https://www.guidelines.org/encouragingwords/

Encouraging Words, PO Box 2035, Mission Viejo, CA (2026)

06/01/2026

You Are Not Forgotten—You Are Loved
By: Darlene Sala
June 1, 2026

When you go through a long period of pain and hardship, you begin to wonder if God really cares. You think, “He must have given up on me. Perhaps among all the billions of people in the world He has to keep track of, He has forgotten me.” That’s a scary feeling!

But that’s exactly how the Children of Israel felt. In the Bible you can read where they said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14).

What does God say in reply when you feel this way? He answers with deep compassion, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15).

What a strong picture of His love! No mother ever forgets the child she has borne, even those who have given up their babies for adoption. Even those who have aborted a baby in the early months of pregnancy. Yet God says, though a mother would forget, “I will not forget you!”

Then He adds one more phrase for emphasis: “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16 NLT). When elementary school kids get a crush on a girlfriend or boyfriend, they often write their initials on their hands. It’s a semi-secret way of identifying with that person.

But God in the person of Jesus Christ has more than our names written on His hands. He has nail prints on those hands to prove His love for us! He suffered far more than the pangs of childbirth to make us His children. His pain of death on a cross left scars that will forever be a reminder of His love.

“Greater love has no one than this,” said Jesus, “that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus did just that for you. And you can be sure that the One who died for you will never forget you or forsake you.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/you-are-not-forgotten-you-are-loved/

05/18/2026

Seek God First—Even in Financial Stress
By: Darlene Sala
May 18, 2026

Do you have a financial need? Not just money to go shopping—a real need?

Some of Jesus’ disciples did. So, they went fishing—all night on the Sea of Galilee. John tells about it in John 21. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

“Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Jesus knew exactly where those fish were!

A similar thing happened when the taxes were due. Peter reminded Jesus about the approaching deadline to pay them. Jesus told Peter to go to the lake and throw out a line. “Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin,” He told Peter. “Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours” (Matthew 17:27).

Clearly, if God knows where the fish are, surely He can meet your need as well. Perhaps the reason He has not yet answered your prayer is that He wants you to seek Him, not just the money. If you have a child who cares only about your money and what you can give him, and he never gives you a hug or tells you he loves you or wants to be around you, you get tired of just forking over the cash. When you pray, be sure that God knows it’s not just the money you’re after.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus gave us the basis for having our needs met when He said: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Your need is no surprise to your Father. Seek Him instead of His gifts, and in His time, He will meet that need.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/seek-god-first-even-in-financial-stress/

05/11/2026

Your Need Is Not Beyond God’s Reach
By: Darlene Sala
May 11, 2026

When you have a big need, God can seem far, far away. That’s because your need is so close to you—blocking your vision of everything else, including God. When that happens, it’s time to step back and get a new perspective.

Over and over in the Old Testament, we read God’s words that “by his mighty hand and outstretched arm” He did something for His people. Whether it was to free them from slavery or foreign oppressor, God said He would reach out His arm and act on their behalf.

That leads us to ask, “How long is God’s arm anyway?”

Honestly, I don’t know the answer. But I can assure you that based on what God’s Word tells us, it is long enough to meet the need in your life that right now seems so enormous to you.

The prophet Isaiah said, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save” (Isaiah 59:1). Those words were written by the man who saw the Lord with his own eyes. If Isaiah says the Lord’s arm is long enough—and he was an eyewitness—then we can trust his testimony.

While Job was facing overwhelming difficulties, his friend Elihu told him that God is beyond our understanding and beyond our reach. From a human standpoint, that is true. We certainly cannot reach up to heaven to bring God down to us. But even though our arms aren’t long enough to reach God, his mighty arm is long enough to reach down to us and lift us from the pit of our neediness.

Jeremiah wrote, “Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).

Friend, that includes your need. Take heart from the fact that absolutely nothing is too hard for the God of creation, whose mighty hand and outstretched arm reaches down to where you live.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/your-need-is-not-beyond-gods-reach/

05/04/2026

Obedience Is a Leap—But God is There to Catch You
By: Darlene Sala
May 4, 2026

After speaking to a group of single young adults, I asked them if they had any questions. A young girl stood and candidly asked, “I’m not a very obedient person. What should I do about this?”

I thought to myself, “You dear honest girl! You have just summed up the human race! I’m not a very obedient person either, and neither is anyone else in this room!” The prophet Isaiah said it like this: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

Yes, I want my way! It’s the biggest struggle of my life—doing what God wants each moment instead of what I want. It takes courage and faith to put your life in God’s hands and obey Him completely.

