Encouragement Post - Coronavirus Distancing Day 46 (Thursday)

I am always just amazed at just HOW alive and active God's word is. It is never dull, always applicable, and always encourages me... God's promises are true and "yes" in Christ! If you love the Word, you probably already know this song by Sara Groves titled (not coincidentally) "The Word." If you don't know it, well there's no better time than right now to get acquainted.

"For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us." - 2 Corinthians 1:20

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12

Encouragement Post - Coronavirus Distancing Day 39 (Thursday)

Encouragement Post #39 (Thursday) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:1-5

New Every Morning
by Audrey Assad

In the beginning You hovered over the waters:
You broke an unbroken silence: You spoke light into darkness
And there was light

In the beginning we were made in Your image
We were naked without shame til we fell for the darkness
And there was night

Your mercies are new
Your mercies are new
New every morning.

In the beginning there was the Word and he was God
And the Word was with God and He dwelt among us
And there was life

In the beginning the Lamb of God was broken
And His blood was poured out for the sins of the world
And there was life

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light
At the cross, at the cross, I received my sight
At the cross, at the cross where you laid down your life

A Blessing for You

So, because my last post was a little on the negative side, I am posting something encouraging today.  Here is a scripture we memorized in our ladies group a while back, when we were making our way through the book of Ephesians.  I am posting it here as encouragement for you.  Always remember that you are uniquely special and dearly loved by the One who created you!  There really is no way to truly comprehend His love... and feel free to copy and use this graphic if you'd like to.  We used it to help us memorize, but use it however you'd like.

Christi's Psalm 123

So my study of the Psalms of Ascent continues and here's one that is mighty appropriate for these hours... in my own words, of course.

Christi's Psalm 123

My gaze lifts to You, LORD, and settles on the vision of You on Your throne.
Just as a servant's eyes are so careful to watch and wait for his master's hand to lift,
So my eyes are fixed on You in readiness for You to move with grace on behalf of Your people.
Show us Your mercy and Your grace, LORD, because as a people -- Your people -- we are ridiculed and scorned by those on the outside looking in ... those who consider themselves either more intellectual or more worthy because of their tolerance of things contrary to Your law.
They think their opinions are of more worth than Your Word -- and we need Your grace and mercy to endure it!

These words are so helpful right now with all that is going on in our present world. As a believer, I am called to pray for those in positions of leadership... that means local leaders, state leaders, national leaders, and world leaders. I am also called to stand for Truth. I can't back down on it even when it would seem more convenient. I know it sustains me through times of joy and times of total despair. Even when all the ground around my feet seems to crumble and fall, if my feet are planted on the Truth of God's Word I cannot fall. The ground of the Word right under my feet is firm and unshakeable! Am I naive enough to think that harm and calamity cannot come to me? No. I know that while God's people are blessed with His presence, they are also called to suffer. This may be a physical suffering, an emotional suffering, (economical suffering?) or spiritual suffering in the form of persecution. It is coming hard at us right now. But, let us stand firm. Let us not waiver in our faith. Further, let us who are called by His name praise God that we are counted worthy to suffer with Christ.

Acts 5:41 "So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name."

Romans 8:17-18 "...and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

There is no promise of immunity from suffering in God's Word. But there is the promise of His presence both now and forever. He is Emmanuel, the God who is with us. And if our covenant keeping God is with us, who can be against us?

Instruments in the Artist's Hands

In an artist's workshop there are many tools used for so many different things. There are multitudes of papers, paintbrushes, pencils, paints, paintbrush holders, tape, paper towels, cups for holding water, and even a desk on which to paint. All these things are necessary to the artist who is creating something beautiful, something of worth.

I was thinking of the verses in 1 Corinthians this morning about wanting to be what you're not created to be. What if the tape wanted to be a paintbrush and said, "I will not serve the artist unless I can do what the paintbrush does." Or, the desk said, "I will not serve the artist unless I can do what the paint does, after all the paint has the most prestigious job." OK... it's absurd I know, but you get the idea. Here is how it reads in The Message:

I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything.

1 Corinthians 12:14-27

I hope you see in this somewhere your own significance and the importance you have, whatever your gifts or talents or place, in the Artist's Hands.