Com join us for the Sweet Grace Ministries York Open House!
-Learn about what we do and what we provide
-Meet local support group facilitators
-Connect with other supporters and/or families
-Join in an activity with other Sweet Grace parents
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Word of Encouragement is Comfort.
One way of defining comfort is the “easing of a person’s feelings of grief or distress.”
God’s grace consoles us in our distress. We are encouraged by His abounding love for us. The Apostle Paul was encouraged in times of hardship to the degree that he saw himself as more than a conqueror in Christ. As a result, he worshiped God, and was a support to other Christians in their times of distress.
In Second Corinthians 1:3 and 4, he wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
One of the ways that God can work through our troubles is by giving us a voice to comfort and console those in similar situations.
Find encouragement in the comfort of God’s grace in the Year of Endurance.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the contagious effect of sympathy.
While the Coronavirus is having a contagious effect on the world in an unhealthy way, there are contagious influences that have a positive effect on our lives.
One of those influences is sympathy, which expresses sorrow with someone in the midst of troubled times.
Second Corinthians 1:3 says, God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
Jesus went to the cross. He understands our pain. As we find comfort in His compassion, we learn how to be an instrument of God’s grace to someone else in trouble. We are sensitive to their pain, and are willing to walk alongside of them as a voice of comfort.
Focusing on the comfort of God’s love gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Trust, today’s Focus on God examines the comfort of His love.
According to Psalm 34:18, the LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The comfort of His love can be found in God’s compassion for us in our distress, and God’s capacity to see us through our times of trouble.
For the follower of Jesus, trouble is a season, not our final condition. Verse 15 says that the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.
Verse 19 says, “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.”
The comfort of His love is a source of peace, a reason for hope, and an opportunity to grow in our sympathy for others when they experience similar times of trouble.
The comfort of God’s love is a reason to trust in God for today and forever.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Q and A Segment explores the question, “How does God comfort the downcast?”
One way God comforts us in our sadness is that He gives us the hope of heaven, which reminds us that God has more joy to offer us than the world. Heaven is a future reality for anyone who follows Jesus.
God also provides comfort for the downcast in the present through the encouragement of His believers. An example of this is found in Second Corinthians 7:6, where the Apostle Paul says, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” Through the arrival of Titus, Paul learned of the church’s ardent concern for him and their genuine sorrow about a situation in Corinth. Having a good relationship with the Corinthian church mattered to Paul. The report from Titus greatly encouraged him.
Look for ways that God can work through you to encourage someone who is downcast in the Year of Exploration.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