If you, like the young girl, are not a very “obedient person,” try this advice: “When you wake …, offer your whole self to God, soul and body, thoughts and purposes and desires, to be for that day what He wills.”

Turn over to Him the foundation of your will—the heart. He says, “My son [or daughter], give me your heart” (Proverbs 23:26). And who would ever be more trustworthy with your heart than the God who made you and sacrificed His Son so that you might have a relationship with Him. God, more than anyone else, wants the best for you. After all, He loves you!

Obeying God sometimes feels like jumping off a high dive. “Here we go, Lord! Whee!” But remember when you abandon yourself to Him, you jump right into the ocean of His love. He is there to catch you and hold you. Take the plunge with a daring heart into the arms of His love, and He will make sure you are safe in life’s deep waters.

When you get right down to it, what more secure place could there be?

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/obedience-is-a-leap-but-god-is-there-to-catch-you/

04/27/2026

Bring God into Every Task, Big or Small
By: Darlene Sala
April 27, 2026

I admit it—I’m a habitual list-maker. Rarely do I get everything crossed off my list. But as someone wrote, “The Lord didn’t do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?”

The number one item on my to-do list is my personal time with God. But I’ve discovered that this time can become very routine: first, read a chapter of the Bible, and, second, run through my prayer request list. Done! Devotions checked off! I’ve made God happy, and now I can get on with the next item on my list!

But is that really what it takes to make God happy? Where does the Bible say, “If you want to please Me, you shall read one chapter of the Bible every day. Then you shall recite to Me the list of everything you want.” I don’t think that’s what God had in mind!

What, then, are God’s priorities? A man once asked Jesus that question, and He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

If you’re a stay-at-home mom, your to-do list may include unexciting jobs as doing the laundry and buying groceries. If you’re a career woman, your life isn’t necessarily filled with exciting duties either. Yet, you can hallow all these jobs by loving God while you do them.

As you go about your work, look for opportunities to show genuine love to those you meet: the clerk whose eyes reveal heartache, the delivery person whose gruff response reveals his frustration with life, or that obnoxious neighbor who probably just needs a friend.

Love God, and love others—it’s really pretty simple. Yet it’s what matters most to God. Think about that today as you go through your to-do list.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/bring-god-into-every-task-big-or-small/

04/20/2026

Let Go of That Chip on Your Shoulder
By: Darlene Sala
April 20, 2026

A friend told about a party she and her grandmother attended. The grandmother had been chatting for some time with a relative. Suddenly the elderly lady came up short: “I shouldn’t be talking to her. I’m mad at her!”

“Why, what did she do to you?” asked my friend.

After a long pause, her grandmother admitted, “I can’t remember!”

Like my friend’s grandmother, many of us have a chip on our shoulder from a hurt that has never healed. A tight band around the heart that constricts the flow of love. A caustic acid that eats into a relationship until little is left of what once brought joy.

I wonder why we hold on to hurts. Maybe because we actually enjoy mulling over how right we were and how wrong the other person was. Perhaps the person has never asked for forgiveness, so we reason that we aren’t obligated to forgive until she does.

Usually, though, we hold on to hurts because of pride. “Why should I go to her? It was her fault! If I approach her first, it means I’m admitting I was wrong—and I wasn’t!” Scripture is plain, however, about who should make the first move. Jesus said, “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the fault.”

You really have nothing to lose—and a lot to gain! First, you may regain a relationship with that person. Jesus said, “If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back” (Matthew 18:15 NLT). Second, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have done what God wants you to do. And third, you may give someone else the courage to follow your example.

That chip on the shoulder? Settle it once and for all. If you do, no longer will your conscience remind you of unfinished business.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/let-go-of-that-chip-on-your-shoulder/

04/13/2026

Be Patient: God Will Supply Your Needs in His Timing
By: Darlene Sala
April 13, 2026

A young woman called me on the phone utterly discouraged. “My husband works hard, and so do I,” she explained. “But we never seem to get ahead financially. I look at my friends and see them remodeling their homes and sending their kids to the best schools. I used to go shopping with these friends, but now we don’t shop at the same stores anymore. God has all power; He could meet our need. So why doesn’t He?”

I didn’t have a quick answer. I just wanted to hold this young woman in my arms because I knew she was hurting. Then we began to talk about her options.

When it seems as if God is not meeting your needs, we have two choices: turn away from Him and become bitter, or to turn to Him even though we don’t understand.

It’s pretty obvious that turning from God is never a wise choice. That leaves us with Option #2: to rely on Him. When you choose to wait on God, you give up depending on any logical reason you can figure out for what is happening. You simply say, “Dear God, I will ask You to solve this problem, but if You don’t meet my need the way I think You should, I will trust You anyway. You must have a reason I can’t see.”

