Encouraging words to march forth

Quite providentially, today’s Verse of the Day is a perfect match for the only day of the year that is a command: March 4th. Most remarkably, March 4th is also National Grammar Day, a significant day for me in a number of ways. Here is a link to a blog entry posted a year ago.

The Verse of the Day for March 4, 2019, offers words spoken to Joshua, whose words also resonate within the lives of individual believers today.

Joshua 1:9 (NIV):

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

From a blog entry posted a year ago today comes the following excerpt:

In the midst of perilous times, circumstances that are said to be “difficult to deal with,” we often become intimidated. The pressures of life and the challenges that confront us try to make us timid and fearful. Many times the adversary of our souls seeks to make us feel inferior or not up to the task, assignment or purpose that God has inspired us to pursue.

The Verse of the Day from Joshua 1:9 is a great source of encouragement in midst of circumstances whereby we could be discouraged. Just as Joshua felt discouraged when he was confronted with the task of leading the Children of Israel into the Promised Land after the death of Moses, we also have similar concerns, as we move in transition into the next phase of our destiny in God.

Another related passage reminds believers to have no fear:

Isaiah 41:10, 13

10 Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

These particular verses remind us that as believers we are not to fear. The comforting exhortation to “fear not” or “do not fear” occurs 365 times in the Bible, indicating a daily memo from God that we are to have no fear.
When we encounter similarly stressful situations that cause us to respond in fear, we are to be encouraged to seek the strength to overcome any obstacle that attempts to block our path to success.

We counter those attempts that seek to generate fear with reminders from the Word of God that instead of becoming more fearful and afraid, we are to be “fearless”: we should be bold, brave, composed, confident, unafraid, valiant, and courageous.

The Verse of the Day and related verses also bring to mind the exhortation from 1 Thessalonians 5:11 to encourage one another, the inspiration for these words of encouragement:

Encourage

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Don’t stop now—keep on pursuing
Keep seeking His face
Don’t get weary in well doing
You must keep the pace
Seek and you shall find
The strength to be transformed–
Renewed in the spirit of your mind
Encourage yourself
And encourage one another
Build each other up
Every sister and brother
Speaking the truth, we grow up
Therefore, encourage one another

We close our discussion with “Encourage one another,” a compilation from 1 Thessalonians 5:11 and other scriptures and words of encouragement from Kimberly Culpen. May we all be strengthened and encouraged today, as we march forth on March 4th.

Encourage each other

For June 5, 2018, we find the “Verse of the Day” coming from 1 Thessalonians 5:11 in the New Living Translation:

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

The verb “encourage” is translated from the Greek word parakaleo, literally meaning to call to one’s side in order to teach, comfort, strengthen or motivate to respond act in a certain way. The term also means “to pour courage into another person.” Before an individual can encourage someone else, however, that person must have first been encouraged. What do you have that you have not first received? So the Scriptures ask.

Picture this: You are about to begin your day with a refreshing drink of tropical fruit juices in a tall glass that is nearly full. A thought occurs to you that you would like to share this early morning treat, and so you get out another glass of the same size, and you pour the drink back and forth into both glasses, making sure that drink is well mixed. You then have two glasses that are half-full so that you can fill each one and share the refreshing drink with a friend. So it is with our encouraging one another or filling our lives with words that comfort and encourage.

Note the words of this benediction expressed in 2 Corinthians1:3-4

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Amplified Bible (AMP)

3 Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God

Throughout the New Testament we find encouraging words that encourage believers to encourage one another:

Romans 1:12 speaks of this reciprocal relationship:

When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.
Some individuals are gifted in this area, like Barnabas, whose name literally means “son of consolation or encouragement,” their “spiritual long-suit” is the ability to strengthen and encourage others.

Romans 12:8 in the New Living Translation offers these words:

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Paul closes the 2 Corinthians with these word that we likewise can apply to our lives today:

2 Corinthians 13:11

[Paul’s Final Greetings] Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.

