Tag: Romans 15:13

New Year New Goals – Week 5 Encouragement: Share with Others

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

We have all had the experience of a text at just the right time, a verse that hits the heart in the most needed way, or a compliment that lifts the weary head just a little on a defeating day. Encouragement can come in many ways, but it is the right amount of hope given at just the right time. Imagine a place where no encouragement can be found. How much easier and faster would we all give up?

The verse of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 is what gave me the confident assurance that there is always purpose in my pain. During dark, dreary days, encouragement from others kept me going.  There were times when prayers were poured over me by phone when I didn’t have the words to pray myself, times when scripture was texted to me at the perfect moment reminding me of God’s promises and Truth, and invitations to safely share what was on my heart that had been weighing me down. Once you have been the recipient of that kind of hope from encouragement, you know the value of giving it to others.

Though the details of our stories are different, we have all experienced the deep hurt from living in a broken, fallen world. When we encounter the Great Comforter in these moments, it shifts our perspective and hearts. God is our source of encouragement and hope in a messy world and it is our call as Believers to share this hope and comfort with others.

This encouragement should be an overflow from the first four steps of walking in providence: devotion, scripture, prayer, and community. When we experience the protective care of God, especially in difficult situations, we can’t help but share it with others. When we look at the miracles of Jesus, we see the first response of those touched and healed by Him is to run and share the good news of their healing with other, even when Jesus asked them to keep quiet. When the Father of all compassion comforts us in our troubles, we naturally want to share this same comfort with others.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How can we be an encouragement to others? We are all different with unique talents and gifts and this may look different for all of us. One of the best ways to be a great encourager is to make a list (if that’s your thing) of all the ways you have been encouraged by others. Have you been encouraged by someone texting that you were on their hearts and being prayed for? Has someone brought you a meal during a busy or difficult season? Has someone taken you to lunch or bought you a coffee? Think of ways you have been greatly encouraged and look to be a similar source of encouragement to someone else.

The best way I have found to be a source of encouragement is to be tuned into the promptings of the Holy Spirit. If you get a nudge to text someone, speak to the girl you don’t know well, or pay for the person ahead of you at the coffee shop, be obedient. The Holy Spirit knows what others need and may be using you as a vessel to be their comfort. Sometimes it can be as simple as a warm smile in the long line and a compliment on the shirt the cashier is wearing. Imagine this woman as being beaten down by life and wearing the same tired shirt she has had for five years, but the moment you warmly smile and sincerely compliment her, it could be the very thing that encourages her to keep going.

Be light in the darkness. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. Be kind. Be compassionate. Let the love and peace you have received from your Heavenly Father spill over to the lives of others pointing them to your source of strength and hope.

2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-11
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

If list making isn’t your thing, here is a list of ways I have received encouragement over the last several years. I pray it inspires you that even the smallest things can be a huge source of encouragement to someone else.

  • A texted prayer
  • Sending a link to an encouraging scripture, devotional, or sermon
  • Someone sending a praise song
  •  Being invited to lunch or coffee
  • A meal provided for our family
  • A friend helping me fold my laundry while we talked
  • Offering to take the kids for an afternoon
  • A small gift like a candle or plush blanket
  • A compliment (this goes a long way when you feel tired and have cried a lot)
  • A hug

Prayer: Father, thank You for the ways I have felt encouraged this week. I ask that it is through Your protective care that I am filled to overflow with Your love, kindness, and encouragement to those around me. As You provide for my every need, use me to be a source of encouragement in meeting the needs of others.

Advent – Week 1 Tamar: Hope for the Hopeless

Hebrews 6:19-20
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Have you ever felt hopeless? A deep sense that things are terrible and will never get better. Unfortunately, I think we have all felt this before. Whether it is a sense of hopelessness in your career, finances, our nation’s politics, or in a relationship, hopelessness is a direct result of living in a fallen world.

Tamar is the first named women in the lineage of Jesus. She was the daughter-in-law of Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Her full story can be read in Genesis 38 and is sandwiched in the narrative of Joseph. After Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt, Judah left his family and emersed himself in the pagan culture of the Canaanites by marrying a Canaanite woman. Judah had three sons and the oldest, Er, married Tamar who was also a Canaanite. Er died because he was wicked (Genesis 38:7) and then, Tamar was given to the second son, Onan, to carry on the family line since Er never had children. However, Onan, intentionally did not allow Tamar to get pregnant because he too was also wicked so God also put Onan to death (Genesis 38:9-10). Judah’s youngest son, Shelah, wasn’t old enough to marry Tamar, so Judah sent Tamar back to her father’s house to live as a widow until Shelah was of age for marriage.

Time went on and although Shelah grew up, Judah didn’t keep his word to Tamar. The time came for the annual sheep shearing so Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute to lure Judah to sleep with her (Genesis 38:14-16). This was a common practice for the Canaanite men to sleep with cultic prostitutes so their harvest would be blessed. As a pledge for Tamar’s payment, Judah gave her his signet ring, cord, and staff as collateral for payment.

Tamar returns to her father’s home and her widow’s clothes. When the news came out that she was pregnant, she was confronted with her sin. She explained that the man responsible for the pregnancy is the owner of the signet ring, cord, and staff. These three items would be like three forms of identification for us today. There was no denying the items were Judah’s and he realized what Tamar had done (Gensis 38:26). Judah, not keeping his word to care for Tamar after the death of his sons, pushed Tamar to take matters into her own hands. Without a husband and children, Tamar was left to live as a widow for the rest of her life. In the patriarchal society back then, that would have been a desperate, vulnerable, and hopeless place for a woman.

It can be hard to see the hope of Christmas in Tamar’s story and after giving birth to twin boys, Perez and Zerah, she was not mentioned again until Matthew 1:3 in the lineage list of Jesus. Though Judah displayed an enormous lack of character, God used this man to later become the royal line of the Israelites. Tamar was a Gentile, Canaanite women who used deception and prostitution to carry on the family line. Despite the human sin of both Tamar and Judah, God, in His providential working, used this mess to bring forth the Messiah. Though Judah showed a lack of character leaving Tamar stranded and hopeless, Jesus became the Lion of Judah and the Hope for the hopeless through this very family.

No matter the hopelessness you may be feeling, there is One who gives us hope in all circumstances. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” God is able to work the most tangled, chaotic, and hopeless situations for our good and His glory. Because of Jesus, we have hope that eventually all things will be restored and made right. The same God who made a way for Tamar is the same God who can make a way for you and for me.

As humans, we can make a mess of our lives, but God’s ultimate plan will come through in the midst. Friend, no matter what hopeless situation you may be walking through, we can lay it all down at the feet of Jesus. It is at His feet that we experience forgiveness and freedom from sin. The life He gave on the cross is what frees us from the hopelessness and the pain of this world. Even if it may be hopelessness created by your own choices or actions like in Tamar’s story, God is willing and ready to give us freedom from those choices and the shame or guilt we carry from those choices. We just have to say yes and let Him.

This Christmas season, cling to this hope. Remember, if things are not what you hoped for this year, we have a Savior who is coming back to make all things new. Just as God’s promises came to fruition in the birth of Jesus, His promise to return is also true. This hope is an anchor for our souls.

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