Encouragement

I would dare to say there isn't a single one of you who would say they never need encouragement. There are times when we feel alone, confused, discouraged, and even a bit lost. That is why we have each other.

Never though, are we told to "encourage" that it's OK we continue to fail, aren't listening to God as we should be, or aren't passionately following and sharing about Jesus Christ. So the questions I ask of you today are: How have you been encouraged? and, Who have you encouraged? according to God's Word? 

Encouragement must not always be in word only. There are many avenues of it in Scripture. The following verses are just some of the references to encouragement. See if you can discover some more are you read His Word on your own.

Today, is a day for Scripture: It, of course, says it best. I pray you read these and are encouraged today.

2 Corinthians 7:4

⁴ I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overcome with joy in all our afflictions.

Ephesians 6:21-22

²¹ Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything so that you also may know how I am and what I'm doing. ²² I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

Colossians 2:1-3

¹ For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. ² [I want] their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding, and have the knowledge of God's mystery  —Christ. ³ In Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

¹¹ As you know, like a father with his own children, ¹² we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-11

 ⁵ For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We're not of the night or of darkness. ⁶ So then, we must not sleep, like the rest, but we must stay awake and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. ⁸ But since we are of the day, we must be sober and put the armor of faith and love on our chests, and put on a helmet of the hope of salvation. ⁹For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

2 Timothy 4:1-3

 ¹ Before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, I solemnly charge you: ² proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. ³ For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new.

Hebrews 3:12-14

¹² Watch out, brothers, so that there won't be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God. ¹³ But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today , so that none of you is hardened by sin's deception. ¹⁴ For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start.

Pictures In Belgium

What a blessed trip!

Over time I hope to share with you how the Lord worked in our lives so actively and amazingly while there. For now, though... enjoy the visuals!

My very first train ride.

Brussels to Namur

 Flag -American Football time.

 These we taken at our favorite cafe: Caf Concert.

The food and the owners who were brothers were amazing!

 This is one of the Blues performers at the FIFF concert.

(French International Film Festival)

 That's our coffee roasting. Mmm...

 These guys had fun with the clueless Americans!

This is some of the artwork displayed with school children's thoughts and art attached.

What Do You Do?

How do you deal with something the Lord lays heavily on your heart?

There are two different categories this can fall under:
1. It's something He is calling you to do (now or later), or
2. It is something He wants you to lift up in prayer.

Now I realize that these cross all over each other in that we must pray passionately for anything He calls us to do. I suppose the question I am asking of you today is how do you know if a passion requires action other than prayer?

What are your thoughts?


¹⁵ This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷ [I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ [I pray] that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.
Ephesians 1:15-19

Tests and Quizzes

Magazines are full of quizzes to test all manner of things about you from your real personality to your sex life to your inside knowledge of Justin Bieber. We have tests and quizzes for everything! The funny thing is that when you fail one, no matter what the subject, we often feel lacking- like a failure. Even if we didn't even care about the subject.

Did you know, however, there is a good reason for our desire to test ourself? 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you not recognize for yourselves that Jesus Christ is on you?- unless you fail the test." We are to test - quiz - ourselves to make sure we are in the faith.

How do we do this? Read 1 John and James. They will give you a really good indicator. Then, if we pass...rejoice! Live victoriously in Christ Jesus as one who loves Him and spreads the good news of His salvation. If we fail, we need to ask ourself, "Do I really care?" If no- don't pretend to care. If you do care, however,  profess Him as your Savior and Lord from now on and act accordingly. Now you are! And you have some great "previously failing" points to start with.

Faith Like a Child

My youngest son is one of the best people for stepping on toes. He often calls it like it is and you are left standing there defending, or defenseless.
Here's two recent examples:

1. What we think we know.
Someone in my family just moved into a new house and was telling him excitedly that it was the last house they were ever going to buy. He replied with, "It won't be if God tells you to move."

So often we who call ourselves slaves to Christ Jesus, end up telling Him what we are going to do with the rest of our lives. It's not wrong to make plans. It is, however, wrong to never be prepared to change them at a moments notice if the Spirit moves within us to do so. This not only applies to where we live, but our jobs, schedules, fun activities, and even vacation savings account...

2. We are not called to be coddled.
There were many new houses in this one area where someone lived. They told my son that they were praying for a bunch of nice, Christian families to move in. "But if they are all Christians," he questioned, "how can you teach them about Jesus in the way you live?"

We are not of this world, but we must never forget we are in this world. We are called to be bright lights on a hill. (Matthew 5:14-16) The funny thing about that is, if all us little lights gather together 24/7 not only are there areas left in complete darkness, but each of our lights don't make much of a difference. Take one candle in a dark room full of 100 away and you won't see much change. Take it away when there were only three, two, or none, and the difference is profound. Hebrews 10: 23-24 lets us know that we should regularly meet together for encouragement and the promotion of love and good works, but never once does Scripture tell us to stay there all the time. We are here to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with a dark, lost world.


 ...Teach and encourage these things. ³ If anyone teaches other doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, ⁴ he is conceited, understanding nothing, but having a sick interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slanders, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant disagreement among men whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain. ⁶ But godliness with contentment is a great gain.
    ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.
    ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
    ⁹ But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
   
 ¹¹ Now you, man of God, run from these things;    but pursue righteousness, godliness, faith,
    love, endurance, and gentleness.
    ¹² Fight the good fight for the faith;
    take hold of eternal life,
    to which you were called
    and have made a good confession
    before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:2b-12

Little Reminders

I absolutely love when God reminds me of lessons in holiness in daily trivialities. Not only do I learn something, but am encouraged by the fact I am finally listening to the Spirit!

Last night as I stood on my back porch looking at the stars, I had two very distinct yet opposite smells accost me: Bounty dryer sheets and a decomposing animal. A neighbor was drying their clothes and with the unusual heat, a deceased animal was attracting the buzzards.

That, He indicated to me, is a modern version of Matthew 23:27-28."Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." It is a great reminder that the pretty scent of a religious duty doesn't cover the stench of a rotten spirit.

Listen for the little things the Spirit is teaching you. What lessons has He brought to your attention recently? If you don't know, ask Him to reveal one to you. Start by reading the Word everyday and then ask Him to keep your spiritual eyes and ears open.

He wants to teach you. Do you want to be taught?

Called

We are all called to evangelism... if you belong to Jesus Christ.

What are you doing to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Some who are immobilized have extensive prayer lists. Prayer is essential and they are a great help and blessing. Others are called to help grow and train other brothers and sisters. Then there are those who's calling is to get right into the midst of the lost and love on them while presenting the good news.

Perhaps you were able to pinpoint your area of calling within those, but let me remind you of something: You are called to each and every one of them. Perhaps you have a natural, God-given talent with one and have focused on that. It's natural to do that. However, don't let the rest of your spiritual muscles atrophy. We must exercise each to remain healthy.

Take some time today to pray and discover which areas you need to work on. Then, with the Spirit's prompting, do something about it.