Encouraging Words for the day | Christian devotionals - Hopeful Heart

Jesus Took Your Place so You Can Take His!

29/1/2015

Do you know that it was at the cross that Jesus addressed His Father as “God” for the first time? He had always addressed His Father as “Father”. But at Calvary’s tree, He addressed His Father as “God”.

Jesus lost that Father-Son relationship when He was representing you and carrying your sins at the cross so that today, you can call God “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15) and have a loving father-son relationship with God forever. Jesus was forsaken by God and His world became very dark on that lonely hill so that in your darkest hour, God will always say to you, “I will never leave you nor forsake you!” (Hebrews 13:5)

At the time when Jesus needed God most, God turned His back on Him. God had to turn His back on His Son because His eyes are too holy to behold all the sin that was in His Son’s body. And because God turned His back on Jesus, He will never turn His back on you. Instead, you will see God’s face of favor shining on you all the time!

Jesus also took your place of no protection at the cross. For the first time, He gave up divine protection so that you can have it every day of your life! And because He became sin, He took your curse at the cross so that today, as you take His gift of righteousness, you receive only blessings from God.

Jesus received the full brunt of God’s wrath in His body once and for all when He carried your sins. All of God’s anger and condemnation fell on Him, consuming all your sins until God’s wrath was exhausted.

Today, God is not angry with you. The body of Jesus absorbed everything—your sins, curses, and God’s anger and condemnation. So live life expecting to see not the judgment, but the goodness and blessings of God!

Matthew 27: 46
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

- taken from Daily Grace Inspiration by Joseph Price-

The life of prayer

26/1/2015

An important help in the life of prayer is the habit of bringing everything to God, moment by moment, as it comes to us in life. This may become a habit the same way all habits are formed: repeated and constantly attended, moment by moment, until that which is at first an act of will becomes spontaneous and second nature.

If we will watch our lives, we shall find that God meets the things that we commit to Him in prayer with special blessing. He often allows the best things that we have not committed to Him to be ineffectual, simply to remind us of our dependence upon Him for everything. It is very gracious and thoughtful of God to compel us gently to remember Him. He would hold us so close to Himself that we cannot get away for a single minute from His all-sustaining arm.

In every thing . . . let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6).Let us bring our least petitions, Like the incense beaten small, All our cares, complaints, conditions Jesus loves to bear them all.Pray without ceasing -1 Thessalonians 5:17

- A. Simpson

The Birth, Death, Resurrection of a Vision

22/1/2015

Every one of God's visions and dreams goes through this process of birth, death, and resurrection. You have not really received a dream from God unless you've carried a burden, gotten all excited because you have given birth to a newborn visions and then, often with great dismay, watched what seems to be a death. The vision dies - people leave; the money dries up; the situation goes haywire; you just can't figure out what to do about it.

Then, and only then, God will come through with a resurrection. He uses that process to sanctify the dream so that when it really does come to past it will not be an egotistical thing for you. instead, you will be able to stand back and declare, "God did it! I almost gave up on it. I doubted the vision, but the Lord did it anyway!" You will know beyond a shadow of doubt that God did it, because it used to look so hopeless. See, it really was bigger than you were. You really could not have brought that thing back to life like that. God broke the limits off. He raised it back to life. He finished what He started.

- Exerpt taken from "Believe that You Can" by Jentezen Franklin-

For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day. Hab 2:3

The five year plan

21/1/2015

The future can be a scary place, whether you are studying, moving to a different country, changing jobs, starting a new relationship, whatever season you are in it never really stays the same. Life is not a constant, it is ever changing and we can fight it, go along for the ride or ask God to guide us through.

People ask, “What is your five year plan?” some of you may know that already. However, I don’t think I have ever had the answer to that question and I still don’t. Yes, when I think about the future it can scary, but God has our lives in His hands. If you ever think you have control of your life, you are seriously mistaken. Anything can happen and come your way. I’m not saying don’t have a five year plan. It’s good to have goals that you can put in place so that you can achieve them, but you never know what may happen and what God may want you to do.

Living a life of comfort isn’t exactly what we were put on this earth to do. We all have a purpose. We can either live according to His will or our own. We have a choice, but God has such wonderful things in store for us if we only believe and walk by faith.

Isaiah 25:1
Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.

- Zhen Ang

The best little heart’s-ease

19/1/2015

A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine.

The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as fine fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac; and so on all through the garden.

Coming to a heart’s-ease, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. “Well, heart’s-ease, I’m glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened.” “No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a heart’s-ease, I am determined to be the best little heart’s-ease that I can.”

Each of us has different talents and purposes, let us shine our brightest in all we can do and have; even the stars differ from each other in their glory. Praise the Lord who created us unique to each other.

1 Corinthians 15:41
The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

- Anonymous

Three ways to change a “crazy busy” lifestyle.

15/1/2015

Are you living a “crazy busy” lifestyle? Do you constantly run from one activity to another? Do you often eat while checking your email or calendar? Most importantly, are you so busy that you don’t have time to stop and listen to God? Developing an intimate relationship with God requires time. If you have been so busy that you haven’t had time to spend with God, it is time to change your focus.

