Be Glad Instruments Of God's Love John 15:16-17 Matthew 22:34-40 Mark 12:32-34 John 3:16 1 John 2:9-11 Romans 12:9-10 1 John 3:18 1 John 4:7-9 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 08.30.17

BE GLAD INSTRUMENTS OF GOD’S LOVE

BREAD

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.   John 15:16-17 (NIV)

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”   Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV)

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.  Mark 12:32-34 (NIV)

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   John 3:16 (NIV)

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.  1 John 2:9-11 (NIV)

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.   Romans 12:9-10 (NIV)

18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.   1 John 4:7-9 (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.   1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

BUTTER

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”  Amy Carmichael

“Love for God and obedience to God are so completely involved in each other that any one of them implies the other too.”   F. F. Bruce

“He who is filled with love is filled with God Himself.”   Augustine

“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”   Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The principle of sacrifice is that we choose to do or to suffer what apart from our love we should not choose to do or suffer.”   William Temple

“Can a man love God while ignoring the need of his brother?”   Frances J. Roberts

“The good news of the gospel is not that God will provide a way to make life easier. The good news of the gospel, for this life, is that He will make our lives better. We will be empowered to draw close to God and to love others well and to do both for one central purpose, to glorify God, to make Him look good to any who watch us live.”  Larry Crabb

“He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor.”   Venerable Bede

“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received -- only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.”  St. Francis of Assisi

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”     St. Basil

“I want to be obedient to you and to your Word today, especially to love you with all my heart and to love my neighbor as I love myself and to love my spouse as Christ loved the Church.”   Bert Banzhaf

“Our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works as for the love with which they are done.”   Teresa of Avila

“Love one another that it may at last be said of Christians as it was at first:  ‘Behold how they love one another.’”   Ralph Venning

“Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will.”  C. S. Lewis

“Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no 'baseless fabric of a vision,' but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite.  May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desire earnest. May your whole life be so firm and strong, that all the blasts of hell and the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you.”   Charles Spurgeon

“The goal of the gospel is not merely to forgive us, but to change us into true worshippers of God and authentic lovers of people.” Dr. Steve Childers

“It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world.  But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life.  They have found a joy and a wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life.  They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.  They are masters of their souls.  They have overcome the world.  These people, Donatus, are Christians…and I am one of them.”   St. Cyprian, 200-258

HEART SAVOR

• ·       Believers in Jesus are to be His instruments of love towards others through the Holy Spirit’s power.
• ·       Our love is to point others to the Lord Jesus.
• ·       Our love is to be other worldly so to speak.  Scripture is not calling us to the fleshly Hollywood definition of love the foundation of which takes, rather we are called to  Biblical love the foundation of which gives.

  

Power In The Word Isaiah 55:10-11 Deuteronomy 4:5-6 Deuteronomy 32:45-47 Jeremiah 23:28-29 Jeremiah 20:9 2 Timothy 3:14-17 2 Timothy 4:1-2 Hebrews 4:12-13 Colossians 3:16-17 Psalms 119:105 08.28.17

POWER IN THE WORD

BREAD

10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.   Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)

5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”   Deuteronomy 4:5-6 (NIV)

45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”  Deuteronomy 32:45-47 (NIV)

28 “‘Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?’ declares the Lord. 29 ‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’”   Jeremiah 23:28-29 (NIV)

9 But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.   Jeremiah 20:9 (NIV)

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:14-17 (NIV)

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.   2 Timothy 4:1-2 (NIV)

12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.   Colossians 3:16-17 (NIV)

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.   Psalms 119:105 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Scripture is like a lion.  Who ever heard of defending a lion?  Just turn it loose; it will defend itself.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“His Word cannot be falsified, disqualified, modified or nullified. His Word cannot be distorted or inverted or reinvented or demerited or interpreted away. His Word is beauty, it is wooing, and it will all be accomplished absolutely.  The debate of the day may change, the crisis may change, the screaming headlines of the genuinely horrifying may change — but, in the entire heaving cosmos, this remains unchangeable, unstoppable, undaunted: The Word of God. His Word is absolute and resolute and it will remain until time concludes.  God’s Word is more permanent than any words written in granite — or in headlines or campaign slogans or PR statements or press releases or laws.  Mountain rock is fleetingly temporary compared to the forever permanence of the Rock of His Word.  Culture cannot shape it and society cannot silence it and scarred people cannot help but be wooed by it, healed by it, held by it.  And the Lover of the letter, He soothes: ‘The mountains may pass away, but my truth will not pass away, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever, and though the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you.’”   Ann Voskamp

