Encourage one another

Hebrews 3:13 (NIV)

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 

I Thessalonians 5:11 (NASB)

Therefore, encourage one another, and build up one another…..

We have this huge contradiction--how important it is that people feel encouraged, that being encouraged is one of the best things that can ever happen to us, how much is written (and commanded) in Scripture about the importance and power of encouragement.  Encouraging one another is the main biblical reason why we attend church (Hebrews 10:25)!  YET, so few people feel encouraged and so few people offer encouragement to others and, in fact, much of what is said between one person and another borders more being discouraging than encouraging!

The lack of encouragement in our society is an epidemic.  When was the last time that someone offered you encouragement?  When was the last time that you offered encouragement?  We are fallen human beings!  We tend to discourage more than encourage either directly through words or actions or indirectly by not saying or doing anything.  We concentrate on others’ weaknesses and faults rather than their strengths.  We tend to want to tear others down rather than build up. 

Encourage means to inspire with confidence; to stimulate to action by assisting and supporting; to make another feel special, to transmit trust, to challenge another to be the best he or she can be.  The Greek word for encourage means to help, to comfort, to set free so that a person can move forward and realize his or her potential. God has commanded His people through the Scriptures to encourage one another:  Encouragement is mentioned 63 times in Scripture, two of which are listed above. 

Words of encouragement:

·  Should be intentional as Barnabas’ intentional encouragement of Paul that can be read in several places in the book of Acts (e.g. Acts 9:26-27).

·  Should be timely and on the mark—Proverbs 25:11[1]

·  Should not be withheld…..follow the commands of Hebrews 3:13 and I Thessalonians 5:11.

Are you an encourager?  Do you want to become a greater encourager?  Criticism, condemnation, sarcasm, humiliation, hostility, pity, ridicule, shame - come so naturally to our lips.  But how about encouragement?   Do you encourage your children or grandchildren, your spouse, your friends, neighbors, and co-workers, and your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Do your best to encourage someone every day for the rest of your life.  And see if not such encouragement comes back to you.

“Kind words can be short and easy, but their echoes are truly endless” -- Mother Teresa

---

[1] I will never forget a man sharing with me years after the fact that I had written him a thank you letter for what a great influence he had been to my two sons as a youth sports coach.  He told me that at the time he received my letter he was contemplating suicide because he felt that his life was meaningless (he was not a believer then).  He claimed that my letter was so encouraging to him that he gave up the thought of suicide and decided to change the course of his life.  Words of encouragement can save a life…..literally!

Dawn and sunset shout for joy

Psalm 65:8 (NASB)

And they who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Thy signs; Thou dost make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. 

Worshipping the Lord is one of the primary characteristics of a sincere Christian.  The Bible is filled with verses that declare the need to worship.  One of the best passages on worship is Psalm 100.  Only 5 verses are used to describe the who, when, how and why of worshipping the Lord.

Who would not agree that among the most beautiful sights that the eyes of mankind can and will ever see are sunrises and sunsets.  It’s really a shame that people who live in the Midwest and its many overcast days do not get to see nearly as many sunrises and sunsets as those who live in sunnier climates.  A major reason why people migrate to the sunnier parts of the world is to enjoy more the beauty and glory of a sunrise and the beauty and majesty of a sunset. 

Have you ever thought of a sunrise and sunset “shouting for joy” as this passage states?

·  Practical meanings of “shouting for joy” might include

·  Gaining new or renewed perspective about your life.

·  Being overcome with what you are thankful for in and with your life

·  Being reminded of the incomprehensible power and glory of your Creator

·  Being stimulated by all the colors and myriads of sunrays to think in ways that you rarely think at any other time during the day.

The word “awesome” is used to describe people, events, and things that impress us.  Yet, frankly, the word awesome should only be used to describe God.  Job 25:2 says that  “Dominion and awe belong to Him”.  If God’s works are described as awesome as stated in this passage plus others like Psalm 66:3,5 and Isaiah 64:3, then how can any work of man also be described as awesome?       

I know that as I grow older I long for and understand better my need to worship the Lord.  Worship is never more remindful than gazing at a beautiful sunrise or sunset.  Seeing either of these over an ocean or the Grand Canyon or simply over the horizon from wherever you live has to stimulate your mind to think of the Almighty.  Unless your heart is cold and near death, witnessing an awesomely beautiful sunrise or sunset will remind you of the love of the almighty creator of this universe and you cannot help but shout for joy for who He is and what He has done.  Think of this phrase “shouting for joy” whenever you enjoy a sunrise or a sunset.        

