Endurance for the Journey, Featured

Don’t use foul or abusive language.
Let everything you say be good and helpful,
so that your words will be an encouragement
to those who hear them.
EPHESIANS 4:29 (NLT)

I know I’ve written about words in previous posts but I came across these words by Bob Goff and wanted to share them with you.

“Powerful words gave us the gentle push we needed, the courage to push past. If we were to trace our steps back along the path that led us here, we would likely find it all started with a few well-placed words from someone we trusted.

It’s no surprise when you think about it: God set the universe in motion with words. He called for light, and the stars burst onto the backdrop of the night sky. He wanted kangaroos and koala bears, so He spoke them into existence. God‘s words have the power to create life. He gave our words the power to shape lives.

Here’s what we need to do: be picky about the words we say. They have the power to shape our lives and the lives of the people around us. Equally important, be careful about the words you cling to. Don’t read the junk mail. Check out the return address first. If it didn’t come from Jesus, it’s not worth listening to.”

BOB GOFF – LIVE IN GRACE, WALK IN LOVE

No matter where you find yourself in relationships, a spouse, your kids, a friend who is hurting, a family member struggling with an illness or disease, your words to them matter! Whether it’s words you hear or words you speak, let them be words that shape the heart with love and in love. These are the kind of words Jesus speaks! Let your words be worth listening to.

Kind words are like honey –
sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
PROVERBS 16:24 (NLT)

On the journey with you,
Dave Dravecky

Endurance for the Journey, Featured

“Affliction, difficulty, sadness,
pain and suffering
may become for any one of us
the source of discontent, of depression,
of anger, of isolation –
unless they drive us to God
and to His Word.”

ALISTAR BEGG, TRUTH FOR LIFE

Where or to whom do you turn to when you experience affliction, difficulty, sadness, pain and suffering? I know for me at the initial onslaught of affliction and suffering I turned to my own resources and strengths which had always worked and relieved my pain in the past BUT.. it only drove me to depression and isolation. It was only when I came to the complete end of myself that I turned to the tangible Word of God out of my desperation for comfort and direction.

My comfort came from the Word of God just as it did for the writer of Psalm 119 …

My comfort in my suffering is this;
Your promise preserves my life.
PSALM 119:50 (NIV)

I learned as the Psalmist did …

It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.
PSALM 119:71 (NIV)

Your commands make me wiser
than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
PSALM 119:98-99

I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
Your Word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
PSALM 119:104-105 (NIV)

In reflecting back, I realized …

If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
PSALM 119:92 (NIV)

I am so thankful that during a season when I could not feel or sense God’s presence, that I had the tangible Word of God that I could turn to in my desperation. I am also thankful that God’s presence is not dependent upon my feelings – He is there regardless – always comforting and always directing if we choose to turn to Him.

On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky