This is the view from our front porch. Sometimes when I sit out there or walk around our property, enjoying the beauty of the mountains, the deer eating in the fields, the birds flitting from post-to-post, I feel like the wealthiest man alive. Yet, this is nothing compared to what God has prepared for us.
Although the valley where I live is beautiful, it is not perfect. It turns brown and dry in the summer and in the winter it can get pretty cold. We live in a wonderful home, but it’s no mansion. We drive nice cars, but they sometimes break down. We make good money, but we’re hardly wealthy. God has blessed us in so many ways, yet all of this will eventually fade away.
Thankfully, however, this isn’t all there is. God has promised “we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” (1 Peter 1:4 NLT). He also says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
This world can be beautiful, but there are times when it can be pretty ugly too. On those days take heart. This is all temporary. Something special awaits you just over the horizon, an inheritance beyond your wildest imaginings, one that will never fade away or decay.
Someday soon all this will be just a distant memory. Soon “the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Soon you will receive the most precious reward of all – “the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter1:9).
Until then, hang in there, keep trusting in Jesus day-by-day and, no matter what comes your way, “rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” (v. 8). Something better is on the way!
First of all, there are all the receptionists, MA’s and nurses, who keep everything moving smoothly at the Walk-in Clinic and who brighten my day with their smiles and positive attitudes. Then, of course, there are the other mid-levels – Craig, Eric, Kurt, Vickie, Doug, and Juli. Not only do they provide compassionate, professional care to our patients, but they are always ready to offer me an encouraging word when the day’s not going well or some wise advice when I’m facing a dilemma on what to do for a patient.
The positive attitude of all the staff at the Walk-in Clinic and their patience as I’ve relearned the ropes has made my transition back there so much easier than it could have been. I am truly blessed to have each of them not just as colleagues, but as friends.
We all need friends like I have at the Walk-in. We all can use an encouraging word now and then. Everyone gets down at times and needs a little pick-me-up. That’s when a kind word from a friend, a pat on the back, or a listening ear can make all the difference. That’s why the Bible tells us to “encourage one another daily,” (Hebrews 3:13 NIV).
This is why I started the “Encouraging Words for Today” blog several years ago, to provide a little pick-me-up in a world that tends to knock us down. We live in pretty stressful times and we all could use a little encouragement from time to time.
Just like my friends at the Walk-in Clinic encourage me, my prayer is you will find at EncouragingWordsForToday.com a place you can go for the encouragement you need. Most of all, I pray you will join me and spread a little hope by sharing an encouraging word with someone you meet every day. Together we can change the world, one person at a time, as we “encourage one another daily.”
God bless and have a Happy Sabbath!
BTW: Please keep me in your prayers. I want EncouragingWordsForToday.com to be a blessing to everyone who reads it but sometimes deciding what to write can be a challenge, so your prayers will be greatly appreciated. And if you need prayer about something please feel free to contact me. It would be an honor to pray with you.
That may seem a little silly at first. After all, I only just met Bexlie 3 weeks ago and even then I only got to see her and hold her for a few short minutes before we had to go. How could someone so small have wormed her way into my heart so quickly that I feel a little emptiness without her around? I don’t know how, but I know it’s true. I miss my granddaughter!
Thankfully, we’ll get to see Bexlie in just a couple weeks, but that seems so far away. How much will she have grown in that time? How will she have changed? What will we have missed?
It’s hard being a grandparent from a distance. I want to be able to watch Bexlie grow, see her laugh, hold her while she sleeps. I want to be there for her milestones – her first laugh, her first word, her first step. Bexlie’s only been around for 17 days, but she’s already become such an important part of our lives. I miss her!
God feels the same way about you. He misses you! He misses talking with you, sharing your joys and sorrows, your laughter and your tears. He misses long walks and long talks. He longs to hold you close and soothe your fears, calm your worries, wipe away your tears.
I don’t know what has been keeping you away from Him – guilt, anger, fear, pain. Or maybe you, like the prodigal son, needed to taste what was out there, try on the world for size, only to find it doesn’t fit. Now, however, now when you long for home, you’re too ashamed to come crawling back or too afraid of the reception you’ll receive.
The thing is, you don’t need to feel any of that. God misses you! Like a shepherd He is searching for you. Like the prodigal’s father he is watching for you. If you will just take that first step towards Him, He will run to you, gather you in His arms and wrap Christ’s robe of righteousness around you. He will kiss your cheek, throw a party, and welcome you home with open arms.
