Tag: #encouragement

May Jesus Christ Be Praised

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My husband is a champion sleeper. He can doze off almost any time in any place. In the words of famous television detective, Monk, “it’s a blessing, and a curse.”

            I, on the other hand, have an ongoing battle with sleep. Some nights it comes easily to me. Some nights, despite my exhaustion, sleep evades me. My mind rolls over the cares of the day, unfinished tasks and creative ideas that could wait until morning — but won’t. I often crawl back out of bed to write things down or wrap up loose ends.

            There are other sleepless nights that I believe are God-ordained. What’s on my mind are people; people with physical, financial and spiritual needs. I begin to pray.

A prayer warrior, I am not. I seldom pause during the day to stop and have a nice, long chat with my Heavenly Father. So our nighttime conversations, when the house is quiet and all the distractions are silenced, are a haven. I pray for family and friends. I pray for our church and pastor. I pray for our nation and its leaders. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ living with the realities of harsh persecution and the dire lack of essential needs.

And I praise God. I praise Him for offering His Son, Jesus, as a sin sacrifice. I praise Him for His ongoing care and provision; a roof over my head, clothes on my back and daily bread (plus so much more). I praise Him for adopting me as His own child and preparing a place for me to live with Him for all eternity. With that praise comes a peace that allows me to drift off to sleep.

I’m not a morning person, so I seldom wake up giving praises to Jesus “as morning gilds the skies,” as this beautiful hymn suggests in its opening lines. Instead, I find myself clinging to these words from a later stanza:

When sleep her balm denies, My silent spirit sighs; May Jesus Christ be praised;

When evil thoughts molest, with this I shield my breast: May Jesus Christ be praised.

Morning, evening, throughout the day — all are the best time to praise our Savior. As the King James Version puts it in Psalm 22:3, God “inhabits the praise” of His people. It invites Him to dwell among us. It brings Him the glory He is due.  In this act of gratitude, we find ourselves blessed, encouraged and filled with the joy of the Lord.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering and come before Him;
Worship the Lord in holy array.  (1 Chronicles 16:28-29)

Bring Them In

As a child, I always looked forward to missionaries visiting our little country church. They brought glimpses of the world to our doorstep and stories of the marvelous things God was doing around the globe, often in remote places.

When our pastor introduced a missionary on Sunday morning, I could hardly wait for the Sunday evening service. The missionary would be back with slides from their field; a tropical jungle, an intriguing Alaskan village, or an urban locale and the faces of the people who lived there. There would be stories; about people receiving medical care, children getting an education, or churches being planted and lives being transformed by God as the missionary became the hands that served and the feet that brought Good News. And there would be a table in the foyer; with unusual musical instruments, traditional clothing or works of art to help us understand the unique ways of each culture.

Then we’d sing the songs we always sang when the missionaries came: Send the Light, Bringing in the Sheeves, and We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations. It instilled in me an early understanding that we are blessed to be a blessing to others (Genesis 12:1-3) and we have a God-given assignment to “go into all the world and preach the preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15).

There was a time I thought God would open the door for me to be a full-time missionary, but He took my life a different direction. Still, my desire to see God’s Word reach the remotest parts of the world lives on. My respect and admiration for those who give up life’s conveniences and comforts to serve in strange, new places is unending. I pray God will protect and strengthen His people wherever they may be working as His ambassadors to a lost world. And I pray their work, whatever it is, will be fruitful.

Out in the desert hear their cry, Out on the mountains wild and high;

Hark! ‘tis the Master speaks to thee, “Go find my sheep where-e’er they be.”

Bring them in, bring them in, Bring them in from the fields of sin;

Bring them in, bring them in, Bring the wand’ring ones to Jesus.

  • Bring Them In, Alexcenah Thomas

A Prayer for Strength

When this hymn was first translated from Welsh to English, the translator aptly titled it “A Prayer for Strength.” This beautiful hymn written by William Williams, which we now know as “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” is indeed a prayer for strength to face our journey through this life.

The imagery is largely taken from the Israelites’ miraculous deliverance from Egypt to the Promised Land, a journey that involved 40 years of wandering through barren lands where they were wholly dependent on God for their daily bread and water. When the day finally came to cross the Jordan River, God delivered them safely to Canaan — as He promised He would.

We all face different challenges as we wander through our individual deserts. No two journeys are the same. Yet, we are on the road together, facing setbacks and hurdling obstacles, sometimes succumbing to sin and other times overcoming it, as we travel through life.

Along the way, God intends for us to rely on Him, our great Jehovah, to provide all our needs; spiritual, emotional and physical. We look to God for daily guidance, daily strength, because we are weak and needy people. Each breath we take is evidence that God is sustaining us.