A recent blog post discussed the return of Jesus Christ, a source of great hope for believers living today.1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 relates this hopeful message and concludes by saying,

18 So encourage each other with these words.
These two concluding passages also reiterate this message:

2 Thessalonians 2:16 (Amplified Bible)

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and encouragement and the good [well-founded] hope [of salvation] by His grace, 17 comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts [keeping them steadfast and on course] in every good work and word.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT):

24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Reflecting on the Verse of the Day and other related verses inspired these words:

Encourage

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,

just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Don’t stop now—keep on pursuing
Keep seeking His face
Don’t get weary in well doing
You must keep the pace
Seek and you shall find
The strength to be transformed–
Renewed in the spirit of your mind
Encourage yourself
And encourage one another
Build each other up
Every sister and brother
Speaking the truth, we grow up
Therefore, encourage one another

We conclude with the accompanying video “Encourage one another,”a compilation of the same verse from I Thessalonians 5:11 and other scriptures and words of encouragement from Kimberly Culpen. May we all be strengthened and encouraged tod

Power of encouragement

Quite providentially, the Verse of the Day for March 5 seems to follow-up perfectly the word of exhortation that was posted yesterday on the only day of the year that is a command: March 4th. Today the words spoken to Joshua also resonate within the lives of individual believers today:

Joshua 1:9 (NIV):

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

From a blog entry posted a year ago today comes the following excerpt:

In the midst of perilous times, circumstances that are said “difficult to deal with,” we often become intimidated. The pressures of life and the challenges that confront us try to make us timid and fearful. Many times the adversary of our souls seeks to make us feel inferior or not up to the task, assignment or purpose that God has inspired us to pursue.

The Verse of the Day from Joshua 1:9 is a great source of encouragement in midst of circumstances whereby we could be discouraged. Just as Joshua felt discouraged when he was confronted with the task of leading the Children of Israel into the Promised Land after the death of Moses, we also have similar concerns, as we move in transition into the next phase of our destiny in God.

Another related passage reminds believers to have no fear:

Isaiah 41:10, 13

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

These particular verses remind us that as believers we are not to fear. The comforting exhortation to “fear not” or “do not fear” occurs 365 times in the Bible, indicating a daily memo from God that we are to have no fear.

When we encounter similarly stressful situations that cause us to respond in fear, we are to be encouraged to seek the strength to overcome any obstacle that attempts to block our path to success.

We counter those attempts that seek to generate fear with reminders from the Word of God that instead of becoming more fearful and afraid, we are to be “fearless”: we should be bold, brave, composed, confident, unafraid, valiant, and courageous.

The Verse of the Day and related verses also bring to mind 1 Thessalonians 5:11,  inspiration for these words:

Encourage

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
. .
Don’t stop now—keep on pursuing
Keep seeking His face
Don’t get weary in well doing
You must keep the pace
Seek and you shall find
The strength to be transformed–
Renewed in the spirit of your mind
Encourage yourself
And encourage one another
Build each other up
Every sister and brother
Speaking the truth, we grow up
Therefore, encourage one another

We close our discussion with “Encourage one another,” a compilation from 1 Thessalonians 5:11 and other scriptures and words of encouragement from Kimberly Culpen. May we all be strengthened and encouraged today.

Encourage and build each other up

Many times the “Verse of the Day” is the perfect way to jumpstart the day, particularly on a Monday, as is the case today on June 5, 2017 where I Thessalonians 5:11 in the Message Bible provides great exhortation:

God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.

The Amplified Classic Bible says this:

Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.

Simply put, the New Living Translation states:

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Without question, as believers we encounter countless situations where we need to be encouraged and to encourage others. Hebrews 10: 25 (NLT) reminds us of the importance of coming together to fellowship with one another and to encourage each other:

²⁵ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Furthermore, we are to encourage one another every day:

Hebrews 3:13 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.

As I went over the Verse of the Day and compared the scripture in a couple of other versions, I was inspired to write a few words of admonish, urge and encourage one another, expressed in this poem:

Encourage

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

 

Don’t stop now—keep on pursuing

Keep seeking His face

Don’t get weary in well doing

You must keep the pace

Seek and you shall find

The strength to be transformed–

Renewed in the spirit of your mind

Encourage yourself

And encourage one another

Build each other up

Every sister and brother

Speaking the truth, we grow up

Therefore, encourage one another.

Other scriptures also continue with similar words of encouragement:

2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT):

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.

Chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians opens with these words:

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more

The chapter ends by focusing on the hope of the resurrection, with this final word of encouragement which we discussed in a recent blog post:

¹³ And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

¹⁵ We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ So encourage each other with these word

The accompanying video “Encourage one another” is a compilation of the same verse from I Thessalonians 5:11 and other scriptures and words of encouragement from Kimberly Culpen. May we all be strengthened and encouraged.

