Category Archives: Words of Encouragement

Feeling confused, depressed, or just blah today? Here are some words of encouragement to help stir up the hope in your heart.

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The bottom offers a new beginning with God

God will let you get to the bottom, maybe lose something important, or even become desperate just so you and I can experience Him all the more. The Almighty waits for our hands to surrender so we can see His sufficiency is all we ever need.

Our Creator God cares about having a relationship with His children. He holds the keys to life and is championing every effort to discover Him more.

Instead of complaining or stressing out about a situation, this is the time to say, God, you have created an opportunity for me to see your power, to experience your hand, to go deeper in my relationship with You by seeing You like I have never witnessed your grace, your favor, or your strength before.temporary losses, short-term loss, eternal gain, perspective shift, change your perspective, perspective

“Only God.” This is the beginning of every God-glorifying story.

Any temporary loss has an eternal gain if you can change your perspective on the problem. Our promise-keeping God never asks us to give up anything without offering something far greater in its place.

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Does Your Story Need A Rewrite

“I love you this much,” He said.

It wasn’t for the sake of being a martyr or making a scene with something so drastic to prove a point. They called it punishment.

Jesus Christ, sacrifice on the cross, symbol of grace, symbol of love, trishakeehn.comHe accepted the pain as a price so you wouldn’t have to know the excruciating death of sin.

The very things that try to tie your mind down to a cross of condemnation and shame have been defeated once and for all. Anything that has you bound to a beam of depression, negativity or addiction, I declare by the blood and unchanging name of our Savior Jesus, these too have been brought to the grave.

He marched up that hill and paid your entrance fee. It’s time to stop making excuses for why you can’t come to this place of freedom.

The end has already been written. This story doesn’t have a rewrite.

What was once a symbol of pain became a story of grace that day His love covered the ground we stand on. What symbol of pain are you still clinging to?

Reaching down from Heaven, the Lord is handing you a quill, filled with the crimson ink of Christ. It’s time to edit your story. And when you return to Him one day, my prayer is that your chapters have corrections marked in mercy and strength. That your page in His book will be packed with new paragraphs of peace, and extra spaces replaced with great purpose.

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” – Romans 5:1-6

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When You Want To Give Up

Isaiah 45:5-6, rising sun, the Lord is the Author, trishakeehn.comHe’s the Author and the Finisher of our Faith. He’s all about finishing what He began in your life. He’s more passionate about your purpose than you are.
 
When you look at what you’ve accomplished as your own doing, you must also accept your own unraveling. May I encourage you with this reminder that what He started, He will finish.
 
When doors don’t fly open in your timing, remember His timing is perfect and your time is coming! It’s easy to get overwhelmed by discouragement from “no’s”. Remind the enemy of your faith that the Author is the Finisher. God has a plan here. You can rest in the confidence of knowing that God is going to provide your “yes”.
 
The Lord will finish what He began. It might not look the way you want it to look, but He’s going to get the work done whether the people you had in mind want to be a part of it or not. Nothing can prohibit God’s purpose through you. No lack of support is going to move you out of the position of your purpose.
 
Believe God has your best in mind.
 
“…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
 
“I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:5-6
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When You Lose Your Enthusiasm

dreams, live looking to God, butterflies, butterfly estates, fort myers, florida, trishakeehn.comWhen you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step.

Just to take a step to the table to receive His Word, you need His grace.

To lean into your family life when the demands are mundane and never seem to end, you’ve got to have His grace.

To press in for more community and the pursuit of friends when everything in you wants to pull back… it is absolutely necessary to have His grace.

When you lose interest in the things around you and everyday life seems filled with the trivial tasks, it is by the grace of God that you can persevere.

Receiving His grace takes a greater awareness of drawing nearer to Him.

The only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask Him to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Heavens, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you.

And be cautious of thinking that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do. Remind yourself of the example of Christ.

May your heart unfold and the petals of your spiritual devotion, family life and community of friends blossom in this fresh light today, and may all your dreams take flight.

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Why You Can Be Thankful

Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you. – Walt Whitman

When we want what we don’t have, we waste what we do have. To want what is no longer in our life is to waste what still remains in our life.

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything that you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to.

Be thankful when you don’t know something. It gives you the opportunity to learn.

gratitude, positive thoughts, negatives turn into positives, gratefulness, thankfulness, grateful life practiceBe thankful for the difficult times. During those times, you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations. They give you opportunity for improvement.

Be thankful for the challenges. They will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for you mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary. It means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the ‘good’ things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessings.

If you lost someone, be thankful for the life they lived and the lessons you’ve learned, and the spirit that still lives in you.

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Kindness: The Beginning of Wisdom

Theodore Rubin, kindness, wisdom, psychoanalysis, kindness is the beginning of wisdomWe make destinations out of our dreams and then reach for recognition. The accolades solidify our success.

But if the source of light goes out, the world won’t see the work anyhow.

God is light. God is love.

So share more smiles and be kind to hands reaching out today. Lock eyes and be generous with your love.

When we get to the end of this life, the only thing that lasts is the love we leave in all the footsteps following behind.

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Hope During The Holiday

City of Lights, Paris, Hope, trishakeehn.comIt’s tough to celebrate when others are suffering. Sometimes the best way we can help those who hurt is simply by not forgetting.

The holidays bring out the busy in most of us and it’s hard to stop in these moments to reflect, remember and pray for other people.

A beacon for the City of Lights hovers over Hope on my tree. It’s my reminder to pray. Though fear wins a battle, Love and Hope win the war.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

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Gratitude Gives More

grace, gratitude, love, live a life full of gratitudePeople who value what they have, get twice as much out of something than a person who lacks gratitude.

They get more out of a job, a marriage, and family. This soul multiplies in the chaos and in the silence.

‘Luck’ doesn’t set them up or put them down. No drought can dry up the hope here. It’s thankfulness you can see with your eyes, not just the words you may hear.