“As we habitually hide God’s Word in our hearts, claim those special verses that seem to have our names on them, ponder and picture them, and turn them into unceasing praise and prayer, we will practice the presence of God – and He will transform us into agents of audacious boldness for His gory.”   Robert J. Morgan

“Keep your constant hours every day with God.  Begin the day with God, visit God in the morning before you make any other visit; wind up your hearts towards heaven in the morning and they will go the better all the day after!  Oh turn your closets into temples; read the Scriptures.  The two Testaments are the two lips by which God speaks to us; this will make you wise unto salvation.  Besiege heaven every day with your prayer, thus perfume your houses.”   Thomas Watson    
     

“We can only be truly free when we live in accordance to the truth of God’s Word. The Gospel of grace is the path of life we walk along to find life transformation.  The Gospel is the ultimate solution for every problem and issue we face and is obviously something outside of ourselves.  We must go to Christ to get it.  It is the supernatural power of God graciously given to us by His Spirit”.  Tom Wood & Scott Thomas

“Our claim is that God has revealed Himself by speaking; that this divine (or God-breathed) speech has been written down and preserved in Scripture; and that Scripture is, in fact, God’s Word written, which therefore is true and reliable and has divine authority over men.”   John Stott

“For us to grow in maturity, it's not enough to just read God's Word. We need to obey it and put it into practice. Much as an athlete builds physical muscles through repetition and conditioning, we build spiritual muscles by learning, obeying, and living God's Word. Sound Bible study transforms our lives by training our minds and hearts. Bible literacy protects us from error and increases our love for God himself.  By giving us His Word and His Spirit, God has given us everything we need for spiritual maturity. Failure to grow is always our choice, never God's. What are we doing today to help us grow and mature as Christians?”  Donna Evans

“Memorization of Scripture isn’t for the saints who have made it. It’s for the sinners who want to make it.  Memorization is like learning to say your name, like learning where north is, like knowing your phone number home — it’s knowing who you are, where you are, Who He is. What the heart knows by heart is what the heart knows — how else can we know who we are? Memorization is 24/7 soul orientation.”   Ann Voskamp

“Do we really believe in the power of prayer?  That God will revive a country, a state, a city, a soul - in direct response to our petitions?  Why are we reticent to act on the behalf of ourselves and others?  All the promises of Scripture stand at the ready for the bended knee.”  BHY

“Take heed that you do not glory in your graces, but let all your glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for this is the only way you can be kept from falling.  Pray more often.  Spend longer periods of time in holy adoration.  Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly.  Watch your lives more carefully.  Live nearer to God.  Take the best examples for your pattern.  Let your conversation emit the fragrance of heaven.  Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for the souls of others.  So live that others may recognize that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of Him…On, Christian, with care and caution!  On, with holy fear and trembling!  On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, ‘Sustain me according to your promise.’  He, and He alone, is able ‘to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.’”  Charles H. Spurgeon  

“Make knowledge of the Scripture your love and you will not love the views of the flesh.”  Jerome

“The Christians who have turned the world upside down have been men and women with vision in their hearts and the Bible in their hands.”   T. B. Maston

HEART SAVOR

·       Scripture is powerful, alive and active and can change a soul.  I am never to neglect it.

·       God’s Word is God’s Word – graciously given to us to direct our lives.  It is invaluable - to say the very least – for every heir of mercy.

·       The promises of God permeate the pages of Scripture – I am the loser if I do not delve daily into its Truths.     

Great Grace Romans 3:21-24 Romans 5:1-5 Romans 5:17 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 John 1:16-18 Romans 6:11-14 1 Peter 1:13-16 Titus 2:11-14 2 Peter 3:18 08.25.17

GREAT GRACE

BREAD

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:21-24 (NIV)

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.   Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.   Romans 5:17 (NIV)

9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.   1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (NIV)

7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.   2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.   John 1:16-18 (NIV)

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.   Romans 6:11-14 (NIV)

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”   1 Peter 1:13-16 (NIV)

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.   Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.   2 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

BUTTER

“The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ.  There is no other way!  Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary.  We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.  Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace.  The cost to God was the Cross of Christ.  To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid.  Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement.  The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive – He would contradict His nature if He did.  The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross.  God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm……Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.”  Oswald Chambers

