Encourage Yourself in the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 (NIV)

9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you,for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 

    The Macedonia church family loved each other as we see in the verse above. Yet Paul, who wrote this letter, felt the urge to encourage them to have even more love for each other. 

   

 It’s always great to hear an encouraging sermon, or someone gives you and encouraging word. A simple note from another Christian can lift your spirits. What about when you are alone with no one around to give you those uplifting words? That is when we encourage our self in the Lord by reading His word or praising and praying to God. 

     Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel 1:10 for a child and even made a vow to God to give her son to Him.

     Paul and Silas were in prison and chained but found encouragement in their prayers and singing.

Acts 16
          25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

     I Googled “encourage yourself in the Lord” and a website came up with 100 Bible verses with encouragement.

https://www.openbible.info/topics/encourage_yourself_in_the_lord 

 

  Sometimes we just need to do it for ourselves. There might be a situation where no one is around or we don’t want to share with others that we need encouragement. Depending on yourself to turn toward God for the answers grows with us in maturity and understanding. 

     I can’t go wrong with God. He is there for me always. He is never too busy or distracted to take the time to listen and give me encouragement.

May God Bless

I Want Faith Like That

I was reading a blog post from PROVERBS 31 and thought is was worth sharing. Enjoy.

by PRISCILLA SHIRER

 

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

I couldn’t wait for the chance to have lunch with her. Not to eat or talk, but to listen.

After watching her for a while, I knew this woman from my Bible study group was different. She radiated the power of God, seemed overwhelmed with His joy and consumed with His peace.

Not just occasionally … always.

It was obvious she heard God’s voice clearly. Her interaction with Him was relational and refreshing. She consistently saw evidence of His activity in the rhythms of her life.

God’s Word was alive to her — because He was alive to her.

Maybe you’ve known one or two of those women yourself: She prays and believes. Expects then sees. Asks and then receives. She’s not easily discouraged or paralyzed by fear and insecurity, and she has a laundry list of very practical experiences with God to prove it.

I had to know how she got to this point in her life, so I pressed my friend for details on her walk with the Lord and what made it so vibrant, fresh and alive.

The secret she shared with me that day over salad and sweet tea is the exact same one I want to reveal to you. It can all be summed up in one tiny, but very critical, power-filled word: FAITH.

"Priscilla," she said. "Be a woman of faith — not just a woman who talks faith — and you’ll never regret it."

Faith is one of the most overused, yet underutilized, expressions in Christian circles. Which is completely backward, because talking about faith is not the same as having it. The true meaning of faith is plain and simple: Faith is an action. In fact, action is the thing that makes faith, well, faith.

By definition, faith is not talking about, thinking about or even celebrating God’s truth. It is the process of adapting your behavior, your decisions and ultimately, your whole lifestyle so it aligns with what God has asked you to do — without needing to see the evidence it will all work out in the end.

My father and pastor, Dr. Tony Evans, puts it like this, "Faith is acting like it is so, even when it is not so, so that it might be so, simply because God said so."

My friend told me that, as far as she could tell, what enhanced her experience with God was that she was willing and committed to translate her beliefs to active faith — acting on the promises and directives of God, not merely talking about them.

It could be a seemingly small thing like giving a gift to a stranger or being the first to mend fences with a friend. Or something larger, like moving from one state to another — her commitment to identify and follow the Lord’s leading in her heart was the key that not only unlocked the door to spiritual vibrancy, but also kept her from falling prey to the enemy’s attacks to distract, dissuade and discourage her.

Was it always easy? No.

But over time, she said she learned to trust God enough to move forward at His Word. And what an amazing life of adventure with the Lord has followed!

I left that meal with a full tummy and a full heart, wanting to have a life that mirrored hers.