Category: Scripture

From the Holy Bible

Who Needs Encouragement?

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

The answer to my rhetorical question is…everyone! As I read my devotional this morning and pondered whom I should reach out to and encourage them, the answer came back to me…everyone I encounter today, and everyday. There is not one day that goes by that we don’t meet someone who needs encouragement. How about the grumpy lady behind the cash register or the busy young man stocking the shelves in Walmart? How about the man on the other side of the gasoline driveway, the one mumbling about the high prices? How about your spouse and your children? Your siblings? The list goes on and on. I know that there were days that I could not have made it through the challenges of life if someone had not encouraged me to just keep going. There are lots of reasons to be discouraged…let’s be the one to give people a reason to be encouraged and more light-hearted and hopeful as they face a new day.

My encouragement for you is that you are the ones who give me a reason to open my blog each day and type out what is going on with me and how God is meeting my needs. Thank you for reading this blog and for your comforting and encouraging words.

Prayer update: Now that the pulmonologist told me that I could stop taking the new meds he prescribed, my vision is clearing up. That is excellent news because in two weeks, I am the designated driver to get my husband to and from his cataract surgeries. God is good…all the time!

Encouragement that Builds

Have you ever regretted not saying something to someone? Maybe they were going through a hard time and you didn’t know what to say, but you felt like you could have said something.

When Paul, the author of 1 Thessalonians, is writing to the church in Thessalonika, he gives them some practical advice.

Paul tells the church to continue to encourage one another. This was something they were already doing, but Paul felt it necessary to remind them to keep doing this.

Encouragement can change someone’s attitude. It can lift someone out of a dark place. Encouraging someone can give them the hope and determination to push through a hard season.

Maybe you can remember a time when someone encouraged you when you were going through a hard time, and the difference it made in your own life. Paul is encouraging us to do that for others.

The Church is meant to be a place of encouragement. We should never leave any encouragement unspoken, but we should generously uplift one another.

Spend some time today thinking about someone in your life who you can encourage. It might be someone who is going through a hard time, or it might be someone who needs to be reminded that others care about them. Never let encouragement go unspoken, as it is one of the ways we can build each other up.

Speak with Intention

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We reach more people today with our words than I think has ever happened in history. We write things online (like blogs), answer comments on Facebook or other social media sites and some even do videos or podcasts. Every word we speak needs to be intentionally kind and helpful. If the purpose of what we are saying is to tear someone down then we are not being a good representative of Christ. Can you imagine Christ speaking on a podcast and assassinating someone’s character for an hour, then ending with “God bless you.” We may not always be aware of who may read or hear our words, but we need to take into consideration that a lost world is listening and reading and also judging whether we are living up to the standard that we say we believe in. I think, actually I know from personal experience, that when someone says something unkind to me, I remember it a lot longer than the kind words that were spoken. I don’t know why that is, but I do know that if I intentionally purpose to say kind things to others, then they won’t have unkind words from me to ponder on and remember, hurting them for who knows how long after I have forgotten what I said. Be the one who lifts up, the one who helps others make it through a hard day, the one who puts a smile on someone’s face. The only people whom I can remember Jesus berating in the Bible are the Pharisees; everyone else, every single sinner, He was kind to, taking the time to say exactly the words they needed to hear. (The Pharisees needed to hear what He was saying, too, because He was trying to get them to understand God’s love and not just His law.) So, I pray that as you go through the day, you will make it a goal to speak with the intention of being a good representative of Christ, both in your spoken and written words. Speak what is truthful in love, speak what is kind, speak what is helpful. You will feel better at the end of the day, and so will your audience.

Words That Build

Have you ever been a representative for someone or something? When you belong to a group of people, or you represent someone, what you say and how you say it matters. Anything you say is a reflection of the person or thing you’re representing.

As Christians, we are representatives for Jesus. Paul says that we are ambassadors or representatives of Christ because He is no longer physically on earth ministering to people (2 Corinthians 5:20). Instead Jesus is working through His people to accomplish what He wants done on earth.