You see, your Heavenly Father misses you, even more than I miss Bexlie. He loves you “with an everlasting love.” Moment-by-moment He is drawing back to Him “with unfailing kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3). He emptied all of Heaven, in the person of His son, just so He could win you back. There’s nothing He won’t do to see you home, safe and sound where you belong.
Why wait a moment longer? “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8). Today, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6) It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, because He promises “whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (John 6:37).
Haven’t you wandered long enough? It’s time to come home. Take that first step today. Just come home. Your Father misses you!
A dear friend of mine had a birthday a couple days ago, but she didn’t celebrate it in the traditional way, with a party, cake and candles. Gifts were given, but she was the giver, not the receiver.
Deanna is a nurse who on her birthday, she was assigned to work in the ER COVID wing. So, instead of getting showered with gifts, Deanna gave herself away, providing comfort and support to a family whose mother was dying of COVID.
This was an especially difficult case for Deanna, because she lost her own father to respiratory failure not long ago. Watching her patient struggle for air, brought back painful memories of Deanna’s own father in his last days, but it also helped her relate to what her patient’s family was going through. Sharing her own experience with the family helped them make the difficult decision to switch their mother from treatment to comfort care, which allowed the medical staff to make her last hours as comfortable as possible.
Deanna paid a price for this kindness, however. She says, “I spent most of the day holding back tears or letting them flow.” Sometimes that’s the price we pay when we give ourselves away.
1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
Everyday our incredible nurses, first responders, and other medical providers selfishly give and give and give, sometimes till they have nothing left. For most of us this pandemic is an inconvenience, but for them it is a heavy burden they bear with grace, caring, and professionalism, showing each of us what real love is, the kind of love that calls us to lay it all on the line, just like Jesus did.
Today, please take a moment to say “Thank you” to a nurse, a doctor, or the countless others who selflessly give so much for so many everyday. Thank them for giving their time, their energy, their skills and for putting their own lives on the line, to help us get through this crisis. While you’re at it, give them (and yourself) a gift that can really make a difference – go get vaccinated! Then get out there and follow their example:
I’d like to introduce you to our first grandchild, Bexlie Fae Edison. Ain’t she a beauty? She was born late Thursday night. Ana and I are already head-over-heels in love and we only just met her yesterday afternoon. Because of pandemic restrictions we couldn’t see her in the hospital, so we had to wait until she came home to see her for the first time.
It’s been a long nine months waiting for Bexlie to make her appearance, but now that she’s arrived, we can’t wait to start to get to know her. It’s going to be so much fun having a little one in the family again.
Proverbs 17: 6 says, “Grandchildren are the crowning glory and ultimate delight of old age…” and now that I have a grandchild of my own I see what Solomon was talking about. I’m thrilled to be this little lady’s Grandpa and I’m looking forward to all the fun we’re going to have with her as she grows.
I’m going to cherish the moments holding her, rocking her and just listening to her laugh. When she gets older I’ll sit on the floor with her and we’ll have tea parties together (if I can get my old joints to bend that far). I’ll read her stories and make up tales of mice who go on adventures and knights who rescue young damsels. We’ll go for walks and have long talks and just enjoy being together. And wherever she goes and whatever she does Bexlie will know one thing – she is deeply and completely loved.
From the moment I saw Bexlie’s picture for the first time I knew I would do whatever it takes to keep her safe and to care for her needs. She’s my granddaughter, my “crowning glory and ultimate delight” of my “old age”. I will do anything for her (even if it means changing a poopy diaper or two).
That’s how your Heavenly Father feels about you. You, with all your weaknesses, faults, and scars, are His “crowning glory and ultimate delight”. He loves you with an everlasting love (Isaiah 61:8) and He’ll do whatever it takes for you to be happy and safe. After all that’s why He gave His Son to pay the price for your sin, so “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
With Ana and I living 3-½ hours away it’s going to take time (and a lot of driving) for us to get to know our granddaughter, but you can start to get to know your Heavenly Father right away. Just open His Word and read His love letter to you. Spend every day with HIm, laughing, talking, sharing stories, and just enjoying the hours together.
You’re even more precious to God then Bexlie is to us. You are His “crowning glory and ultimate delight.” Give Him your heart today and discover for yourself what it’s like to really, truly be loved.
On July 4, 1776 the thirteen American colonies declared themselves no longer subject to British rule. Today, 245 years later, we celebrate once again our independence and the establishment of our beloved nation, a nation built on the enduring principle “that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…”.
