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Read this great article from Rick warren’s Daily Hope today; some great pondering for Christmas/new year:
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.” Colossians 2:6 (NLT)
The Bible often compares life to a walk, because life is a journey; we’re not sitting still. Throughout the New Testament, we are told to walk in wisdom, love, light, and obedience. We’re told to walk as Jesus walked. We’re also told to walk alongside other people. Here are three reasons we need to walk with other people:
It’s safer. Have you ever walked alone at night through a dark alley or down a lonely country road? It’s a little scary. But if you have another person with you, you feel safer.
It’s supportive. Life is not a 50-yard dash; it’s a marathon. Walking with other people gives you the energy to keep on going until the end.
It’s smarter. You learn more by walking with others than by walking alone. If you’re walking alone in the wrong direction, you may never realize it. But if you have a friend beside you, one of you is likely to recognize you’ve veered off the path and need to find the right direction.
We also learn some important lessons when we walk alongside other people. We learn how to get along and cooperate with others.
We also learn how to love. Genesis 2:18 tells us, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (NIV). God hates loneliness, and community is God’s answer to loneliness. When we walk alongside other people, we find a community where we learn how to love.
Walking alongside other people also teaches us hospitality. The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:9, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” What’s your grumble? What’s your excuse for not opening your home to friends?
Maybe you’ve said, “My home is dirty!”
Well, clean it up!
Or perhaps your excuse is, “My home isn’t big enough.”
Can you put three people in it? Jesus says, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).
Everybody has a longing for belonging, because God made us for relationships. When we walk alongside other Christians in community, we find that longing satisfied.
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. (Romans 12:6-13 NLT)
“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”
(2 Corinthians 4:15-17 NLT)
God is faithful, and God is after faithful people!
The difference between faithful people and unfaithful people is unfaithful people give up at the first sign of difficulty. Faithful people keep on keeping on. Faithful people are determined. Faithful people are diligent. Faithful people are persistent.
Faithful people don’t know how to quit. You know how a little acorn becomes an oak tree? An oak tree is just an acorn that refused to give up.
God uses tough times to test our persistence.
If you’re going through tough times right now, then this verse is for you: “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:15-17 NLT)
God is more interested in what you’re becoming than what’s happening to you. He often allows trials, troubles, tribulations, and problems in your life to teach you diligence, determination, and character. The problem you’re going through right now? It’s a test of your faithfulness. Will you continue to serve God even when life stinks?
Galatians 6:9 says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”.
Two incredible promises from the Bible about following Jesus in hard times:
First off, he promises that if we keep going and we’re faithful, that even our toughest times will reap a harvest (Galatians 6:9) – in other words produce great things for God – that dwarf our problems, and that will last forever (2 Corinthians 4:15-17).
And the second promise is for now, God promises that he will give you new strength to handle the situation his way (Is. 40:28-31), that he will never let you go through what you can’t handle (1 Cor. 10:13), and that he will never leave or give up on you (Heb. 13:5).
God Blesses His Plan, Not Yours
“From now on, every generation will call me blessed! For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.” (Luke 1:48b-50 NLT)
Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew that faith and obedience are the keys to God’s blessing, so she chose to go with God’s destiny for her life.
Now, as a pastor, I want God to bless your life. I want him to bless you spiritually. I want him to bless you financially. I want him to bless your career and family and relationships and health. But if you have a plan for your life — I’ll tell you — you’re on your own.
God is not going to bless your plan. God did not put you on Earth to live for yourself. He put you on Earth for something much bigger than that. And when you go with his plan for your life, he will bless it.
Mary could sing about God’s plan for her life because she was excited about it. Even though it would cause problems, people would misunderstand her, and she would be accused of wrongdoing, Mary trusted God. She knew God would bless her and that even generations to come would remember what God did through her.
Guess what? The same thing is true of your life, too. What you do with your life will be remembered not just on Earth but also in eternity forever and ever. How you serve and love others according to God’s will for your life will leave a legacy on Earth and in eternity: “My Father will honor anyone who serves me” (John 12:26 NCV).
Could Mary have said “no” to God’s destiny for her life? Yes. God never forces you to go with his plan, because he wants you to choose to love him. That’s why he gave you free will instead of making you a puppet. That’s why the vast majority of people miss God’s destiny. They choose to go their own way instead of saying, like Mary, “Whatever you want to do with me, I’m your servant. I accept your destiny for my life.”
