Christian Encouragement

Things aren’t always as they appear. Just you wait and see. For instance, Jesus had no earthly possessions, wasn’t married, and when arrested, His friends abandoned Him. He was lied about, mocked, and beaten almost to death before being crucified.

It would appear that Jesus was defeated in the worst of ways. However, in Mark 14:61-62 notice Jesus’ response to the high priest’s question, “‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’” 

Jesus responded, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, AND COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

“I am the Son of the Blessed One,” Jesus said. We can almost hear what He may have been thinking, “Just you wait and see.” 

When we think about our lives or circumstances and it doesn’t seem like, feel like, or look like we are the “blessed child of God,” remember that is who you are, child of God. Things aren’t always as they appear. Just you wait and see.

Heavenly Father, I praise You for Christ, SON OF THE BLESSED ONE, and for bringing me to salvation through Him so that now I am also Your blessed child.

Stay connected with Debbie beyond the blog! Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Are you dragging through your day singing the blues? If so, that can change. You see, we have a choice about the music and songs we allow to play in our mind and heart as well as the ones we sing. 

In Exodus 15:2, Moses tells us the music that empowered his walk. “The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him.”

The word “song” in Exodus 15:2 means music or melody. In effect, Moses says, “The Lord is my melody. He’s the music by whom I walk through my day.” 

What music or words play in your mind as you go about your day? 

If you’ve been singing the blues, you can make the choice to change to a different playlist. You can tune your heart to God’s voice and walk through your day singing His praises. Isn’t it time to tune your heart to His praise playlist? 

Heavenly Father, thank You for being the melody by which I can walk through my day. I sing Your praises. You are my strength and SONG.

Want to fill your day with songs that encourage and strengthen your spirit? Visit our Encouraging Music for the Cancer+ Journey page. You’ll find uplifting songs to help you keep your heart tuned to His praise.

Are there any Bible verses that make your heart sing because they’re so beautifully written and the praise so magnificent? 

Such is the case with Jude 1:24-25. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

In these verses, Jude proclaims that the LORD is our only Savior, but not only that. Our Savior is able to keep us from stumbling! 

Our Savior is able to make us stand blameless in God’s presence and glory with great joy. 

If you’ve ever attended a celebration where a toast was made to the person being honored, then you heard words of accolade for the person. No words could be greater, however, than Jude’s praise of the LORD, our Savior, who rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13); who saved us from the penalty of sin and death and made us holy and righteous, able to stand before God (2 Corinthians 5:21).  

Jude’s heart overflows in praise of the Savior. Use his words as your words of praise. “To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Lord, I worship You; my only God and SAVIOR. 

If you enjoyed this content and want to watch video teachings by Debbie, subscribe to her YouTube channel. Go HERE and click the subscribe button to be notified of new teachings.

I wish I wouldn’t sin. I long for the day when I’m perfected in Christ’s image. How about you? Do you ever tire of your impatience, bad habit, or perhaps careless words? The fact is, as long as we’re in our earthly bodies, we’ll contend with our sin nature. As a matter of fact, not only will we contend with it, Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another.” So we have this little, um, big war going on inside of us.

Here’s the wonderful news recorded in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God in His grace has chosen to sanctify us, to set us apart for Himself as holy, without blame. Think about it. What we can’t do for ourselves, God has done and will continue to do. We who call upon the name of the Lord will one day live in heaven completely holy because of Christ. Does knowing that cause you to want to lift your voice in praise to God? Does it cause you to want to cooperate with what the Holy Spirit is doing in you today to conform you to Christ’s image? 

Heavenly Father, SANCTIFIER, thank You for setting me apart for Yourself and for taking it upon Yourself to sanctify me completely and without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Help me mindfully conform to Christ’s image through the Holy Spirit who is at work in me.

The Apostle Peter, who contended with his sin nature, boldly encourages us that we have everything we need for life and godliness in 2 Peter 1:1-4. To listen to Debbie’s teaching on the subject, click HERE.

I’m tired! I’m tired of work. I’m tired of the tension in my life. I’m tired of struggling. I’m tired of taking care of…. How would you finish the sentence? God understands. He gets it.

The Bible makes a point that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. One of the Ten Commandments is to keep the Sabbath Day as a holy day and to not work on it. 

Jesus’ work of gaining our salvation on the cross resulted in our not working for salvation but rather resting in what Christ accomplished on the cross.

God cares about you being weary. We will one day enter God’s ultimate provision of His presence—an eternal Sabbath rest. Until then, we can thank God that life won’t always be so hard. We can thank Jesus for paving the way for our future rest. And, we can prayerfully ponder and walk daily in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Yes, as promised, “…there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9-10). 

