One Must Encourage Himself / Herself!

Encourage: inspire with hope, to give help

When nothing else seems to work, you have to encourage yourself in the Lord. How do you do that? George Mueller says "Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you." So start with the word of God!

Although we are children of God, that does not alienate us from experiencing discouragement. We've all been there, right? Those times when everything around you seems so big and so heavy that it feels like nothing can bring you up out of the gutter. It's in those times that we must go to the Word of God. In it we can always find love and comfort. Remember, Jesus loves us and He "roots" for us. We may not always be able to depend on our friends stopping by and encouraging us, and our Pastor may not always be able to make a house call. Rest assured that even when man fails or is unavailable, Jesus and His word will be right there to encourage and comfort us.

Since we can't be encouraged if we meditate on the lies of the devil, it's critical that we must start speaking the promises of God. For instance, if we are sick in our body, instead of being fearful and worried, we should go to the Word. Like Psalms 103:2-3, which tells us to "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." Or 1 Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." At first we may not believe God's promises, but I guarantee you, if you say them long enough, they will become a part of you and you will believe them. And even better still - God will perform them!

1 Samuel 30:3 & 6, tells a story of David: "So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Verse 6: "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons, and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God." His men could not encourage him because they were all angry and had crying, until they had no more power to cry. God is a God who cares and a God who's always there.

David encouraged him self in the Lord and he asked God for direction. When he did, the Lord told him what to do and he and his men got their wives, sons, and daughters back AND they got everything else the enemies took back! Only the Lord can do that and He will do the same for us!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!