ENCOURAGEMENT-10 (Zephaniah 3:17)

DO YOU NEED A FRIEND WHO UNDERSTANDS YOU AND ENCOURAGES YOU?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will
take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He
will rejoice over you with singing.”
(Zephaniah 3:17)

MEDITATION:
Do you agree with this statement:
    Everyone could use a personal cheerleader.
We can be down in our spirit and need an encourager. We can
have anxieties and need someone with wisdom to calm us down.
We may need someone to appreciate who we are and what we do.

At the same time, we need to encourage and appreciate others as
we seek to lift their spirits in the same way we want to have ours
lifted. And, we should not limit our efforts to only those who are
close friends of ours. Jesus reached out to everyone and as His
followers, we should mimic His ways, attitudes, and actions.

Ask yourself these questions:
    “When is the last time I made a
      special effort to encourage someone else?”

    “What are some ways I encourage others?”

    “How often do I encourage others who
      are not in my close circle of friends?”

    “Do I expect others to encourage me, but I
      fail to look for ways to encourage others?”

    “What does that say about me if I always
      want to receive, but make no efforts to give?”

    “Do I only seek to encourage others when they are sad, or
      going through a tough time, or do I try to be a perpetual
      encourager who has a concern for all others at all times?”

The scriptures tell us that we all have someone “in our corner”.
We are told that our Lord is with us. Notice it says “your God”;
if He is not your God, then the implication is He is not with you.

We are also told about His unlimited power.
    God is the One who can ultimately save people.
When He is Lord of our lives, He will “take great delight in us”.
That implies that He enjoys observing our lives, and is always
there to help us in our struggles.

How does He help us?
    He “quiets us with His love”.
What a reassuring thought to realize that God, the Creator of
the universe, will comfort us when we are stressed, worried,
sad, or having anxieties. How does He comfort us? He showers
us with His love.

We are also told that He will “rejoice over us with singing”.
Can you visualize God rejoicing over you with singing?
What an awesome thought! God is a fan of His people,
and He enjoys watching us strive for righteousness.

If we accept ourselves as failures, then we are destined to
continue to fail. Instead, we should allow God to show us
how each failure can be a stepping stone to success.

He can be everywhere at once, listening and responding to
the prayers of all who call out in the name of Christ, while
at the same time, performing many miracles such as keeping
the stars in their places, filling the sea with fish, and causing
plants to burst up from the ground.

There is no limit to God.
    There is no limit to His wisdom.
    There is no limit to His power.
    There is no limit to His love.
    There is no limit to His mercy.
    There is no limit to His grace.

God is limitless, and He considers each of His children
as ‘special’. Just as parents want to encourage and bless
their children, God wants to do the same things to those
who belong to Him.

ACTION:
Has God become the Lord of your life? It is not just a
statement, it is an action. It means that you have given
Him control of your life, and you are willing to do, and
not do, the things He commands of you.

Claiming that He is your Lord is not like a smorgasbord where
you choose which things you will yield to Him, and which things
you will keep to yourself. There is no such thing as a partial Lord
of your life; either He is Lord (of all), or He is not.

Each of us know the areas of our lives we have decided to manage
on our own, and as a result, we have not given them to the Lord.
We can rationalize our decisions, or justify them in our own mind
all we want, but God knows when we have not totally surrendered
to Him, and His will for our life.

Challenge:
    Make a special effort to encourage someone during the next 7 days.
    In addition, look for an opportunity to encourage someone you may
    barely know, or even a stranger. There are people in our paths every
    day, but if we are selfishly consumed with ourselves, then we are very
    unlikely to consider how we can be an encourager to someone else.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I have delayed way too long in giving You
Your rightful place in my life. I want to be able to call You my
Lord because I have yielded my life to You. Forgive me for my
partial commitment, and help me to be fully committed to You.
I know that when I can honestly call You Lord, You will be with
me, You will calm me with Your love, and You will encourage
me as I strive for righteousness and try to serve You in whatever
way You have chosen specifically for me.”

BLOG: utvolwoody.com