March 30 – His Strong Righteous Hands

 “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

 Our promise today is one that can make us glad in heart. Fear is too commonly what we choose when we face turmoil from the world. Critics and hateful words from skeptics should not weaken our stand or our grip on God’s truth. God says, “Do Not Fear.” Why? How? By trusting that God’s promise is true – He is with us. When we are fearful, we get anxious and that means worry. Worry keeps us from seeing, understanding, and remembering God. So, don’t look around for help from any other source but God. He promises us strength. He promises us help. He promises to hold us up with His righteous right hand. That is like his hand is under us so that we will not fall and if we stumble, He catches us.  God knows very well that we are weak and unable to stand on our own. When we try on our own we’re sure to topple over. But with the strength and help of His right hand, we are kept secure. We need not be afraid of frightful things. We do not need to worry because God’s promises are sure and true.

 

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April 18 – Don’t Weave on The Path

“Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,  and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.” -  Hebrews 12:12 (NASB)

The unusual visual of the language in our verse is drawn from a prophecy given in Isaiah 35. This is a picture of what will happen for the believers when the Lord comes again. The next sentence encourages those who are discouraged to ‘Be strong and don’t be afraid. This is a common experience – weak hands and feeble knees – especially as we get older. But even the young have weak faith and drooping arms with week knees. How are we to strengthen our hands and knees? Listen to the author’s encouragement as a coach. There is more of the race left to run, it is not the time to allow weakness and feebleness so, don’t quit yet. Take care to watch where we are walking and follow the path that is level. God will make our path straight (Proverbs 3:6). Throughout our lives we have choices of which paths we will walk. If we make sure to take the level path or to make our way level and straight, then all our ways will be sure (Proverbs 4:26-27). As we walk we are told to not swerve back and forth. No flip-flopping. And, very important, let’s turn away from evil. 

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January 1 – A Little While

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”  1 Peter 5:10-11 (ESV)

Perhaps it seems out of place to begin the New Year with a benediction. The New Year may not always be as “Happy” as we would wish, but as Christians we are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3) and can look forward to a “Blessed New Year” throughout the problems that may come. Suffering is a common experience for all humans. None seek it out but we know that it is part of our walk with Jesus Christ for He promises that we will suffer for His sake as we proclaim our faith in Him. So, Peter confirms for us that suffering is going to be ours for a “little while.” But, afterward, God promises that He Himself will be the one who will restore us, and confirm us, and strengthen us, and then establish us. What a promise that is! We are members of God’s family and we live in His dominion. This is what will be ours for eternity. So, the suffering of last year and the suffering we will encounter this year is all but for “a little while” when the rest will be ours for eternity. 

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August 6 – The Great Courage Giver

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)

What a beautiful benediction for us to consider today.  It tells us and reminds us that God loved us and by His grace we are encouraged for eternity - that means for us eternal salvation. Just as this daily blog, which was first a telephone ministry years ago had as its purpose to bring encouragement and hope into the lives of  all who heard.  It continues to be the purpose and hope for all who now read these daily devotions. We recognized that it must be God Himself who does the encouraging. He is the great courage giver for our Christian lives. Now we believe this that His encouragement is eternal as our verse teaches us. It is for all and for always in every situation. Our God is aware when we are tempted to lose courage, to fear, and to give up. He knows when the challenges of our lives might cause us to lose hope. The greatest challenge we face is met with his unending love and mercy. He is always with us, let's keep looking to Him and we can expect to  experience His encouragement because He has promised it to us.

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September 25 - Finding Real Encouragement

“ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,  comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17  (NASB)

When we need some sincere encouragement where can we find it?   True encouragement comes from the Lord our God who may use various means and, sometimes certain people to bring it to us.  Someone may be used and sent by God to speak an encouraging word when we need it. We might receive encouragement from our peers, our minister a coworker or counselor or even a therapist.  It is good to remember people, even those really close to us are not perfect in their knowledge and understanding of what we are facing.  The ultimate source of encouragement will be the assurance of God’s faithfulness and concern.  God has given us this promise as written by the Apostle Paul to a group of Christ followers who really were anxious about many things.  Paul affirms that God who has loved us is the source of eternal comfort and good hope.  His word lifts our hearts and gives us strength to continue on the journey.  That is the kind of encouragement we can count on fully for we know that it is eternal. It is always there because God promised and He never changes. 

