Devotional

February 21, 2013

Plastic Imitation is a Fruitless Substitute for Real Worship

I have a green plant in my office – a fake, plastic plant in the corner of my window seal. Years ago, I had a real aloe vera plant, but I eventually gave it away. The plastic plant is so much easier to maintain. I just wipe the dust off of it every once in a while and it looks fine. Artificial vegetation doesn’t need watering. Synthetic leaves don’t turn brown from lack of adequate light. Imitation roots demand no fertilize. Man-made flora looks okay. The fake plant doesn’t require my time, attention, work.

That’s the actual issue – I didn’t want to invest the energy to have a real plant; I didn’t want to spend the time; I didn’t want the work. To have a healthy and growing living plant, I have to supply soil, air, water and light – and in the right quantities. With the appropriate ingredients a plant will grow green and lush.

But . . . I don’t appreciate keeping a live plant in my office enough to do what is obligatory. Instead, I settle for a cheap substitute – the plastic plant in the corner.

I wonder how many times people settle for a cheap, fruitless substitute in worship. Honest worship naturally flows from an appreciative attitude, yielded thought-life and relinquished self-will. Unfortunately, much of what is labeled “worship” is actually a plastic imitation, a karaoke caricature of the real thing. Is the spectator/performance mentality of so many the natural result of a lack of interest in doing what is required to have healthy living worship?

To really worship, to really connect spirit with Spirit, effort is required. Spirit-empowered worship entails time in God’s presence. It mandates spiritual connection to the True Vine we as believers are connected as branches.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.” (John 15:5 MSG)

Worship is a living, breathing exchange between the Lord Jesus Christ and His beloved bride. Worship shouldn’t just be turned on and off on weekends. Folks who only worship when someone is watching them don’t inspire worship in others. People perceive the emptiness. They may not be able to identify the impediment, but will sense something fake, something artificial, something plastic about the worship. Connection to the Vine is demanded.

For worship to flourish like a plant with beautiful, deep green leaves, we must connect with God EVERY day. My wife and daughters know I treasure them when I spend time with them. Time is the commodity by which I water, fertilize, and cultivate the relationships I value. Time is the super bloom for healthy relationships.

It is not too late to revive your worship! Just because there are some browning leaves on the plant doesn’t mean it’s time to throw away the plant! No matter how you feel, there is hope. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Draw near and He will run to you. Let your worship blossom!

Invest time privately in connecting with the Lord. With your investment, God’s noticeable presence will be experienced. Your private worship will prepare the way for incredible worship experiences during Sunday services. Connection with God allows worship to have life, truth, joy, peace – God’s manifest kingdom.

I may settle for a plastic plant in my office, but I am not willing to relinquish real worship in the sanctuary. I want worship gatherings at Valley Fellowship to fulfill God’s ordained purpose. I want our congregational worship to be real. I want us to touch heaven. Please, join with me in greening up our worship! Spend some time with The Vine.

February 20, 2013

Vital Relationship of Female & Male

Last year, Patti and I celebrated 25 years of marriage. Thank You Jesus! Heavenly Father always gives me much better than I deserve. God knew I needed a partner in life and ministry. I wasn’t made to do life alone.

Enjoying vital relationships is a good thing! We were created to be relational beings. Both man and woman share relationship with God and each other in the garden. Look back into the first chapter of Genesis; notice the last word of verse 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25. What’s the word God uses of His creation? “Good”!

Land and Seas: “God saw that it was good.” (1:10)
Vegetation, plants and trees: “God saw that it was good.” (1:12)
Stars, sun and moon: “God saw that it was good.” (1:18)
Fish and birds: “God saw that it was good.” (1:21)
Animals and livestock: “God saw that it was good.” (1:25)

Genesis 1:31 underscores “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (NIV) However, the Lord says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18 NIV) It is not good for any person to be alone.

Men and women who are kept in isolation suffer in many ways. We like reading stories about Robinson Crusoe’s lonely adventure and laugh in the theater as Tom Hanks talks to a volleyball, but in reality, human beings do not function well alone. We don’t want aloneness to happen to us. Man was not made to be completely alone! We are to enjoy vital relationships with God and with each other.

