Encouraging One Another-continued September 22, 2013
Zee48
Posts: 789 Member
Who Needs It?
As you think about the people you know, ask God to put on your heart two or three people who need encouragement. I say to start with your own family since for us to try to encourage everyone else in the world while failing to encourage those within the four walls of our own homes is not what God wants us to do. I believe it is against His Word.
If you are married, your husband needs you to be his number one cheerleader. Your home should be a refuge for your husband, the one place where he knows he can turn for consistent encouragement. Be careful of the things you say and use your words for good ~ not evil against your spouse and your marriage.
Moms, your children, no matter how young or old, need your encouragement. When people speak encouraging words to us, we are motivated to live up to their words. Everyone blooms under encouragement, and so will your children.
Don’t forget the others in your circle who need your encouragement (and prayers):
• pastors and their wives and church staff members and their spouses
• other mothers, including expectant moms and single moms
• those who are lonely, such as widows, younger single people or the elderly
• people who are sick and hospitalized
• new believers
• those who are struggling with a sin habit (encourage, pray DON’T judge & criticize)
• those who are grieving loss – loved ones, jobs, financial security and many other forms of grief in the world we live in
Ask God to help you see people through His eyes, to love them with His heart, to encourage them with His helping hands. The best way to experience the encouragement that you long for is to be an encourager to others. Remember, as you encourage others God will encourage and strengthen your own heart.
Ways to Encourage
There are many ways to encourage others but I don’t know of anything more encouraging that you can do for others than to pray. Pray for them, and pray with them. If someone says, “I’m struggling” or, “I have a need,” stop and pray with that person right then and there, if possible. (I’ve actually done this in the store where I now work and the office where I worked before and the blessing I received myself was just such an anointing of the Holy Spirit I just can’t describe it!) Recently a lady I knew years ago was in the deli section of my store when I walked in to clock in for work and there was such a look of despair on her face that I walked up and spoke to her. We chatted for a bit and I told her I’d pray for her and started to walk away. The Holy Spirit prompted me to ‘do it now’ and I did. She posted a PM on Facebook later that day thanking me and told me she had just found out she had cancer that morning and my stopping and taking time to pray for & with her was exactly what she needed. If I hadn’t listened to the Holy Spirit I don’t know where she would have been emotionally. Not bragging on me but on God Himself and His encouragement He gave me by having me step up and step out.
I can’t tell you how much it means to me when someone says, “Let me pray for you”—and then does it on the spot! I have a Minister friend (actually a friend of my parents) who never ends a conversation—whether in person or on the phone—without giving a short prayer for the person he is talking to. He has always been a huge source of encouragement to me and to countless others.
Another important way we can encourage one another is with our words. Proverbs 12:25 tells us that “anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” (NKJV). Your encouraging words can be a tonic in someone else’s life.
Proverbs 12:25 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
25 Worry takes away your joy, but a kind word makes you happy.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of this to the people we’re closest to. Think of those times when your husband is really discouraged. Do your words further tear him down or do they strengthen him? Your words, whether spoken or written, can breathe courage and strength into hearts of people who feel hopelessly overwhelmed. Think of it with your children! They still need you to lift them up and not criticize everything they do that you think is wrong.
We can encourage one another through giving gifts—and those gifts don’t have to be expensive. In the past week, months & years I have received several meaningful gifts—including a Scripture plaque, flowers, note cards, a book and a CD of praise music—from people who just wanted me to know they were thinking of me. What an encouragement those special reminders have been to my heart!
Acts of service are another way to encourage others: take a meal to someone; offer to babysit so a couple can get out for a date together; visit an elderly person; take someone to the store that has no transportation or clean the house for a sick friend or a mom with several small children.
In a world where so many people are sad, lonely, and hurting, how we need to encourage one another. As we do, God will use our hands, hearts, and words to communicate His heart and minister grace to those around us.
This was excerpted from a message by Nancy Leigh DeMoss in 2009 that I have saved but a much of it was also given to me as I read the message.
