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.

The Devil, Demons, and Deception

When the Lord brings a particular topic up several times from different sources in a single day, it is wise to take heed. Especially one like this: Satan, demons, and temptation. My Pastor preached an amazing and informative sermon entitled  We Believe... God Wars; I received a text from someone in another state about Satan, demons, and temptation; my devotional just happened to be on that subject that afternoon; and the X-Files I watched dealt with it too.


OK, God. I'm listening.


What's the point? First, we need to neither give them too much, nor too little, thought. Here is a great passage from C.S. Lewis' book The Joyful Christian:


"The commonest question [I am asked about The Screwtape Letters] is whether I really "believe in the Devil".

Now, if by "the Devil" you mean a power opposite to God and, like God, self-existent from all eternity, the answer is No. There is no uncreated being except God. God has no opposite. No being could attain a "perfect badness" opposite to the perfect goodness of God; for when you have every kind of good thing (intelligence, will, memory, energy, and existence itself), there would be none left of him.

The proper question is whether I believe in devils. I do. That is to say, I believe in angels, and I believe that some of these, by the abuse of their free will, have become enemies to God and, as a corollary, to us. These we may call devils. They do not differ in nature from good angels, but their nature is depraved. Devil is the opposite of angel only as Bad Man is the opposite of Good Man. Satan, the leader or dictator or devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of Michael." (Emphasis mine)

I love the reminder that Satan is not the opposite of God, but of Michael, the arch angel. God created both and has full power and authority over both. Satan is just really ticked off about his final end and is taking as many as he can with him- both angel and human.


What is our role in this already won war? To win some battles through the power of Jesus Christ. There is a war going on. Ephesians 6:10-20 gives us a great synopsis of this. However, there is one other seldom used passage I love on this topic.


   When the servant of the man of God got up early and went out, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. So he asked Elisha, "Oh, my master, what are we to do?"
   Elisha said, "Don't be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them."
   Then Elisha prayed, "LORD, please open his eyes and let him see." So the LORD opened the servant's eyes. He looked and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:15-17


There is a constant battle around us, and the way in which Elisha handled is a great example. He knew it was there, he gave it thought and credit, but he did not dwell on it. You didn't hear him always talking about the unseen realm. He focused on doing God's will.


As for Christians being tempted by demons/ the Devil we must remember that Satan- the accuser - is not omnipresent. He can not be everywhere at once like God. Thus most people have to deal with his demons. Honestly though, what difference does it make? Temptation is temptation, and the blood of Christ covers them all no matter who incited it.


As for the "strength" of the temptation, we need only to remember His Word to us in 1 Corinthians 10:13. "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it."
He will always prove a way of escape- if we are willing to look to Him for it.


There really is nothing else to this. Yes, it is here. Yes, we need to know about it. And NO, we shouldn't let it consume our thoughts. We should let only Christ and Him crucified have that honor.

The Bombs Bursting In Air

There is a line in the Star Spangled Banner that has always stood out to me:

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Francis Scott Key, the composer of this hymn, wrote these lines in the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" after watching the battle in the War of 1812. How interesting that it was the destructive bombs and killing rockets that helped to give them hope. The lights from these shone down on their flag, proving it was still flying high. If they had been defeated, the flag would have been first to go. It was a symbol of not only what they stood and were fighting for in general, but also gave them encouragement through a specific battle.

Christians are living on the battle field today.
For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. Ephesians 6:12

What do we do when the bombs of the enemy tear families and friends apart? How do we cope when the rockets of condemnation, hatred, lust, and greed pierce our minds and those around us?

First, their trails of light remind us that we are at war, so hit your knees in prayer. We were told this would happen. Jesus says in John 16:33, "I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world."


Jesus is our flag. We see Him support us through these hurts and are reminded that we will win the war. The battles may be intense, but the outcome is assured. Even in all the enemy's schemes, Jesus will shine bright. We only need to have our eyes focused in the right direction.

Firm Compassion

There is a very fine line that Christians tread. We are to stand firmly for what we believe (Mt. 24:13, Eph. 6:11), yet we are to have compassion and mercy (Jude 22). The world we live in is riddled with sin and contempt for the ways of God, yet this is the same world we are called to be witnesses to. Not hostile witnesses, either.

A situation came up today where I needed to define this line a little more. As I sat pondering how to handle it, the only thing that came to mind was the old cliché, W.W.J.D. As much as the overuse and misuse of this acronym bothers me, it is very appropriate. What would Jesus do in this type situation?