Since everything we say and do is a representation of Jesus, we need to choose our words wisely. When we use words to gossip and slander, hurt or damage—we don’t represent Jesus’ heart and character. But when our words are used to encourage someone, what we say has a lot of potential for good. 

You’re probably familiar with the power words can have. Has someone ever said something to you that was painful? Or can you remember the last time someone complimented you? You might still remember how each of those situations made you feel.

You might not have been able to control what was said to you, but you can control what you say to others. So take a few moments to think about the things you’ve said recently. Is there anything you’ve said that you need to seek forgiveness for? Choose today to represent Christ and His character by intentionally speaking words that are good and helpful.

Enter the Silence

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www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/30

Waiting for God, waiting for the hope that He brings is never easy but it is always worth it. I know sometimes I think I am waiting for God when what I am actually doing is trying to push Him to move along and get things done. Or I am working out my own solution in my mind, telling myself it’s just in case God needs some help. (He doesn’t.) Entering the silence means to leave whatever the problem is in His capable and loving hands and then just waiting for the answer. You don’t have to just sit silently and do nothing, but my recommendation is to get on with your day’s activities and each time that situation enters your mind, remind yourself that God is handling it so you don’t have to. His timing is not yours generally, but His timing will always be perfect. So, enter the silence of not trying to cajole God to do things your way or whining that He hasn’t acted on your behalf yet or telling others the problem and asking for their advice. After all, you either gave it to God or you didn’t. So, let it go until you hear the answer from Him.

A Clean Heart

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

During the pandemic, everyone that I knew was concerned about clean hands. Sanitizer could not be found unless you wanted to pay a scalper’s high price. Even soap that is anti-bacterial was hard to find. People were busily cleaning their hands, but what about their hearts. You don’t even need to go to the store to get any cleaning products to have a clean heart. You just have to confess your sins to God, repent and ask for forgiveness and He will forgive you. I like what the devotional says that when we seek God, we will find that He has already been seeking us. So, don’t stay in your sin…confess, repent, ask and accept the free gift that God has provided.

Want a Clean Heart?

King David made some great decisions, but he also made some terrible ones. He had an affair with a woman named Bathsheba, for example, and attempted to conceal the secret by arranging the murder of her husband. 

For someone who was considered “a man after God’s own heart,” David really messed up. And yet, we know from Scripture that David confessed his sin against the Lord (2 Samuel‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬) and can read about how he prayed for mercy in Psalm 51:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

If you’ve ever messed up, you’re in good company. Paul, the author behind much of the New Testament, writes in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Paul wasn’t always a man who followed God’s own heart, either—in fact, early in his life, he killed people who followed Jesus.

God did not abandon Paul. He did not exclude David. And He will not forsake you, either! God does not leave us to ourselves or our pasts, nor does He give us what we fully deserve. Instead, He put on skin and took our place. Jesus became the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for our sin—once and for all. He loves us, despite what we may have done!

If you’re longing for a second chance or craving a relationship with the one true God, but aren’t sure where to start, try borrowing some of David’s words. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

When we seek God, we realize that He’s already been seeking us. 

God is faithful. He is who He says He is and He will do what He says He’ll do. He is your merciful Savior, He forgives your sins, and He not only makes your heart clean, but He also makes you a brand new creation.

Police or Ambulance

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When you come upon the scene of an accident, you will usually find two groups of helpers there: the police and the ambulance. They have totally different jobs. The police are there to investigate and uphold the law, to find out who is at fault and to hold them accountable. The ambulance is there to find out who is hurt, where they are hurting, how serious their injuries are and to transport the injured to the hospital if necessary.

When you come upon a person who is not saved, are you the policeman or the paramedic? By that I mean, are you there to investigate their sin and condemn them, letting them know in no uncertain terms that they are headed for hell? Or are you there to find out what is hurting them and to help them to feel better in whatever way you can? Think about that for a minute.