Independence may have been declared on July 4, 1776 but it took 5 more years of sacrifice and conflict before that dream was actually achieved. Yet out of that conflict grew a nation which has become a beacon of hope for all people, a refuge for the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
The United States is by no means perfect and we still have a long way to go until the promise implied by the phrase “all Men are created equal” will be fully realized, but America still shines as an example to other nations of what can be achieved by a people who are truly free.
Long ago, on a hill called Mount Calvary, the Son of God set all men free. With His final words, “It is finished,” Jesus declared our independence from the oppressive rule of the Prince of Darkness, signing his Declaration of Independence not with pen and ink, but with His own blood, spilt for you and me. By His blood He set us free and “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36).
The full potential of Jesus’ Declaration of Independence has yet to be realized. Just as the British did not give up easily, Satan will not relinquish his hold on humanity without a fight. The Conflict of the Ages still rages and we each feel it’s effects on a daily basis. However, the outcome is assured. “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” (Hebrews 10:37).
On that victorious day, “the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
When Jesus comes again He will welcome all who have believed in His name, people not just from America, but “persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9). The battle over, the victory won, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” (Revelation 21:4). Then, and only then, will we truly be one people, “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all…”
So, this 4th of July, enjoy your parades and picnics, sing your patriotic songs, and celebrate with me America, “the Land of the Brave and the Free”. But, as you celebrate, remember – this is just the beginning! A new day is just over the horizon, an Independence Day which will never end, a day when we will once and forever be truly free, free to be all God made us to be.
When I’m driving I’ll sometimes do something which drives my wife crazy. I’ll notice Ba road off to the side and suddenly decide to see where it goes. Sometimes these little detours lead to a beautiful view or a picturesque town, but often it just meanders off into the wilderness until we’re totally lost.
Last year I decided to try a different road. After 13 years in the walk-in clinic I joined a new practice in Cashmere, WA. Things went well for about a month and a half, but then COVID hit! Business plummeted suddenly and we had to temporarily close.
Looking for more stability, I took a job with Occupational Medicine. The staff was amazing and, at first, I thought I’d found a new home. After a few months, though, I realized I’d made a wrong turn. I’m an acute care PA and managing patients long term just isn’t for me. I started looking for a way back to what I do best.
The search was frustrating. I received several offers, but none was right for me. I spent a lot of time struggling with God, but only found peace when I accepted God might want me to stay right where I was. Like Paul, I had to learn “to be content whatever the circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11).
With this new attitude came also a wonderful peace. I was learning to “wait on the Lord” and the wait was worth it. A new position was opened back at the Walk-in Clinic and I was offered the job. I start July 1 and I’m so excited to get back to work with my Walk-in “family.”
My little detour cost me a lot of sleepless nights and anguish, but I learned some valuable lessons. I learned what it really means to trust in God, to surrender, and I gained perspective on what is the right path for me. I loved working with the wonderful people at OccMed and I’ll miss them, but it’s good to be back on the path where I belong.
If you’ve taken a little detour too and find yourself in a place you don’t belong, on a path that’s headed in the wrong direction, don’t despair. No matter what mistakes you’ve made, what wrong turns you’ve taken in your life, remember “your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.” (Proverbs 5:21).
God knows just where you went wrong and He can show you the way back to the right path for you. Just “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
We all make wrong turns sometimes, detours we should have avoided. Thankfully we have a Heavenly Father who cares. If you let Him He will “instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.” (Psalm 32:8). Why wander any longer, making one wrong turn after another? Put your hand in His today and let Him lead you back to the path where you belong, the path which will lead you Home.
Today is Juneteenth. It was on this day, in 1865, federal troops marched into Galveston, TX and General Granger read General Order Number 3 to the people there. The order said:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
With those words slavery in America was officially outlawed, effectively bringing to an end this shameful institution which had caused untold suffering to millions and taken a bloody Civil War to finally abolish.
Two days ago, 156 years after the fact, June 19 was finally declared a federal holiday. However, Juneteenth has been celebrated since 1866 by African-Americans. Called by various names, including Jubilee Day, Black Independence Day, and Emancipation Day, Juneteenth is a day of remembrance and of celebration. It is a day for hope and for recognizing there is still much to be done before we fully realize the promise of General Order Number 3 of “absolute equality of rights” for all people.