I am intrigued by what’s told in Genesis 3:8. Shortly after the Fall, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (NIV) It appears that from time to time the Lord would fellowship with them in the garden. Both hid – not just Adam, Eve hid, too – because both apparently recognized the sound the Lord made as He was walking. This wasn’t something new. They both had a personal relationship with God along with sharing intimate relationship with one another.

Look back at the phrase “a helper suitable for him” in Genesis 2:18. This verse has been the tool used (by some folks) to somehow substantiate that women are insubordinate or inferior to men. However, the Hebrew phrase does not contain that connotation. Instead, the term emphasizes the adequacy of the woman. She is just what he needed! She is the answer to a problem. Relationship between male and female corrected the “not good.”

Almost every other time the Hebrew root of “helper” is uses in the Old Testament, it refers to God our help. For example, the same Hebrew root spoke of Eve’s relationship to Adam is used of the Lord in:

His second son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my ancestors was my helper; he rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh.” (Exodus 18:4 NLT)
Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.” (Deuteronomy 33:29 NIV)
We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. (Psalms 33:20 NLT)
But as for me, I am poor and needy; please hurry to my aid, O God. You are my helper and my savior; O Lord, do not delay. (Psalms 70:5 NLT)
O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield. (Psalms 115:9-11 NLT)
I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! (Psalms 121:1-2 NLT)

Saying, “The Lord is my helper” does not insinuate that the Lord is less! “This would suggest that the helper envisioned in Genesis 2:18 is not inferior in essence to the one helped. Rather, the helper is to be thought of as a co-worker or enabler.” (Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 1998, p. 564) The man needed the woman, but the women needed the man, too.

One is not inferior; the other is not superior. Male and female need one another. We are created for relationship.

February 19, 2013

“In God’s Image” to Be Like Him

We each play a valuable, vital part within God’s redemptive plan and purpose. God places equal value on men and women. Too often this world falsely teaches that women are inferior, or this race is inferior, or this group of people is inferior. Men and women were equal in God’s original creation. The Lord treasures us!

As we focus on the creation accounts in the Book of Genesis, God’s Word reveals that male and female shared equal value in God’s original creation. Male and female, man and woman, are God’s cherished creation. We should not discount the magnitude of God’s call upon our lives. We share amazing value as God’s creation of male and female. The crowning achievement of creation is described in Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV):

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Both man and woman share creation in God’s image. It is not just the male made in God’s image for the female is made in God’s image. Genesis 5:1-2 reiterates, “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them man.” Humanity has special value because male and female were created in the image, in the likeness, of God.

We are worth more than a snail, a fish, or a bird. We have more value than the groomed puppy dog upon which we spend so much time and money. We are more precious than any endangered species. Men and women are the height of earthly creation and have more worth to God than any other creature – because we carry the likeness of God.

Sin mars but cannot fully remove the singular significance of humanity created in God’s image. Theologians have argued for centuries concerning the exact characteristics that set humanity apart. The statement “image of God” is so filled with meaning.

Included in the phrase “in God’s image” is the idea that “we are like God and represent God” on the earth (Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, 1999, p. 189). An analogy that illustrates this notion is the relationship I have with my daughters. As a parent I pass certain physical or genetic traits to my children. On the other hand, with time, love and discipline, my daughters develop inward traits that are of greater consequence than the shape of a nose or the color of eyes. In order to truly be like God and represent Him properly, the Lord intends for the development of His character within our lives.

What is God like? What are His characteristics and traits? Faithfulness, peace, forgiveness, loving-kindness are all part of His makeup. A mirror reflects the image of the person looking into it, and 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) points out that “We . . . all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory.” Paul articulates a continuing process of transformation into His likeness. In Romans 8:29 (NIV), Paul divulges that the Lord predestined us “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” God anticipates that we can be Godly. Representing God appropriately demands us to be reflectors of His character. We should reflect the traits of God’s love, peace, joy, and more, within our relationships.

You are God’s valued creation! Female and male can reflect God’s character!

February 17, 2013

7 Releases Triggered By Encouragement

Encouragement releases the people around us.

#1 Encouragement Releases Confidence: God does NOT give timidity or fear! Why not imitate Him?

#2 Encouragement Releases Effort: Have you ever noticed how a compliment sparks a child to attempt a new task with intensity?

#3 Encouragement Releases Perspective: We have a future – even beyond death! “Therefore encourage one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:18 NIV).”