Many of us, including me at times, meet hurting people and instead of offering them the love of Jesus, we tend to hit them upside the head with the Bible that we profess to believe in. We want them to change, right now, and if it takes berating to get them to the point of confession and repentance, then that is what we use. We are being a policeman for their hurting souls, and that is not what the sinner needs in order to change. I don’t think that condemning a person with our judgment about their wrongdoing is going to change anyone’s heart. We aren’t put on the earth to investigate the evil in it; we are here to help people change so that good wins and not evil.

I had a Bible study group last night and this was one of our discussions as we read and pondered the first chapter of Romans. Is that how Jesus approached sinners? He confronted their sins and demanded that they change? No. With the exception of the Pharisees whom He did confront and call out for sin, Jesus went to every sinner with compassion and love. He understood their weaknesses and wanted to help them know forgiveness, grace and the strength to overcome that only comes from God. Jesus was like a paramedic, if you will, assessing the need and offering whatever is needed to make the person whole again. He takes people from their place of pain to the hospital of forgiveness and acceptance where they can be made whole again.

I want to be the paramedic, not the policeman. God didn’t give me a badge to carry around and let everyone know I’m an authority that they need to listen to. After all, I don’t have all of the answers anyway since I am a sinner saved by grace, just like the person I am trying to share with. Rather, He gives me the cross and reminds me and the person I am speaking to that it’s all about sacrifice and God’s great love. Yes, people are committing some atrocious sins, but that doesn’t mean that it’s up to me to tell them how awful they are. What is up to me is to show them and tell them about God’s love for them, even while they are sinning. God doesn’t categorize sins as “great sin, lesser sin.” ALL have sinned and all sins are the same to God because they separate mankind whom He loves from the Creator that made them and wants a relationship with them.

The gospel rides along with us wherever we go and brings the good news to all who will hear and believe it. So, let’s ride in the ambulance, not the police car. Let’s remember that the gospel has power all by itself when we apply it correctly, with a heart of love and not one of condemnation and judgment.

What Are You Becoming?

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www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/27

I love the line in the devotional that says “God is more interested in what you are becoming than in what is happening to you.” He is using what is happening to us to help us become more like Jesus, if we will let Him work in our lives. We have to be persistent, faithful, determined and dogged in our decision to do the next right thing. Not just the next thing…the next right thing. Someone is always watching for us to fail, to fall flat on our faces and to spew anger at God. That is what the people in the world do daily and they want the Christians to be just like them. Instead, we are to take the circumstances of our lives, learn from them and grow from them, knowing that what happens is not outside of God’s control and mercy. So, what are you becoming? God wants you to be more like His Son and will use circumstances that life throws at us to cultivate the fruit He wants us to bear for Him.

Be Faithful and Honest

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Our current world is one where generally people step over others to get to the top. Telling lies is accepted as the norm. Breaking promises is expected. But what if we decide to be faithful and totally honest, one day at a time? If we say we will do something, as Christians, we should do it, no matter what gets in our way on the day of the event. If we always tell the truth, we will be known as one to be trusted.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust any politician, not even the ones who say that they are Christians. Why not? Because they make promises they don’t keep. I’m not sure about their intentions or the roadblocks in their way, but I do know the end result is they don’t seem trustworthy to me. Not only do they break promises, many politicians lie…small lies, big lies. The size of the lie doesn’t matter. The fact that I heard them tell a lie matters to me a lot. Thus it is hard for me during the election season, with ads on every radio and TV station that tout all that the candidate will do for me once in office. Hmm. If they have already been in office and haven’t taken care of the business they said they would, why would I believe their new lies for a new office? The answer is that I don’t. The dilemma is that there is a hard choice to make when voting because I don’t think anyone running for office is totally honest or trustworthy. However, I do have to choose, so I will vote for the candidates who have done the best job of keeping their word and being honest, even if their score is not 100%. I try not to judge them on their relationship to Christ because that is between them and God, but I do my due diligence and investigate to the best of my ability how their stance measures up to God’s Word. Like I said, hard choices.

