Pocket Thoughts - 2/27/26
Dear friends, today marks the second anniversary of the first post of “November Roses.” May I thank you for reading and for allowing me to speak life and drop encouragement into your inbox every now and then? My prayer has always been that God would use the words I write to be a blessing and to help you see His love and goodness. As Year #3 begins, may I stay faithful to that prayer and may the Lord use “November Roses” for His glory. Celebrating His faithfulness today and sending my love and gratitude to you for supporting and encouraging me along the journey. With every word and every post - soli Deo gloria! His sweetest blessings to you. ~ Tiffany
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God * puts words of life in our mouths, that we might speak truth and blessings * brings our children who are far away back home again * is the Lord, Redeemer, and Mighty One.
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Jesus never refused to engage with people who brought their honest questions to Him. He was able to see their hearts and test their motives. Today, He welcomes your honest questions. He wants you to know Him, but He requires that you act on what you learn from Him. Are you willing to respond in obedience to His Word and His Spirit? It’s a life-changing step of faith, but it’s the best and most important decision you’ll ever make. – TV
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The dream of King Nebuchadnezzar recorded in Daniel 2 was sent to him by God; therefore, only a servant of God would be able to interpret it. Dreams were heavily relied on in ancient cultures to foretell coming events and to communicate the will of the gods. The king obviously recognized the weight of his dream, but his demands on his counsel of wise men – magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers – were impossible. He not only demanded an interpretation of the dream – he demanded they first tell him what the dream had been. The consequence of being unable to do this was to be executed. Exasperated and afraid, the wise men responded, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks!” Nebuchadnezzar, proud and arrogant, was demanding of men something only God could do. Graciously, God used that story to provide us with a role model in the pages of Scripture – Daniel. Daniel’s example reminds us that we don’t walk into hard situations alone. God gives us His strength and wisdom. He gives us the privilege of allowing Him to work through us to bring kingdom influence to dark places. There is always hope for difficult times when we turn to the Lord and faithfully depend on Him for our needs, especially as we serve under harsh leadership. – TV
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Psalm 32 is a raw, unfiltered account of a man who’s been in the depths of sin and has confessed, repented, and emerged into the light of God’s grace. David begins the psalm with the joy of a man released from his guilt and shame. His transgressions have been forgiven. His sins have been covered. The Lord no longer counts those sins against him. He is free! He describes the agony of holding on to his sin – a life of living in the shadows of his guilt. His bones waste away, he groans all day long, he lives under the weight of God’s heavy hand of conviction, weakened and sapped of strength. The key to David’s freedom? Confession to the Lord. David comes clean about every hidden, dark corner of his soul. “And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” He encourages all of us to run to the Lord and agree with Him about our wrongs so that we, too, might find freedom in His forgiveness and grace. God longs to forgive us! His loving character desires that we be free of the chains of guilt and shame. He longs to be our “hiding place” from the temptations of the world and to “surround (us) with songs of deliverance!” As Aibileen says to Hilly in the movie “The Help,” “Ain’t you tired?” Trade your chains for the righteousness of Christ. “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad!” – TV
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Truly, You are my Father! You welcome me into Your throne room, fresh from the world and grimy with the dirt of earthly influences, carrying unnecessary burdens of this life and marked by the wounds of words and worry. You meet me with tenderness, gently washing away my sin with the righteousness of Jesus, loosening the ties of my self-imposed constraints with the power of Jesus, and healing my hurts with the compassion of Jesus. There is indeed “One Who sticks closer than a brother!” (Proverbs 18:24), and He leads me into our Father’s presence where I find welcome, solace, and strength. Good Father, I’m undeserving of this rich, delighted affection from the Holy God of all creation, but I’m thankful You’ve chosen to set Your lavish hesed – Your faithful lovingkindness – on me. In humility and deepest gratitude and in the beautiful Name of Your Son and my Brother Jesus, amen.
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“The Voice of God is a friendly Voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it…Whoever will listen will hear the speaking Heaven. This is definitely not the hour when men take kindly to an exhortation to listen, for listening is not today a part of popular religion. We are at the opposite end of the pole. Religion has accepted the monstrous heresy that noise, size, activity, and bluster make a man dear to God. But we may take heart. To a people caught in the tempest of the last great conflict God says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ and still He says it, as if He means to tell us that our strength and safety lie not in noise but in silence.” – A.W. Tozer
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“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act…” – Psalm 37:3-7a