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 demonstrates what it means to be so focused on your work and activities that you neglect to spend time with God. Martha was caught up in all the tasks she had to do, while Mary was sitting and listening to Jesus. When Martha complained about doing the work all by herself, Jesus told her that she shouldn’t be worried and upset about the household work. He said that Mary had made a better choice by sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus.

If you have gotten into a lifestyle of busyness, think about these three things:

Be still. “Be still and know that I am God!” (Psalms 46:10a). How often during your waking hours are you actually still? When you sit down, how often do you have your phone, your laptop or the remote control in your hand? There should be time each day when you stop your activity, put down the electronic devices, and be still. As you find time to be still in His presence, you will realize that He is God and that He has everything in your life under control.
Be patient. “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” (Psalms 37:7a). Most people don’t like to wait. We become impatient with traffic, lines and delays. Our schedules are so tight that any wait is frustrating. We even become impatient with God. If God doesn’t speak to us in the first five minutes of prayer, we decide He isn’t talking today. When it comes to God, we need to learn to be patient, to listen, and to wait in faith-filled expectancy. God’s timing is perfect and you will receive the strength you need when you wait patiently on the Lord.
Put God first. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13).Intimacy with God must be the highest priority of your life. Why is it that we hear from God in crisis better than other times? It’s because a crisis moves hearing from God to priority number one. But until hearing from God is always our first priority, we will keep living from crisis to crisis. Don’t wait for a crisis to make God your top priority. Make sure that the first and most important thing you put on your schedule every day is the time you spend seeking God with your whole heart.

Fasting is a perfect time to readjust your “crazy busy” schedule. All of the time that you spend shopping for food, cooking, cleaning up after meals or going to a restaurant is time that can be shifted to seeking God. If your schedule has become so busy that God is getting short-changed, fasting will help you readjust your priorities so that you have time to be still and patiently wait on the Lord. God has blessings and increase planned for your life. Make sure you aren’t so busy that you miss what He wants to give you!

- Taken from Jentezen Franklin Media Ministries -

Letting God lead and take control

13/1/2015

As the New Year has begun, some of us strive to meet the goals we set from our new year’s resolutions. It is easy to set resolutions that are superficial such as getting the ideal beach body or to eat healthy, but what about nurturing the spiritual fruits God has provided in us?

In Acts 5:38-39, it emphasises the assurance of victory when we follow Gods plan for our lives rather than relying upon the acts and words of men and ourselves. As the familiar passage goes, with God all things are made possible. So why not allow God to take control over your life and receive the new opportunities God provides you for 2015?

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. – Colossians 3: 1-2 (NKJV)

- Melanie Riley

When Super Becomes Natural

12/1/2015

We usually think of things that are beyond our comprehension as supernatural or miraculous, but those things aren’t supernatural to God because He operates in the spiritual realm where everything is “natural” to Him. There is nothing that’s impossible for God. A lot of things God does are beyond our power and grasp of things and what we consider natural, so when they happen we say they are supernatural. But with God nothing is impossible, so nothing is supernatural to Him.

God can do things that are contrary to what we consider His natural laws. When someone is healed of an incurable disease, for example, we call it a miracle because we’re seeing the evidence or manifestation of some of God’s laws that link the spiritual and the physical realms—laws that we know little about.

To God, on the other hand, it’s simple! He knows how to undo whatever damage the disease may have done and thereby creates what to us is a miracle, a supernatural act that is beyond our capabilities.

God is always ready, willing, and able to work miracles on our behalf, miracles of healing, supply, protection, or whatever else we may need when we ask Him to in faith and claim the promises from His Word.

John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

- Anonymous

Seeking God

8/1/2015

Over the last week, the news was dominated by a recent plane crash killing over a hundred people and a separate mass shooting incident.

It's in times like this that we are reminded how fragile life is. The reality is that we are eternal beings having a human experience.

God allows great and not so great things happen to each of us. When we yield and surrender our lives to Him, He uses great, and difficult situations to shape us, get our attention and cause us to depend upon Him. It's in this dependence that we truly find the meaning and purpose for our lives.

He desires us to question, seek and think upon Him! We may not have the answer we are looking for, but we definitely will have the answer that we need!

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭26-27‬

-Jo Voon-

Choose to chew

7/1/2015

As Christians sometimes we think we know it. I’ve heard this passage hundreds of times before. It’s always the same. Well, sometimes when we sit and meditate on His Word even though we have read that same passage countless times we can still get fresh revelation. It depends on what we are going through at that time, our mental state or even looking for a passage that uplifts someone may in fact give us a different perspective.

God’s Word is never changing, but we are. God can reveal more to us if we just let Him. The Word is there to encourage us and build us up, to guide us when times are rough, to help us sing praises and thank Him when we have it good. No matter what you are going through there is a bible verse specifically for you. It is exactly what you need at that exact time. Meditate and chew on His Word and it will breathe new life.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

- Zhen Ang