‘…Speaking the truth in love…’ Ephesians 4:15
Sometimes love requires confronting people. But it must be done in the right way, and only over the right issues. If you spend your life correcting people you’ll finish up with no credibility, and no friends. At what point should you confront somebody? Only when you’ve answered these questions: a) Is it important? If it involves a destructive habit, an abusive behaviour, a major doctrinal error, or a situation that could hurt them, it’s important-get involved. b) Is it chronic? If you observe the same thing happening over and over, it doesn’t have to be big to get your love in gear. c) Have you earned the right to speak? If a casual acquaintance does something unwise, it’s probably none of your business. But if someone close to you does it, it’s both appropriate and loving to say, ‘That will hurt you.’ Paul points out four things about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NIV): 1) ‘Love is not rude.’ It doesn’t use the aggressive, heavy-handed approach. 2) ‘Love is not self-seeking.’ It forgets about the need to be accepted, and makes sure that what the other person hears is filtered only by kindness. It refuses to walk away having spoken half the truth. 3) ‘Love is not easily angered.’ When you confront someone in love, don’t be upset if you get an angry response such as, ‘Who are you to tell me?’ The right medicine doesn’t taste good, but it heals. 4) ‘Love keeps no record of wrongs.’ When you have been hurt, it’s critical that you deal with it and put it behind you. Only then can you confront someone for their own good.
Everyone needs encouragement, and everyone young or old, the successful or less-than-successful, the unknown or the famous; everyone who receives encouragement is changed by it.
What does true encouragement look like – the kind that changes lives forever?
To encourage people is to help them gain courage they might no otherwise possess – courage to face the day, to do the right thing, to take risks and to make a difference.
If you are a parent, you have responsibility to encourage members of your family, if you lead an organization, the effectiveness of your team will increase dramatically in proportion to the encouragement you give to them. As a friend, you have the privilege of sharing encouraging words that might help through hard times or inspire them to greatness!
Encouragement has the power to change everything – individuals, families, schools, businesses, and churches – by creating an environment where people become their best.
I hope that you will be encouraged reading this, and that once you have been encouraged, that you will pass on that encouragement to others.
A few years ago, in the San Francisco Bay area of America, A principal in the district called in three teachers and told them that because of their expertise, they were considered the finest teachers in the system. He also told them they would be given 90 high-flying students who would be allowed to learn at their own pace to see how far they could advance over the next 12 months.
At the end of the year, these students achieved 20 to 30 percent better grades than other students in the entire San Francisco Bay area.
The principal called the three teachers in and told them he had a confession to make… He told them they didn’t have 90 of the most intellectually gifted students. In fact, academically, they were run-of-the-mill, average students picked at random.
The teachers naturally concluded their exceptional teaching skills must have been responsible for the students’ great progress. But the principal had another confession to divulge: These teachers were the first three names drawn out of a hat!
Why, then, did these students and teachers perform at such an exceptional level for the entire year? They were encouraged to believe that they could.
Encouragement makes us better: Discouragement stops us in our tracks
There is a choice we have to make: We are constantly bombarded with feelings of inadequacy, insufficiency, lack, and failure; so much discouragement that we often feel defeated before we even start the day.
We need to fight discouragement by:
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Rejecting rejection
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Believing God’s Truth about ourselves
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Expect positive things
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Rely on God’s strength
My wife Hannah is an amazing encourager… when things are at they’re worst, she is always encouraging, supportive, and speaks God’s truths about me
Who is your greatest encourager?
So often as a Christian, trying to change your life, live more like Christ, and stand out can feel like you’re constantly fighting against what you know is the right way – God’s way to live.
Ever thought maybe you were mad? Well what is encouraging to know is that lots of other people have felt the same in the past, but listening to the so-called experts isn’t always the best or wisest choice – have a read of the views of these ‘experts’:
“Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.”
– Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895
He also said that “X-rays will prove to be a hoax.”
“You’ll never make it — four groups are out, plus guitar music has no future.” —
Decca record company executive to the Beatles, 1962
“Everything that can be invented has been invented”
Charles H Duell – Director of the U.S. Patent Office, 1899
“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote”
Grover Clevelent – US President – 1905
After being dropped from his high school basketball team, Michael Jordon went home, locked himself in his room and cried!
