The 100 Most Encouraging Verses of the Bible

Troy Schmidt

• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780764217609
• eBook ISBN: 9781441230744
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

The 100 Most Encouraging Verses of the Bible

Everyone struggles with discouragement as they face various trials of life, big or small. Whether you are struggling with your health, family, job, or relationships, God wants to give you hope and peace again.

What does he want you to know and remember in the hard times? This book goes straight to the source of all Truth to reveal how much God loves you and how he's right by your side through thick and thin. The 100 verses that are highlighted include well-known passages as well as hidden treasures you may have never read. Each verse is followed by a brief devotional reading that will help you find understanding and comfort from the text--and in the process draw you ever nearer to God. The book's length and focus make it perfect as a daily meditation or to read as a family. It also makes an ideal gift for those who love the Bible and seek the hope of God's promises.

1
Genesis 9:16

Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

After every torrential storm there’s a rainbow.

Rainbows are caused by the reflection and refraction of water droplets illuminated by the sun, thereby creating a spectrum of light in the sky. Rainbows appear during the transition of rain to sun. After a dark and torrential storm, a rainbow is beautiful to look at.

God used this rainbow reminder to tell His people that He won’t break a promise. The most devastating natural disaster had just occurred: the total and complete flooding of the earth, wiping out all human and animal life except for one relatively small remnant—Noah, his family, and the animals in the ark.

He promised Noah, and every descendant after him, that He would never do that again. As long as we see rainbows in the sky, we can know another flood like that won’t strike again.

When we face devastating storms, we must remember that God’s promises also shine like rainbows. God promises His love and mercy. Jesus promised to never leave us. He promised a place for us, where there is no crying or pain. The Holy Spirit is promised to intercede for us.

Those promises are beautiful to remember as we recover from the after-effects of our storms. Trust them. They are as evident and as real as a rainbow in the sky.

2
Genesis 21:6

And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” (NKJV)

There are many kinds of laughs. A polite laugh. A gentle snicker. A fake expression.

But a real gut-level, rib-hurting laugh, those are hard to come by.

A laugh is caused by a twisted surprise. You never expect a laugh. Someone does something unusual or strange or odd and you react with an emotional response that makes you feel good, forgetting your troubles for a moment.

Sarah learned she would have a child in old age: her eighties! That was a surprise. Unusual. Crazy! People her age should be retiring and settling in with the great-grandchildren. Yet she had never had a child in her life, and now God decided that she should become pregnant in her eighties.

That’s hilarious.

In times of despair, God can do things to make you laugh. Sarah found the humor in her desperation. She had given up hope; now she offered up laughs.

Look for the laughter in your situation. Not a polite giggle or a fake “ha.” Laugh at the unusual things God is doing and get ready for the uproarious surprises.

3
Genesis 21:17

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.”

Hagar was a single mom, lost in the desert with her newborn son, Ishmael. Hagar had followed Sarah’s orders and had sex with Abraham to give birth to a son, then gave up the child for adoption to her masters. After Isaac was born to Sarah and Abraham, Sarah didn’t like Hagar’s attitude and had Abraham send the other mother and child away.

Kicked out. Into the streets. The situation changed and their services were no longer needed. Hagar and Ishmael now wandered the desert, preparing to die, when an angel showed up and said God heard their cry.

If you’re wandering right now, alone and hurting, God hears your cry, too. He knows where you are and what you are going through. God knows what happened and who is to blame, so you don’t need to dwell on that. You have a need right now, like feeding your children or taking care of your physical needs.

God knows. And He’s there. Hagar didn’t even cry out for God. God heard the child’s cries himself and He showed up. God doesn’t need an invitation to help. He’s already there.

You never wander alone.

4
Genesis 22:17

I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. . . . (ESV)

I will surely bless you.” Don’t you love the assurance of that? Of course God will bless you. It’s who He is.

Here, God spoke to Abraham. Abraham was faithful. He packed up and followed God wherever He said. Abraham did not withhold his son on the altar. Of course Abraham received blessing. But what about us?

God rewards faithfulness. Faithfulness leads to blessing. When you do everything God wants you to do, you receive a blessing. God wants to multiply that kind of faith inside you for generations to come. Seeing those generations multiply in numbers and faith is the greatest blessing to you and God.

As long as you are faithful, there is a blessing to be found. Not just one, but many more to come.

5
Genesis 39:23

The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Joseph, son of Jacob, was framed and sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. End of his story? End of his life? No longer able to be used by God?

No way. God was just getting started with Joseph. Trapped in a place with no freedom, Joseph impressed the warden and interpreted dreams, catching the attention of Pharaoh. With four walls around him, Joseph could do things that changed the entire country and the course of history. In the worst of places, the best of things happened to him.

Success cannot be confined by circumstances. It is unleashed by those willing to be used by God wherever they are.

God is with those who are trapped. You may be in the worst of places, but God is still working. In a place of no freedom, you are free to work for God.

Don’t let the walls define you or constrain you. Define your situation by what God can do where you are.

