encourage

Monday, April 12, 2010 (9:52 a.m.)

Blessed Lord,

Thank You for a husband who not only reminded me to pray right not, but encouraged me to do so as well.

Hmm. Encourage. Yes Lord. That’s what I long to do for others. And look. Here come the tears to affirm this as a yearning of not only my heart, but my soul as well. Lord. I love You. I want desperately for others to love and know and trust You as well.

Turning to The Message, my heart hurts with the desire to follow Paul’s instructions to the people of Thessalonica. “Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.” (1Thessalonians 5:12-14)

Oh most dear and blessed Lord. Truly this is the way I want to live my life! I read the sidebars and smile while agreeing that “Yes! This is what I want.”

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 (8:29 a.m.)

Encourage. Encourager. Encouragement. Yes Lord. Let me learn to live Your Word! Reading to the end of this same chapter I want nothing more than to be able to obey what You have set before us.

“See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else. Always be joyful. Always keep on praying. No matter what happens,

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 (7:46 a.m.)

Like another interruption! ‘Encourage – take three!’

“…No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not smother the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at those who prophesy, but test everything that is said to be sure it is true, and if it is, then accept it. Keep away from every kind of evil. May the God of peace Himself make you entirely pure and devoted to God, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept strong and blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” (1Thessalonians 5:18-23).

It seems like such a tall order Lord. Just when I start to think that I will surely fail, I read verse 24. “God, who called you to become His child, will do all this for you, just as He promised.”

As if this verse itself is not enough encouragement, reading the Recovery Commentary Notes at the end of the chapter remind me that it’s You who will accomplish these things in and through me, if I let You. “In these verses, Paul leaves us with a collection of good advice. If we follow these many instructions, as we can with God’s help, we will be well on our way in the recovery process. We are called to minister to others, a part of recovery that gives hope to others and reinforces our own success. Paul calls us to rebuild our relationships by repaying the wrongs of others with kindness. We are called to live a joyful life, always prayerful, continually seeking God’s will for our life. We are reminded of the gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s continual helping presence in our life. God gives us what we need to succeed in recovery. Our part is to participate in the good plan He has set out for us.”

Wow Lord! ‘Minister (tend to, look after, help, assist) and give hope to others’. Doesn’t that represent what it means to encourage? One definition explains, “To encourage is to give active help or to raise confidence to the point one dares to do what is difficult.” Yes Lord. I long to encourage. I want desperately to ‘participate in the good plan You have set out for us.’ Make it so Dear Lord. Make it so. I love You. Amen.

(688 words ~ 8:33 a.m.)