“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.” (Isaiah 40:29)

God’s provision often comes through His people, fellow pilgrims who support us along the way. We need each other! While no one has walked our specific path, others have walked parallel paths. Others have overcome. From a place of victory, they can offer us words of hope and encouragement, bind up our spiritual, physical and emotional wounds, and help provide our pressing needs.

“Therefore, encourage and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11)

The day is coming when we will each stand on the brink of death. For those who have their hope wholly in Christ, who understand they can enter God’s kingdom based only on the faith and reliance on God’s grace and Christ’s sin sacrifice on the cross, a peaceful eternity in the presence of our Savior is waiting. God will welcome us to our forever home.

“But according to His promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”  (2 Peter 3:13)

For those apart from Christ, eternal judgement waits.

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

Is your hope for salvation in Christ alone? As long as the Lord sustains you, as long as you draw breath, you can come to Him with a repentant heart, and surrender to Him as your Savior and Lord, and He will rescue you, in His mercy, from eternal judgement (1 John 1:9). You can join the pilgrim journey to God’s eternal peace.

Jesus is the Joy of Living

When I sang this hymn as a child, the full meaning of the lyrics escaped me. I liked it because it was upbeat. I liked it because the adults around me smiled as they sang it. I mean, how do you sing a song about being joyful with a frown on your face?

I’ve been following Christ for many years now (we won’t talk about how many). As I’ve matured in Christ, the full impact of these words written by A.H. Ackley have found their way into my soul’s reality:

Jesus is the Joy of Living, He’s the King of Life to me;

Unto Him my all I’m giving, His forevermore to be.

I will do what He commands me, where He leads me I will go;

Jesus is the Joy of Living, He’s the dearest Friend I know.

Since He gave me new life and became my King, God has been working diligently to drive out the cheap substitutes for true joy that tempt me on a daily basis; good food, time with people I love, a comfortable life, opportunities to travel. None of those are bad things, in and of themselves, but sometimes I turn to them in search of the joy and contentment only Jesus can give.

When I’m following my Savior more closely, I can see how foolish I am to look for contentment in temporal things. But sometimes I allow myself to wander far away and be deceived into believing these good gifts from the Father are enough. You know what? They all end up disappointing me! The flavors of a good meal are fleeting. Family and friends, in their imperfection, fail me (just as I fail them). The comforts of life are easily disrupted by pain and sorrow. The thrill of the adventure ends when the vacation is over.

The one constant I carry from day to day is this truth: Christ in me, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). When I keep my eyes on my King of Life, I have deep-seated joy even when my world is crumbling around me. When I give Him my all — obeying His commands, following His lead, surrendering to His will — unshakable joy fills my soul to overflowing.

Jesus is the one thing that gives this life purpose. The joy we can know now, by serving the King of Kings, is only a tiny foretaste of the joys stored up for us in heaven. Imagine being in God’s presence, finally perfected, finally freed from the things that distract us from total devotion to our Savior. What a day that will be! — but that’s another hymn for another day.

“And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

(1 Peter 1:8)

I Know Whom I Have Believed

There’s a “peace that passes all understanding” that comes with knowing who God is. When, by faith, we are confident in God’s unchanging character, we can rest; rest in His unchanging nature, rest in His sovereign power, rest in His eternal promises.

I can almost hear Paul telling Timothy, with unwavering confidence and conviction, “for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) These words come as Paul is facing certain death for boldly preaching the gospel message. He isn’t cowering in fear. Paul is standing securely on God’s promise to usher him safely into the presence of His Savior, for whom he lived — and must also die.

As Paul passes the torch this young man who is like a son to him, he reminds Timothy to stand firm, no matter what. Stand firm through the trials and hardship. Stand firm as long as God gives him breath. Stand firmly on God’s Word; the trustworthy and true, active and living, imperishable word of God that holds the keys to an abundant temporal life and a glorious eternal life in God’s presence.

Daniel W. Whittle drew on this verse to write his hymn staunchly declaring his confidence and conviction in a voice that echoes Paul’s, a hymn meant to bolster believers as they walk life’s path. Why God would choose any of us to be His children, His friends and His heirs is a great mystery. None of us are worthy of His love, His grace, His mercy or His kindness. We all deserve His wrath, His judgement, His holy rejection. Still, through Christ’s work on the cross, He extended to us what none of us could earn for ourselves – and opportunity to stand before Him, forgiven and purified through the blood of His perfect Son if only we will repent of our sins, seek God’s forgiveness and walk with Him by faith.

There are still many unknowns in this life. But if we are in Christ, we can rest in Him. We can declare our confidence in God’s unwavering character and know, without a doubt, He will preserve our spiritual investments until we meet Him face to face. We can find to peace to distill our fears when we face fiery trials in this life because we are confident in the One we have believed.

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5b-6)