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Wear Faith, Hope and Love | Be Encouragers

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1 Thessalonians 5 scripture image.

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Now, brothers and sisters, we do not need to write you about times and dates. You know very well that the day the Lord comes again will be a surprise, like a thief that comes in the night. You are all people who belong to the light and to the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness. But we belong to the day, so we should control ourselves. We should wear faith and love to protect us, and the hope of salvation should be our helmet. God did not choose us to suffer his anger but to have salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus died for us so that we can live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. So encourage each other and give each other strength, just as you are doing now.
1 Thessalonians 5:1‭-‬2‭, ‬5‭, ‬8‭-‬11

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  • What is going on in this scripture?
    • This section speaks about the concern of the futility of seeking after the specific time of Jesus’ coming, which would be abrupt and horrible to the wicked, but at ease to the saints, 1 Thessalonians. 5:1-5.
      • Note, there are lots of things that our vain curiosity desires to know, but there is no need at all for us to know about them, nor would our knowledge of them do us any good.
    • He then encouragingly urges them to the duties of vigilantly watching, seriousness, and the exercise of faith, love, and hope, as being suitable to their state of mind, 1 Thessalonians 5:6-10. In the next words, he urges them to numerous duties they owed to others, or to one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11-15).
      • The apostle bases timely warnings indicating several needful duties.
        • To watchfulness and soberness, 1 Thessalonians 5:6. These duties are distinctly different, yet they unanimously befriend each other.
        • To be well-armed as well as watchful: to put on the whole armor of God. This is necessary in order for such soberness as develops us and will be a preparation for the day of the Lord because our spiritual enemies are many and powerful, and vicious.
        • We must live by faith, and this will keep us watchful and sober. If we believe that the eye of God (who is a spirit) is always upon us, that we have spiritual enemies to wrestle with, and that there is a world of spirits to prepare for, we will see the reason to watch and be sober. Faith will be our best defense against the attacks of our enemies. Christ died for us, that, living and dying, we might be His; that we might live to Him while we are here, and live with Him when we go consequently.

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  • What is God’s word saying?
    • We need to be soberly minded and urgently watchful, but not worry about when Jesus will come again because it will be quick. For the believer, it will be a comfort. For the unsaved, it will be horrible.
  • How can I apply what I just read to my own life?
    • We must be about our Father’s business. Wear the full armor of God, stand ready at all times, and be able to ward off the enemies. Sharing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus; planting His seeds.
  • What changes do we need to make?
    • We need to more mindful and aware and be in God’s word; praying at all times to be ready.
    • We need to be in unity with each other according to God’s word. Do not allow Satan to divide us.

What can you come up with regarding duties to each other and to God?

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Prayer: Dear Father God, thank You for Your lessons and nuggets of faith and blessings that encourage and feed us. I pray that we all will be caught convicted in our faith in You. Help us to be watchful and mindful of what our duties are to You. Thank you! In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Crown of Life

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  • What do I see going on in these verses?
    • I observe that James, 1/2 brother to Jesus, authored this book. James is addressing the believers letting them know that they should consider it an opportunity for great joy when any kind of trouble comes their way. It’s because our faith is being tested and we have a chance to grow in faith during troubles. When we need wisdom, ask God generously and He will give it to us. It’s ok to ask God questions. We only need to be sure that our faith is in God alone.
    • Those who endure troubles growing in their faith will receive the crown of life as God promised to those who love Him. Rich and poor are honored and humbled. God blesses those with patience to endure their testing of faith. He gave us His true word; Jesus, the living and alive Word.
    • We are His prized possession out of all creation.
  • What is God’s word saying to me?
    • I believe I simply need to have faith in and trust God in times of trouble. I choose joy over sadness so that my faith will grow stronger. It’s ok for me to ask questions of God as long as He alone is my Master. I’m His prized possession out of all creation and He promises me the crown of life because of my faith and my love for Him.
    • In order for this all to happen, I must not have any other gods. YAH alone is my God and I must endure the test of faith I go through trusting the He will bring me through it and that my faith grows.
    • This means that I need to remove ALL distractions and obstacles. I must focus only on God; be in His word and pray.
      “Just Do It!”

