Pass the Blessing

Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

In this day of the state of our world, the state of our lives, how much do you need daily encouragement? How much do you need to hear something to lift you up because all the world is trying to drag you down? The stresses and strains of daily life no matter where you are in life, can become overwhelming sometimes. It doesn’t matter if we are children learning of the stresses of responsibility, adults dealing with countless anxieties, or our seniors wondering of health and well being in their latter years; this life breeds daily strain for most of our life. But, when we grasp the joy of Jesus Christ, the hope of heaven and eternal paradise found in him alone, these daily strains are just ripples in the water as we sail towards paradise. I promise you, once you begin to understand this life is temporal and only preparation for the eternal, this life will take on new meaning. We need as Christians to encourage each other of that hope.

Paul’s epistles are full of the hope that lies within him. Paul speaks truth as plainly as any man to walk to face of the earth next to Christ. Paul’s letters are full of warnings, but Paul’s letter always are full of his heart of love for the brethren. Paul consistently opens and closes his letters with those edifications. He encourages his readers to live in the grace and mercy of the hope of heaven together found in the gospel. Paul opened this letter to the church of the Thessalonians; 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. Paul truly understood the importance of encouragement even when he was rebuking this church for great sexual sins later in this letter. We as Christians must seek to encourage one another. Paul is writing here in chapter five about the Lord’s return, the Day of His second coming; the warning to live in expectation of it. Paul is encouraging his readers to live with an eternal view, to live for the hope of His return. 5:8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

You will always hear me point you to God’s Word and the encouragement found there. Without the hope and peace found in daily time there, I do not understand how people cope with the strains of life. I must also exhort you though to be bold in the sharing of your faith; not only the gospel with the lost, but the personal experiences you have had with God to other believers. Satan gives us countless reasons to take our eyes off God, and we as brethren need to encourage others to refocus their eyes on Him. I have been blessed immeasurably the last two weeks with these instances. God using people to encourage me, and I hope using me to encourage them. It has kept me grounded with an eternal view when the business world is commanding my attention. This is a dark world we live in; a dark sin-filled world with an ever growing evil presence; we as brethren need to encourage one another. Let God use what he has been doing or showing you in your life to encourage someone today. He might be doing that work through you with an eternal purpose and reward to each other. It is so humbling to see God use you to encourage somebody else. Keep passing that blessing along.