#4 Encouragement Releases Potential: Did a teacher see something special in you? A coach? There is a reason we remember those words. Often all it takes is someone acknowledging what God has given to release potential.

#5 Encouragement Releases Creativity: You probably thought of yourself as an artist in kindergarten. Did critics stifle your gifts? Why not turn the tables and begin to deliberately promote creativity in your sphere of influence?

#6 Encouragement Releases Freedom: Encouragement and accountability are important components for anyone overcoming addiction.

#7 Encouragement Releases God’s Kingdom: (Righteousness, Peace, & Joy) Your words can turn a person’s problem-focus into a God’s-power focus.

February 16, 2013

Encourage: To Release Courage in Someone Else

When we face struggles, obstacles, or shocking circumstances, we need encouraging words. At the heart of encouragement is the release of courage into another person.

Hours after Rozy’s high school graduation ceremony, she and I were with a team traveling to Tanzania, East Africa. We ministered in Arusha, the same city where Patti, Rozy, Kimberlyn and I will be traveling with another team later this year. In 2010, we enjoyed a day and half of photo safari in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater. We saw the “big five” and more! Our tour guides told us we were safe within our open-sided vehicles. Our guide said we were safe – okay – here comes the lions.

Another VFCA 2010 grad Jessie Miller (left) and Rozy didn’t scare much as this lioness came within a few feet of us. Actually, we came close to LOTS of animals. I find it amazing that a comment from someone whom we think knows something, releases confidence.

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary (11th ed, 2004) defines encourage : “give support, confidence, or hope to; help or stimulate the development of .” “The word encourage means literally ‘to put courage into another person.’ We share encouragement with others so that they might have more courage to live victoriously in this world (Charles Stanley, Sharing the Gift of Encouragement, 1998).”

Have you ever noticed Paul’s courage in the midst of a storm (Acts 27)? Paul stands assured of God’s protection and encourages his fellow passengers. Paul did it, and you can, too! “If our hearts bear the anchors of the Lord’s presence, ownership, and service, we will be able to stand tall in any storm. Truly trusting and resting in God’s omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence will enable us to be men of courage and to shout words of encouragement above the storm (R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, 1996, p.336). Display faith in the face of life’s storms!

Five hundred years before the birth of the Messiah, King Hezekiah understood the power of words in a time of crisis. As the massive Assyrian army besieged Jerusalem, Sennacherib, king of Assryia, used psychological warfare sending ominous messages of his evil intent. King Hezekiah

turned Sennacherib’s threats into prayer points,
embraced God’s Word from Isaiah, and
then encouraged (2 Chronicles 32:6) the leaders defending Jerusalem with these words:

“Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!” Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines. (2 Chronicles 32:7-8 MSG)

The cuneiform inscription upon a hexagonal clay prism found at Nineveh in 1830 boasts of Sennacherib’s victories over 46 Judean cities. The third column of text on “Sennacherib’s Prism” (also called “The Taylor Cylinder”), records that the Jew Hezekiah: “Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.” (The Ancient Near East an Anthology of Texts and Pictures, 1969, p. 288)

Apparently, the Assyrian monarch wanted to overlook what happened next; the Prism fails to mention the reason for Sennacherib’s sudden departure (you can read what happens in 2 Kings 19:35-37; 2 Chronicles 32:21; and Isaiah 37:36-38). Hezekiah’s faith-filled encouraging words were accurate. The Lord came through for Judah in a BIG WAY!

Encouragement energizes exploits. Let your words impart courage to another.

February 15, 2013

Distressed? 3 Sources to Encourage Yourself

To extend encouragement to others, you personally need to be encouraged.

Last year, my family walked through some stress. The three ladies in my house all faced rough reports from doctors. Kimberlyn’s four-wheeler accident uncovered a bone tumor in her shoulder that baffled several doctors. With each visit and referral, we were told that the next specialist would know if the growth was cancer or not. Final referral to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, TN) connected us with the specialist who did the surgery. We felt the pressure of uncertainty. It didn’t feel real good.

To make it even more ‘interesting’, Patti and Rozy had test results that initially weren’t favorable (Patti-internal; Rozy-in her gum). Yeah, it wasn’t pleasant. The reports are good now, but walking through it wasn’t easy.

