Please Do Not Be Discouraged

[250 words] Many times our “downs” outweigh our “ups.” We may feel we are going uphill all the while being pulled back. We may be hurting because our loved ones are hurting due to health challenges, financial setbacks, or spiritual deprivation. We may spend our mornings, days, or late nights in tears because of the things life is throwing our way. I beg you not to be discouraged. God’s people can hold on to what is in the Bible! The Scriptures teach security of the soul, true inner peace, and blessed assurance. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to…