“We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness” -- Unknown

“If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset.” -- Jiddu Krishnamurti

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

This is what the Lord says: You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

To seek God is a discipline that the casual, carnal Christian cannot master.  According to  Christian researcher, George Barna[1], only 1 out of 7 Christians are truly committed to Christ.  In fact, Barna defines the casual Christian as a spiritually middle-of-the-road believer who is born again, but ambivalent about his/her faith, moderately active and theologically nominal.  The casual Christian is a person who thinks of himself as a better person than if he were irreligious, yet does not invest much time and effort in the Christian faith.  Such a person does not view faith as central to his/her purpose or success in life.     

The casual Christian is not a person who will seek God.  It takes too much time and effort to seek God.  It takes great devotion to seek the Lord and most Christians do not have such devotion.  It’s just not that important in comparison to other aspects of life.

Seeking God is compared to searching for treasure (Proverbs 2:1-5).  It cannot be a casual exercise.  God promises that you will find Him if you seek Him with all of your heart. Seeking with all of your heart means that your total being is focused on having fellowship constantly with the Almighty.  You spend quality time daily reading His Word, praying to Him, listening to Him, worshipping Him, and serving Him through helping others.  Again, you cannot live a casual Christian life and expect to seek and find God.  Perhaps that is why so many Christians feel unfulfilled and disconnected from God; they have never truly found Him.   

Seeking and finding God takes a dedicated lifestyle, one so few Christians are willing to assume.  We tend not to seek God when our lives are comfortable.  If our temporal needs are met, we imagine that we can take care of ourselves and we forget about God.  Once you forget about God, there are serious consequences.  People who are seeking God the most are people who are suffering and find that the world and its value system cannot help or fulfill their need(s).  Only God can perfectly satisfy our hunger and our thirst, and He is always leading us in the direction of satisfaction in Him.        

God promises many blessings to those who seek and find Him.  Jesus said that if seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness you will everything essential you will ever need in your life (Matthew 6:33).  Seeking God brings rewards (Psalm 107:9, Hebrews 11:6), joy (Psalms 70:4; 105:3), peace (II Chronicles 14:7; 15:12-15), Revelation (Jeremiah 33:3) and security (Psalm 27:4-5). 

Are you one of the majority casual Christians who don’t seek the Lord because He is not a priority in your life or are you one of the minority captive Christians who seeks diligently through study and prayer and meditation and service every day to find the peace of mind experience that you have found Him?  II Chronicles15:2 declares this truth:  “The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with Him! Whenever you seek Him, you will find Him. But if you abandon Him, He will abandon you”. 

So where is the Lord with you?  Are you His seeker or is your faith too casual to bother?   

---

[1] George Barna, The Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe, and Why They Matter (Tyndale House, 2009)

Marriage is to be held in honor

Hebrews 13:4 (NASB)

Marriage is to be held in honor among all and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

I have a friend who claims to be a Christian, yet tried to convince me that he was not sinning by having sex with a woman who was not his wife.  He argued that his wife was becoming more and more difficult to live with and she was not the woman he married many years before.  He ended up divorcing his wife to marry his mistress and I think still believes that he did no wrong. 

I wish that I had known about this verse when listening to my friend attempting to justify his actions.  Not that these words would have changed his ways, but might have been a conduit for the Holy Spirit to change his thinking.  My friend was not holding his marriage in honor, he was defiling the marriage bed, and he was a fornicator and an adulterer. 

Marriage is to be held in honor, literally meaning to be viewed as precious, like a precious stone worth a fortune.  Yet, do American men and women view their marriage like a precious stone worth a fortune?  Not if you believe marriage and divorce statistics where up to 50% of all marriages in the United States end in divorce.  Yet, how blessed are those marriages where the husband and wife do view their marriage in honor, like a precious treasure.  There are no happier people on earth.    

God will judge fornicators and adulterers.  First, what’s the difference between a fornicator and an adulterer?  The Greek word for fornicator is “pornos” that means sexual immorality, prostitution, any illicit sexual relationship.  In the Greek translation of the Hebrew in the Old Testament (called the Septuagint), pornos or porneia (fornication) referred to Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord (e.g. Hosea 1:2, 2:2).  Adultery (Greek = moicheia) refers to immoral sexual acts after marriage. Fornication, when used with adultery, refers to immoral sexual before marriage.  Jesus used the word porneia when referring to adultery in Matthew 5:27-32, thus referring to all immoral sexual acts.  Fornication and adultery also result in lying and cheating that destroy individuals and relationships.   

What is the judgment of God against fornicators and adulterers?  Well, in Jesus’ discussion of fornication and adultery in Matthew 5:27-32, He said that it would be better for you to tear out your eye or cut off your hand than to see your whole body perish (verse 29) and go to hell (verse 30).  Furthermore, fornicators are listed with other sinners in Revelation 21:8 who will be part of the lake of fire.  So God’s judgment against fornicators and adulterers is horrible.  God’s judgment against fornicators (immoral people) also is mentioned in passages such as I Corinthians 5:9-11, I Corinthians 6:9, Ephesians 5:5, and I Timothy 1:10, all warnings that such people will not be part of the kingdom of God.  The kingdom of God not only is eternal, but also exists during life on earth so it’s a terrible judgment to be put outside His kingdom.  Fornicators and adulterers exist in a hell on earth because deep within their souls, they know they are violating God’s commands against these kinds of actions. 