The picture above was taken last year during a day of tests at St. Jude’s. Kimberlyn is great; her next appointment isn’t until September. Good report then will be the end of her treatment. I have had several ask, “Y’all look happy; why weren’t you falling apart?” Why? In the middle of that stress, we were buoyed by God’s strength. Our family benefited from the encouragement of community, and we also knew how to seek out God’s encouragement when we were alone.

I appreciated the encouragement that came from my church family and Godly believers, but I also needed God’s grace when I was alone – all by myself. Today, I want to share with you three sources from which I drew the encouragement. Right in the middle of crummy scenarios, I was still able to find strength.

For the 16 months in which David lives in Philistine territory under the “protection” of Achish of Gath, the Bible doesn’t record David seeking the Lord for anything. David isn’t prepared for the impending distress. Not seeking the Lord is always a setup for disaster.

As David and his crew return from being rejected by the Philistines, evil Amalekites destroy their “secret” base in Ziklag, plunder the city, burn the houses, and take all the citizens hostage including the wives and children of David’s warriors (1 Samuel 30:1-5). David’s wives are also taken, but his men aren’t at all sympathetic.

David is in dire straits. David’s leadership (without seeking God’s direction) is flawed; his orders open the door to catastrophe. The strained loyalty of his fighters capitulates to discussions of stoning David.

Finally, at this bleak moment, David turns his attention to the place where it should have been all along. Prayer brings him back into relationship with his true Defender. When his closet friends were talking of stoning him, David strengthened and encouraged himself in the Lord (30:6).

With his focus reestablished, David seeks direction from the Lord (30:7-8). God commands him to lead the attack and promises him victory. At God’s direction, David and his men marshal themselves and witness the God-promised recovery (30:9-20). Not one of the kidnapped family is hurt!

I hope your friends aren’t ready to hurt you! If discussions of your downfall are already underway, you better act quickly. Get your focus back on Christ! Keep your focus on the Lord. Seek first His kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

Do you need encouragement? Even if you are all alone, you can be encouraged as you draw from THREE READY SOURCES:

#1 Your Position in Christ: Paul extols the “encouragement from being united with Christ” (Philippians 2:1 NIV) as a provocation to live and to love like Christ.

#2 Scripture: The Bible “was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 NASB)

#3 The Holy Spirit: The same Spirit who encouraged early church growth encourages us. “The church then had peace . . . and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.” (Acts 9:31 NLT) I am praying for this kind of Holy Spirit encouragement in Valley Fellowship today!

Christ’s life encourages you, God’s Word encourages you, and the Holy Spirit encourages you, AND, don’t forget you also have the encouragement of community! (check out yesterday’s post)

Encourage yourself in the Lord! Receive His mighty strength. Mourning may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. The light ahead of you is not an oncoming train. As you encourage yourself in the Lord, the light ahead of you is His direction, a lighted-path to victory.

February 14, 2013

The Encouragement of Community

Spending time with God’s family is an important source of encouragement.

Folks at Valley love the Lord and really love people. The relationship and kinship in which I participate encourages me! Sharing life together with the people who make up our local congregation inspires me! I love my Valley Fellowship family!

I also love my home. Time with Patti and my daughters is a blessing. We appreciate holidays with brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts. Mom had the Simon clan gather in Nashville for Christmas 1993 (four months after the death of my Dad), and visiting the Gaylord Opryland Hotel during the Christmas season became a family tradition. Look at us last year!

Don’t we look happy? We had fun – together. One reason for my joy is that my natural family is made up of people who love the Lord.

Although you can encourage yourself all by yourself (read more in tomorrow’s post), enormous encouragement comes from relationship with Christ’s Body, the church. The writer of Hebrews connects your call to encourage others with a call to meet together. “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25 MSG)

You need encouragement that only comes from a face-to-face, in-the-flesh encounter with another child of God.

Mutual encouragement results from time invested in fellowship, connection, community. Consider Paul’s stated desire to the family of God in Rome: “When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.” (Romans 1:12 NLT) Paul was certain that time spent with the Roman believers – whom he had yet to meet in person – would generate encouragement. Upon what was this certainty based? At least partially, His experience!

