InstaEncouragements Blog

Three Lessons From the Path of Grief

8/28/2020

“Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7

This sobering reminder from the book of Job puts life in proper, and somewhat grim, perspective.

We tend to think of life in terms of our good, peaceful, and happy times intermittently interrupted by difficulty, pain, and loss. But in truth, it is the other way around.

Living in a sin-cursed world means that life here will be largely marked by hardship and hurt with periods of rest or relief. Life is hard. That is normal. But for the Christian, there is more than either just pain or joy, either living with Option A or Option B.

We cannot escape the pains of this life, but we can certainly experience them very differently than those who do not know God.

4 Comments

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Calling

8/25/2020

21 Comments

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

We will use the alphabet as an acrostic and study topics like: Abide, Beloved, Calling, Delight, Endure, Faithful, Garment, Hunger, Increase, Justice, Kindness, Light, Manna, Name, Ordain, Path, Quench, Ransom, Salt, Testify, Upright, Vanity, Wait, Yield, and Zeal.

Every week, we’ll discover a different topic. Each topic is accompanied by five Scripture verses—one for each weekday. The Bible study has a page for each verse. Those spaces will invite you to write the verses out and journal what you’ve learned.

Every time I read God’s Word I learn something new. I also find that Scripture writing really helps me meditate, and as I meditate, God always shows me just what I need for that day—it’s AMAZING!

I pray you’ll join us and learn new and exciting things too from His Word.

21 Comments

Finding the CALM in the Storm

8/21/2020

8 Comments

I grew up in the Midwest of the United States, and was often startled awake in the night by a flash of lightning and a crack of loud thunder. I grew to love those storms and even miss them when a summer goes by now without a proper thunderstorm.

The part of England where I live now is not known to have thunderstorms very often. It is quite an event—worthy of news articles when it happens! Recently we had one of those storms accompanied by major flash flooding. There were roads completely flooded within minutes of the start of the storm. People were shocked at how fast the water rose and some even reported that this was the first time they saw such an event as this in Peterborough. The news article I read about the storm said we received half a month’s worth of rain in just a couple of hours. The rain and floods caused massive delays on the parkways and sent people into a right fit about it all. There was not any CALM in this storm.

8 Comments

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Beloved

8/18/2020

21 Comments

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

I pray you’ll join us and learn new and exciting things too from His Word.

21 Comments

What Happened to the Good Old Days?

8/14/2020

2 Comments

A Millennial's Perspective

I am a millennial Christian. Because of my age demographic and the stereotypes that follow it around, older Christians often ask me:

“So, what’s up with your generation?”

“How on earth am I supposed to understand young people these days?”

I never know how to answer these questions, and this inability has bothered me for a while. Part of me feels defensive of my generation. Another part of me genuinely wonders why teenagers and twenty-thirty somethings today are apparently so different from those of decades past. Is my generation and the new “generation Z” filled with worse sinners than our parents’ and grandparents’ generations?

2 Comments

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Abide

8/11/2020

18 Comments

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

I pray you’ll join us and learn new and exciting things too from His Word.

18 Comments

40 Things About Teaching That Will Still Be the Same

8/7/2020

6 Comments

40 Things About Teaching That Will Still Be The Same

Another school year is upon me and all I have been able to focus on is how different it is going to be. Running through all the scenarios and fretting about the what ifs has had me in a real emotional mess.

Since I will be doing a little of both, virtual and in-class teaching, I decided to make a list of things that won’t change even in these crazy times.

I truly believe that the enemy of our souls has an agenda to make us leave behind the main things of our lives.

6 Comments

<<Previous

Three Lessons From the Path of Grief

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Calling

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

Finding the CALM in the Storm

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Beloved

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

What Happened to the Good Old Days?

A Millennial's Perspective

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Abide

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

40 Things About Teaching That Will Still Be the Same

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​ Three Lessons From the Path of Grief

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Calling

Welcome to ​The ABCs of God's Love Letter 25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

Finding the CALM in the Storm

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Beloved

​Welcome to ​The ABCs of God's Love Letter 25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

​What Happened to the Good Old Days?

A Millennial's Perspective

The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Abide

Welcome to ​The ABCs of God's Love Letter25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

40 Things About Teaching That Will Still Be the Same

Join the movement!

Top Posts

Featured

Categories

Archives

Three Lessons From the Path of Grief

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

What Happened to the Good Old Days?

Welcome to
The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!