Christian Encouragement

Trials! They come in all sizes and shapes, but we can rest assured that none of them are wasted. Discover 4 good things God can bring out of the trials we face in a fallen world by watching Debbie’s teaching on James 1:1–12 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 you’ve always been told that or if 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 verse, 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, Jesus is always present so you can always talk to Him. 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!

Have you ever been in a “dark place”? Perhaps you are now. Everywhere you look, it’s dark, and what’s worse, you don’t see a way out. If you have been there or you are now, can you imagine what it would be like to be in darkness forever and to know that you could never, ever escape?

God and Satan are powerful. They each have domains/kingdoms. 

Satan’s domain is a place of evil and darkness (Colossians 1:13). First John 5:19 tells us the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. That is, you lie in the power of the evil one unless you have responded to God’s invitation to be saved, rescued, from the domain of darkness and transferred to His kingdom. (Colossians 1:13)

If you’re a Christian and in a dark place today because of circumstances beyond your control or even because of sin, turn to your Savior. 

Stand against the darkness by singing songs of praise to Jesus. 

Lift your hands and voice in praise to God. Claim your place as a child of the Kingdom of Light.

Lord Jesus, You are my RESCUER! I love You! Thank You for rescuing me and transferring me to Your kingdom. 

 If you have not yet responded to God’s invitation to rescue you, why not? Please consider His invitation. If you have friends or family who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, you can prayerfully share this with them.

A new teaching from the James Bible study is now being uploaded to YouTube each week. Click HERE to watch or listen. Don’t forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe so you don’t miss future videos!

Are the storms in your life overwhelming you, perhaps literally? Whether the storms are literal or metaphorical, fear can flood our emotions. Lightning bolts of regret can strike us to the core. Worry can flood our minds. But God doesn’t want us to stay overwhelmed, drowning in fear, worry, and regret. That’s why He has given us His Spirit, His very presence to be with us.

Psalm 46:1 reminds us that “God is our refuge, a very present help in trouble.” Just as shelters offer a place for flood victims, God calls us to come to Him for refuge. The Hebrew word “refuge” means shelter from danger or falsehood. 

The more closely we stay under God’s arms of truth, the more protected we are from the enemy’s lies. So go to Him. Shelter under the truth of His love for you.

Lord, You are a REFUGE who shelters us from Satan’s lies, worldly deceptions, and life’s storms. Remind us to not stand in the rain of discouragement, but rather shelter under You.

The Lord is always present and wants us to talk to Him through prayer. Learn to pray more purposefully through Debbie’s book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion.

Tomorrow, we kick off our James Bible study. If you haven’t signed up, there’s still time! Click HERE for more info and to register. 

“Lord, are You there? Speak to me.” Have you ever wanted to hear from God? If so, be encouraged. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God is in our midst. He’s a victorious warrior but also quiet in His love. 

What does that mean? 

I like to think of when I’ve held our little ones. My heart felt like it could jump out of my chest because I’ve been so full of love for them. However, I’ve not been loud with them. Instead, I held them close to my heart and wondered if they could feel my heartbeat as their little bodies nestled against me.

God is magnificent. He is larger than life, the creator of life, in fact. The Bible is His love letter to us. If we wish God would speak to us, we need to recognize that He has. 

Open the Bible. Hold it close to your heart. Feel God’s heartbeat as you read His Word. Listen for what He is lovingly saying to you.

Zephaniah 3:17 captures both the Lord’s magnificence and His quiet love. “The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” 

Lord, thank You that although You are majestic in glory, You are also QUIET IN LOVE for me. Help me feel Your heartbeat as I read Your Word. Help me know Your love in new ways. 

Let God speak to you through one of our free online Bible studies. Click HERE to access them. 

Debbie will be teaching an 8-week series on the book of James beginning September 17. Learn more and register HERE.

Can’t make it in person? We’ve got you covered. Debbie’s teachings will also be available on her YouTube channel. Click HERE to subscribe and get notified of new teachings.

Have you ever thought, “I can’t believe I said that,” or “Why did I do that?” after saying or doing something you regretted and knew was wrong? Do you ever feel frustrated with your own sinful nature? I’m sure we’ve all been there. But here’s the good news—there is One who can purify us of our sins, and that One is Jesus. 

Hebrews 1:3 says, “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Jesus did what we could never do for ourselves. He became the ultimate and perfect sacrifice for our sins, so that we could be purified and reconciled to God. Jesus was the only acceptable sacrifice because He Himself is pure and without sin. One who is not pure cannot make another pure, but One who is pure can purify us. 

How do we receive Christ’s purification for our sins? First John 1:7 says, “…if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and walk in His ways, we are cleansed from our sins and made right with God. Oh, what a great and glorious work our Savior has done. He has purified us from our sins!

Lord Jesus, PURIFIER, thank You for Your sacrifice for my sins. I love, adore, and praise You!