Early in his walk with Christ, Paul received encouragement from a peer relationship with Barnabas whose nickname actually means “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36).
Paul was a member of the team that hand-delivered a letter from Jerusalem that prompted encouragement in Antioch, “When they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.” (Acts 15:31 HCSB)
In Antioch, Paul witnessed how prophets and church leaders “said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.” (Acts 15:32b NIV)
Paul personally benefited from his relationship with the church family, “Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.” (Philemon 1:7 NIV)

Paul understood the presence of an individual can release encouragement. That is one the big reasons why Paul regularly sent individuals on assignment – to impart encouragement.

“We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith.” (1 Thessalonians 3:2 NIV)
“I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.” (Ephesians 6:22 NIV)
“I am sending him [faithful minister Tychicus] to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.” (Colossians 4:8 NIV)

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6 NIV)

As you encourage others, pray for them, and give them insights into God’s Word, you’ll grow in confidence and self–value. You’ll discover that you do have something to give away—you have the Word of God and the Spirit of God resident in you and freely flowing through you to others. The prophet Jeremiah wrote about the children of God that even though they were clay pots, they were as valuable as fine gold (see Lam. 4:2). You, too, are a vessel that God desires to use. He is seeking continually to pour Himself through you to others. Open your mouth and your heart, and begin to encourage people the Lord sends your way. (Charles Stanley, The Source of My Strength, 1994)

February 13, 2013

7 Ways to Wrap the Gift of Encouragement

“The right word at the right time—beautiful!” (Proverbs 15:23b MSG) The gift of encouragement is a beautiful thing.

A pastor was once asked to give an impromptu message to elementary students. The pastor selected and read: “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.”(Ephesians 4:29 GNT)

Then he asked the children, “How can we make our words help others?”

Several kids shouted out suggestions: “Tell the truth! Say nice things. Laugh! Don’t say, ‘stupid’! Don’t lie. Say, ‘I’m sorry’. Give compliments. Smile when you talk. Say, ‘I love you’!”

Pointing to a little girl waving her hand high in the air, the pastor asked, “How do you think we can make our words good for other people?”

Her thoughtfully articulated answer surprised the pastor, “Our words should be wrapped like pretty birthday presents with ribbons and bows.”

I have been the recipient of such gifts of encouragement. Over the last twenty-five years, Elmer and Reba Hollingsworth encouraged me – with words, gifts, compliments, prayer, and love – far beyond my ability to count. Moments after Brother Elmer departed this earth to join his wife in heaven, I was talking with his daughter. Gail spoke of the praise he directed toward me. She repeated a phrase that I had heard Brother Elmer say to me many times: “You are one of the good ones!” His words were a gift to me.

I hope God adds more people like him into my life – people who understand the power of encouragement and who make their words a beautiful present.

“An encouraging word cheers a person up.” (Proverbs 12:25b NLT)

There are so many ways to encourage the people around you and God’s Word offers plenty of practical advice for how to give encouragement. Experiment with these seven ways to wrap exquisitely the gift of encouragement.

#1 Do it today; don’t wait for tomorrow.

The right time to give encouragement is NOW! We are to “encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today.’” (Hebrews 3:13a NASB) “Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn.” (Hebrews 3:13 GW)

#2 Practice loving accountability.

Spur one another NOT to sin. “If you do this [encouragement], none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn.” (Hebrews 3:13b GW) “Say these things, and encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” (Titus 2:15 HCSB)

#3 Be sensitive to those around you.

“Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14b CEV)

#4 Be honest about what is going on in your own life.

Paul’s didn’t hide his imprisonment but used it as a public platform. “Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” (Philippians 1:14 NIV84)

#5 Exercise your spiritual gifting.

“If it is to encourage, then give encouragement!” (Romans 12:8a NIV)

#6 Show appreciation for people who minister or serve well.

The enemy loves to discourage God’s servants, especially after success or victory. Learn from Hezekiah’s example: “Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 30:22a NASB)

#7 Connect suggestions with unconditional love.

Wise parents know great patience is required in order for children to perceive and to receive advice. The old adage is right, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” Paul modeled this type of compassion, “We were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NASB)

For another message spurred by Elmer Hollingsworth, check out 5 Principles from Jesus’ Prayer Life.

February 12, 2013

Encouragers Are Aspiration Advancers

Encouragers grasp what is but they also comprehend what can be. Encouragers acknowledge the real and the ideal. A person who only sees what is real but cannot see the ideal is an auditor, an accountant – not an aspiration advancer. A person who only imagines what can be without understanding what is – casts unattainable vision. Encouragers spot the actual and the possible, the present certainty and the future hope.

