God didn’t set
us up for an angry rejection, He set us up for salvation by our Master Jesus
Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with
the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak
encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in
this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this;
just keep on doing it. 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 {MSG}
10/10/2018
___________________________________________________________________________________
In John 16:33
{AMP} Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me
you may have [perfect] peace. In
the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]” Jesus
loved us so much that He wanted us to know that trials will happen in our life
and that He gives us the strength to endure those trials.
It gives
us great hope when we read this scripture with the encouragement Jesus ended it
with, “I have overcome the world.” God will never stop encouraging His people
and He expects us to do the same with our brothers and sisters in Christ. In
fact, we have been commanded to encourage others.
God
watches our actions to make sure we are lovingly encouraging one another. During
the times when you feel burned out and hopeless; encouraging words from a
caring brother or sister will energize our soul. Let God use the power of
encouragement through you as a witness to others. When someone has encouraged
you, take the time to let them know. In doing this it is an encouragement to
them. You should also encourage your pastor by letting him/her know how God
spoke to you through their sermon. I encourage you to pray for the strength to
be an encourager; pray also for other believers to be encouraged.
Quotes about encouraging others
- “A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” – Unknown
- “Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.” – Anne Frank
Biblical definition of encouragement
Most
people think that giving encouragement is just saying nice words to uplift
someone. However, it’s more than this. Giving encouragement to others means to
give support and confidence, but it also means to develop. As we encourage
other believers we are helping them to develop a stronger relationship with
Christ. We are helping them to mature in the faith. The Greek Word Parakaleo
is the Greek word for encourage that means to call to one’s side, admonish,
encourage, teach, strengthen, and console.
Encouragement gives us hope
Romans
15:4 {AMP}“For
whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope and overflow with confidence in His
promises.”
1
Thessalonians 4:16-18 {AMP} “For
the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the
voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead
in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will
simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the
resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will
always be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and
encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers
who have died].”
What the Bible say about encouraging others
God
expects us to go beyond the wall of the “church” with His encouragement for His
creations. If you will let yourself be led by the Holy Spirit, we will find
many opportunities to encourage others with words of our loving creator.
As you
begin to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit, you will find it gets easier
to build others up with encouragement. At times we are so blind to what God is
doing around us that we don’t even see the little things that should be so
obvious. However, the more you operate in the Holy Spirit you will begin to
notice those little things that you might have been oblivious to before. I have
noticed that when I ask God to allow me to see how He sees and allows my heart
to break for the things that break His heart, many opportunities to share
encouragement with others abounds.
The first
thing you should do in the morning before you go out into this world is ask
God, “Lord how do you want to use me today for your glory?” This is a prayer
that thrills the heart of God and He will always answer. God loves a heart that
seeks His will and the advancement of His Kingdom. We should be so in tune with
the will of God that we call our friends and family members more often, we introduce
ourselves to people in our church and we should take the time to talk to the homeless
and needy. You never know what someone is going
through. It is possible the God brought those people in your path to be the
encourager they need.
I encourage each
of you today to call at least one friend and one family member to see how they
are doing and give them a good word of encouragement. Try to make this a weekly
thing you do and it will build the courage in you to be an encourager to
everyone you meet.
No comments:
Post a Comment