In a perfect world, people would be honest with each other all the time. No lies or subterfuge, but honesty and keeping promises. That is what builds our character for ourselves and in the opinion of others. It is also what makes us more like Jesus. And isn’t that the ultimate goal?

The Path to Success

There are many definitions for success in today’s culture. For some, success is defined by the number of accomplishments we’ve made, or the number of possessions we’ve attained.

Jesus’ definition of success is counter-cultural. It has nothing to do with our accomplishments or our possessions—it has everything to do with our character.

Jesus’ teaching in Luke 16:10 is primarily about the content of our character. He says that those who are trusted with small things will be entrusted to larger things. Those who are faithful with what they’ve been given will be given the opportunity to be faithful over more. And those who are dishonest, unfaithful, and untrustworthy, will do the same with what they’re given.

It’s not ultimately important to Jesus whether we are financially successful in life. What’s more important is what we do with what we’ve already been given.

Little acts of faithfulness every day is how our character is shaped over time. The small decisions and the hard decisions are what create us into people of trust and honesty.

If you’re asking God for more in life, make sure that you’re being faithful with the things He has already given you. Use the resources and opportunities you have to build trust and honesty with other people.

God is looking to use people of character. Pray for God to increase your character and to give you the opportunities to become a person who is faithful and honest in every area of life.

A Steward of Our Talents

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www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/26

This devotional hit me right where it hurts because I have been the one to say that I do things because I enjoy them. Yes, God wants me to enjoy my time on earth, but He also wants me to use the talents He has given me to serve others. I am trying to get better at that but I haven’t been what I would consider a GOOD steward, more like a mediocre one who sometimes serves others and sometimes myself. I need to stop being self-centered and look at the need of others. One of the ways I know I serve is to use my talent to spot grammar and spelling errors in the writing of others. My grandchildren regularly send me their papers to “redline.” Now, an author friend has asked me to be a Beta reader for her, finding errors in her new book before it goes to final print. Both tasks require a time commitment, but I am happy to do it because I know that I am using the talent that God gave me to help someone else. I need to look at other ways to use my talents. How about you? What are you particularly good at, and are you being a good steward of that talent?

God Is Our Protection

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Changes in life and in this world are never more evident that when it’s an election year and when you are aging quickly. Election years bring all kinds of anxiety for me, so I have learned to tune out the news and to turn to God. He knows what is going to happen and He isn’t afraid, so why should I be? As far as the aging process that seems to get more aggressive these days, it is a natural part of life. Again, with the aches, pains and dimming vision, I can turn to God who already knows what I am going through and who comforts me, heals me and strengthens me. My bones don’t work so well anymore as they pop and creak at each movement, but God never changes and is a stalwart and dependable refuge for me. I don’t have any idea how people without God cope with life and its many challenges, and I don’t really want to find out. But I feel sad for them, because I know that without God every day would be bleak and hopeless. With God, every day is a new day, filled with hope and expectation of what new thing He will do that day to show me His love and protection. Have a great day and remember to run, don’t walk, to the Lord God! He is waiting for you with outstretched arms.

God Our Rock

There are hundreds of different names and titles for God throughout Scripture. And since the Psalms are written from various seasons in life, there are many different perspectives of how God acts within those seasons. Psalm 18 is written at a time when the author, King David, was delivered from his enemies by God.

In this Psalm, David almost immediately calls God his rock, because God was dependable and stable. There was nothing that could overtake God or move Him. This truth wasn’t just for David, but for everyone who relies on God.

When we belong to God, He is a rock and a fortress for us as well. Everything in the world constantly shifts, but we belong to a God who never changes. He is our protection from things that might seek to harm us.

We belong to a God who can protect us throughout our lives. Even if we don’t have physical enemies, we can run to God when life gets difficult. That’s why, like David, we get to respond to God with praise. We need to remember what God has done so we can praise Him for who He is. 

Take some time today to thank God for how He has led and protected you so far in your life. And if you’re currently in a difficult season, run to God and ask Him for help. He is able and willing to protect and comfort you.

