Daily Encouragement | A scripture-based, 60-second, challenge toward fidelity in living-out the call to Christian discipleship!

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“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22, NKJV)

The key to longevity and stability in a wide variety of aspects (e. g. moral, emotional, spiritual, relational) is the act of casting your cares on the Lord. The more of our cares we give to Him, the more of His wisdom, confidence, and strength we receive in return.

The times we prefer to coddle our concerns in the privacy of our minds is the precise time we ought to be casting — throwing — those same concerns onto our heavenly Father. Sharing multiplies our joys and divides our sorrows.

When we choose to keep to ourselves the very concerns that wring all of the joy from life, we deprive ourselves of a Confidant who has never revealed a secret; a Friend who has never betrayed a trust; a Defender who has never been defeated. – Luther

Tagged anxiety, depression, inspiration, mental-health, poetry, the book of Psalms, trusting in God, worry, writing

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“The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, ‘I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?” (Judges 2:1-2, NIV)

Resonant in this scripture — which recounts the disobedience of the Children of Israel when they did not utterly subdue the inhabitants of the Promised Land, but allowed them to coexist with them in the land, albeit as “servants” or “slaves” — is the peril of allowing anything that is ungodly to inhabit our lives.

The problem with allowing any ungodly thought or deed to persist in one’s life — even in a small, seemingly insignificant way — is that after a while the “slave” becomes the master; and the “servant” becomes the one that is served.

In the case of the ancient Israelites, it wasn’t too very long before they were worshiping at the pagan altars and incorporating forbidden practices into their lives. I am sure that their chosen course of action seemed enlightened at the time, but the outcome of disobedience to God is always the same: Our own eventual destruction.

Today, choose life. Choose God. None of us ever succeeds in riding the “tiger” that is ungodliness. – Luther

Tagged disobedience, the book of Judges, ungodliness

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“He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.” (Proverbs 2:7, NLT)

Have you ever taken a short-cut only to discover — later — that it cost you more time, more money, and more energy than the “long way ’round” would have?

Have you thought that doing the right thing because it is the right thing requires too much “exposure” to less scrupulous people, who might take advantage?

In these circumstances, God’s word tells us that the path of honesty is the correct path — always; and that God is a shield to all persons of integrity.

Today, make honesty and integrity in all things your non-negotiable objective. – Luther

Tagged godly wisdom, honesty, integrity, the book of Proverbs, wisdom