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

Trying to please people who are difficult to please can cause us to feel defeated and drained. However, it helps if we place our primary focus on pleasing the One who is most important – our Heavenly Father. Jesus models doing that even when others were disappointed in Him. For instance, no doubt the disciples were disappointed when Jesus didn’t resist being crucified. Martha and Mary were disappointed when Jesus delayed coming to their sick brother’s side. Jesus explains His actions in John 8:29. “He (the Father) who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” No, we can’t always please others. But we can follow Christ’s example of pleasing our Heavenly Father. Following are ways Jesus pleased the Father. Which are you doing? Which might you begin to do?

• Jesus used Scripture to stand against Satan’s temptations. We can do that.
• Jesus shared His Father’s kingdom principles, how to be forgiven, and how to be saved. We can do that.
• Jesus reached out to people; to help them. We can do that.
• Jesus looked up in prayer and thanked His Father for hearing Him. We can do that.
• Jesus prayed before He made decisions. We can do that.
• Jesus followed His Father’s leading rather than doing things on His own initiative. We can do that.

Heavenly Father, as Jesus was PLEASING to You, help me be pleasing to You.

Looking for some more resources to deepen your relationship with God? Click HERE to check out the books and Bible studies written by Debbie. You can also access free online Bible studies by clicking HERE. 

Life is filled with joy, but also pain. Sometimes the most painful questions we ask are, “Why didn’t God heal a loved one or friend?” If you’ve had those questions, you’re not alone. We don’t have the answers to many questions. In times of pain, when we don’t understand and we don’t have answers, we look in faith to Jesus. He allowed Himself to die so we’d have visible evidence of not only His love but also eternal healing.  

Jesus knew there would be challenging questions on this side of heaven. He said to those listening to His teachings in Luke 4:23, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!'” But instead of preventing His death, He died a painful death with no pain killers and with no one holding His hand. He died to pay for our sins and, by His resurrection, gives proof of ultimate eternal healing. For that, we are grateful beyond words and continue to look in trust to our loving Savior and Great Physician. 

Jesus, eternal PHYSICIAN, thank You for rising from the dead so I can see the ultimate healing You give to all who place their faith in You; to me. 

If you’re struggling with disappointment or unmet expectations, find encouragement in Debbie’s book, The Plan A Woman in a Plan B World. 

Are you concerned for a family member or friend who refuses to trust Jesus for salvation? Are you worried they’ll die apart from Christ? 

If we’re concerned for the unsaved, it’s for good reason. This world isn’t all there is. There is life beyond the clouds that we can’t see just as there is life below the oceans we can’t see. Yes, all people are alive after they pass through this life—either in Christ’s presence or apart from Him for eternity.  

Jesus implores us to take the way to heaven, through Him. So, what do we do if an unsaved friend or family member refuses to turn to Christ? We align ourselves with the Lord, who we’re told in 2 Peter 3:9 is “not slow about His promise, but is patient…not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 

God is patient. Keep praying. Keep looking for opportunities to speak the truth in love.

Heavenly Father, thank you for being PATIENT. Help me be like you—patient and prayerful.

Do you know someone who could use some encouragement today? Scroll down and click on “Forward to a Friend” to share this blog post.

Do you agree that personal problems can seem overwhelming at times? 

What about national and international problems? Do they cause you to shake your head and wonder what the world’s coming to? 

What about health issues? Is your health or someone else’s health a concern? 

Then there are financial issues, parenting, marital, and work challenges that can be ongoing struggles. 

Jesus interrupts our conflicted worries and gets straight to an important point that each of us must remember. “In the world, you have tribulation, (pressure, affliction, oppression, and distress), but take courage, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). 

Is that a good word for you to hear today? Jesus is bigger than the world and its problems. We can look to Him, to His Word, and empowerment for whatever we face. 

Jesus has overcome the world. He is present to help you. Look up to the Overcomer. 

Lord Jesus Christ, You are the OVERCOMER. I praise You for the peace, direction and empowerment You give me as I trust in You.

Want to dive a little deeper into John 16:33? Watch this video clip of Debbie teaching on the passage. 

Do you ever feel alone? It’s easy to feel that way at times. Maybe you live by yourself, are in the hospital, or you’re confined to home due to an illness or a fall. Maybe you work from home and even though you connect with others by phone or email, you still feel alone. Perhaps you feel alone even though you have a bustling household. Your feelings may stem from feeling like no one understands what you’re going through.

Feelings, as you no doubt know, can be deceptive. They can be unreliable standards of truth. The truth is, Jesus has promised to never leave us and our Heavenly Father is a prayer away. They:

• See us.
• Know what we need before we ask.
• Love us.

If you’re feeling alone, pray to your Father in Heaven who loves you so very much. As Matthew 6:9 instructs us, “Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven…”

OUR FATHER who is in heaven, thank You for loving me, being with me, and providing Your Holy Spirit to be ever present with me. I love You.

Would you like to develop a deeper prayer life? Get a copy of Debbie’s book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, to learn how.