Author: David Short

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11 NIV
There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to rebuild. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak up. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

God has made everything beautiful for its own time.

Words of Encouragement…
I have posted this one before, but is is such a great reminder of the importance of events in our lives. We all have those times when we feel abandoned or attacked or just plain out of sorts. Life has its ups and its downs. What is important is how we view the entire journey and recognize that God is always there for us and that it is He who puts the people in our lives that will always stand by our side.

Psalm 9:1-2 NASB
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Thy wonders. I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.

Word of Encouragement…
When in the midst of those times that it seems like your hopes are gone…give thanks to the LORD. When life seems to be throwing rotten tomatoes at you…give thanks to the LORD. In all that we do we are to give thanks to the LORD, for He is great, He is wonderful, He will see us through those dark and lonely time. Give thanks to the LORD will all of your heart.

Psalm 100 NASB <>
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.

Philippians 3:12-14 NASB
Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Personal Challenge…
We often hear life described as a journey. Our Christian life is definitely a journey, and often one that can be filled with difficulty and challenges. It is those difficulties and challenges that better equip us for the work that our Lord has in store for us to do. No matter how far along we are in this journey we still have much further to go. And sometimes we must leave behind those things that might hold us back or distract us from our calling.

It is difficult to do this and yet it is so necessary. For me, sometimes the most challenging part of leaving these things behind is how much they try to pull me back. Sometimes its things, sometimes its people, sometimes its the institutions or organizations that we have left behind. Sometimes their need to keep us there is so strong to them that they will even do us harm to keep us where they are.

Our blessing, our prize, is at the end of the journey, but our Lord loves us so much that He will walk beside us, guide us, meet our needs along the way, blessing us as long as we stay true to Him and His calling.

Acts 17:28 NIV
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Personal Challenge…
If we are truly a follower of Christ then He will permeate our entire life. It amazes me how easy it has become for us who claim to be Christians to compartmentalize our lives. We live one way on Sunday and another way at work, or at home, or in private. If we are a child of God then all of our life, all of our being is in Him.

This does take work when we live in a world that is also compartmentalized. I must constantly weigh what I think and do against His values, His plans, His truth and then choose to be obedient to Him. I am often sobered when at the end of the day I look back and ask the question, “Did people see Jesus today in my life?”

John 15:9-11 NASB
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Encouraging Words…
If we are followers of Christ then we are not on this journey through life alone. If we keep His commandments: love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, then we will be abiding in His love. We will have lives that are filled with His joy and presence.

Proverbs 14:30 NASB
A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones.

Psalm 5:11-12 NASB
But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Encouraging Words…
If we are a child of God then we are never alone. We can take refuge in His mighty and loving arms and be glad. We can sing for joy and be sheltered. We can exult Him. He is the one who blesses us and surrounds us with His favor. These are His promises to His children…claim them and live within them.

Esther 4:13-16 NASB
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

Personal Challenge…
As I have been reading through the Bible I came across this passage and it really jumped out at me. Here Esther is in the perfect place in the palace of the king where she can save her people from an impending disaster. Upon expressing her concern that if she does what she is being asked the law says that she could be put to death.

Mordecai’s answer is what hit me so hard. He informs Esther that maybe God put her where she was for this very purpose, but that it was her choice whether or not she acted as needed. He also told her that if she did not do this then God would certainly raise up someone else to do it in her stead.

Esther’s response also struck me…she chose to step out in faith and trust in God, and if the result was her death, then that was okay. She also stepped out in this act of faith fasting an praying for God’s protection, as well as having everyone around her fast and pray as well.

‎1 Peter 3:8-12 NASB
To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For, “LET HIM WHO MEANS TO LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS REFRAIN HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING GUILE. AND LET HIM TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; LET HIM SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”

Personal Challenge…
Whoever said that living the life of a Christian was easy was grossly mistaken. It is not just suggested that we live a certain way, but it is commanded. And what are some of the ways that we are commanded to live? Harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. We are to refrain our tongue from evil and our lips from guile, to turn away from evil and do good. We are to seek peace and pursue it. Only though the work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit can we ever hope to achieve this.