God’s Word of Encouragement

…..the Lord calls me to live this life and challenges me to change my way of looking at things and His promise to me is that He will not leave me struggling to do this on my own; He will do it in me!

Source: testimoniesofhisgoodness.wordpress.com

Have you ever needed a simple word of encouragement, ever sat looking at the phone waiting for someone to ring and say something to lift you up and spur you on.  If you have then you will know how important and timely a word of encouragement can be. One Sunday morning recently I got a word of encouragement which I was not expecting and it arrived in a way that totally surprised me. I was up early praying (not because I`m deeply spiritual but because I couldn’t sleep!), and I was talking to the Lord about all the things that were bothering me, actually the truth was I was moaning, when I felt the Lord direct me to 1 Thessalonians 5. ‘But Lord’ I said, ‘isn’t that chapter just about the second coming and frankly I need an uplifted word, not a study on the second coming right now’. But I thought it best to read the chapter and I was glad I did. Yes it does talk a little about the second coming but then the Holy Spirit highlighted (as only He can) some truths that really touched my heart.

He reminded me in 1 Thessalonians 5:5 ‘You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness’. I am a child of the light and a child of the day and as such I belonged to the day (the light where He lives) and because of that I should be self-controlled – in other words to get a grip of myself and not allow myself to indulge in negative thinking and having my own little pity party.  ‘Oh dear’ I thought, not the encouraging word I’d hoped for! however as I carried on reading I found the rest of the verse encouraging me to put on faith and love as a breastplate (to protect my heart) and the hope of salvation as a helmet (to protect my mind), because the Lord had always intended me to receive salvation (freedom) and relationship with Him, through what Jesus had done for me. Well now that felt better!

Source: www.etsy.com

Then The Lord challenged me some more; to be joyful, 1 Thessalonians 5:16 ‘Rejoice always’, which is not always easy to do, to pray continually, again not so easy sometimes and hardest of all, to give thanks in every situation; 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ‘give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’. ‘OK Lord I thought, you were going to encourage me, this is far too challenging!’ But you know the Holy Spirit is a great teacher and He led me further on into the verse to; ‘for this is God`s will for you’. So it is God’s will for me to give thanks in every situation and to talk (pray) to Him about everything. So I thought; ‘if this is God’s will for me then what He intended for me from the first day I met Him, then this is what I should do’. But we all know how hard and challenging this can be and how often I am aware that I fail which is followed by guilt that I have let Him down again.

So again I said, ‘I thought this was supposed to be encouraging’. Then the Lord revealed the power behind the challenge in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify (The word ‘sanctify’ is so precious and affirming that I really recommend you Google it for the full impact for your life) you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’; and then came the critical verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:24 ‘The one who calls you is faithful (will never fail), and he will do it’. So the Lord calls me to live this life and challenges me to change my way of looking at things and His promise to me is that He will not leave me struggling to do this on my own, He will do it in me! ‘Thank you Lord; now that really is a word of encouragement’.

I was really blessed and uplifted as I hope you have been. There is however a further thing the Lord asks us to do though, which is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 ‘Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing’ Now this may be achieved by saying something as simple as ‘you look nice today!’, or as profound as passing on a Word or a challenge that God has given you. We all need to encourage each other it’s a continual chain, God encourages us, Jesus is faithful and helps us, and we are to pass it on to others to encourage them through the difficult times.   Praise God.

Author: Jan Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others