Encourage One Another
Devotion 1 - Encourage One Another
I once read a very thought-provoking
book written by an American psychiatrist M Scott Peck entitled ‘The Road less travelled.’ On the
first paragraph of the first chapter, was written - “Life is Difficult. This is a great truth, one of
the greatest truths.”
Well,
I think we can all agree and resonate with that. Life is full of trials,
struggles, temptation, pain and disappointment, etc. Human existence is
accompanied by the basic fact that there will be problems in life. In fact, the
Scripture tells us plainly:
Job 5:7 – “Man is born to trouble as surely
as sparks fly upward”
Acts
14:22 - “We must
through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
We are living in a difficult world, we get
setbacks and discouragements. For that reason, God exhorts us to
intentionally encourage each other as frequently as possible.
Heb. 10:24-25 – “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and
good deeds, not
giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging
one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Heb.3:13 - “Encourage one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any
of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
We are called to encourage one another
because otherwise, we’ll be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Discouragement can
open the door for temptation and sin to deceive us. And encouragement from one another is something that the Holy Spirit uses to
build up the people of God and to keep them steadfast and faithful. In fact, the earlier verses exhort us to encourage one another
daily, which means that it should be part of our everyday activity as we
fellowship with one another.
In 1 Thess. 2:11–12 Paul
summarized his dealings with the Thessalonian Christians this way:
“For you know that we dealt with
each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging,
comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you
into his kingdom and glory.”
In Acts 16:40, we see Paul and Silas in encouraging
the believers in Philippi.
“After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to
Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.”
Again, in Acts 20:1-2 when he wrote about the
aftermath of the riot in Ephesus,
"When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for
the disciples and, after encouraging
them,
said good-bye and set out for Macedonia. He travelled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece"
said good-bye and set out for Macedonia. He travelled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece"
Paul, when he couldn't visit some Christians as he
wished, sent. other Christian leaders to encourage them. In 1 Thessalonians 3:2
he wrote,
"We sent Timothy, who is our brother and
God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith."
Constantly, many of us battle with sin
and we forget what Jesus has done for us.
We all need to be reminded about Jesus over and over again, for once we remember Jesus, our perspective immediately gets
realigned with His perspective.
John 16:33
– “These things I have spoken to
you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will
have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world.”
Jesus says that in the world, we will
have trials and tribulation. Things are going to get discouraging, hopeless and
challenging at times, but He said to take
heart, He has overcome the world!
To “take
heart” also means to take courage and be confident. We can be confident in the
One who has overcome this world and who has saved us. Jesus has already
won!
For that reason, we need to constantly
encourage one another to trust and believe that Jesus has overcame the world for us and that
He now lives in us. Thus, nothing in the world, no matter how evil it is, can
ever overcome us, and we can have peace in Him. We need to constantly remind each other about
the victory we have in Christ
1 Thess.5:11 – “Therefore encourage one
another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1 Thess. 5:14 - “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are
idle and disruptive, encourage the
disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
We all need encouragement to fight a good fight and to finish
the race well. Make that phone call.
Send that text. Meet up in person. Do whatever you need to do to be an
encouragement to others to strengthen them and help bring the light of
Jesus into darkness.
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