Paul was such the encourager! He took it upon himself to write letters to the different groups of people he encountered. He wrote wonderful letters of encouragement, of love, and of support to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. He also wrote to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.
Paul was an outstanding man of God. However, prior to being
the devoted man of Christ that he became in the latter years, he had a strong
conviction to persecute Christians and destroy Christianity. Paul’s story is
one in the Bible in which is most admirable to me because he is such the
reminder to me that we can be transformed in our lifetime to be such lovers of
Jesus Christ no matter where we are in life. There is hope.
When I read and reread his letter to the Philippians, my heart gets so caught up in the truth of Christ Jesus that I am so on fire to spread the Word and the love that God has for us. I rejoice in the Lord because the circumstances that I have gone through in my own life have driven me closer and closer to Him. Letting go of all things that were once deemed as important but no longer mean anything. I truly get it when he encourages for us to be joyful even through our trials and tribulations because it is those things that make us better people.
Like Paul who was imprisoned, we too are imprisoned not in the literal sense so to speak but in the sense that we are bound to our worries and concerns, worldly things and the ways of the culture that we tend to lose our focus on God. These things do not matter, sisters and brothers. What matters is where our hearts are in terms of our spiritual maturity in Christ. And, in turn, how we use our spiritual blessings from our Father to bless others, encourage others and love others as He loves us.
Do we give it all to God like He asks us to? Do we accept the challenges we're given with grace or do we go to God and question Him asking for more and better? When we find ourselves there, reflect on these verses found in Isaiah Chapter 55 verses 8-9 (NIV):
'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'
We feel so in control of our own lives. When good things ramp up, we say, “We’ve got this!” We keep pushing through without praising God for such blessings. But, when we go through trials and tribulations—boy, do we get on our knees fast to pray to God and maybe even question ‘His’ doing. Rather, we should press on and be on our knees everyday anyway praising Him and thanking Him for our blessings and the obstacles we encounter! Yes! I said it! Even the obstacles we encounter!
When I read and reread his letter to the Philippians, my heart gets so caught up in the truth of Christ Jesus that I am so on fire to spread the Word and the love that God has for us. I rejoice in the Lord because the circumstances that I have gone through in my own life have driven me closer and closer to Him. Letting go of all things that were once deemed as important but no longer mean anything. I truly get it when he encourages for us to be joyful even through our trials and tribulations because it is those things that make us better people.
Like Paul who was imprisoned, we too are imprisoned not in the literal sense so to speak but in the sense that we are bound to our worries and concerns, worldly things and the ways of the culture that we tend to lose our focus on God. These things do not matter, sisters and brothers. What matters is where our hearts are in terms of our spiritual maturity in Christ. And, in turn, how we use our spiritual blessings from our Father to bless others, encourage others and love others as He loves us.
Do we give it all to God like He asks us to? Do we accept the challenges we're given with grace or do we go to God and question Him asking for more and better? When we find ourselves there, reflect on these verses found in Isaiah Chapter 55 verses 8-9 (NIV):
'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'
We feel so in control of our own lives. When good things ramp up, we say, “We’ve got this!” We keep pushing through without praising God for such blessings. But, when we go through trials and tribulations—boy, do we get on our knees fast to pray to God and maybe even question ‘His’ doing. Rather, we should press on and be on our knees everyday anyway praising Him and thanking Him for our blessings and the obstacles we encounter! Yes! I said it! Even the obstacles we encounter!
God gave us tough situations and sandpaper people (as Mary
Southerland from Girlfriends in God likes to call them) throughout our lives
because He wants to see how we do and how we handle them. His purpose is to
build on our character and our sandpaper selves and to mature us in Christ as
mentioned in James 1:4 (NIV), “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be
mature and complete, not lacking anything.” In other words, these are
opportunities for growth so that He may continue to use us through our hands
and feet in whatever we do whether it is in our home, in the workplace, or out
in the community.
We were made for more and more. And, God has those plans for us. He will continue to give us more and more complex cases as we continue to prove to Him that we can grow and mature as Christians. Therefore, we must encourage one another in all that we do just as much as I rely on Paul’s words of encouragement, or God’s promises, or Job’s story, or King David’s cries out to God—my goal is to be the encourager to those around me--to always build and never destroy because if it weren’t for Christian sisters like Linda who helped build me, I’d be a terrible sandpaper person. Through her words of encouragement, her advice, her listening ears and patient heart…I am getting better and better at this! Thank You God for sending friends like Linda into my life!
I would like to close with one of my favorite verses from the Bible found in Proverbs Chapter 27 verse 17 (NIV): "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."
We were made for more and more. And, God has those plans for us. He will continue to give us more and more complex cases as we continue to prove to Him that we can grow and mature as Christians. Therefore, we must encourage one another in all that we do just as much as I rely on Paul’s words of encouragement, or God’s promises, or Job’s story, or King David’s cries out to God—my goal is to be the encourager to those around me--to always build and never destroy because if it weren’t for Christian sisters like Linda who helped build me, I’d be a terrible sandpaper person. Through her words of encouragement, her advice, her listening ears and patient heart…I am getting better and better at this! Thank You God for sending friends like Linda into my life!
I would like to close with one of my favorite verses from the Bible found in Proverbs Chapter 27 verse 17 (NIV): "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."
With Love,
Seda
(Courtesy of google.com)