About 2000 years ago Jesus Christ came “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…” (Luke 4:18 NIV). That freedom was bought for you and I through Christ’s precious blood, spilled on Mount Calvary. When we accept his death as payment for our sins, He sets us free from slavery to sin and declares we are His brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God.
The slaves in Texas had actually been set free 2-½ years before by President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, but they did not know it. So too, many today remain in slavery of one type or another. Addicted to drugs or alcohol, weighed down by despair and grief, they struggle through each day “without hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12).
If only they knew Jesus paid the price for their sins! If only they realized they’ve been set free! But, “how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14)
It was General Granger’s duty to inform the slaves in Texas they had been set free. In the same way it is your duty and mine to spread the Good News to all we meet that Jesus has set them free. They are no longer slaves for “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
How can we stay silent any longer? How can we stand idly by and let our friends and family struggle under the weight of sin, under chains Christ broke on the Cross. Like Jesus we too are called ““to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…”
This week let’s lift our voices at work and at home, in-person and on-line. Everywhere we go let’s share the Good News with everyone we meet. Let’s let the whole world know the price has been paid – “all slaves are free!”
Today’s my 61st birthday. Yeah, I know that’s old but, as they say, age is just a state of mind. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful life and I know the best is yet to come!
Earlier this week Ana asked me what I wanted for a gift and I couldn’t think of a thing. Just getting to spend the day with her is the best gift I can have. As far as material gifts are concerned, the last thing I need is more stuff.
I did, however, receive one very special birthday present today. My “Encouraging Words for Today” Facebook group went over 500 followers! I was so excited! These followers come from all over the world – the US, Philippines, Australia, Ghana, and even Trinidad and Tobago. It makes me feel so good knowing my efforts are making a small difference in another person’s life somewhere in the world each week.
The thing is, we all can make a difference in some small way, everyday. Maybe writing’s not your thing, but we each have something we can share to encourage another person. It could be a loaf of bread or some cookies, a little thank you note or email, or just a smile or a kind word. The important thing is for us to ask God to open our eyes to see the needs around us and then do something about them.
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, to “encourage each other and build each other up…” The world can be a pretty dark place if we have to face it on our own. We need each other to help us see the light at the end of the tunnel, to remind us a better day is on it’s way or to just hold our hand and help us make it through another day. We’re better together. As Ecclesiates 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
This week let’s look for opportunities to “encourage each other and build each other up.” Give someone else an encouraging word, do a kind deed, or lend a helping hand. Share a smile, send a note, or give to someone in need. And if someone has done something to encourage you, say “Thank you,” by sharing it in the comments below. Then we can all be encouraged together!
Let’s make this a great week and build each other up anyway we can!
God bless and Happy Sabbath!
PS: To all those who have signed up to follow Encouraging Words for Today on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or at EncouragingWordsForToday.com, thank you so much for the wonderful birthday present! You made my day! And if you haven’t signed up yet, I hope you will. After all, we all can use an encouraging word now and then.
I woke up yesterday morning and knew something was wrong. My head hurt, my nose was stuffed, and I couldn’t stop coughing. I’d been going, going, going all week, not getting enough rest, and now I was paying the price. It was breakdown time! I was sick!
After calling into work and making a quick trip to town to get tested for COVID (negative, thankfully) I crawled back into bed and spent most of my day sleeping. I couldn’t concentrate, I ached all over and couldn’t stay warm. It was generally a miserable day. I hate being sick!
I’m a little better today, but still feeling totally wiped out. I watched church online, then went back to bed. Later I got up, ate lunch, and went back to bed. Crawled to the bathroom and went back to bed. I know Sabbath is supposed to be a day of rest, but this is ridiculous! I just hope I feel better tomorrow.
We all have days like these, where we’re feeling under the weather, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Our get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went, our energy is drained and just putting one foot in front of the other is a challenge. We’re tired, discouraged, and our soul aches almost as much as our body. We’re breaking down and we can’t seem to do anything about it.
It’s in these moments Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 means the most to me. He says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Work is good and we all strive to do our best, but if we let it, it can take over our lives. If we just keep charging ahead, never taking time for a pit stop, we’re going to break down, physically and spiritually. Believe me, I know!
So, before you go charging into a new week, take a moment to “Come aside…and rest awhile.” (Mark 6:31). Set your burdens down at the Cross, take a load off your feet, and just spend a little time with the One who loves you more than life itself. Don’t risk another breakdown. Come to Jesus today – and rest.
