Encouragement for You

God Gold of the day

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭138:8‬ ‭

Hope this truth will be an encouragement for you today! Whatever you are facing or going through, whatever the circumstances or struggles, God loves you, He is in control and He will bring you through it. It’s just that simple! It’s about who God is and how His faithful love endures forever in every and any situation in our lives. Don’t depend on yourself, others or circumstances today, place your trust and hope in the only One who can and will bring you through it!

TBT: “Sheep and The Shepherd

God Gold of the Day

Psalms 23:1

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

“Talked about this verse in a Bible study the other night and haven’t been able to get it out of my head. I looked up the characteristics of a shepherd and sheep to simplify it a little. A shepherd is a leader, guide, provider, and protector of the flock and he has to be because the sheep are usually dumb, defenseless, and wanderers. Sometimes we think we are the shepherd of our lives and when we act that way we usually end up defenseless against wolves, hungry, and super lost and that’s exactly why we are sheep. To really live with the Lord as our shepherd, we have to get rid of our pride thinking “I’m the man”, humble ourselves and notice how small and weak we are and in that realize how big and powerful God is. I heard this the other day;

“The way we live our lives  usually determines how big we see God.”

If we see God in a big way, the guide, provider, and protector, our shepherd, our lives will show it and we will never want because we will have everything we need. It will bring an abundance of contentment and joy because we aren’t in control, our shepherd is guiding us to green pastures, protecting us from wolves, and the only hunger we have is to know more of Him. I don’t know about y’all but when I look back at the times I thought I was the shepherd, contentment and joy were nowhere to be found. Can you imagine what would happen if give up our world and embrace being sheep that are guided by God, our shepherd? A big flock of sheep roaming around together following the biggest and most powerful Shepherd there is! World changing and Kingdom impact!!!

TBT: “Straight Gold”

God Gold of the day

Psalms 34

Taste and See That the LORD Is Good

“Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”

Wanted to send just a piece of this scripture but it’s just so full from top to bottom of lessons to learn from David’s character and heart. And more importantly so much about God’s heart for His people, He is soooo GOOD!

TBT: “God of the Breakthrough”

God Gold of the day

2 Samuel 5:17-20

David Defeats the Philistines

“When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.”

Been reading a lot about David lately because I’ve been blown away by his story and the way he lives and walks out his relationship with the Lord. He faced so many “Giants” in his life and God delivered him time and time again. Why did he receive so much of God’s delivering power? Because God received all of him. David was in full submission to God’s plan, purpose, and will for his life so it showed in the way he lived. As soon as he found out about the Philistines plan, he didn’t say “Well I’m a gifted warrior,” running straight into battle using his own gifts and power. He ran straight to the Lord, seeking out council on his situation. He gave it to the Lord and the Lord answered, giving David the armor, power, and confidence to deliver him past his enemies. The coolest part about these verses, I wondered what “Baal-perazim” meant, looked it up and it means “God of the breakthrough.” Pretty cool right?!? No matter how well we think we can use our gifts to get us through, no one is more interested in the use of our gifts than the one who gave them. I’m amazed at David’s character and confidence but I’m even more amazed that I serve the same God, that equipped and delivered men like David. Knowing that, I have no doubt that I can walk and live out my relationship with the Lord with supreme confidence, not because of who I am, but because of the God I serve. God of the breakthrough. We all can!

What Comfort Option do you Invest in?

God Gold of the Day

‘All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. “

2 Corinthians 1:3

It just blows my mind, wow, God is so daggum cool!!! Hearing this verse today has been exactly what I needed to hear and I pray it can be the same for you!

I’ve spent a lot of years searching for “comfort,” in this world in so many different avenues but all of those ways never seem to bring the comfort that I’m truly in need of. I mean think about it, how many things in your life do you seek to find comfort in, that really good feeling that makes you feel secure and safe? My guess is, A LOT, mainly because we have a lot of “comfort” options out there.

My comfort go-to options, that morning cup of hot coffee to start the day, sitting down to watch a nice movie or ballgame after a long day of work, or eating “comfort food” that tastes really really good but isn’t usually the healthiest of options. (Sorry Taco Bell.) What are your comfort options? What things do you seek to find comfort in? It could be a wide variety of things, I know for my wife, she finds comfort in prepping. She sets up all of her stuff for the day ahead, clothes, lunch, bag for work, and even her bottle of water. She finds comfort in knowing she just has to grab her stuff and go because she’s ready! That’s actually something I wish I had more comfort in because that would be very helpful for me. I say that to show that these comfort options can be found in the smallest and simplest of things in our lives and even big things but at the end of the day, do these comfort options we find horizontally in this world really bring us the everlasting, fullness of comfort that we are in need of? (***These questions in bold are for you to answer and take honest inventory of your life.)

What I’ve been learning lately more than ever and what these pieces of Scripture hit on directly is the truth that looking for comfort in any thing or way from this world will always leave your comfort level on empty.

BUT……The comfort options we’ve always invested in or have so many opportunities to invest in now, these ways aren’t are only option. We can invest a lot of our time and money searching for comfort and investing in this comfort of the world but there is this other option to find comfort that can’t be found on a shelf at a retail or grocery store, it can’t be found anywhere in our lives, only can it be found in God.

This verse in 2 Corinthians says it clearly, God is the source of all comfort. And this comfort that’s found in God can’t be bought like we buy our worldly comforts. I noticed right before this part of the verse, Paul makes this statement; “God is our merciful Father.” Mercy from God is not what we deserve in the least and it’s not something we can ever earn or pay for in our lives. But that is what makes God’s comfort so beautiful. He freely gives us Himself and all of Himself, so as we come to know God personally, how powerful and in comtrol He is. How loving and constantly faithful He is, we come to learn that our only and BEST source of comfort is found in God. Like I mentioned, God’s comfort can’t be bought or earned, by His mercy He freely gives it but how can we find comfort in God? How can we make God the source of all our comfort?

Just like we invest so much money and time in all these other comfort options that don’t even work, to find comfort in God, it takes another type of investment. It takes investing our time. Making intentional time to spend with God. Investing our focus. During this intentional time, focusing on His Word and letting go of all the other distractions around us. It also takes investing our lives. As we come to spend intentional time with God and focus on Him above the noise, that takes giving up our lives to do so. In this time spent with God, we move aside all of self gain and we only seek Him. We seek to learn more of who God is and how He feels about us. As we come to know God more deeply and invest ourselves fully to Him, we come to find an abundance of comfort in Him because He’s our merciful Father who loves us constantly and is always faithful to be with us, help us, guide us, deliver us, and protect us. In so many other ways God brings comfort in our lives but as we come to know Him deeper, we learn more and more of just how He is the source of all comfort. God is the source of all we need.

So what comfort options are you investing in?

Are they in things found in this world?

Or are you investing your time, focus, and even more so your lives in God and coming to know Him more deeply?

Can you see areas of your life where God has shown you He is the source of all comfort?

Where will you seek comfort now that you know the truth about where all your comfort is found?