Now or Not Yet

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

Sometimes, God answers our prayers right away. But I have found that most often, His answer to me is to wait. I am not very good at waiting. I want to act, to help out like Sarah tried to do when she told Abraham to go ahead and take Hagar and have children with her. I want to help God…that sounds funny, doesn’t it? God certainly does not need my help or my advice about how He can best answer my prayers. He just says to wait.

I think it’s interesting that the Spanish word for to wait is “esperar.” That’s because this word has another meaning…HOPE! We wait and we hope with faith and trust in God. Those two words that seem to be different are a pair that go together. It is by hoping that we know we can trust God. And it is in the waiting that we learn to trust Him more.

Every day we wait for something. Sometimes it’s a phone call, other times it’s a personal visit. We wait for packages to arrive and for a special day to come. But do you know who else is waiting? God is waiting for each of us to turn to Him as we wait and to communicate with Him about our fears and frustrations, to be honest about the problem we are having waiting. I cannot imagine how hard it would have been to send my son to die, knowing that it was inevitably going to happen, but having to wait for that hard part, the time of separation from my only son. That’s what God did. He didn’t hurry things along, come up with a Plan B or change His mind about the sacrifice of His Son. No, He waited for the perfect time for Jesus to be born and the perfect time for Him to die for each of us. God wants us to wait because in the waiting, we can experience a closeness to Him because He also waited. He didn’t have to learn any lessons in His waiting since He already knew everything. But God, in His great love and wisdom, knows that we need to be in the waiting room sometimes just to hear His voice and to wait for Him expectantly. Not demanding our way, not trying to work out our own solution, but just to wait, to hope that the answer is coming. God, who did not hold back the sacrifice of His Son, is not holding back good things from us when we wait. He is working His perfect plan for us, helping us to be more like Jesus and less like Adam. God’s schoolroom is the best place for us to learn about His character and how to wait patiently while also being brave and facing whatever it is that is a problem for us. We have to learn to wait well, not to wait while we tap our feet, constantly look at our watch or the calendar, with an attitude of “well, God? What’s up with this? I’m still waiting!” You know what? He knows we wait, He wants us to wait and learn from the experience. Waiting builds faith if we will let it.

Waiting Well

Waiting can be hard. 

Most of us would prefer quick, efficient, and, when possible, instant results and answers. 

But waiting is a part of life. 

We must wait for seeds to grow into food, for one season to fade into the next, for babies to mature into adults, and for trees to stand tall enough to finally offer shade.

Like it or not, waiting takes patience.

We can wait days, months, years, or even decades for a prayer to be answered, for an overdue apology, for the timing to be right, or for a dream to finally come to pass.

Waiting requires courage.

King David lived nearly 3,000 years ago, but he knew what it meant to wait for God’s timing, to wait to be king, to wait to be rescued from his enemies. He wrote:

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If David thought waiting on God was important enough to write it twice in one verse, we should probably pay attention. 

But waiting patiently for the Lord isn’t an excuse to do nothing. 

We can proactively wait on God by staying in communication with Him, by looking for His fingerprints in ordinary moments, by reading about His story and His plans in His Word, by worshiping Him no matter what’s happening across the globe, by serving the people both inside and outside of our circles, and by thanking Him for the gifts He’s already given us.

Just because a specific door isn’t opening, or a particular opportunity isn’t available at this moment doesn’t mean that God isn’t moving.

Even when we are waiting—God is working. 

Noah spent decades building an ark as he waited for God to do what He’d said. Ruth journeyed with her mother-in-law and worked in the grain fields while trusting in God’s provision after her husband’s death. Joseph stayed faithful in prison for several years before his promotion to second-in-command of Egypt. John trusted God’s ultimate will for his life, and wrote several books of the New Testament while sentenced to exile on the island of Patmos. 

So, no matter what you’re facing, you can ask God for patience and trust that He is in control of your future. No matter what uncertainty lies before you, when you rely on the Lord, you can be someone who waits well.