Encouragement

Encourage One Another

Scripture tells us much about how important we are to each other. We're called a body, a family, a community of faith. Various New Testament writers tell us that we're brothers and sisters in Christ. God clearly expects us to understand the importance of our relationships with other believers.

Over the last three weekends I've told you of several people who have made a real difference in my life by the way they lived their lives for Jesus. You probably know people like that, too. They're people you'll never forget. You don't want to forget them!

For each of the six people I've written about, I know ten or twenty more that have brought blessing to my life. I can't remember all their names, and I wish I could. They said something that encouraged me. They sent a card at just the right time to lift my spirits. Some of them just let me know they appreciated something I'd said or done as their pastor. The words they spoke are no longer remembered. The cards are long gone. The expressions of appreciation are forgotten.

Make no mistake, though. Those people, no longer remembered specifically, made a difference in my life at a specific time in my life. They chose to follow God's promptings, and He used them to bless my life. If I were to go back to some of those churches, memories would come to the surface. I would be able to thank them for their kind thoughtfulness.

All of us know people who can suck the life right out of us. We all know others who always seem to have a good word at just the right time. You and I can choose which kind of people we want to be. We know God's choice; He tells us in His Word. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up . . . ." (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Choose to be an encourager. Choose to be a blessing. (Pastor John Strain - Fist Baptist of Toms River

Great quote: How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven. George Macdonald