{"id":3699,"date":"2017-04-26T08:50:31","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T12:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2017-04-24T17:51:05","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T21:51:05","slug":"be-of-good-cheer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html","title":{"rendered":"Be of Good Cheer"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/i>\u201cBut straightway Jesus spoke to them saying, \u2018Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid\u2019\u201d (Matthew 14:27).<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world\u201d (John 16:33).<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBe of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me\u201d (Acts 27:25).<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"4550156422_33ebc2f02e_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two of our favorite characters in literature are the Cheeryble brothers from Dickens\u2019 <\/span>Nicholas Nickelby.<\/span> Their kindness plays a part in the restoration of the lives of a number of the story\u2019s beloved characters. \u201cCheery\u201d would be the best descriptive word for these identical twins. They live a cheery lifestyle, speak cheer, and tirelessly spread cheer to those around them. I don\u2019t know if Dickens based them on real, living souls from his flesh and bone world, or if they came skipping out of that brilliant imagination of his. Either way, whenever I read that book, I fall in love with the Cheeryble brothers again and wish to be more like them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBe of good cheer,\u201d is a phrase Jesus speaks in Scripture to a sick man without hope, to his disciples when they were afraid, and to Paul when he was desperate for reassurance. It simply means, \u201cTake courage.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus offers us courage in fearful circumstances. He embodies courage, He holds courage out in His hands to us saying, \u201cTake it. It\u2019s mine to give, and it\u2019s yours to receive.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Are you facing a hopeless situation? Are you afraid for your future? <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of trembling, reach out your hand to Jesus. He is stretching His towards you. Take the courage that He has for you today. In faith reach your hand up to His, and…<\/span><\/p>\n

…pray this plain and simple prayer\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Father,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I have lost my courage. I cannot seem to find a way out of the torment of fear. The future looks too difficult to step into, yet Jesus has beckoned me to, \u201cTake courage.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

In faith I reach my hand up to His. I feel the warmth of His skin on mine, and I receive the flow of His courage, for mine was depleted long ago. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I take it. I drink in His courage. I receive it now along with the strength to step moment by moment into the future, for I know that whatever I face I will not face alone. Whatever I face I will face with Him, the Giver of the grace and courage and strength that I need to live this life.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I will walk with cheer. I will hum a tune. I will live a counter-intuitive lifestyle of cheer in difficult circumstances, for You would never ask me to do something that You aren\u2019t empowering me to do in the first place.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

So I sing.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

And I will dance. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I will enjoy this day like You have called me to as I lay aside all fear and sorrow.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

In Jesus\u2019 Name and by His grace I will be of Good Cheer.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Amen<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: paul david (busy running!)<\/a> via Foter.com<\/a> \/ CC BY-ND<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut straightway Jesus spoke to them saying, \u2018Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid\u2019\u201d (Matthew 14:27). \u201cIn this world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world\u201d (John 16:33). \u201cBe of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[2073,274,2075,1955,142,2074],"class_list":["post-3699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-be-of-good-cheer","tag-depression","tag-encouragement-for-the-soul","tag-faith-in-the-face-of-fear","tag-fear","tag-take-courage"],"yoast_head":"\nBe of Good Cheer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Be of Good Cheer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cBut straightway Jesus spoke to them saying, \u2018Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid\u2019\u201d (Matthew 14:27). \u201cIn this world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world\u201d (John 16:33). \u201cBe of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prayer, Plain and Simple\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-26T12:50:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-24T21:51:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/files\/2017\/04\/4550156422_33ebc2f02e_z-300x205.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark and Jill Herringshaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Be of Good Cheer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Be of Good Cheer","og_description":"\u201cBut straightway Jesus spoke to them saying, \u2018Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid\u2019\u201d (Matthew 14:27). \u201cIn this world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world\u201d (John 16:33). \u201cBe of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html","og_site_name":"Prayer, Plain and Simple","article_published_time":"2017-04-26T12:50:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-04-24T21:51:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/files\/2017\/04\/4550156422_33ebc2f02e_z-300x205.jpg"}],"author":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html","name":"Be of Good Cheer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/files\/2017\/04\/4550156422_33ebc2f02e_z-300x205.jpg","datePublished":"2017-04-26T12:50:31+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-24T21:51:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#\/schema\/person\/29563cda917dd596f93dba2ff3a7fedf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/files\/2017\/04\/4550156422_33ebc2f02e_z-300x205.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/files\/2017\/04\/4550156422_33ebc2f02e_z-300x205.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/be-of-good-cheer.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Be of Good Cheer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/","name":"Prayer, Plain and Simple","description":"Prayer, Daily Prayer, Simple Prayers, Quick Prayers, Prayer Requests","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#\/schema\/person\/29563cda917dd596f93dba2ff3a7fedf","name":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/94f\/94fb184ea80985d82e603e3d8dd0056bx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/94f\/94fb184ea80985d82e603e3d8dd0056bx96.jpg","caption":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw"},"description":"Mark and Jill Herringshaw and their four children have been ministering in their local church since 1990. Jill is an accomplished worship leader and recording artist with several CDs in Target stores\u2019 \u201cLifescapes\u201d collection. Mark is the former pastor of the 7,000 member North Heights Lutheran Church. He holds a Ph.D. in leadership from Regent University, is the author of three books and a recognized conference speaker.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/author\/mherringshaw1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/478"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3699"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3706,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions\/3706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}