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June 30 – No Need to Fear or Worry

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”   Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

It was through the Prophet Isaiah that God sent this promise to His people.  In the midst of warnings about what God was going to do to the unbelieving nations around Israel, he sends this encouragement that they did not need to fear or be anxious.  God would not be bringing the same judgment on His people.  This is a good promise for us to take hold of too.  When circumstances in our world and life become increasingly upsetting and disruptive we can cling to this promise that God is our God.  We do not need to be afraid of what is happening around us.  We do not need to be looking over our shoulder worrying about what might happen to us.  God  promises strength when and where we need it.  He promises to help us with full assurance.  In fact His promise is that He will be the One that holds us up and keeps us from falling.  We are helped by God's righteous right hand.  

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February 26 – Surely It Is So

“‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”   Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

A promise given by God to His people long ago still holds true for us today.  It is God's earnest desire that we be aware that He is near each one of us who have believed in Jesus as our Savior.  We belong as members of His family and He wants us to always be conscious that He is our God and that He is with us.  Each of us experience fear from time to time and we all are anxious about different things.  God's promise to us is to strengthen us through all such occasions and situations.  Whatever we encounter as we live for Him here on earth, God wants us to trust Him to support and uphold us.  As we depend on Him for strength He will give it, and He will see us through these situations that we face from day to day.  In this verse God's promises are underscored with the emphatic word, “surely” and today we can surely believe Him because He always keeps His promises.   

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January 28 – All Things is Every Thing

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  Philippians 4:13 (NASB)

This is a well-known verse and a favorite of many.  We can be blessed by remembering it today because its promise is one we need to lean on every day.  It reminds us us how much we benefit by trusting our Lord.  The Apostle Paul, who wrote these words to the believers in Philippi knew well the need of trusting God for strength.  We know that when we believe in Jesus we receive eternal  life.  This means that when our life here on earth is over we will go to heaven to live forever with God.  But while we still live here our Lord has promised that nothing he asks of us to do is too much for us to do.  God does not depend upon us to do what he has for us by ourselves.  He knows that we need help and He promises to help us ever day in every thing – all things.  He is with us to help us every day, every time we need it.  The strength is for us and comes from God. 

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January 10 – Encouragement Comforts and Strengthens

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”   2 Thessalonians 216-17 (NASB)

Our verse today gives us a wonderful and comforting message in the form of a prayer by the Apostle Paul for the believers meeting together in Thessalonica.   It teaches us how our God is involved in our living for Him and so is our Savior Jesus Christ.  We are reminded that God the Father and Jesus are involved by giving eternal comfort.  Another word for this is encouragement.  Do you need encouragement because you are discouraged and challenged by your circumstances?  Part of our Christian life is doing good things which God wants us to do and He has promised to help us.  He brings the comfort and encouragement when we need it and when we need strength, He strengthens us which is also a means of encouraging us in our daily walk with Him.  When we step out to speak a good word or do something worthwhile Jesus encourages us and comforts us by giving us the strength and ability to do it. 

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July 11 – Surely He Will – He Said He Would

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

There are many reasons why we hold this verse as one of our most frequently recalled verses.  Today's verse has been chosen because it has several promises.  We will focus mostly on the last one. God promises to uphold His children with His righteous right hand.  God can promise this because He is a righteous God.  According to common definition, that means that He does what is right.  So when He holds us up with His righteous right hand, He does it to help us do what is right. And he will surely do it even when we doubt that He is.  We don't naturally always do what is right and God knows that we need His help for that.  So lets allow His hand to uphold us, to keep us doing what is right and proper.  And let's be sure we do what He prompts us to do, do not fear, do not be anxious, believe in God, trust He will strengthen us, help us and in that way He upholds us and we can rest in the battle.  God's hand is righteous and He will never fail.

June 14 – Encouraging Comfort

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17(NASB)

We think of this blog as a means of bringing encouragement or comfort to those who read and follow it. But we recognize that it is not us who brings this comfort. The One who does is God Himself. We are reminded of this in the verses selected for today. Do you notice what kind of comfort our Lord gives?  It is eternal comfort and good hope. Our hope is certain expectation from God who keeps giving comfort and strength day after day and it will never end. That is a promise. There are many ways God comforts us. We may find comfort through something we read in the Bible or when we see God answering our prayers. Perhaps it comes to us from a friend or even in a book or devotional such as this blog. No matter how, we are encouraged to go on living and believing, let's be thankful to God for He is the source of the eternal comfort available to us.  That is encouraging.  

January 29 – All Means All

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (NASB)

Today's verse may be one that is very familiar to you or maybe you have not heard it before this. This is from the letter Paul wrote to the gathering of believers in Philippi, a city in eastern Macedonia. Paul's confession in this statement, although short, covers a lot of situations in his life. The apostle Paul had learned that He could not get by on his own abilities. He had learned where to look for strength to carry on. He was in prison for preaching the Gospel, and it was very difficult. We notice that Paul did not say in our verse that he needed help only for difficult situations that faced him, but for all the things in his life. He depended on God for strength for everything, the little things as well as the big ones. The things he did not want done to him and the things he did want to do for God. So it is with us. We need God's help in all things, in all situations. This help is available to us and we can claim the promise that in all things, we can do what we need to do through Him because it is His strength in us.  

