The Encouragement Blog

So often we hear these words and fail to fully understand what “The Power of the Cross” really means. What does it mean and what important impact does it have for our lives. The discussion begins with the often-asked question, “Why did Jesus have to die?” We wonder why God just didn’t snap His fingers and take away the sin

Artist Hieronymus Bosch, in his three-paneled painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights, c.1503-1504, depicts, in the second, main panel, the joy, lusts and delights that humans enjoy during a portion of their lives. The third panel of the triptych depicts a dark vision of the punishments of hell. Death and destruction follow the sins of man as humanity is forever trapped in a

The late, Brennan Manning wrote this in an essay on Forgiveness in his book, Souvenirs of Solitude. “The proof par excellence of the Christian who has experienced God’s unbearable forgiveness and infinite patience is that he is able to be forgiving and patient with others.” This statement reflects what Jesus taught in the parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:21-35. There, Jesus

The fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White all revolve around a damsel in distress being rescued by a handsome prince. These stories are timeless and were our favorites and now are the favorites of our children. Evil surrounds our heroine and she faces death and poverty unless someone comes to her rescue. Events always look dire and awful with

In our last blog we talked about the most encouraging thing anyone could hear is God saying to us “I love you.” To be loved by the Creator of the Universe is better than having the direct dial phone to the greatest lawyer, movie star or politician. To be loved by God is to affirm our worth. We are worthy of

The most encouraging news that anyone could ever hear is the message that “God loves you.” Just exactly why that is so heartening lies in the Bible verse, Romans 5:8, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Note that this verse doesn’t say Christ died for us AFTER

One of the most bandied about accusations against belief in the Living God goes something like this… “Why is there so much misery in the world? I cannot believe in a God who allows such suffering in the world.” Well, there is no doubt that the misery and suffering around the world is acute and growing. The number of poor,

When we discover and accept God’s love for us in Jesus, our fears are banished, allowing us to live with more freedom. Our existence takes on a new excitement and purpose as we understand what God has done for us. Our outlook on our life’s purpose changes like a compass whose needle was facing south but now points north. We

Let’s read this passage of Scripture and compare David’s response to God with the one Moses gave, as discussed in our last BLOG post (Blog: Who Me?) “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, . . . that you have brought me this far? . . . For the sake of your promise and according to your will, you have done

When Moses learned that God was going to send him to King Pharaoh in Egypt, Moses had some real reservations, to say the least (See Exodus 3: 11-12). He made excuses and tried to wiggle out of what God wanted him to do. Has God ever asked you to do something that made you want to wiggle? Maybe He’s asked