Encourage One Another

One of my favorite things to do is to try to encourage others. Whenever someone says something negative, I have always tried to counter it with a positive comment. Keeping on the sunny side....as my son said this morning as we were discussing the need to have a more positive attitude on the way to school. A positive attitude sets the tone for the day, you know.

Hubby received the following devotion in an email yesterday at work. It was too good to sit on so I decided to share it with all of you. It is the best explanation of why brothers and sisters need to encourage each other along the way. It is based on Deuteronomy 1:38. Here it is:

God employs his people to encourage one another. He did not say to an angel, “Gabriel, my servant Joshua is about to lead my people into Canaan—go, encourage him.” God never works needless miracles; if his purposes can be accomplished by ordinary means, he will not use miraculous agency. Gabriel would not have been half so well fitted for the work as Moses.

A brother’s sympathy is more precious than an angel’s embassy. The angel, swift of wing, had better known the Master’s bidding than the people’s temper. An angel had never experienced the hardness of the road, nor seen the fiery serpents, nor had he led the stiff-necked multitude in the wilderness as Moses had done. We should be glad that God usually works for man by man. It forms a bond of brotherhood, and being mutually dependent on one another, we are fused more completely into one family.

Brethren, take the text as God’s message to you. Labour to help others, and especially strive to encourage them. Talk cheerily to the young and anxious enquirer, lovingly try to remove stumbling blocks 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 despondent. Speak a word in season to him that 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 of this evening.

Spurgeon, C. H.

What will you do or say to be an encouragement to those whom God allows to cross your path today?

Kim