Wondering what happened to my friend who called on the phone? Well, at her point of despair, God supplied her need through a source she had long given up on. Oh, she’s hasn’t become “rich,” but her needs have been met and her faith has grown.

Dear one, don’t give up. Paul assured us, “This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches” (Philippians 4:19 NLT). He didn’t say “when,” but he did say God would do it. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12), until the answer comes.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/be-patient-god-will-supply-your-needs-in-his-timing/

04/06/2026

Faith in God Makes the Impossible Possible
By: Darlene Sala
April 6, 2026

One night, God gave Abraham an astronomy lesson. He told him to go outdoors, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them”—which, of course, he couldn’t. Then He made an incredible promise, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). Descendants as many as the stars in the sky? Yes, that’s what God promised.

There was only one little problem. Abraham had no children at all! On top of that, he was already old—really old, and so was his wife, Sarah. What a pledge! God had just promised elderly, childless Abraham offspring as countless as the stars!

Yet the Bible says, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Sure enough, when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90, baby Isaac was born: the beginning of the Israeli people who now are more than can be counted.

Abraham faced an insurmountable problem. Is the situation you are facing any more difficult than that? In fact, that’s almost exactly what God asked Abraham in Genesis 18:14: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

Be assured that God will keep His promises to you every bit as much as to Abraham, because His nature never changes—the word “impossible” is not in God’s vocabulary.

What situation are you facing today? Go outside and look up at the stars. Is it bigger than the God who made those stars and assigned them their places in the universe?

“Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). Jesus said have faith in the One who is far greater, wiser, richer, and who has the perspective of eternity—GOD.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/faith-in-god-makes-the-impossible-possible/

03/30/2026

Aging With Confidence: God Will Sustain You
By: Darlene Sala
March 30, 2026

Our son says there are three stages to life: youth, middle age, and “My, you’re looking well today!”

We smile, but in all seriousness, old age can be a frightening and needy time. As I watched my parents go through this period in their lives, I thought, “You can call them the “golden” or “sunset years” if you like, but when old age has come and debilitating illness keeps you from doing all the things that have brought you joy over the years, sometimes it doesn’t seem like the sun is shining at all. Pain, weakness, loss of memory, failing eyesight, loss of appetite—these symptoms are not easy to deal with. One by one brothers, sisters and close friends begin to disappear from the scene—and ultimately a mate is taken by death.

One of my mother’s dear friends once quipped, “You know, we’d better not stay around here too long ourselves or there won’t be anybody left to come to our funerals!”

How good to know that God doesn’t use us while we’re productive and then forget us or toss us aside. We’re just as valuable to Him when we reach the point where we can no longer do things for God as when we were young and strong. Our value in His sight doesn’t diminish with age.

My Dad’s favorite verse about these years was Isaiah 46:4: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he … who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Never will there come a time when God will not be there for you. When God says. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” He means just that: Never! He will “sustain” you, “carry” you, and “rescue” you. It’s a promise!

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/aging-with-confidence-god-will-sustain-you/

03/23/2026

Don’t Be Afraid—You Are Safe in God’s Hands
By: Darlene Sala
March 23, 2026

When an angel appears to someone in the Bible, often the very first thing the angel says is, “Do not be afraid.” That’s really not surprising, is it? I’ve never seen an angel, but if I did, I’m sure I would want to hear those words.

One author tells us, “The Bible contains 365 commands to ‘fear not’—the most reiterated command in the Bible.” I think that’s because God knows we are prone to be afraid any time we meet up with something we don’t understand or can’t control—whether it’s an angel or an ominous event in our lives.

When I looked up the phrase “Do not be afraid” in a Bible search program, I was excited to find that it is almost always linked with something about God—His presence, power, promise, or His past performance. For instance, He will say “Do not be afraid, for I will …,” And then He gives us a promise.

Over and over in my life I’ve been encouraged by the words of Isaiah 41:10:

Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

When I was a little girl, my dad used to take me for walks. My hands were still very tiny and his were very large, so I would hold on to one of his fingers so that I wouldn’t fall. But he knew that that wasn’t enough, for if I stumbled, I could easily lose my grip on his finger. So, He used to wrap the rest of his big fingers around my little hand so that even if I let go, he would still be holding on to me. It’s a picture of the way God holds us with His big hand.

Yes, Lord, hold my hand tightly. I’m holding on to You, but even more important, I’m glad You’re holding on to me.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/dont-be-afraid-you-are-safe-in-gods-hands/

Encouraging Words

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