Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today, let’s focus on being encouraged.

Today’s scripture, Psalms 69:32 (NLT), shares…
The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.

Consider…
Psalmist William Becton sings a song with lyrics that say…

Chorus:
Be encouraged no matter what’s going on
He’ll make it alright
But you gotta stay strong

Be encouraged no matter what’s going on
He’ll make it all right
But you gotta stay strong

Verse 1:
I know right now it’s impossible to see
But God is gonna work it out if you just believe
Remember this one thing while you’re going through
If God delivered Daniel, He’ll do the same for you

Chorus

Verse 2:
Hold on, trouble don’t last always
These trials are just a test, just a test of your faith
So stand strong and dry your weeping eyes
‘cause joy comes in the morning
And everything is gonna be alright

What a wonderful reminder that we should Be encouraged no matter what’s going on, because God will make it alright.

According to Cambridge dictionary encouraged is having more confidence or hope about something.

Applying that definition to today’s scripture, we get…
Let all who seek God’s help have more confidence and hope that they will receive it.

This message is reiterated in Hebrews 4:16 (NIV), which says…
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

If we back up one verse, we will see the reason for our confidence. Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) explains…
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

This verse is saying Jesus knows and understands our weaknesses first hand. That means, as some of my favorite commercials say, He (Jesus) Gets Us!

Therefore we should be encouraged because as the hymn says…

Jesus knows all about our struggles;
He will guide ’til the day is done:
There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!

Beyond this chorus are these encouraging verses…

There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all our souls’ diseases:
No, not one! no, not one!

And…

There’s not an hour that He is not near us,
No, not one! no, not one!
No night so dark, but His love can cheer us,
No, not one! no, not one!

We should be encouraged because there’s no better friend than Jesus, who knows all about our struggles.

Speaking of Jesus knowing all about us, Hebrews 2:17 (NLT) clarifies…
Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.

The writer said Jesus had to become like us in order to represent us to God compassionately and continuously.

That means we should be encouraged by the fact that we were and are a necessity to God. Said another way, YOU MATTER to God!

I hear the hymn…

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
And what a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer

Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer

We should be encouraged because we have a friend in Jesus who wants us to bring all of our burdens to Him. As a matter of fact in Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 (NLT) we read…
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

So we should be encouraged because Jesus invites us to…

• Receive rest for our weary souls
• Let Him lighten our heavy load
• Learn how to find His peace
• Swap our heavy burdens for His light one

The Holy Spirit also showed me that we should be encouraged because of the second ‘Beatitude’, which says…
Great blessings belong to those who are sad now. God will comfort them. – Matthew 5:3‭-‬4 ERV

God cares about our sadness and promises His comfort. That should encourage us.

The last reason to be encouraged, that the Holy Spirit is leading me to share today, is 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV), which says…
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

The main reason we should be encouraged is because God always has cared, is caring and will care about us. Perhaps we should add Omni-caring to God’s Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent attributes!

As I tried to stop, the Holy Spirit flashed the message that with God, caring is interchangeable with loving. Then the Holy Spirit told me to close with 1 John 4:9‭-‬11 (NLT)…
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.

God wants us to be encouraged simply because He loves us! And because He does, we can seek His help full of hope, confidently knowing that He cares.

Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.

Today’s song is…
God Cares

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)