Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please once again take the time to take in a video of Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing their uplifting song All Is Well proclaiming the truth that Christ has broken the chains of discouragement and doubt with his shed blood on the cross.
Highlight Passage Romans 5: 1-2 [NKJV] …
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
… Being justified by the blood of Christ gives us access to His grace to overcome the discouraging trials of life.
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Highlight Context - Romans 5: 1-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s true heart for all of us.
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Reference Passage #1 - Isaiah 26: 3 [NKJV] …
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
… Our peace of mind and the defeat of discouragement and doubt can only come through our focus on our Lord.
Reference Passage #2 - John 16: 33 [NKJV] …
33 “ …These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
… Jesus promises His peace to overcome the anxieties of His followers and any discouragement the enemy might use to bring us down.
Reference Passage #3 - Romans 8: 28 [NKJV] …
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
… One of the most difficult truths in the NT to believe for Christians; but if believed and internalized gives purpose to make sense of any trial.
Reference Passage #4 - 1st Corinthians 10: 13 [NKJV] …
13 No temptation (or trial, trouble, or tribulation) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, … Who will not allow you to be tempted (or tried) beyond what you are able. But with the temptation (or tribulation) will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.
… But the question always is … do we believe it so that we can live it and defeat discouragement.
Reference Passage #5 - Philippians 4: 6-7 [NKJV] …
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace OF God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
… The peace OF God can only come in a close, abiding relationship and communion with Christ.
Reference Passage #6 - 2nd Timothy 1: 7 [NKJV] …
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
… Really? … yes, really!!
Reference Passage #7 - James 1: 2-4 [NKJV] …
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
… A truth, when applied, will give us a reason for any trial and will produce the patience to deal with the discouraging trials of life.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Anne Cetas, in discussing defeating discouragement, used a story of a friend who had gone through a series of discouraging physical and emotional setbacks, producing a real downer in his life. He confessed to having spiritual doubts and feeling deeply discouraged.
Doubts and discouragement are often the accompanying emotions resulting from downer circumstances in our lives; and Satan and his minions will pour gas on those flames any time he senses that we are choosing to let our emotions fall prey to any challenge which comes our way, … especially those which linger or intensify over time.
But in Christ we must realize that we can only defeat the discouragement and doubt posed by the trials of life by choosing to trust in God’s mercy and to humbly receive His grace to give us the strength to let us overcome those discouraging events or doubt-producing trials in life.
Today I’ve posted more scriptures that usual in my blog because all of them apply to defeating discouragement and doubt; and I contend that if any Christian gets these passages into his/her heart, AND BELIEVES THEM, doubt will be dispelled and discouragement defeated.
My Prayer Today: Oh, my Lord, … You are the way to overcome any doubts in my life; and discouragement is defeated as I focus on and trust in You. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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