Lord, thank You for the SABBATH REST I have in You for eternity. Thank You that I can come to You every day and learn from You and find rest for my soul.  

Do you commute to work and want to listen to some encouraging teachings by Debbie while you drive? Let her podcasts on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify help you set your mind on Christ before you start your day!

Have you ever heard someone say “that stinks” when something awful happens?

If bad things repeatedly happen, they might even say, “Life stinks.” 

Instead of focusing on the foul, though, we have a choice to breathe in what Song of Solomon 2:1 refers to as the Rose of Sharon, a reference to Christ and His splendor, heavenly fragrance, and beauty.

When life stinks, stay extra close to Christ. Breathe in His fragrance. “I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys” (Song of Solomon 2:1).

Lord Jesus, You are the ROSE OF SHARON, the fragrant aroma of heaven. Thank You that I can breathe in the beauty of Your fragrance in the midst of whatever my day brings. 

Stay connected with Debbie beyond the blog! Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Have you ever had a conversation start out one way and then, before you knew it, either you weren’t explaining your point clearly or the other person wasn’t hearing it in the way you meant?

That happened to me the other day. I was complimenting someone, then somehow the conversation went south. They thought I was saying something I didn’t intend to say. It’s easy to misunderstand one another because we come from different backgrounds and hear from different points of view.

One thing our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to misunderstand is how much He loves us. If it’s been a while since you’ve heard the words in John 3:16, let them soak into your heart and mind today. “God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not die, but have eternal life.”

Those are good words. God couldn’t state His love for us more clearly.

Tragic. Frightening. Unreal. Evil. Infuriating. Senseless. What words well up in you when you think about the blatant lawlessness occurring today? We can evacuate cities when hurricanes are predicted, but we can’t predict when evil will raise its ugly head. People are asking, “What can we do?” and “To what can we cling?”

As Christians, we don’t need to be overcome by emotions of worry and fear when we see what’s happening in the world around us. Instead, we can seek refuge in our Heavenly Father and find encouragement and comfort in the words of Isaiah 41:10. 

“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.” 

In the midst of evil, terror, and natural disasters, God promises to strengthen us and help us. He will hold us up with His powerful, righteous right hand. Knowing that God is righteous should provide us with even greater comfort. God is the only One who is completely perfect, upright, holy, just, and faithful. He is the only One in whom we can place our absolute trust, knowing that He loves us. Rather than dwelling in fear, let’s turn to Him and pray for our nation and world. 

Heavenly Father, thank You that in these evil times You are RIGHTEOUS. Help me to seek You, knowing that You will strengthen me and uphold me in every circumstance. 

Our key verse today, Isaiah 41:10, is a beautiful reminder that God upholds us in difficult times. Upholder is just one of 26 character traits of God that Debbie covers in her book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion. Click HERE to order a copy for yourself or as a thoughtful gift for a friend.

Do you ever think about pleasing God? Did you know that it’s possible to please God? It is, as Hebrews 11:5-6 points out.

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:5-6).

Do those verses make you want to shout in praise of God? It does me. 

God will either “take us up” when we die or we will be as Enoch and be taken up before we die at the Rapture of the church. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:50-54)

How can we be assured God will take us up to heaven? We can be assured because we have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We will be rewarded with the glory of Christ’s presence in heaven. 

Are you saved? Then shout hallelujah and ready yourself to meet Christ. He’ll be handing out rewards on the basis of what you did for His kingdom. (Luke 19:11-27)

If you’re not a follower of Jesus, seek Him. Why? God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 

Lord God, thank You for being a REWARDER of those who seek You. We give You praise. 

Learn to seek God in prayer through Debbie’s book, Pray With Purpose, Live With Passion. Purchase your copy HERE. 

I know, I know, I know. We sing about Jesus’ resurrection. But is it ever hard for you to get your mind around the fact that Jesus was literally dead and came back to life? Do you ever stop and ponder whether you believe what you do because it is what you’ve always been told? Or, do you believe as you do because it is your own conviction?

In John 11:25, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” In this passage, Jesus was talking to a woman named Martha who was saying with her mouth she believed, but wasn’t expecting Jesus to raise her deceased brother.

Jesus is patient with us just like He was with Martha. If you’re struggling to believe or you have questions, talk to Jesus. Ask Him your questions. Listen quietly in His presence. Open your Bible and ask Him to guide you through it. Keep seeking. He’s a prayer away and able to lead us to deeper faith.

Lord, You are the RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. I profess my faith with thanksgiving that You are ever-present and able to lead me to a deeper faith in You.

Are you looking for some more encouragement and Biblical teachings? Listen to Debbie’s podcasts on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify!