Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another
Encourage: means to inspire or to give hope
Most of us have friends or people close to us that can encourage us when we are going through hard times. People who encourage us to try harder, to look beyond the pain to the end that we cannot see. To focus on the bigger picture and not be so focused on the problem. Its said, Dont focus on the problem, if you focus on the problem you cant see the solution, you must look beyond the situation This is not a natural thing for us, we as human beings in a sinful world, with sinful desires, are going to worry, we will fail, but its what we do after the failures that count. It doesnt matter how many times we fall down, as long as we get up.
Solomon, was one of the wisest men that ever lived, knew the value of wisdom. He valued wisdom above anything else, which we can see in this passage.
If God would give you anything you asked for, what would you want? You see, Solomon didnt focus on the moment, he looked beyond the moment, and saw the bigger picture. He knew that he wasnt wise enough to rule as David did. I imagine that the reign of David would be a hard act to follow, so he asked for the wisdom and knowledge to rule the kingdom, the way God wanted him to rule it.
Now, like Solomon, God gives us certain gifts for which we are to use for His Glory. And one of the gifts God grants to us, is the Gift of Encouragement. Now this gift, is one of the most important of all. Why? because encouragement grows our faith (1 Thess 3:4) the more we encourage others, the more our faith grows, and the more our faith grows, the more we can encourage, because encouragement comes from faith (Romans 1:12). You dont make money sitting around the house watching tv, you have to work for it. The same concept can be applied in this case, if you want your faith to grow, you are going to have to work. I am not saying that God doesnt give you faith, He does, but what I am saying is that God wants us to develop relationships with others so that through encouragement, we can strengthen their faith also.
Also, encouragement comes from spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:31) there are a lot of reasons God gives us spiritual gifts, one of them is to encourage others with it! If you have the gift of prophecy, tongues, encouragement, or whatever it may be, you are to encourage others with it also.
The greatest thing about encouragement though, is that it cultivates and strengthens our faith. We all know how important faith is to the Christian. Without it we cant please God (Hebrews 11:6) faith is like water to us, if we dont continually drink from the well, we get weak and eventually die. James 2:26 says, Faith without works, is dead like I said in an earlier post, if we have all the faith in the world, and not the deeds to back up what we believe, then its worthless. Heb 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This verse goes hand in hand with Hebrews 11:33-34 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Faith accomplishes the impossible.
Faith also gives us strength to resist Satan.
And when we have faith, God promises us that we can do all things through Christ, who gives us the strength (Phil 4:13)
Encourage everyone you meet, not just Christians. Because encouragement grows faith, and its by faith that they receive Christ. I pray that God will gives us the opportunity to encourage others so that we can have the faith and the strength to resist our enemy, and give glory to God.
I love you all, In Christ Jesus.
Matt
Encourage: means to inspire or to give hope
Most of us have friends or people close to us that can encourage us when we are going through hard times. People who encourage us to try harder, to look beyond the pain to the end that we cannot see. To focus on the bigger picture and not be so focused on the problem. Its said, Dont focus on the problem, if you focus on the problem you cant see the solution, you must look beyond the situation This is not a natural thing for us, we as human beings in a sinful world, with sinful desires, are going to worry, we will fail, but its what we do after the failures that count. It doesnt matter how many times we fall down, as long as we get up.
Solomon, was one of the wisest men that ever lived, knew the value of wisdom. He valued wisdom above anything else, which we can see in this passage.
If God would give you anything you asked for, what would you want? You see, Solomon didnt focus on the moment, he looked beyond the moment, and saw the bigger picture. He knew that he wasnt wise enough to rule as David did. I imagine that the reign of David would be a hard act to follow, so he asked for the wisdom and knowledge to rule the kingdom, the way God wanted him to rule it.
Now, like Solomon, God gives us certain gifts for which we are to use for His Glory. And one of the gifts God grants to us, is the Gift of Encouragement. Now this gift, is one of the most important of all. Why? because encouragement grows our faith (1 Thess 3:4) the more we encourage others, the more our faith grows, and the more our faith grows, the more we can encourage, because encouragement comes from faith (Romans 1:12). You dont make money sitting around the house watching tv, you have to work for it. The same concept can be applied in this case, if you want your faith to grow, you are going to have to work. I am not saying that God doesnt give you faith, He does, but what I am saying is that God wants us to develop relationships with others so that through encouragement, we can strengthen their faith also.
Also, encouragement comes from spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:31) there are a lot of reasons God gives us spiritual gifts, one of them is to encourage others with it! If you have the gift of prophecy, tongues, encouragement, or whatever it may be, you are to encourage others with it also.
The greatest thing about encouragement though, is that it cultivates and strengthens our faith. We all know how important faith is to the Christian. Without it we cant please God (Hebrews 11:6) faith is like water to us, if we dont continually drink from the well, we get weak and eventually die. James 2:26 says, Faith without works, is dead like I said in an earlier post, if we have all the faith in the world, and not the deeds to back up what we believe, then its worthless. Heb 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This verse goes hand in hand with Hebrews 11:33-34 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Faith accomplishes the impossible.
Faith also gives us strength to resist Satan.
I highlighted the word afflictions because it is incredibly important for my next point. In verse 10, of 1 Pet chpt. 5 it says, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. Suffering is a tool God can use, to open up a door for our friend to encourage us, which in turn strengthens our faith, which in turn gives us strength so that the next time Satan comes, we can have the strength to do what the scripture tells us to do, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
And when we have faith, God promises us that we can do all things through Christ, who gives us the strength (Phil 4:13)
Encourage everyone you meet, not just Christians. Because encouragement grows faith, and its by faith that they receive Christ. I pray that God will gives us the opportunity to encourage others so that we can have the faith and the strength to resist our enemy, and give glory to God.
I love you all, In Christ Jesus.
Matt
