His Encouragement #131

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Trisha, my blogger friend at Joy of Reading, and I decided on calling this post “His Encouragement” because our real source of peace, strength, and security can only come from Jesus Christ. He and He alone is our constant! We pray and hope that these Thursday posts become a real encouragement to you and help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. God bless!

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Today’s Thursday Encouragement:

The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

Psalm 33:17 (ESV)

In Acts 4 we are told, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (verses 11-12).

This quote could not be more clear — do you want salvation? Then you MUST be a follower of Jesus Christ. He is the only way to be saved.

When I was prepping for today’s post I came across Psalm 33:17 and it struck me hard. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe wholeheartedly that He is my Savior and Salvation. When I consider how I feel about God I immediately say that He is my place of refuge, that He will save me, but is He really my refuge? Do I act that way? Or have I traded God and His Salvation for a horse?

I love books. I am an avid reader and have been since I was 4 years old. Books are my escape. If I am honest, in many ways I have allowed books to become my safe space, my source of comfort. I’m not saying books are bad. I will definitely keep reading cause reading is super awesome. But I think it’s really an issue of priorities. Have I made God my FIRST place of refuge? Do I wake up and spend time with Him? Do I talk with Him throughout my day? When I get downtime, do I spend some of it with God or do I immediately go to my books?

I often make books my false hope. Reading makes me feel good and safe and whole, but these are fleeting feelings. When I close my book for the night, all my issues that I’ve escaped from come right back to front and center. BUT my time with God is different. Time spent in His Word and in prayer and praise really does rescue me. God calms me down, He centers me, and He grants me a peace I can never get through reading my stories.

Everybody’s “horse” may be different. For me it’s books, for you it may be food or TV or exercise or … The point is, it may be time to reflect and check your priorities. Do you turn to God for refuge, or do you turn to something or someone else? Remember, only Jesus is the way!

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NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!

WHAT BIBLICAL VERSE IS ENCOURAGING YOU TODAY?

Check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective

Becca @ The Becca Files

Gina @ Stories by Gina

Rebecca @ Rev. Rebecca Writes

Andi @ Radiant Light

Leslie @ Words of Hope

Claudia @ Claudia Moser

Keneesha @ Women Loving God’s Way