God has an amazing purpose for your life, and sometimes you have to believe that, despite the discouragement of people around you, you will suceed.
What would you do if you knew you weren’t going to fail?
The bottom line is this: Don’t listen to discouragement. We have a choice which voice we are to listen to, the voice of encouragement, and truth, or that of discouragement. We can choose who we spend our time with, who we listen to, and how much time we spend listening to God’s view of us.
Perhaps it’s the exact opposite of what you might expect or even believe, but God is our biggest encourager, and knowing what he says about us makes our lives a whole lot better. God knows our value
When we realize who we are in Him, what we have in Him, and what we can do in Him, we will rise up and be all we are called to be and do all we are called to do – This is God’s voice of encouragement.
You ARE who God says you are & you can do all He says you can do.
Psalm 91 is one of the most encouraging passages of the Bible…
…and in it God promises us 6 P’s of encouragement:
His Presence
…You don’t have to be lonely, no matter what you’re going through
His Protection
…God keeps you safe as you take risks for Him
His Peace
…You don’t have to feel insecure, even in unfamiliar places & surroundings
His Perspective
…God gives you an eternal view of life that keeps you steady
His Provision
…Regardless of your needs, God meets them
His Power
…When times are tough and you’re going through adversity, God will carry you through
God is our greatest encourager, and we are to be encouragers:
Why? – God’s love for us
God wants us to stand along side one another — “Encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 11:25, NIV).
God does this for us.
He “supports us in every hardship, so that we are able to come to the support of others, in every hardship of theirs because of the encouragement that we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:14).
We’re created to support and encourage one another.
How? – God’s love in us (His Spirit)
God wants us to build one another up support each other — The word support literally means to increase one another’s potential. It carries the idea of strengthening one another, to make one another more able to face the challenges of living for Christ.
“We are in this fight together” (Philippians 1:30 NLT).
We cannot afford to lose anyone. To succeed, you need the strength supplied by the Body of Christ, just as they need you –
Church is about being a family, and a bunch of people with Jesus in the centre – we’re stronger together.
Who? – God’s love working through us (It’s his love that we communicate to others.)
God wants us be encouraging and patient with one another — When we support one another, we express God’s unconditional love. Even after we grow close enough to each other to learn one another’s quirks and annoying little habits, we will stick by each other’s side. “With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love” (Ephesians 4:2 NJB).
Everyone needs encouragement and everyone who receives encouragement is changed by it.
To encourage people is to help them gain courage they might no otherwise possess.
Philippians 2:3-4 – God is THE expert encourager, especially to those who are at their weakest.
The heart of encouragement is to communicate a person’s value.
God knows your value more than anyone else. God’s encouragement has the power to change everything, READ HIS WORD and make the choice to listen to His voice of encouragment..
…I bet you once you grasp that, you won’t be able to help being an encourager – go ahead and pass on that encouragement to others!
Who will you encourage today?
What specific thing will you say?
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:10
I’m not sure about you, but I’m really good at worrying. I worry more than anything about money, but I also extend my expertise to the subject of friends, family, and especially work! Over the last few months I’ve started Ivy Sharston church, and what started out like an exciting idea a few months back soon crept up and became a reality. Being a worrier, I had a few moments where the anxiety and fear about leading a church, who would come, whether I was ready and all that stuff was pretty much all that was in my head, add to that worries about some of the guys I’m working with leaving prison and things outside work, I can relate to the Psalmist when he wrote that he felt like his “foot was slipping”!
Fortunately for me, God is able to work through us despite our fear and anxiety, and He has shown me just how feeble we are when we try to solve or work through what we are doing carrying fear and worry with us. Scripture shows us over and over that God supports and comforts us when we at our weakest, and He tells us over and over again not to be afraid or anxious.