Prayer: Thank You, Father God, for Your promises and fulfilling them in the lives of the believers as well as mine. I lift up the whole world to You. I trust Your plan and purpose, even if I don’t understand or know what’s going on. I bow down before You in humble adoration of You. I praise and worship only You. I pray this for Your chosen. Your children. The names in the Lamb’s book of life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

PRAYER_by_navalatanjjnn

A Favor Asked of Jesus

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Matthew 20:20-28 Scripture imageNOTE: I apologize for this post being long. But, it needs to be shared. If I break it up into several posts, it ends up being disjointed and confusing.

We don’t realize what we’re asking of Jesus. Our requests are purely for selfish gain and temporal reasons. We must realize that we need to look from an eternal spiritual perspective; not an earthly temporal perspective. The spiritual perspective is a totally different view than the earthly temporal one.

We must seek Jesus and HIS eternal home. Living in a temporal earthly life has one requirement compared to the one eternal spiritual requirements. We have to live out both requirements in order to work out our salvation with the fear and trembling of Yahweh.

As it says in Revelation, below, we must be hot or cold; not lukewarm.

Jesus said in Revelation 3:14-22
“Write this to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
“The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of all God has made, says this: I know what you do, that you are not hot or cold. I wish that you were hot or cold! But because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am ready to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich, and I have become wealthy and do not need anything.’ But you do not know that you are really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold made pure in fire so you can be truly rich. Buy from me white clothes so you can be clothed and so you can cover your shameful nakedness. Buy from me medicine to put on your eyes so you can truly see.
“I correct and punish those whom I love. So be eager to do right, and change your hearts and lives.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you will eat with me. “Those who win the victory will sit with me on my throne in the same way that I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Two requirements:

  1. Temporal earthly-three main things
    1. Scripture support:
      2 Corinthians 4:16b-18
      Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

      1. We make it our aim to please God, both now when we are in our physical bodies and later when we see rightly and live for eternity.
      2. Keeping eternity in our sights reminds us of the briefness of the lifespan of our temporal existence.
    2. Scripture support:
      James 1:27 says: Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

      1. We are in a relationship with GOD/Yahweh. The other part of the Trinity (Jesus/Holy Spirit) will fall into place when it’s true.
      2. It’s pretty self-explanatory.
    3. Scripture support:
      Mark 13:10 says: But first, the Good News must be spread to all nations.
      Mark 16:15 says: Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world and tell the Good News to everyone.

      1. It’s our mission to share the Good News of God’s Kingdom and that Jesus is our Savior.
  2. Spiritual eternal-four main things
    1. Everything in number 1 above points to our spiritual health. However, there are separate spiritual points we should take into consideration.
    2. Scripture support:
      Ephesians 2:8-9 says: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

      1. We are saved by grace. We offer nothing to the equation.
    3. Scripture support:
      1. Faith & Obedience to God is a requirement of eternal life. Everything will tie in together as you read on!
      2. Obedience is an expression of our deep, abiding faith in His promises.
      3. Obedience is a willing expression of our love and gratitude for all He is willing to give.
      4. Through obedience, we demonstrate our faith in Jesus, overcome the world and accomplish God’s purpose.
      5. There is no contradiction between faith and obedience.
    4. Scripture support:
      1 John 5:1-5 says Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is God’s child, and whoever loves the Father also loves the Father’s children. This is how we know we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us, because everyone who is a child of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world—our faith. So the one who conquers the world is the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
    5. We know that all believers will receive resurrected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.) Which means, we will not exist without body & spirit, but we will possess glorified bodies especially suited for an existence in the eternal state.
    6. Scripture support:
      Ephesians 4:13-14 tells us this: This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection. Then we will no longer be babies. We will not be tossed about like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another. We will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to fool us. They make plans and try any kind of trick to fool people into following the wrong path.