6
Genesis 50:20

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (NKJV)

Joseph—separated from his family because of his brothers’ jealousy, tossed in a pit, handed over to slave traders, sold as a slave, thrown into prison for years—looked back at it all years later and said, “It was all for good.”

During that difficult time, God used Joseph to interpret a dream for Pharaoh and saved Egypt and many people from a serious famine. That pit stop and slave job were all steps in the process to save lives.

We need to look at the things that harm us and see them not for just the moment, but how they play out in the long run.

Joseph, lying in that pit, didn’t think, Wow, this is going to turn out great!

Joseph, rotting in jail, didn’t think, I bet I’m going to save lots of lives.

There is always purpose to the pain. What is that purpose? We probably don’t know at the time. We must trust at the time that God will use this tragedy somehow.

7
Exodus 2:25

So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

Nearly a million Israelite men, women, and children faced a life of slavery in Egypt. After four hundred years of living in the region, a new regime saw them as a threat and began to make their lives more and more difficult.

So they cried out.

God turned His attention to them, and His compassion for them grew. He wanted to help and began a process to save them from slavery.

God is looking down on you and is concerned about your situation. He heard your cry. If He was compassionate toward a million Israelites who were not the most appreciative and cooperative group, then why not you?

God’s concern turns into action, initiating a rescue plan that could take weeks, months, or years to work. That may seem too long, but it’s the perfect plan with the best outcome for the majority of people—but especially for you.

8
Exodus 3:8

[A]nd I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. . . . (ESV)

Usually we don’t want to hear the words, “Don’t make me come down there,” especially by an angry father hearing his unruly kids downstairs creating havoc.

But in this case, we do want to hear our Father’s voice saying, “I’m coming down there,” especially wh...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Genesis 9:16
• 2. Genesis 21:6
• 3. Genesis 21:17
• 4. Genesis 22:17
• 5. Genesis 39:23
• 6. Genesis 50:20
• 7. Exodus 2:25
• 8. Exodus 3:8
• 9. Exodus 14:14
• 10. Exodus 14:19–20
• 11. Exodus 34:6–7
• 12. Numbers 6:24–26
• 13. Numbers 11:23
• 14. 2 Kings 6:17
• 15. 2 Chronicles 20:15
• 16. 2 Chronicles 32:7–8
• 17. Job 2:3
• 18. Job 2:6
• 19. Job 2:13
• 20. Job 6:8–9
• 21. Job 16:20–21
• 22. Psalm 10:17–18
• 23. Psalm 23:4
• 24. Psalm 27:1
• 25. Psalm 27:14
• 26. Psalm 46:1
• 27. Psalm 91:11–12
• 28. Psalm 121:7–8
• 29. Psalm 139:2–3
• 30. Psalm 145:18
• 31. Psalm 147:3
• 32. Proverbs 3:5–6
• 33. Proverbs 18:10
• 34. Isaiah 40:31
• 35. Isaiah 41:10
• 36. Jeremiah 29:11
• 37. Jeremiah 30:11
• 38. Habakkuk 3:19
• 39. Zephaniah 3:20
• 40. Zechariah 4:6
• 41. Matthew 5:4
• 42. Matthew 5:10
• 43. Matthew 6:25
• 44. Matthew 6:33
• 45. Matthew 6:34
• 46. Matthew 7:11
• 47. Matthew 10:30
• 48. Matthew 11:28–30
• 49. Mark 6:50–51
• 50. Luke 18:27
• 51. John 14:1
• 52. John 14:26
• 53. John 14:27
• 54. John 15:11
• 55. John 15:13
• 56. John 15:15
• 57. John 16:33
• 58. Romans 5:3–4
• 59. Romans 8:15
• 60. Romans 8:28
• 61. Romans 8:31
• 62. Romans 8:34
• 63. Romans 8:37
• 64. Romans 8:38–39
• 65. Romans 15:13
• 66. 1 Corinthians 14:33
• 67. 2 Corinthians 1:3–4
• 68. 2 Corinthians 4:8–9
• 69. 2 Corinthians 4:16
• 70. 2 Corinthians 4:17
• 71. 2 Corinthians 4:18
• 72. 2 Corinthians 5:17
• 73. Galatians 5:1
• 74. Galatians 6:9
• 75. Ephesians 1:18
• 76. Ephesians 2:4–5
• 77. Philippians 2:1–2
• 78. Philippians 3:12
• 79. Philippians 4:6
• 80. Philippians 4:7
• 81. Philippians 4:12
• 82. Philippians 4:13
• 83. Philippians 4:19
• 84. Colossians 3:2
• 85. 1 Thessalonians 4:17–18
• 86. 1 Timothy 6:12
• 87. 2 Timothy 1:7
• 88. Hebrews 3:13
• 89. Hebrews 4:15
• 90. Hebrews 4:16
• 91. Hebrews 6:18
• 92. Hebrews 10:24–25
• 93. 1 Peter 1:13
• 94. 1 Peter 5:7
• 95. 2 Peter 3:9
• 96. 1 John 1:9
• 97. 1 John 3:2
• 98. 1 John 4:4
• 99. 1 John 4:18
• 100. Revelation 21:4
• About the Author
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