In a day of political corruption and distorted media reports, so many are crying out, “Tell it like it is!” Honesty is important, but real encouragers go the next step – seeing it as it could be; telling it like it could be. In the late 1800s, American education advocate Elisabeth Harrison said, “The men who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.”

“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.” (Colossians 2:2 NIV)

“Encouragement is speaking a word of hope. It is expressing to another person—and to yourself—the sure certainty that God created you with a greater potential for good and that God desires to help you fulfill your potential.
Your future can be better than your past or present.
You can grow and develop and be ever more transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
You can experience greater fulfillment and wholeness than you are presently experiencing.
You can have an even more abundant life than the one you presently have.” (Charles Stanley, Sharing the Gift of Encouragement)

We need people who root for us –exhorters, inspirers, coaches, helpers, mentors, teachers, parents, pastors. We all benefit from encouragement and we should all encourage others. Be an encourager!

I appreciate the hundreds of hours that VFCA volunteer coaches invest in kids. Thank you, coaches! I enjoyed watching my daughter Kimberlyn’s game last night. Down 12 with less than 3 minutes to go in the last quarter, the ladies mounted a great comeback – with Coach Deahl and Coach Ruff cheering them on! They coach ladies differently than they coached guys twenty years ago.

I am thankful the coaches at VFCA seek to embody Paul’s command, “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (Ephesians 4:29 NLT) I cheer for the New Orleans Saints, but I think most NFL coaches would benefit from Paul’s wisdom!

Great coaches like Vince Lombardi or Paul Bryant have a knack for realizing when a player needs correction or encouragement. Vince Lombardi was a master motivator and one of the best football coaches of all time. The Lombardi Trophy given to the Super Bowl champion was named in his honor. Lombardi sometimes challenged his players in pretty rough ways, but his biography (David Maraniss, When Pride Still Mattered) also tells of how he encouraged his players. Legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant inspired a legacy of encouragement. Bryant said:

I’m just a plowhand from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together. How to lift some men up, how to calm others, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat together: a team. There are just three things I’d ever say: If anything goes bad, ‘I did it’. If anything goes semi-good, then ‘we did it’. If anything goes real good, then ‘you did it’. (Jim Grassi, Crunch Time in the Red Zone, p.131)

I can hear you from here – “ROLL TIDE”! I hope you are ready to coach up the people around you. See what is and what can be. Don’t just “tell is like it is”; tell it like it could be! Become an aspiration advancer!

February 11, 2013

Encouragement Moves People Forward

Encouragement builds up and stirs up, edifies, stimulates, and incites constructive action, and is a gift to the ears that hear it. Encouragement pushes, prods, provokes, prompts, and promotes. Encouragement is what wind is to a sailboat – it moves people forward.

Our self-centered culture is so me-centric that few actually make time to encourage other people. Thoughtful encouragement takes time and effort, but inspiring words should be a regular part of our communication. Believers are commanded to encourage one another:

“Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” (1Thessalonians 5:11 NASB)
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6 NIV)
“Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say.” (Ephesians 4:29b CEV)

In the appropriately-titled book Encouragement, well-known Christian psychologist Dr. Larry Crabb reminds readers: “Christians are commanded to encourage one another. Because words have the power to affect people deeply, it is appropriate to consider how to encourage fellow Christians through what we say. Words can encourage, discourage, or do nothing. We must learn to speak sincerely with positive impact, using our words to help other Christians pursue the pathway of obedience more zealously.” (Crabb and Dan Allender, 1984, p. 25)

“Words have the power to motivate or destroy. Energize or deflate. Inspire or create despair. Many a successful executive can remember the time his father failed to give affirmation to him as a child. The result was either overachievement to prove his worth or underachievement to prove he was right.
Many a wife has lost her ability to love because of a critical husband. Many a husband has left a marriage because of words of disrespect and ungratefulness. Many an athlete has not performed to his/her ultimate capacity because a coach could not evaluate without attacking the person’s character or self-image. Stories abound to the power of words. There are just as many stories of those that have been encouraged, challenged, and comforted with words that made a difference in their life.” (Jim Grassi, Crunch Time in the Red Zone, p. 134)

Okay, now its time for you do something with this. Find someone you can encourage. Make time. Be thoughtful. Move them forward.