      1. Spiritual boundaries are beneficial to our spiritual well-being. There should be clear boundaries to govern the beliefs we hold and how we put those beliefs into practice.
      2. Not having spiritual boundaries can lead to theological confusion and the misbehavior that comes with it.
      3. The best way to understand and have clarity on this subject is to read more here.

When we remove our human selfishness and live our lives out in faith and obedience to Yahweh, we are blessed by Him and we bless Him. Our rewards in heaven will vary depending on our earthly ministries. It’s in scripture, look it up for yourselves.

How does your earthly ministry lend to your spiritual health and eternal destiny?

Prayer: Father God, I lift up myself as well as the readers of this blog. I pray that their lives are a blessing to You and that they will live out their faith in obedience to You, in eagerness. Light our paths in such a way that we have no question it’s You leading us. Thank You for our salvation and Your grace and mercy. I pray also for all the world leaders to seek You and that they will be obedient to You. I lift up the ill, physical, mental, and spiritual. I pray that all those affected by some horrific tragedy will find solace in You. I know and trust You to meet all needs. Thank You for all the answered prayers. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Faith Risk

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Genesis_1_27_31

Yahweh needed companionship. He took a risk in creating the world. He took a risk in creating humans. The risk He took was that this would bring great sorrow or great joy. He was taking that chance. Yahweh has faith in us.

There is always a risk in taking a chance in life. Whatever we do in life is taking a chance. We need to have faith. Faith is believing that the chance is worth it and that a loving God will guide us as we live life. Love is acting on that faith.

Yahweh said everything he had made was very good. He had faith that His creation would bring Him great joy. Even though we still bring Him sorrow. He continues to have faith and trusts that His creation will bring Him joy.

All we need to do is trust Him and have faith in Him to meet our needs and to take care of us.

When we feel lonely, He is right there by our side. When we feel sad, He is right there to cheer us up. His word is full of promises to us. Seek His word and trust in faith in Him.

What risk and chance are you taking in life? Comment and let us know. We all need a blessing.

Believing Faith Through Prayer

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Mark 9:28-29 image

When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came back to the other followers, they saw a great crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. But as soon as the crowd saw Jesus, the people were surprised and ran to welcome him. Jesus asked, “What are you arguing about?” A man answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has an evil spirit in him that stops him from talking. When the spirit attacks him, it throws him on the ground. Then my son foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes very stiff. I asked your followers to force the evil spirit out, but they couldn’t.” Jesus answered, “You people have no faith. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So the followers brought him to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it made the boy lose control of himself, and he fell down and rolled on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening?” The father answered, “Since he was very young. The spirit often throws him into a fire or into water to kill him. If you can do anything for him, please have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to the father, “You said, ‘If you can!’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe! Help me to believe more!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he ordered the evil spirit, saying, “You spirit that makes people unable to hear or speak, I command you to come out of this boy and never enter him again!” The evil spirit screamed and caused the boy to fall on the ground again. Then the spirit came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and many people said, “He is dead!” But Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up. When Jesus went into the house, his followers began asking him privately, “Why couldn’t we force that evil spirit out?” Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer.” Mark 9:14‭-‬29

The below content is borrowed from Pastor Jack Hayford’s devotional: “Celebrate”.

An Atmosphere of Faith

In this passage Jesus tells us that “believing” is the condition for answered prayer for a healing. The father of the demon-possessed boy answered in tears, “I believe,” then added, “Help my unbelief!” Since faith is a gift, we may pray for it as this father did. Note how quickly God’s grace answered!

Jesus rebuked the disciples because they could not cast out the mute spirit, calling them “faithless” (v. 19). In Matthew’s account of this incident, Jesus said that if one has faith as a mustard seed he can move a mountain (Matt. 17:20).

But there is another lesson to be learned: where an atmosphere of unbelief makes it difficult to believe, we should seek a different setting. Even Jesus’ ability to work miracles was reduced where unbelief prevailed (Matt. 13:58). As we go through the day, let us not diminish Jesus’ ability to work in us. Prayer and praise provide an atmosphere of faith in God and welcome His presence in our lives.