The first thing the Lord brought to mind was that Jesus never backed down. Now, that is not the same thing as backing off. Sometimes we need to back off in order to let a person contemplate what they are hearing, or to experience a situation for themselves. We are, however, never called to back down from what we believe. Can you tell the difference in your own attitude between the two? Are you able to back off without backing down?

Another principle I learned was Jesus' wisdom in using parables. Jesus never said while teaching the crowds or His disciples, “Hey, remember what Bob from Galilee did? Well, that's a prime example of what you shouldn't do!” He always taught His lessons with generic people. He may have specified a people group, such as Samaritans (Lk. 10:25-37), but He never gave a negative lesson with specifics. We would be very wise to do the same. Being obviously discrete doesn't count either. You know what I mean... “There was was this older lady from my last church – a former Sunday School teacher of mine – who ....” Just because you don't use the actual name doesn't mean you are being good.

We also need to remember that it is our Father in Heaven who is Judge and not us. Therefore, we must be very careful the way in which we word things. If we disagree with something in particular, is there a Scriptural reason or a personal one? Is it a matter of doctrine or disposition? Even if it is a Scriptural reason, in what way are we verbalizing it? Basically, are gossiping, or being plain rude. I go by the rule that if it's not positive and I don't need to know it, then I don't need to know it. That goes in the other direction too. If the person I'm talking to doesn't need to know, then don't share.

I think this is a struggle we will have until the day we are given newly resurrected bodies. It's also something we need to ponder on now and again. Is your firm compassion on this world in balance?

Comfort Food-NT

Yesterday I told you of some Biblical passages which are special to me in the Old Testament. Let's continue today with the New Testament.

Matthew 7:21-23 In these few verses lie the deepest burden of my heart. Here, Jesus is telling them that not everyone who says to Him, “'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven.” (v.21) I truly believe that the Lord has called me to work in the church in order to eventually reach those who do many wonderful things in the Lord's name, but never really know Him. I've begged the Lord many times to please send me to a far away country where they are complete heathens who don't even know His name. Instead, He sent me to Nashville, Tennessee- The buckle of the Bible belt! If you begin to know me for long, you will hear this verse over and over. My Lord has engraved it on my heart as a prayer and desire to reach the “churched” who don't know Him.

1 Corinthians 1 This chapter goes along with my desire to serve the church. It also helps, as does Ecclesiastes from yesterday, to keep my desire for worldly knowledge and wisdom in check. The salvation and love of God is both completely illogical and pure logic at the same time. There is no perfect explanation. It is of the Spirit. We can not expect those who do not know Christ to understand our love and devotion to Him. It's foolish to them. But remember, “...God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom...” (v.25) Have compassion on them.

Ephesians 6:10-20 I have to admit this gets my blood pumping. It was the first passage I learned to love as a teenager, and at that time I desperately needed to know who my fight was against and what I could do about it. Who needs a super hero motto? This is perfect! A belt of truth, armor of righteousness, a shield of faith able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one... and more! Whenever I read this, in my head I start hearing a good fight song and someone yelling, “Let's get ready to rumble!!!”

James I love the entire book! James says it all straight forward without mincing words. Here are a few of my favorites from each chapter in the book.
James 1:2-4 “Consider it a great joy when you encounter various trials.” Not a typically human way to look at life, but what a great outlook.
James 2:17-20 “Do you believe in God? ...So do the demons, and they know to tremble!” Salvation is more than just knowing something.
James 3:1 “Not many should become teachers...we will receive a stricter judgment.” This is a sobering reminder of our responsibility to the Word of God and of the effects of our words.
James 4:15 “Instead, you should say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'” I am not in control and should stop acting like it.
James 5:13-14 “Is anyone among you suffering... cheerful... sick...?” God gave us other Christians to minister to and be ministered by. We need to let each other know when we need prayer or have great joy in the Lord.

Revelation This is my personal opinion, but I believe I will live to see what is described in Revelation, so this is like a Biblical GPS for me. Plus, I tear up with joy and anticipation every time I read about Christ coming in victoriously as a conquering king and how we will have a beautiful new heaven and earth. I get so excited! I want to shout with John, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” Rev 22:20

There is so much in the New Testament I had a hard time narrowing it down to just these, but I hope you've enjoyed this gleaning. What are some of your favorites?