Christian words of encouragement

Obedience delayed long enough stops calling itself obedience and starts calling itself discernment.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. — John 3:16

You are not behind. You are being built, and building is slower than arriving.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. — Hebrews 11:1

The enemy rarely asks you to renounce Christ. He asks you to postpone Him.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:6–7

Faith is not the absence of the question. It is what you do while the question is unanswered.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. — 1 Corinthians 10:13

A private life you would not narrate is already a warning you have been given.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. — John 1:1

What you rehearse, you rehearse into belief. Check what you have been rehearsing.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. — Philippians 4:6

God does not need your resources to be sufficient. He needs your surrender to be complete.

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. — Nehemiah 8:10

The hardest part of waiting is that it looks identical to being forgotten. It is not.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. — Colossians 3:23–24

Prayer is not how you get God's attention. It is how you get yours.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. — 2 Corinthians 5:17

You will not drift into holiness. Drift only goes one direction.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. — 1 John 4:7–8

Small compromises do not stay small. They recruit.

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. — Psalm 34:17–18

The measure of a season is not what it removed but what it could not take.

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. — Psalm 27:14

Bitterness is a debt you keep paying on someone else's behalf.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; — Romans 3:23

You cannot be discipled by what you consume and unchanged by it at the same time.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. — Psalm 100:4–5

Some doors close so that you stop knocking on the wrong wall.

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. — Philippians 4:4

Worship before the answer is the only worship that proves anything.

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. — Proverbs 16:3

The person you are becoming in secret is the person who will show up in the crisis.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. — Psalm 23:1–3

God is not slow. He is thorough, and thorough takes longer.

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. — Lamentations 3:22–24

A heart divided is not half committed. It is fully committed to two things.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. — Matthew 6:34

You do not need a platform to be faithful. You need a room and a reason.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. — Hebrews 4:15–16

Envy is the tax you pay for measuring your portion against someone else's.

If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. — 2 Timothy 2:13

The word you will not obey is the word you will soon stop hearing.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. — Hebrews 4:12

Rest is not the reward for finishing. It is the discipline that lets you finish.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. — James 1:12

Being right is cheap. Being righteous costs something every time.

As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. — 1 Peter 4:10

Your capacity is not your calling. God has never been limited by your arithmetic.

And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. — Exodus 33:14

What you tolerate in private you will eventually defend in public.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. — Psalm 23:4

Repentance is not feeling bad. It is turning around.

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. — Matthew 28:20

The most dangerous distance from God is the one that feels comfortable.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:38–39

Gratitude is not denial. It is refusing to let the bad news have the only microphone.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. — Isaiah 40:8

You are responsible for the sowing. The harvest has never been your department.

For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. — Proverbs 2:6