How to Stay Encouraged...The Grace of Encouragement
Encouragement can help you in extraordinary ways. The grace of encouragement can help you empower others.
After the death of the great leader Moses, when the Lord spoke to Joshua, he didn’t talk about resources, strategy, and knowledge. He spoke about courage and the importance of guarding against discouragement. The Lord encouraged Joshua. In the book of Deuteronomy, there is the record of the words that Moses spoke to the people of Israel to remind them of their legacy and purpose. In the midst of that discourse was this remarkable statement;
“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)
Notice the importance of encouraging a man who had the capacity to lead others to a better place. Joshua was that man and his “commissioning” came through the grace and power of encouragement.
The Hebrew root definition for the word encourage means, “To fasten upon.” Other definitions of the word include: Strengthen, prevail, harden, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute Other uses of Old Testament Hebrew word “chazaq” include: strong (48x), repair (47x), hold (37x), strengthened (28x), strengthen (14x), harden (13x), prevail (10x), encourage (9x), take (9x), courage (8x),
The New Testament Greek word, paraklesis for encourage means: To urge forward, persuade, an exhortation; A calling to one's aid.
(From the compound word: para, "by the side," and kaleo, "to call")
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
Encouragement inspires hope. Hope in the Lord renews strength. Strength causes you to soar, run, and walk victoriously.
When you are encouraged in the Lord, you become inspired to do extraordinary things! Joshua, will all of his ability, could not have succeeded without encouragement. The same is true for you and me. A assignment from God is very empowering, but we has people thrive on divine motivation and participation/partnership with others.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25 )
Encouraging others is very important to their success! So go “spur” on another person toward love and good deeds! Do it today!
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Be encouraged by my teaching on this topic on the Firm Foundation podcast:
iTunes: https://apple.co/2G8PSSO
Podbean: http://bit.ly/2GGIPhW
TuneIn: http://bit.ly/2HOgGVI
