Endurance and encouragement

[jerry ralph]

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.”
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up…..For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”
ROMANS 15:1,2,4 NIV

Encourage, Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as, “(1) to give courage, hope, or confidence to; embolden; hearten. (2) to give support to; be favorable to; foster; help.” The Scriptures are God’s words to encourage us, that we might have hope. The apostle Paul said that we “might” have hope. The word might, could mean that not all will get hope from the Scriptures. For me, it depends on my attitude, the attitude that I take when I read. If I expect to get encouraged from my devotional time of reading then I find encouragement and hope. If I don’t read expecting to receive, then I might just get words without the positive spiritual encouragement contained within. Here is an example of attitude in reading the Scriptures. This morning I read the 26th chapter of Matthew, in it can be found Jesus and the disciples observing the Passover meal, Judas’s betrayal, Jesus’ agony in the garden, the disciples falling asleep, the arrest of Jesus, Peters violent swing of his sword, Jesus’ illegal trial, Jesus being beat and spit on, His abandonment by His friends, and Peter one of His closest friends denying that he even knew his name. You might ask how do I get encouragement out of such violent and negative Scripture? The answer is found in the attitude I choose to take. I can take both positions in the trial, I am guilty of the crimes they accused Jesus of, and I am also guilty of accusing Jesus as they did. And, having read other Scriptures that show how all of this had to come to be, so that I would not suffer because of my guilt gives me encouragement. I relate to Barabbas, the prisoner who was released so that Jesus could take his place on the cross. My encouragement comes from knowing that Jesus took my place on the cross, I win! Jesus and the Father also won because Jesus was not guilty. It was a win-win situation, as long as I can grasp the hope found in those verses. Today I choose to have an attitude that sees encouragement, hope, confidence, support, and help because God did for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE

“As we begin to focus upon God, the things of the spirit will take shape before our inner eyes. Obedience to the word of Christ will bring an inward revelation of the Godhead (John 14:21-23) It will give acute perception enabling us to see God even as is promised to the pure in heart. A new God-consciousness will seize upon us and we shall begin to taste and hear and inwardly feel God, who is our life and our all. There will be seen the constant shinning of “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). More and more, as our faculties grow sharper and more sure, God will become to us the great All, and His presence the glory and wonder of our lives.”
A. W. TOZER……………….The Pursuit Of God, page 56