I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
Encouragement that Builds
Have you ever regretted not saying something to someone? Maybe they were going through a hard time and you didn’t know what to say, but you felt like you could have said something.
When Paul, the author of 1 Thessalonians, is writing to the church in Thessalonika, he gives them some practical advice.
Paul tells the church to continue to encourage one another. This was something they were already doing, but Paul felt it necessary to remind them to keep doing this.
Encouragement can change someone’s attitude. It can lift someone out of a dark place. Encouraging someone can give them the hope and determination to push through a hard season.
Maybe you can remember a time when someone encouraged you when you were going through a hard time, and the difference it made in your own life. Paul is encouraging us to do that for others.
The Church is meant to be a place of encouragement. We should never leave any encouragement unspoken, but we should generously uplift one another.
Spend some time today thinking about someone in your life who you can encourage. It might be someone who is going through a hard time, or it might be someone who needs to be reminded that others care about them. Never let encouragement go unspoken, as it is one of the ways we can build each other up.
Responding to God at All Times
Throughout our lives, we will all experience both suffering and joy. We'll have times of great grief and times of overflowing happiness. Sometimes, they’ll be separate seasons—but other times, these experiences come together.
In either case and in any situation, James expected Christians to come to God. If someone was suffering, prayer was the call to action. If someone was cheerful, people were to pause and praise God.
This might seem obvious, but when suffering clouds our thinking, we can sometimes forget to prioritize prayer. And when things are going well and we're feeling cheerful, it’s easy to just enjoy our season and not stop long enough to praise God for it. But every season of life is actually just an opportunity to put into practice what James wrote about…
When we are suffering, let us pray. When those around us are suffering, let us pray. When we are cheerful or happy, let us praise God. When others are happy, let us praise God with ...
