ENCOURAGEMENT: OBEYING AND SERVING GOD

BIBLE PASSAGE:
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful,
unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But
encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,”
so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original
conviction firmly to the very end.
(Hebrews 3:12-14)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever had some days when you thought to yourself,
    “I sure could use some encouragement right now”
You may have felt like the weight of the world is on your shoulders
and it caused you to think you are alone. Maybe you felt that you
have been doing a lot, but no one seems to notice, or even care.

You may have thought about how sports teams have cheerleaders
who encourage them and inspire the spectators to cheer for them
as well. It may have caused you to wonder,
    “Why can’t I have just one
      cheerleader to be an encourager to me?”

Encouragement is probably one of the greatest motivators available.
People who are encouraged can have better attitudes and can possibly
achieve more than those who are not encouraged. Encouragement can
help people overcome many challenges in life. And the good news is, it
is something all of us can do (if we are not controlled by selfishness).

When you see others serving the Lord in a dynamic way, it may
cause you to have thoughts like,
    “I wish I could speak like that”
  or
    “I wish I had their biblical knowledge to share with others”
  or
    I wish I had the talent to sing praises to the Lord publicly”

These kinds of thoughts may cause you to ask yourself the same
questions you’ve asked yourself many times before.
    “What CAN I do?” or “What can I DO?”

Aren’t you glad that God has chosen everyone who belongs
to Him for a specific function in His ministry? That means
you and I CAN DO something! Not only are we able to serve
Him in a specific way, but He also expects us to be a valuable
contributor to His ministry. God, the Creator of the universe,
wants YOU and ME to do something for HIM!

He even gives us spiritual gifts so we will be equipped to serve
Him. Some may struggle with the difference between talents
and spiritual gifts. For instance, someone could have a ‘talent’
for singing, but their ‘spiritual gift’ may be to encourage others.

Singing puts them ’on stage’ in front of people (and could be
an ego feed for some). But using our spiritual gift and being
a servant of the Lord may be something out of sight of the
masses, but is seen by God. Although serving Him may not
be noticed by others, we can find joy in knowing that we are
involved in God’s ministry.

If we struggle trying to discover the specific task(s) God has
called us to do, then we can learn from the scriptures above.
While we are seeking His specific task for us, we can look for
opportunities to encourage others. Our encouragement can
be a contributor to the success of someone serving the Lord.

Even if we disagree with the theology of someone, we can still
encourage them by expressing our appreciation for their desire
to serve the Lord. Think about this: our encouragement could
open the door for God to show them changes they should make.

When someone commits their life to serving the Lord in
any type of leadership position, there will be times when
they unintentionally say something the wrong way, or
what they said may be misinterpreted by someone.

If we reread the scriptures above, we know that God does
not want us to ‘beat them up’ for their mistakes; instead
He expects us to encourage them for their efforts, to pray
for them, and to leave it up to Him to work on their heart.

There may be times when a pastor is accurately sharing God’s
Word, but his presentation doesn’t appeal to you personally.
You can still be an encourager to them; and when you do, God
may help them change their delivery of His Word.

In addition, God may change our heart, and the way we are
receiving His Word. Any of us can settle into a comfort zone
for our own expectations. But when we are reluctant to allow
the Lord to change our attitudes and our way of thinking, its
not a healthy spiritual place for us to be.

Instead of excluding or rejecting spiritual things that don’t fill
our own expectations, we should be willing to patiently wait, to
pray, and trust the Lord to reveal new things to us using through
whatever communication venue He has chosen to speak to us.

We shouldn’t allow ourselves to become narrow minded or
arrogant and ‘tune out’ those who are dedicated to sharing
God’s Word correctly. God can speak to us through anyone
committed to allowing Him to use them, even if they may not
be as appealing to our ears as we would like them to be.

God can even speak to us through someone who is misguided 
and is incorrectly sharing His Word. We may ask,
    “How could He do that?”
It’s a good question and the answer is: God can inspire us to
search the scriptures whenever we hear anything that sounds
contradictory to His Word (reading the bible reading is always
a good way to hear from the Lord).

Praying for and encouraging others is one way that everyone
can serve the Lord. For some it may be the area of service God
has chosen for them. For others, it may be an area of service
while they are searching to discover His will for them. But for
everyone, it’s an area of service that obeys God’s instructions.

Did you notice when reading the scriptures above how encouraging
before we are told that encouraging each other is not only obedience,
but it can also protect us from sin and from turning away from God.
When we encourage others, the souls of the lost can be led to the Lord,
and the hearts of believers can become more obedient to God’s will for
their own lives.

In addition, we are told that when we encourage each other, it will
prevent our hearts from being hardened. Why is that important?
Because, when our hearts are not ‘hardened’, we prove our faith
is real, and we have a sincere desire to share Christ with others.

ACTION:
Questions to ask ourselves:
    – How often do you encourage others, and especially those of faith?
    – When is the last time you made a special effort to encourage your
       pastor (phone call, card, text, etc.)?
           They have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord in
           obedience to His calling. Their desire is to encourage
           the lost to meet the Lord and receive His salvation, and
           to encourage believers to grow in their fellowship with
           the Lord. But where do they receive their encouragement?
           If we do not encourage them, who will?

For us to be better encouragers, we need to eliminate any selfishness
from our own life, wouldn’t you agree? Observing the efforts of others
to ‘do the best they can’ when serving the Lord, should remind us how
they are significantly important to God. Why wouldn’t we want to be
an encourager to those God has called to serve as a shepherd?

In order for us to ‘chip away’ at our selfishness, we need to be willing
to forfeit our own importance so we can elevate others. We may ask,
    “But who is going to encourage me?”
Our faith should serve as a reminder that when we obey the Lord’s
commands, He will bless and encourage us, even if no one else does.

Look at the following scripture regarding how we should view
others in comparison to our own self-image and selfish desires:
    Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
    Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
    not looking to your own interests but each of you to
    the interests of the others.
    (Philippians 2:3-4)

From this verse, we can see that if we are reluctant to look for
opportunities to encourage others, it could be an indication of
selfishness in our own heart that needs to be resolved. None of
us want to stand before God one day as someone who failed to
obey His command to encourage one another.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I know how encouragement lifts my spirits
as I live out my days here on earth. Thank You for how You
and Your Word encourage me as I try to obey Your will for my
life. Teach me to encourage others and to move away from any
selfish thoughts I have for myself. Show me how to be courteous,
respectful, and kind to others as a precursor to being an encourager
to them. Raise a red flag in my spiritual heart if I allow my selfish
desires to cause me to treat others in an unkind manner. Remind
me that I am obeying Your commands when I am an encourager
to everyone, and not a discourager to anyone.”

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