{"id":3309,"date":"2014-06-20T12:38:21","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T12:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=3309"},"modified":"2014-06-20T12:38:21","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T12:38:21","slug":"encouragement-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=3309","title":{"rendered":"Encouragement and Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you may know, our lead pastor and a few others on staff are giving daily Bible readings to ponder through the summer. On Monday, we receive a listing of five passages to read each day. We\u2019ve been given the S.O.A.P. method for reading and meditating on these verses. It\u2019s been such a joy to be in God\u2019s Word in this manner. Today\u2019s passage was especially meaningful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"daisy<\/a>Romans 15:1-4 is the passage of the day. These four verses are packed with wisdom. Bear with one another. Encourage the weak. Please our neighbors for the good it brings out in us. But then there is this little gem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFor everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of Scriptures we might have hope.\u201d<\/em> (Romans 15:4 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read my blog for any period of time you know my love of Scripture. It\u2019s even more endearing to me after reading this verse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life is tough. Junk happens. And to be honest, sometimes seeking guidance from God\u2019s Word is the last thing we do. But when we are at the end of our rope we can find encouragement and hope through God\u2019s Word. The Bible contains the sweetest words we could ever read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another little thing I read this morning was a reminder to use Scripture to fight off the attacks of the evil one. When we face these battles with the words, \u201cIt is written,\u201d the devil must flee. He knows the power of God\u2019s Word. When we use Scripture against him, he\u2019ll find another to attack.<\/p>\n

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I believe God\u2019s Word holds the key to every difficult (or lovely) situation in our lives. They may not be specific words, but as we\u2019ve seen in Romans 15:4, we will find encouragement and hope by spending time in God\u2019s Word. And sometimes that is exactly what we need.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you are facing a battle today, pick up your copy of the Bible. Read Romans 15:4. Let the evil one know that you aren\u2019t going down without a fight. Be specific. Speak it out loud. Don\u2019t be afraid of the one who wants to destroy your faith. God is bigger and stronger and more powerful than anything the deceiver will throw at you. Ever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be praying for you today. Oh, I don\u2019t know specifically what is going on in your life, but God does. I don\u2019t know each name of those who will read my blog, but God does. And God will work in your life, because His Word says He will.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is written.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you may know, our lead pastor and a few others on staff are giving daily Bible readings to ponder through the summer. On Monday, we receive a listing of five passages to read each day. We\u2019ve been given the S.O.A.P. method for reading and meditating on these verses. It\u2019s been such a joy to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,22,296,13,15,17,14,21],"tags":[2540,2542,2541,2447,2543],"class_list":["post-3309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asking-god","category-believing-god","category-experiencing-god","category-finding-god","category-knowing-god","category-obeying-god","category-seeking-god","category-trusting-god","tag-encouragement-and-hope","tag-it-is-written","tag-romans-151-4","tag-soap","tag-use-gods-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3310,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3309\/revisions\/3310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}