The Pure Oxygen Of Encouragement Daniel 3:27-28 Psalms 10:17-18 Isaiah 1:17 Acts 15:30-35 Ephesians 6:21-24 Colossians 4:7-8 1 Thessalonians 3:1-3 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 1 Thessalonians 5:11-18 Hebrews 3:12-13 Romans 10:14-15 2 Timothy 4:2-3 10.16.19

THE PURE OXYGEN OF ENCOURAGEMENT

BREAD

²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. 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 3:27-28 (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)

¹⁷ Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.  Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)

³⁰ The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. ³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.  Acts 15:30-35 (NIV)

²¹ Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. ²² I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. ²³ Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. Ephesians 6:21-24 (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 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 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 3:1-3 (NIV)

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 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 4:16-18 (NIV)

¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.  ¹² Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. ¹³ Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. ¹⁶ Be joyful always; ¹⁷ pray continually; ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:11-18 (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)

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”  Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)

² Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. ³ For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:2-3 (NIV)

BUTTER

“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 

“One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement…It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others.  The world is full of discouragers.  We have a Christian duty to encourage one another.  Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet.  Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.”   William Barclay

“A heart drop is when a person, either directly or in a cryptic way, gives you a tiny glimpse into their heart…Hearing a heart drop is a way of listening between the lines, gaining a glimpse into another soul’s longings…Hearing a heart drop is an art we can intentionally cultivate. It can lead to the most wonderful times of encouragement as we make it our habit to listen and to love…But Jesus is calling us to stop and notice. To live alert. To give a special touch that may heal a heart or cheer a weary soul…I once heard it said that Jesus’ real ministry was the person He found standing in front of Him…Who is that for you today?”   Karen Ehman

“Don’t underestimate the power of words. While shaming words can take courage out of a soul, encouraging and affirming words can put courage back in.  When you offer critique to another soul, do it gently. When you offer encouragement to another soul, do it fiercely.”  Scott Sauls

“Three things helped me as we went through, and continue to go through, crisis: prayer, the Word of God, and the encouragement of fellow believers.”  Greg Laurie

“Encouragers have Christ-like sight and a Christ-like heart. They are not blind to the sins and weaknesses of fellow Christians, but they recognize that “love builds up. . . . Encouragers are often our great High Priest’s means of ministering his divine sympathy to our bruised and lacerated souls.” Ian Hamilton

“God encourages us and we are to encourage others.  We do this through the Scriptures as they are the ultimate “Paraklesis” – encouragement, aid, help, comfort, exhortation, consolation and comfort.  Are we familiar enough with God’s Word to share its life-giving, strengthening, comforting Truths?   When we know the Word we have something of infinite benefit to share with and encourage others.”  BHY

“Oxygenate your friendships with affirmation and encouragement.”   Drew Hunter

“Prepare a way for the Lord. Cheer the faithful, encourage the weary.”  Paula Kirby  

“Not one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement or one little light shining in some dark place — nothing in the cause of this advancing kingdom is in vain.  The triumph is sure.”  John Piper

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

“If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back – ‘Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track; And if, perchance, Faith’s light is dim, because the oil is low, Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.  Call back, and tell me that he went with you into the storm; Call back, and say He kept you when the forest’s roots were torn; That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill, He bore you up and held you where the very air was still.  Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your face, They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race; But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim, And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.  But if you’ll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry, And if you’ll say He saw you through the night’s sin-darkened sky If you have gone a little way ahead, of friend, call back – ‘Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track.”   Mrs. Charles Cowman

HEART SAVOR

• ·         Scripture is the ultimate encourager.  It is therefore imperative for believers in Jesus to know it and be able to share it with others in our spheres.
• ·         Encouragement costs us nothing yet brings life to the hearer.  It breathes peace into lifeless souls.
• ·         It is far too easy to be a discourager, a nay-sayer, a critical comment giver and the world seems uber crowded with the likes of these.  So few seek to take a different tack and bring life to those around them by speaking words of affirmation.