doing, as they should. And then in God’s time, he will bring about his perfect will.

For the spouse that is not doing as the Lord requires, I bring you a warning from God. God says it’s time. It’s time to release yourself into his hands. He is calling you to come to him for the answers regarding your behavior, your attitude, and your flesh problem (because no matter how you want to place the blame else where, the problem is a fleshly one. It is if you are deciding not to obey what God tells you to do, then your problem is not with your spouse but in obedience to God and that is sin). Seek him to help you in your marriage, your job and anything else that is keeping you from committing completely to him. If you say you are his, then you must walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. What you or I cannot see in others, God does not miss at all. He sees every deed, every action, ever thought. What is he saying about yours? Is he saying you are eating from his table of plenty or are your actions offensive to him because you are eating the garbage and trying to pass it off like you are eating from his table?

Words of Encouragement

The changing skies do not cause you to shift like the wind. You do not go one direction and then quickly change because of circumstances.  God you are the "change maker" but you stay the same, perfect in all your ways.

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. - Psalm 5:3-5

Things God Will Not Say. "I Made A Mistake!" What confidence the psalmist has in expressing his love for God and for the unchanging way God takes care of those that trust in him.  He says, in the morning when he seeks to talk to God, he knows he can wait in expectation for him to show up. 

He goes on to say, he knows he can trust in him to be there because God is not a god that will take pleasure in evil or wicked deeds.  So surely God will not say, sorry I made a mistake.  I forget about this time we should be spending together, I got so busy I forgot!  Yet, we can quickly come up with this as answer for why we have not stopped today or yesterday to talk to God.  We say, God forgive me, I made a mistake.  I forgot to meet with you.  I  know it was important, but I simply got too busy.

What if this were God's excuses to us for not keeping our promises to him?  We would be heart broken if we were expected something from God and he made a mistake and forgot about us.  Well we can rejoice because God never forgets about us.  We are on his mind at all times, even he is not always on ours.

Today, God we want to take this time to say forgive us for making excuses for not giving ourselves to you.  Thank you God that you are not like man and do not have to seek forgiveness for shortcomings.  Thank you for being the great God of the universe and for protecting us and loving as just as you do.

Words of Encouragement

This was not an accident.  Jesus was not standing there one day before Pilate and unaware of what was coming.  God did not look down at his Son on the cross and say "oops".  In fact the words that come from Jesus' own mouth was "it is finished".  That was a Greek word that was used to mean, "It is paid in full."  Jesus knew his death was paying the sin debt in FULL.

With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.  "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD ? And who is the Rock except our God? - 2 Samuel 22:30-32

Things God Will Not Say. Oops! I love how this scripture advances the understanding about God.  He says with your help I can advance against a troop, however with God I can scale a wall.  That wall being one that is fortified and no matter  how much you help me, we won't get over it.  He goes on to say, that God is perfect and his word is flawless.

If we really believe that we would understand just how detailed God was in preparing for you and I a way to him.  The cross of Christ was not an oops!  He didn't create Adam and Eve and then when they sinned he said, oops, I wasn't prepared for that one.  Instead, he knew before he created man that he would need a way to bring them back to him.  He had the cross of Christ on his mind even before he created mankind.

What a perfect God we serve.  So then way do we think God makes mistakes when he tells us to do things his way and then we find ourselves facing difficulties.  We think, God, oops!  This wasn't suppose to happen when I decided to follow you.  You must not have know this was going to happen.  But God's ways are perfect so he knew even before he sent you on this path what you would face.  And he has been preparing you to be able to face it.

So then there are no oops with God.  There are not any mistakes or mix ups.  He didn't accidently choose you for your life.  You were hand picked for your life.  That might be difficult to understand if you are going through.  But today I want you to look at it differently.  You were hand picked to live your life because God looked at you and said, "I count you worthy".  He said, "I count you able."

Today, I pray Lord you already know all the hurts, disappointments and upsets we will face.  You do not stand there saying, "oops".  Instead you say, my ways are perfect and flawless so trust me and I will get you to the otherside of this thing.  Lord we trust you for your ways and thoughts are far greater than ours.