Encouragement Letters
I have already started writing my next manuscript, which will, God willing, become a book sometime in 2012. The title will be a bit unique, but not without precedent by other authors. Max Lucado has written a book entitled 316, which is based on John 3:16. Bernard Boulton has written a book entitled 4:8. It is based on Philippians 4:8, that excellent verse on the Christians thought life. My book will be entitled 4110, and it comes from the book of Isaiah. It's from chapter 41, and verse 10.
Here's the verse . . . Do not fear and do not be dismayed, for I am with you; I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. This verse has become my signature text. I have preached it all over the world. I have lived it. What an amazing verse. It has taken truths from both the Old and New Testaments and powerfully compacted them in one verse of Scripture. I am hoping that you will take this verse and make it one of your favorites. It contains two exhortations: Don't be afraid and Don't be discouraged. Fear and Discouragement are persistent hindrances to us. Most of us have a proneness to one or both of these. In the Scriptures they are so often mentioned . . . deep into the Old Testament and persistently in the New Testament. They try to overwhelm people all over the world . . . men and women . . . children and adults . . . pastors and parishioners. God gives us five reasons why we don't have to live that way any longer. Five reasons . . . yes, but more than reasons . . . they are also five promises, all stated in verse 10.
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God says, I am with you. He promises to be with us all the time. . . in our ministry assignments . . . in our times of trouble . . . truly in all of our times. He states it in Hebrews 13:5, quoting Deuteronomy 31:6 . . . Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you. Don't let your feelings dominate your experience. You and I can live with the certainty and reality of His presence . . . because He says so . . . not because we do or we do not feel His presence.
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God says, I am your God. Every word of Scripture is important so notice the usage of the word "am." That is a present tense verb. In this passage, God is not saying "I was" nor does He say "I will be." It is true, however, that both in the past He was our God and in the future He will be our God. He uses the present tense "am" to help us to begin to grasp the nowness of His desired relationship with us. In the same way He spoke of His nowness when He called Moses into ministry. In Exodus 3:14 He said to Moses, I am who I am. He spoke of His total provision in His usage of the word "am." All of this becomes more clear in the New Testament when Jesus often used "am." To mention but a few, Jesus said . . . I am . . . the Way, the Truth, the Life . . . the Light . . . the Bread . . . the Door . . . the Resurrection. He is our God, manifesting His sufficiency in these and other ways.
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God says, I will strengthen you. When you and I feel weak, weary, and spent, He reminds us of His strength. He is called the Almighty God. In both Greek and Hebrew, many root words of strength are used to remind us of His Omnipotence. Too quickly we say, I can't and He knows that we can't. He responds to our limitations with His strong and sturdy I can.
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God says, I will help you. All three persons of the Godhead are called Helper in the Scriptures. Often in the Old Testament the writers would say, God helped me. Do you ever feel that you need help? Do you? I certainly do. We need to develop this picture of God saying to us, Here I am. I want to be your Helper.
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God says, I will hold you. He doesn't say to us, you hold on to me. But He says I will hold you. There is more safety and security when He is holding us. In our weakness sometimes we cannot hold on, but hear Him again
I hope you will begin to discover this verse of Scripture. Remember, it is called 4110. Don't forget it. It is another one of God's special gifts to us. Let's "4110" each other.
Founder, Senior Associate
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