August 6 – The Great Courage Giver

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)

This daily blog was first a telephone ministry years ago. Its purpose and hope was to bring encouragement in the lives of  all who heard and now read these daily contributions. We recognized that it must be God Himself who does the encouraging. He is the great courage giver for our Christian lives. His encouragement is eternal. It is for all and for always in every situation. Our God is aware when we are tempted to lose courage and to give up. He knows when the challenges of our lives might cause us to lose hope.  He is always with us, let's keep looking to Him and we'll experience His encouragement.

July 17 – Individually Attentive

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. ” 2 Chronicles 16:9a (NIV)

This promise in today's verse came from God through His prophet Hanani during the time King Asa ruled in Judah. Asa had been disobedient and not trusted God for help against the enemy. God wanted Asa to know what He wants us to know and that God is individually attentive to His people. He pays special attention to each of us no matter where we are. We are never in a situation where God cannot see us and does not know of our needs. God is not just watching us out of curiosity. He is watching everything in order to know what we need. When we need strength, he strengthens us. He looks to strongly support us whose hearts belong to Him. Let's be certain that our hearts are completely His today because He knows and He want to strongly support us.

June 11 – Strengthen with Power

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. ” Ephesians 3:16-17a (NIV)

Much of our Bible in the New Testament was written by God's apostles through letters to the first century Christians to encourage them. The Apostle Paul often wrote about how he prayed for his Christian friends. Today's verse is from one of those letters to the Ephesian believers. But not only to the church in Ephesus. These words were inspired by God for us too. God is able and ready to strengthen us with power in our inner being. Whatever you are facing today the Holy Spirit will strengthen you and bring you through it. And, there is no limit to what God can do for each of us. It all comes, just as Paul prayed, out of God's glorious riches. Do your sense the need for strength and power? Don't hesitate to trust God for whatever you need today, even right now. 

May 23 – Fully Committed Heart

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  2 Chronicles 16:9a  (NIV) 

These words were spoken to Asa the King of Judah. Asa had been a good King who had followed God for most of his reign but at the end  when threatened by an enemy, he forgot God's past deliverance and acted out of fear. Through His prophet, God reminded Asa what it was that He wanted to find – a heart that was committed to Him. We are never out of the sight of God. He watches over all the earth and he knows where we are and what we are doing. These words have always been true and are true today. They are given to us to encourage us to always remain committed to our Lord. He looks in our hearts and he will strengthen us when he finds our hearts are fully committed to Him.  He will help us today to please Him and to live for Him.

January 29

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a (NIV)

Mostly Asa, the King of Judah, was a good king who trusted God and God protected his kingdom. But once he was threatened by the northern kingdom of Israel and he turned instead for help from the King of ancient Syria. God’s message to Judah was to remind Asa how God knows all things. These words are still true for us today. Our God has not changed and He never will. These are remarkable words about our God and especially about his eyes. Yes, God does see all that is going on in this world. He even looks into our hearts. He sees when our hearts are committed to Him. When He finds us fully committed, He takes the opportunity to strengthen our hearts. We can be encouraged by knowing that God is involved and giving us strength when we are fully committed. 

November 21

“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,” Psalm 92:1-2 (NIV)

Now it is Thanksgiving week. We know we are not to wait for a special holiday before we thank God, so let us begin to thank Him today. These words in our Bible do not mean only that it is a good idea to thank God. It means that it does us good to thank and to praise Him. It makes a difference in our lives and it makes a difference in our outlook. Yes, it is good for us to thank God in the morning for His love for us. It changes our outlook on the hours ahead. It is also good to thank Him at night for His faithfulness during the day. It makes the day different and strengthens our faith for the next day.  

August 10

“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”  2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)

It is wonderful to know that our God is aware of our needs. I am reminded of what our Lord Jesus said to His disciple, Peter, that last night before the cross. Jesus knew that Peter would be tempted to deny Him. He told Peter that He had already prayed for him. The same is true with us today. He knows how our faith will be tested. And He will strengthen us to endure testing and protect us and bring us through. God has committed Himself to keep us and we can depend on Him.

April 15

“Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:4 (NIV)

This is a word of encouragement through the prophet Haggai to the people working on the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. As your face each day you have things that you need to do. Will it make a difference to you if you know that the Lord is with you? You can be sure that if you are trusting in the Lord, He will be with you. So you can be encouraged by the words of this scripture because they remind us that our Lord is involved in what we are doing each day. He will be with us through each day and will strengthen us.