What are you doing about “it” challenge?

The challenge started with a simple instruction in a podcast. “Write down your top 20 “Go To Encouragement Verses.” I am going to give you two minutes to jot them down.”

 

Maybe I could do that with an Internet Connection and twenty minutes, but two minutes?

While I pray the Scriptures and while I realize the importance of encouraging myself, that I really didn’t have a plan for those times when discouragement grips my mind or my heart.

I shared my challenge with my church family when I spoke on a Wednesday night recently.

Doug greeted me after the service with a deeper challenge, “Have you got your list done yet?”

 

I began to explain how busy I have been, how much catching up I have to do…Blah! Blah! Blah!

Doug was kind, but went to the heart of my good intentions. “You need to add one or two verses each day until you get it completed.”

 

Sitting down to  find 20 really good encouraging scriptures was a daunting task. Especially when I wanted to find verses that called my name. Twenty verses that would be more than words; buckets of hope to quench my doubts. And, I wasn’t looking for just good verses, I was looking specifically for encouraging verses. That takes time. And, I am really, really busy. There I go again…blah…blah…blah!

It’s not a big task when it is broken into bite sizes. (That’s true with any task.) And, Doug did that for me. Find one verse a day. That was doable.

But he continued, …”then share it with us.”

And to that I want to say, “Get Your own!”

It’s just that while you may want to borrow some of the verses from my list, I challenge you to go on a road trip through the pages of scripture with Precious Holy Spirit. I love how He points out beautiful vistas.

Oh my yes!!!

Radiant glimpses of the nature of God.

Dazzling, golden promises.

Rainbows of hope.

Lush fields of opportunity.

Succulent fruit to savor.

Abundant fruitfulness to share.

Lavish gifts to be opened.

Covenant redemption sealed with the ruby red blood of God’s only Son!

 

So thank you, Doug! I did it. And yes, I shared them.

will you  share a great verse that encourages you with us?

But would you rather just download it? Here’s the link.

They are especially good for reading slowly aloud so you can think about them.

 

Isaiah 41:9-10 BSB

“I brought you from the ends of the earth

and called you from its farthest corners.

I said, ‘You are My servant.’

I have chosen and not rejected you.

10Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;

I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

 

Isaiah 12:2 BSB “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”

 

Psalms 27:14 BSB “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

 

Psalms 103:1-5 esv

1Bless the LORD, O my soul;

all that is within me, bless His holy name.

2Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and do not forget all His kind deeds—

3He who forgives all your iniquities

and heals all your diseases,

4who redeems your life from the Pit

and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,

5who satisfies you with good things,

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

  Isaiah 50:10 BSB “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.”

 

Romans 15:13 BSB “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

 

Jeremiah 33:2,3 BSB “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it, the LORD is His name: Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know. 

 

Psalm 46:1BSB

” God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in times of trouble.”

  Psalms 8:3,4 BSB “When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place— 4 what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?”

 

 

 Matthew 7:11 BSB “So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

 

Psalm 57:1-2 Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me, for I take refuge in You.  I will seek refuge in the shadow of Your wings until danger passes. I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.    

 

Hebrews 10:23 ASB Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;  

 

Psalms 65:11 NLT You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.  

 

Hebrews 11:11 It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise.  

 

Proverbs 3:5 NLT Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  

 

 

 

Proverbs 11:25 NIV A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.  

 

Galatians 6:7 NIV  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.