SPEAK
LIFE – ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
BREAD
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)
1 Then Job replied: 2 “I
have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! 3 Will your long-winded speeches never end? What
ails you that you keep on arguing?
4 I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you. 5 But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.” Job 16:1-5 (NIV)
4 I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you. 5 But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.” Job 16:1-5 (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. Psalm
10:17-18 (NIV)
16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds
out of my sight! 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)
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to
her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that
she has received from the LORD’s
hand double for all her sins. Isaiah 40:1-2 (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)
11 He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious
will have the king for his friend. Proverbs
22:11 (NIV)
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 3:16-17 (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)
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)
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)
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)
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 3:13 (NIV)
BUTTER
“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
“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
“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
“Jesus is the Word made flesh and in Him
is perfect peace – a state of untroubled, undisturbed well-being. Therefore, as His followers we are to encourage
one another, in the midst of life’s chaos and storms, with the living and
powerful Word of God. As our Lord did,
He spoke the Word and calmed the sea. Just
as it was true then, it is still true today – His Word calms and He can speak
it even through a donkey. His Word is
alive and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is able to divide soul and spirit, joint
and marrow. It judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart. It is not to be
merely idle words for us as Moses told the Israelites, it is to be our life. God’s Word is a balm for every needy soul –
and truly, what soul isn’t needy?” BHY
“Encouragement
costs you nothing to give, but it is priceless to receive.” Anonymous
“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
“Encouragement
is oxygen to the soul”. John Maxwell
“More people fail
for lack of encouragement than for any other reason.” Anonymous
“Because here’s
the thing—I don’t need someone to stand at a podium and tell
me how to be a good mother in five alliterated points. I don’t need a complimentary monogrammed
water bottle reminding me that I’m valuable.
I don’t need a rousing speech that makes me want to do more and be
better, as though grace has no place in sanctification. I don’t need a soul-coddling self-esteem
boost, as though my sin is never an issue.
I need the Gospel. I need someone
to open the Bible in front of me and tell me what the text meant when it was
written. I need to listen to men and
women explain the depths of my sin and the greatness of my God who provided His
Own Son as payment for my sin. I need to
know that this Jesus upon whom I’ve staked my life and my eternity is going to
be my hope and my perseverance when trials come. I need to know that all that has been lost in
this life will be restored in heaven. I
need to know that when suffering settles all over us and it looks like evil is
winning, that God is still on His throne and that all wrongs will be set right. I need truth that is hard to swallow but
deeply nourishing. I need direction in
graciously embracing our unwelcome strangeness in a rapidly self-destructing
culture. I need to be encouraged that
plodding along in anonymity can be precious in God’s sight. I need to hear that the Bible is about God. I need to be gently rebuked because I have
refused to see the Church as Christ sees her.
I need to be reassured that the gospel that reconciles me to God can
also reconcile me to others. I need to
be reminded that God can use the Church to heal church hurt and that emotional
vulnerability is a self-sacrificing thing. The gospel isn’t just for salvation. It’s for sanctification, too. Once we move away from the centrality of
Scripture, we move away from knowing God as He has revealed Himself to us,
and then we’ve lost everything that matters.” Glenna Marshall
HEART SAVOR
- · God’s Word encourages both ourselves and others.
- · Encouragement of others costs us nothing yet is priceless – we all need it.
- · It is far easier to throw cold water on other’s ideas or simply give up on a person rather than to offer a word of encouragement or affirmation. To bend down and fan into flame the spark within them. Every soul is worthy – Jesus demonstrated this by dying for us all. Who has He placed in your sphere to be a blessing of encouragement?