Obviously, defiling the marriage bed through fornication and adultery is very wrong in God’s eyes.  Succumbing to the temptation of instant gratification can have immediate, long term, and eternal bad consequences.  Yet God provides a way out through recognition of the sin, asking forgiveness, repenting from it, and living the rest of your life free from this extremely hurtful and egregious sin.  Easier said than done.  Sexual sin is extremely difficult to escape and be free from it because of the inherent sin nature of man and the emphasis on it in our permissive society.  However, you always will have hope and the power of God in you if you give over this sin to Him and live your life everyday by asking for forgiveness, asking for the filling of the Holy Spirit, and taking all protective measures to get away from these easily addictive and destructive sexual sins.

“Even adultery is not the unforgiveable sin. It is a terrible sin, but God forbid that there should be anyone who feels that he or she has sinned himself or herself outside the love of God or outside His kingdom because of adultery. No; if you truly repent and realize the enormity of your sin and cast yourself upon the boundless love and mercy and grace of God, you can be forgiven and I assure you of pardon. But hear the words of our blessed Lord: “Go and sin no more.”[1]

[1] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984, p. 261

Who is the 'preacher' of your life?

Romans 10:13-14 (NASB)

for “ Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”  How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?  And how will they hear without a preacher?

How will they hear without a preacher?  A rhetorical question, perhaps, but how did you first learn of the gospel?  Did you read and understand yourself or did someone explain it to you?  Likely you heard it.  And from whom did you hear it?  Was it a true preacher, i.e., a pastor, someone at the pulpit, an evangelist on TV or at some youth camp, revival, etc.?  Or could it have been your father, mother, another family member, a friend or even a stranger?  Preacher means to be a herald, to proclaim like a herald, to publish and proclaim openly.  The Greek word for preacher, kēryssō, also suggests formality, gravity, and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed.  How will people hear (the gospel) without someone speaking with a formality, gravity, and authority that deserves people’s attention and response? 

The apostle Paul quotes Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13.  What is the meaning of “call upon”?  The Hebrew word used here is “qara” meaning “to proclaim”, “cry out”, “summon” or “invite”.  It is a very commonly used word in the Old Testament, used 736 times in 688 verses.  It’s the verb God used in Genesis 1:5,8,10, e.g. called (“qara”) the light day and the darkness night in Genesis 1:5.  This is the word God used in calling for Adam in Genesis 3:9 and calling for Moses in Exodus 19:20.  This is the word used throughout Genesis when a person was named, e.g. Genesis 21:3 when Abraham named (qara) his son, Isaac.  This word is used many times in Psalms and Proverbs when someone is crying out for the Lord, e.g. Psalm 34:6, Proverbs 2:3).  Therefore, “qara” is a very personal verb involving some sort of action, some sort of involvement, some sort of a much deeper connection. 

You cannot simply and casually say, “OK, Lord, here I am, save me”.  Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:21 that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.  A mere calling out the name of the Lord will not save a person.  Salvation is more than words.  You can claim Romans 10:13 alone without having this verses in context.  Go back a few verses to  Romans 10:9-10 where it is written that it is not only what you say, but also what you believe in your heart.  The first part of Romans 10:14, Paul asks the question about calling on the Lord when you haven’t yet believed.  Salvation comes after inner conviction.  When a salesperson “calls upon” a customer or a doctor “calling upon” a patient in a hospital it is more (or should be more) than merely saying hello.  There is a much deeper meaning to the words “call upon”.

To be saved is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, His claims, His death on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, and His resurrection (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5).  However, as Paul writes, how can anyone believe in who the Lord is and what He did if have not heard the gospel?  And how do you hear the gospel?  From a preacher.  From someone who preaches from what is written in the Bible about belief and salvation.   It’s a preacher who tells you that you are lost, separated from God, and there’s nothing you can do or say on your own efforts to be connected to God.   It’s a preacher who tells you that you are a sinner according to the Word of God and the penalty of sin is death, eternal separation from God.  It’s a preacher who then tells you that Jesus Christ is the answer, that belief in Him and the cross will save you from the penalty of sin and connect you with God.  And it’s the preacher who helps you understand what you need to say and do to be saved in Christ forever. 

Who was the preacher in your life?  Or, might there have been several preachers, e.g. several who witnessed to you over the years (planted seeds, I Corinthians 3:6)?  And to whom have you been the preacher?  To whom do you need to be a preacher now?