“There are such difficulties in the way of our salvation as could never be overcome but by that grace of God which is almighty.  ‘What is impossible with men is possible with God.’ His grace can work on the soul, so as to alter the bent and bias of it, and give it a contrary leaning.”    Matthew Henry

“Grace remits sin and peace quiets the conscience. Sin and conscience torment us, but Christ has overcome these fiends now and forever. Only Christians possess this victorious knowledge given from above. These two terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity. Grace involves the remission of sins, peace and a happy conscience. Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the law…the fact is the more a person seeks credit for himself by his own efforts, the deeper he goes into debt. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God. In actual living, however it is not so easy to persuade oneself that by grace alone, in opposition to every other means, we obtain the forgiveness of our sins and peace with God.”  Martin Luther

“The wonders of divine grace are the greatest of all wonders. The wonders of divine power and wisdom in the making of this great world are marvelous; many wonderful things have happened since the creation of the world, but none like the wonders of grace. “Grace, grace!” is the sound that the gospel rings with, “Grace, grace!” will be that shout which will ring in heaven forever; and perhaps what the angels sung at the birth of Christ, of God's good will towards men, is the highest theme that ever they entered upon.”  Jonathan Edwards

“It is well to be poor, when the knowledge of our poverty serves but to unfold to us the exhaustless riches of divine grace. That grace can never suffer any one to go away empty. It can never tell anyone that he is too poor. It can meet the very deepest human need; and not only so, but it is glorified in meeting it. This holds good in every case. It is true of every individual sinner…Grace is the grand and only resource for us all.  It is the basis of our salvation; the basis of a life of practical godliness; and the basis of those imperishable hopes which animate us amid the trials and conflicts of this sin-stricken world. May we cherish a deeper sense of grace, and more ardent desire for glory!   C H MacIntosh

“When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. It is not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards. Slavish fear brings not back the backslider to God, but the sweet wooings of love allure him to Jesus' bosom…Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you be--the thirsty land shall be springs of water.”  Charles Spurgeon

“Even though we are now in faith, the heart is always ready to boast itself before God and say, ‘After all, I have preached the law, lived so well and done so much that surely He will take this into account ‘.   We even want to haggle with God to make Him regard our life, but it cannot be done. With men you may boast, I have done the best I could...If anything is lacking, I will still try to make recompense, but when you come before God, leave all that boasting at home.  Remember to appeal from justice into grace.  But let anybody try this and he will see and experience how exceedingly hard and bitter a thing it is for a man, who all his life, has been marred and has worked righteousness to pull himself out of it with all his heart would rise up through faith in the one mediator. I myself have been preaching and cultivating it through reading and writing for almost twenty years and still feel the old clinging dirt of wanting to deal so with God that I may contribute something so that He will give me His grace in exchange for my holiness. Still I cannot get it into my head that I should surrender myself completely to sheer grace, yet I know that this is what I should and must do.”   Martin Luther

“The freer the Gospel, the more sanctifying is the Gospel; and the more it is received as a doctrine of grace, the more will it be felt as a doctrine according to godliness. Salvation by grace - salvation by free grace - salvation not of works, but according to the mercy of God - salvation on such a footing is not more indispensable to the deliverance of our persons from the hand of justice, than it is to the deliverance of our hearts from the chill and the weight of ungodliness. Retain a single shred or fragment of legality with the Gospel, and we raise a topic of distrust between man and God. We take away from the power of the Gospel to melt and to conciliate. For this purpose, the freer it is, the better it is.”  Thomas Chalmers

“It is a sure mark of grace to desire more.”  Robert Murray M’Cheyne

“Let me carefully mark the inward workings of thy grace, and the outward tokens of thy providence, so as daily to have a true sense of thy gracious presence in every thing, more or less important; and thereby to be ever strengthened in faith, and kept in a composed state of mind; considering that nothing happens by mere chance, but all is wisely ordered by thy providential care to our good; firmly believing, if anything goes contrary to expectation, that something better will follow in its stead, if we only can be quiet, and wait the time.”  K.H. Von Bogatzky

“The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God cannot sustain you!”   Anonymous

“No sea is deeper than the ocean of His love.  There is no army stronger than His hosts, no force greater than His throne of grace, no enemy who can overcome His direct and indirect work in our lives.”  Robert J. Morgan

“Doubt not His grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that He loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness.”  Charles Spurgeon

HEART SAVOR

• ·       His grace is greater than all my sin.
• ·       His grace is more than sufficient to meet my every need.
• ·       His grace not only remits my sin but gives me a peace which surpasses all fleshly understanding.