As you think about the people you know, ask God to put on your heart two or three people who need encouragement. I say to start with your own family since for us to try to encourage everyone else in the world while failing to encourage those within the four walls of our own homes is not what God wants us to do. I believe it is against His Word.
If you are married, your husband needs you to be his number one cheerleader. Your home should be a refuge for your husband, the one place where he knows he can turn for consistent encouragement. Be careful of the things you say and use your words for good ~ not evil against your spouse and your marriage.
Moms, your children, no matter how young or old, need your encouragement. When people speak encouraging words to us, we are motivated to live up to their words. Everyone blooms under encouragement, and so will your children.
Don’t forget the others in your circle who need your encouragement (and prayers):
• pastors and their wives and church staff members and their spouses
• other mothers, including expectant moms and single moms
• those who are lonely, such as widows, younger single people or the elderly
• people who are sick and hospitalized
• new believers
• those who are struggling with a sin habit (encourage, pray DON’T judge & criticize)
• those who are grieving loss – loved ones, jobs, financial security and many other forms of grief in the world we live in
Ask God to help you see people through His eyes, to love them with His heart, to encourage them with His helping hands. The best way to experience the encouragement that you long for is to be an encourager to others. Remember, as you encourage others God will encourage and strengthen your own heart.
Ways to Encourage
There are many ways to encourage others but I don’t know of anything more encouraging that you can do for others than to pray. Pray for them, and pray with them. If someone says, “I’m struggling” or, “I have a need,” stop and pray with that person right then and there, if possible. (I’ve actually done this in the store where I now work and the office where I worked before and the blessing I received myself was just such an anointing of the Holy Spirit I just can’t describe it!) Recently a lady I knew years ago was in the deli section of my store when I walked in to clock in for work and there was such a look of despair on her face that I walked up and spoke to her. We chatted for a bit and I told her I’d pray for her and started to walk away. The Holy Spirit prompted me to ‘do it now’ and I did. She posted a PM on Facebook later that day thanking me and told me she had just found out she had cancer that morning and my stopping and taking time to pray for & with her was exactly what she needed. If I hadn’t listened to the Holy Spirit I don’t know where she would have been emotionally. Not bragging on me but on God Himself and His encouragement He gave me by having me step up and step out.
I can’t tell you how much it means to me when someone says, “Let me pray for you”—and then does it on the spot! I have a Minister friend (actually a friend of my parents) who never ends a conversation—whether in person or on the phone—without giving a short prayer for the person he is talking to. He has always been a huge source of encouragement to me and to countless others.
Another important way we can encourage one another is with our words. Proverbs 12:25 tells us that “anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” (NKJV). Your encouraging words can be a tonic in someone else’s life.
Proverbs 12:25 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
25 Worry takes away your joy, but a kind word makes you happy.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of this to the people we’re closest to. Think of those times when your husband is really discouraged. Do your words further tear him down or do they strengthen him? Your words, whether spoken or written, can breathe courage and strength into hearts of people who feel hopelessly overwhelmed. Think of it with your children! They still need you to lift them up and not criticize everything they do that you think is wrong.
We can encourage one another through giving gifts—and those gifts don’t have to be expensive. In the past week, months & years I have received several meaningful gifts—including a Scripture plaque, flowers, note cards, a book and a CD of praise music—from people who just wanted me to know they were thinking of me. What an encouragement those special reminders have been to my heart!
Acts of service are another way to encourage others: take a meal to someone; offer to babysit so a couple can get out for a date together; visit an elderly person; take someone to the store that has no transportation or clean the house for a sick friend or a mom with several small children.
In a world where so many people are sad, lonely, and hurting, how we need to encourage one another. As we do, God will use our hands, hearts, and words to communicate His heart and minister grace to those around us.
This was excerpted from a message by Nancy Leigh DeMoss in 2009 that I have saved but a much of it was also given to me as I read the message.
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Amen, amen, and amen to all that!!!!!!!0
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