What are you doing about “it” challenge?

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 niv

I took you from the ends of the earth,

from its farthest corners I called you.

I said, ‘You are my servant’;

I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 

Isaiah 12:2 niv

“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”

 

Psalms 27:14 niv

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

 

Psalms 147:3 niv

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

 

Psalms 103:1-5 esv

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 

Isaiah 50:10 niv

Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

 

Romans 15:13 nlt

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

Jeremiah 33:2,3 esv

“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

 

Psalm 46:1-3 hcsb

“God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.  Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil…”

 

Psalms 8:3,4 niv

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 56:3-4 niv

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

4In God, whose word I praise—

in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

 

Matthew 7:11 

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is 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.