Be An Encourager Isaiah 1:16-17 Deuteronomy 3:28 Psalms 10:17-18 2 Chronicles 32:6-8 Hebrews 3:12-13 1 Thessalonians 3:2-3 Hebrews 10:25 Colossians 4:7-8 2 Timothy 4:1-2 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 1 Thessalonians 5:11 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 08.23.17

BE AN ENCOURAGER

BREAD

Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.   Isaiah 1:16-17 (NIV)

28 But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.  Deuteronomy 3:28 (NIV)

17 You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, 18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.   Psalms 10:17-18 (NIV)

6 He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.   2 Chronicles 32:6-8 (NIV)

12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.   Hebrews 3:12-13 (NIV)

2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.   1 Thessalonians 3:2-3 (NIV)

25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.   Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.   Colossians 4:7-8 (NIV)

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.   2 Timothy 4:1-2 (NIV)

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.   2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)

11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.   1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)

17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.   1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 (NIV)

BUTTER

“In community with other believers, as we humble ourselves and open up to receive from the body of Christ, we will be strengthened to see the full kaleidoscope of His plan and be encouraged in the grace of waiting.”   Sylvia Gunter

“Being loving and encouraging catches a person’s soul more than angrily defending ideas.  Listening to people without condemning them and seeking to encourage them where they are builds bridges and creates relationships.”   Tim Baker

“In order to build effectively, people must be encouraged and equipped.”   Donna Evans

“Encouragement is oxygen to the soul”.  John Maxwell

“There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.”   George M. Adams

“Encouragement costs you nothing to give, but it is priceless to receive.”   Anonymous

“On Him then reckon, to Him look, on Him depend:  and be assured that if you walk with Him, look to Him and expect help from Him, He will never fail you.  An older brother, who has known the Lord for forty-four years, who writes this, says for your encouragement that He has never failed him.  In the greatest difficulties, in the heaviest trials, in the deepest poverty and necessities, He has never failed me; but because I was enabled by His grace to trust in Him, He has always appeared for my help.  I delight in speaking well of His Name.”   George Mueller  

“More people fail for lack of encouragement than for any other reason.”   Anonymous

“God wants us to reconnect with the powerful and timeless things He has done in the past, enabling us to build on them rather than always starting over.  He not only desires that we be encouraged by remembering His past faithfulness, but also to realize that the promises and anointings released during those seasons are still available today.”    Dutch Sheets

“God employs His people to encourage one another.  We should delight that God usually works for human beings with other human beings.  It forms a bond of friendship, and being mutually dependent on one another, we are fused more completely into one family.  Work to help others, and especially strive to encourage them.  Talk cheerily to the young and anxious inquirer, lovingly try to remove obstacles out of his way.  When you find a spark of grace in the heart, kneel down and blow it into a flame.  Leave the young believer to discover the roughness of the road by degrees, but tell him of the strength which dwells in God, of the sureness of the promise, and of the charms of communion with Christ.  Aim to comfort the sorrowful, and to animate the hopeless.  Speak a word in season to him who is weary, and encourage those who are fearful to go on their way with gladness.  God encourages you by His promises; Christ encourages you as He points to the heaven He has won for you, and the Spirit encourages you as He works in you to will and to do of His own will and pleasure.  Imitate divine wisdom, and encourage others according to the Word.”   Charles H. Spurgeon 

“Though we now see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, we hold the certainty of the hope of glory in our hearts.  And what does that entail?  As believers, we are presently objects of Divine approval and blessedness because of the blood of Jesus and His righteousness and we presently possess this glory in spirit by the Holy Spirit.  One day – either upon Jesus’ return or our death – we will be transformed outwardly as well into this glorified beautiful condition.  It is a state into which one is accorded the fullest enjoyment of the admiration of God as objects of His highest regard and praise and further the enjoyment of fullness, satisfaction, joy, righteousness and ceaseless delight.  It encompasses outward splendor, grandeur, pomp, elegance, magnificence, beauty, excellence of appearance, impressiveness, brilliance, illustriousness and eminence (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – New Testament Lexical Aids).  Therefore, encourage one another with these words!”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

• ·       If God stoops down to encourage me, how much more should I seek to encourage others.
• ·       Encouragement strengthens while a critical spirit tears down.  It is easy to be critical yet it is loving to be encouraging.  Our encouragement makes great ripples in a life while our discouraging words paralyzing and stills a soul.
• ·       God desires for His people to be encouragers.