Everyday Encouragement: Timeless Truths for Today

Everyday Encouragement is taking a break for a little while. The transcripts of the first 28 episodes are now available as an ebook on Amazon. A second ebook containing the transcripts of the rest of the episodes will also be available on Amazon in a couple of weeks. If you want me to notify you when a new episode of Everyday Encouragement will be aired, then please send me your email address to everydayencouragement@jguypublisher.com. Well, that's all for now. Until next time, be encouraged!

Whenever we think about God, we usually think about His power and His might. We think about what He can do. But is there anything that God can't do? If so, what is it? The Bible says, "Yes, there are some things that God can't do." In Episode 052, "Things God Can't or Won't Do," we'll find out what they are.

For many of us, glasses are required to help us see properly. Even when glasses aren't needed, sometimes, if we don't like what we are seeing, we may be tempted to put on a pair of rose-colored glasses and, with their help, change the view. But, doing that isn't always wise. Thankfully, there is an alternative to rose-colored glasses. In Episode #051, "Looking Through Word-Colored Glasses," we explore that alternative.

This coming Sunday, May 20, 2018, is Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, was sent to us by God the Father in response to God the Son's prayer. Who is the Holy Spirit? What does He do? In Episode 050, we'll close out the series titled "Getting to Know You" by focusing on the Holy Spirit and learning the answers to these questions.

In Episode 049, "Another Round of Finding Yourself in the Psalms," we're going back to the book of Psalms to look at a few more that can help us pray during those times when we can't find the words.

What do you do whenever you hear the command, "Ready, set, go!"? More than likely, you get into position to engage in a contest of some kind. But suppose you heard "Ready, set, receive!" instead? What do you think you are supposed to do then? Episode 048, "Ready, Set, Receive!" takes a couple of stories from the Old Testament and explores how seeing answers to prayer requires us to get into position to receive.

When you ask God for His assistance with your problems, are you tempted to help Him out? Do you find it hard to stand still and let Him work out the answer to your prayer? If so, then today's episode should encourage you to step aside and watch God work. He doesn't need our help. All He wants is our thanks and praise for how He answers our prayers. King Jehoshaphat is the subject of Episode 047, "Stand Still." Let him show you what happens when God tells you to stand still.

Walking in sync with someone means paying attention to the other person. Obviously, you have to be going in the same direction if you're walking together. But there are other questions whose answers determine if you are really walking together. For example, are the two of you traveling at the same speed? Is the length of your stride compatible with your companion's? God desires to walk with us. But for us to walk with Him, we need to pay attention to some basic requirements. In Episode 046, "Step for Step," we'll learn what those requirements are.

Apps rule. There's no doubt about it. They can do just about anything we need to do. They make our lives easier with their convenience and speed. They enable us to do more when our time is limited. It's getting to the point to where we can't remember a time when apps didn't exist. Did you know that the Bible has apps, too? In Episode 045, "There's an App for That," we'll look at a few of them.

There are lots of rules governing gift giving. We have books and magazines to tell us how and when and what type of gift to give. There are guidelines suggesting how much to spend on gifts. If we're not careful, we can turn gift-giving into an obligation rather than an expression of love and caring. Episode 044, "A Lover Like No Other," looks at how God gives to us.

Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second member of the Godhead. Jesus worked many, many miracles while he was on earth. But the greatest miracle of all was that of his resurrection after being crucified. It was the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from death. We'll look at the Holy Spirit a few weeks from now during the season of Pentecost, which is when He came to earth to continue the work begun by Jesus. In Episode 043, "Getting to Know You: God the Son," we'll consider Jesus and the significance of his resurrection.

Right now, we're in the season of Lent, which many people around the world observe in preparation for Easter. I'd like to take this time to do a three-part series titled "Getting to Know You" which focuses on each person of the Trinity. Episode 042, today's installment, is the first part of that series and looks at God, the Father.

Have you ever spent time and energy and maybe even money doing something that later turned out to be unnecessary or unwanted? How did that make you feel? Did you think that you'd just wasted your efforts and resources? What about those times when you realize that you are repeating a life lesson? How do you feel then? Episode 041, "Wasted Effort," discusses the Bible's answer to wasting our efforts.

Sometimes when we try to press forward, painful memories from the past weigh us down. It's hard to go into the future when the past keeps intruding. God wants us to move into our futures unencumbered with baggage. In Episode 040,"Leaving the Past in the Past," we'll see how God helped the Israelites leave their past as slaves behind so they could enter their Promised Land as free people.

Long ago, piles of stones called cairns, were erected as memorials to commemorate important events. When Israel was getting ready to enter their Promised Land of Canaan, God told Joshua to make two cairns. In Episode 039, "Remembering God," we'll learn why God told Joshua to do that and what his cairns mean for us today.

To help cement its truths in our minds and hearts, the Bible uses personification and lots of metaphors and similes. In Episode 038, "A Grammar Lesson," we'll explore some of those figures of speech in the Book of Proverbs. We'll pay special attention to Wisdom as she begs us to let her teach us how to live successfully.

It's Valentine's Day! Did you know that God gives us Valentine's Day cards, too? In fact, He gives us a valentine every day of the year. Episode 037, "A Valentine's Day Card from God" helps us learn more about God's character so we'll be able to understand the valentines He gives us.

Do you sometimes wish you knew what God was doing as He answered your prayers? Have you ever wanted an "inside track" on how He's thinking as He orchestrates things in your life? Episode 036, "The Principle of For Our Well-Being," discusses God's explanations of His actions in two incidents in the Book of Exodus that are relevant to us today.

We have all kinds of devices to help us measure and use time. In one of his psalms, David showed us that there are three types of time that operate in our lives. Episode 035, "What Time Is It?" explores those types and examines how David viewed God's control of them.

If you're going through a wilderness period in your life, then you may feel like you're out of sight and out of mind. Rest assured; God hasn't forgotten you. Episode 034, "Out of Sight But Not Out of Mind," shows us that even when others have forgotten us, God still has plans for us.