InstaEncouragements Blog

Mary: Submission Rarely Is It An Easy Thing

12/27/2019

How could she expect anyone to understand? She was a young girl who was engaged. Now she was expecting a baby that was not her fiancé’s child. In her culture that could mean death by stoning. How could she explain that the angel of the Lord had appeared to her and asked her to be part of a holy miracle that had been determined before creation?

Mary was willing to do what God asked of her, but she had no idea what all was involved when she would become the mother of the Messiah.

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Who Doesn’t Like a Good Hallmark Movie?

11/29/2019

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It’s that time of year when our senses are flooded with familiar sights, sounds and smells, which can make us nostalgic and emotional. We enjoy kicking back with our hot cocoa and festive cookies to watch the many feel-good movies available. They have a way of getting us into the holiday spirit. We know their formulas and anticipate the happy endings usually sealed with a kiss.

Although our movie watching can be enjoyable, the stories are often a mix of reality and fantasy. It is way too easy for us to be in a relaxed state and let fiction or anti-biblical philosophies become a part of our own thinking. Can we enjoy a good movie even if it includes fantasy? Sure, but we need to view our entertainment through a lens of discernment. Let me give you a couple examples of what I mean.

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3 Things We Must Believe to Learn to Be Content

10/25/2019

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Philippians 4:11 says, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

One day our son came home from his friend’s house and announced his need for a Play Station 2. The announcement soon became a plea, “If I get it I won’t ever ask for anything else, ever!” Needless to say it wasn’t the last thing he asked for.

Unfortunately, you and I present our wants to God in a very similar way.

If only I had enough money to make me comfortable, I wouldn’t ask for more.
If I were married, I’d be happy.
If I had good health, I wouldn’t complain.
If she was nice, I wouldn’t be so mean.

The dictionary defines contentment as “being satisfied” or “not needing more.”

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Holiness in the Daily Grind

8/30/2019

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Holiness is not a popular subject today, but it is an essential biblical quality each of us should pursue.

Nancy DeMoss in her book Holiness writes,

“Holiness isn’t exactly an easy subject to ‘sell.’ It‘s not one of the top ten topics people look for in a Christian bookstore, there aren’t a lot of hit songs about holiness; and I can count on two hands the number of messages I recall hearing on the theme.”

In the book The Hole in Our Holiness author Kevin DeYoung it states,

“The hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care much about it. …Believers want ‘community acceptance’ not to be called legalistic, prudish, narrow-minded, old fashioned, holier-than-thou, or worst of all, a fundamentalist.”

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The Epidemic of Complaining Moms

7/26/2019

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We are all complainers every now and then. It’s all too easy to see negative things in our lives and verbalize our displeasure about them. Some of us just say it like it is while others of us mask our negativity in humor or sarcasm. When we take a step back we realize that what comes out of our mouths is really coming from what is hidden in our hearts. So, complaining is an outward manifestation of an inward problem.

The children of Israel complained all the way through the Old Testament, but the root of this negativity was always the same. The real problem was that they felt God was not giving them what they needed or thought they needed.

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Dealing with Difficult People

6/28/2019

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Dealing with Difficult People: Every day it seems we meet annoying people. People who are rude, negative, judgmental or just plain mean. Jesus encountered difficult people too.

Every day it seems we meet annoying people. People who are rude, negative, judgmental or just plain mean. Jesus encountered difficult people too. Matthew 22:15-40, tells us about three religious groups that tried to entangle and discredit Him with their confrontational questions.

Herodians ask about paying taxes

First, the Herodians, Jews who favored submitting to Rome, came to Him with a political question about paying taxes to Caesar.

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The Cradle of the Gospel: Sea of Galilee

5/28/2019

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The Cradle of the Gospel: Sea of Galilee My husband and I have had the awesome privilege to travel to the Holy Land several times. It is hard to choose a favorite spot since each location has a particular Bible significance. But, of all the places we visited, the Sea of Galilee would have to be at the top of my list.

My husband and I have had the awesome privilege to travel to the Holy Land several times. It is hard to choose a favorite spot since each location has a particular Bible significance. But, of all the places we visited, the Sea of Galilee would have to be at the top of my list.

The size of this area, where Jesus spent two thirds of His earthly ministry, was surprisingly quite small. When standing on an overlooking hillside, you can see the entire shoreline of the sea (which is really more like the size of a small lake than that of a sea).

So many things happened around and on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus preached in the synagogues, healed the sick, cast out demons, fed thousands, recruited His followers, preached on the hillside, walked on the water, calmed the sea, and ate on the shore with His disciples after His resurrection. And for this reason it has been called the cradle of the Gospel.

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