 

 

 

 

Jumpstart the day: Encourage one another

Many times the “Verse of the Day” is the perfect way to jumpstart the day, as is the case today, June 5, 2015, where I Thessalonians 5:11 provides great exhortation:

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Without question, as believers we encounter countless situations where we need to be encouraged. Hebrews 10: 25 (NLT) reminds us of the importance of coming together to fellowship with one another and to encourage each other:

²⁵ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Furthermore, we are to encourage one another every day:

Hebrews 3:13 (Holman Christian Standard Bible):

But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception:

As I went over the Verse of the Day and compared the same scripture in a couple of other versions, I was inspired to write a few words to admonish, urge and encourage one another, expressed in this poem:

Encourage

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

.

Don’t stop now—keep on pursuing

Keep seeking His face

Don’t get weary in well doing

You must keep the pace

Seek and you shall find

The strength to be transformed–

Renewed in the spirit of your mind

Encourage yourself

And encourage one another

Build each other up

Every sister and brother

Speaking the truth, we grow up

Therefore, encourage one another.

Other scriptures also continue with similar words of encouragement:

2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT)

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.

Chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians opens with these words:

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more

The chapter ends by focusing on the hope of the resurrection, with this final word of encouragement:

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

¹³ And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.¹⁵ We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.^g]”>16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ So encourage each other with these words.

The accompanying video “Encourage one another” is a compilation of the same verse from I Thessalonians 5:11 and other scriptures and words of encouragement from Kimberly Culpen. May we all be strengthened and encouraged.

Flourishing faith and growing love

The Verse of the Day for February 9, 2015 comes from 2 Thessalonians 1:3 in the New Living Translation:

[Encouragement during Persecution] Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NLT):

Today’s verse notes two areas of growth in Christian believers: faith and love which are mentioned in Thessalonians, the Church Epistles whose focus is hope, the hope of Christ’s return.

Faith

Faith is not static but God’s desire is that our faith grow, increase and abound. When the apostles said unto the Lord, “Increase our faith,” he responded:

 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. (Luke 17:6)

The plant mentioned by Jesus Christ to illustrate faith is the very small seed of the mustard tree, a pod-bearing, shrub-like plant, growing wild, which is also cultivated in gardens. The little round seeds were an emblem of any small insignificant object. Faith is described in this way: “It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth.” Jesus goes on to say, “It [faith] is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.” A mustard seed once planted and nurtured grows into a mighty tree, just as our faith should grow and abound.

Love:

Not only are believers to grow in faith, they are also exhorted to abound in love, as is mentioned in

2 Corinthians 8:7

Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

Philippians 1:9

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

1 Thessalonians 3:12

And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

One of the classic metaphors that describe love is a rose. Indeed, love is a rose that grows—

The budding rose never stays the same but unfolds in lovelier ways.

The Verse of the Day reminds us that our faith and love are to increase and abound.

The Epistles of First and Second Thessalonians with their emphasis on the Return of Jesus Christ are sources of strength and encouragement for believers. There is no correction or reproof to “the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The passage for today opens with this note in the New Living Translation: Encouragement during Persecution

In thinking about the encouraging words found in Thessalonians, I recall Thessalonians 5:11 which provided the inspiration for this poem:

Encourage

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Don’t stop now—keep on pursuing

Keep seeking His face

Don’t get weary in well doing

You must keep the pace

Seek and you shall find

The strength to be transformed–

Renewed in the spirit of your mind

Encourage yourself

And encourage one another

Build each other up

Every sister and brother

Speaking the truth, we grow up

Therefore, encourage one another

The accompanying video “Encourage one another” is also a compilation of the same verse from I Thessalonians 5:11 and other scriptures along with words of encouragement from Kimberly Culpen. May we all be strengthened and encouraged today.

 

The Word for the Day: Encourage

The word for the day taken from “The Word for the Day” in Biblegateway.com:  “Encourage.”

This morning as I began to pull up the Bible on my laptop, I noticed that the “Verse of the Day” was taken from I Thessalonians 5:11. As I went over the verse and compared the scripture in a couple of other versions, I was inspired to write a few words of encouragement, expressed in this poem:

 

Encourage

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 .

.

Don’t stop now—keep on pursuing

Keep seeking His face

Don’t get weary in well doing

You must keep the pace

Seek and you shall find

The strength to be transformed–

Renewed in the spirit of your mind

Encourage yourself

And encourage one another

Build each other up

Every sister and brother

Speaking the truth, we grow up

Therefore, encourage one another

 

I found the accompanying video “Encourage one another” which is a compilation of the same verse from I Thessalonians 5:11 and other scriptures and words of encouragement from Kimberly Culpen. May we all be strengthened and encouraged today.