When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
Psalm 94:18-19
One of my favourite Scriptures, and one that I probably share as often as any other is from Philippians, and is a promise of a transaction that occurs when we hand our anxiety over to God in prayer with thanksgiving; we take our burdens and worries off our shoulders and give them to God, and He promises that we’ll be given His peace, which guards our hearts and minds:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
I’ve been reminded over the last few weeks that being in the habit of doing exactly this – letting go of you anxieties, fears and worries in prayer – is a wonderful part of being a Christian. It is also something God tells us to do throughout the whole of the Bible. A search of the Scriptures shows us that:
Based on these statistics I’m pretty confident in declaring that as Christians, fear is something we are asked not to do! We can replace our fear with faith, faith that we will be strengthened, helped and upheld by God when we feel out of control.
Reading on in Philippians 4, the author – Paul – tells us that we should focus our mind and thoughts on the right things:
…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9
We need to turn down the volume on what is wrong, unholy, untrue, unlovely, imperfect and not praiseworthy, and turn up the volume on what is pure, lovely, noble excellent and praiseworthy, listening only to God’s truths about us, in whatever situation we find ourselves in.
I pray for you today that you would know God’s unfailing love, supporting you, and that when anxiety creeps into your mind that the Holy Spirit’s consolation brings joy to your soul.
I read these great thoughts on how to do fantastically in work today – great practical stuff from Rick Warren:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.” (Colossians 3:23)
The Bible identifies five characteristics of people who excel at what they do:
- People who excel work with enthusiasm. Regardless of whether the job is big or small, give it your best. Great performers give their best effort, no matter what the size of the audience: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people” (Colossians 3:23 TEV).
- People who excel sharpen their skills. They never stop developing, growing, learning, and improving: “If your ax is dull and you don’t sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is smarter to plan ahead” (Ecclesiastes 10:10 TEV). It takes more than desire to excel; it takes skill! Remember: You’re never wasting time when you’re sharpening your “ax.”
- People who excel keep their word. They are reliable. They can be counted on to do what they say they’ll do. They excel because people of integrity are rare in our society: “Everyone talks about how loyal and faithful he is, but just try to find someone who really is!” (Proverbs 20:6 TEV)
- People who excel maintain a positive attitude. Even under pressure, change, or unrealistic demands, they don’t allow themselves to become negative: “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Philippians 2:14-16a NIV). And remember: “If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes” (Ecclesiastes 10:4 NLT).
- People who excel do more than is expected. This is a secret that every successful person has discovered. You’ll never excel by only doing what is required. Jesus said, “If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously” (Matthew 5:40-42 MSG).
The Broadway lyricist Oscar Hammerstein once told the story of seeing the top of the Statue of Liberty from a helicopter. He was impressed because of the incredible detail the artist had sculpted on an area that no one was expected to see. In fact, the Statue of Liberty was completed with no idea that man would someday be able to fly over the statue!
I’m the world’s worst gardener. I have a hard time working out what plants are weeds and what are not. With this in mind, i’m pretty proud of a pot plant that we’ve got in our living room. It’s amazing that it hasn’t died years ago from neglect, but it seems to keep going, and every so often I’ll notice that it’s not looking too healthy, and will pick off the dead leaves and water it, maybe even put a bit of compost into the soil, and a few days later it seems to have a new lease of life.
As a Christian, it’s just the same; we need to grow to be healthy, you’re never stuck in the same place in your relationship with God, you make the choice of how much effort you put into maintaining that relationship. He will never leave or forsake you, but you can choose how much priority and passion you are going put into your faith.
Jesus’ Disciple Peter knew a lot about making mistakes, during his time with Jesus he blew it over an over again, but after years of being a Christian he wrote this:
“Do all you can to add to your life these things: to your faith add goodness; to your goodness add knowledge; to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add patience; to your patience add devotion to God; to your devotion add kindness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to this kindness add love. If all these things are in you and growing, you will never fail to be useful to God. You will produce the kind of fruit that should come from your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…“
but Peter also said that
“…those who don’t grow in these blessings are blind. They cannot see clearly what they have. They have forgotten that they were cleansed from their past sins.” (2 Peter 1:5-15)
We have a choice every day to invest in our most precious relationship with God, or go back to acting as if we are still blind to how wonderful following Jesus is.
In the NIV translation of the passage above, Peter tells us to “make every effort to add to your faith”, I pray today that you would make every effort to grow in your relationship with God, and as you do that your faith would be growing in the right direction, that you would see your potential in Christ, and would love being used by God for his purposes and kingdom.
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