Encouragement

If you were asking, I'm now asking, what would have to happen in your life for you to be encouraged? What would encourage you the most? What would have to happen to encourage you the most right this minute? Could you even identify what it would be? Well, I believe we have at least one person sitting here this afternoon who could say what it would be. When I think about this, I immediately think about events of the past that have occurred. But then I realize I cannot change the past.

I can learn from the past. I can repent of the past. But I cannot make that which is crooked straight. In fact, there's a proverb to that effect that I won't turn there. I have a saying that goes like this, what is is, what isn't isn't, and I must deal with what is. Or I let what is defeat me and give up. Many of the things of the past that I would like to correct and make straight are not my doing. I'm just grieved by them. But I cannot change them. Of course, I'm sure that you have many things in your life that you could identify in the same way.

My wife and I had a very bittersweet week as I talked about in the announcements several days with granddaughter that I had not seen in almost seven years. A great-grandson, 28 months old, that I had never seen. We had four joyous days and then came the news that Wanda's brother only has a few months to live. She's already lost two brothers, one to leukemia in his fifties. He was in his fifties and another into some kind of freak kind of thing in the recovery room after a simple hernia surgery.

He too was in his fifties. So life has its bittersweet moments. In fact, life is filled with bitter and sweet moments. In fact, we would ask your prayers perfectly for her brother Charles Bynum. That God would enter me. The oncologist said that with chemo it might add two or three months to your life. He's hoping to live until 2011. So how can we be encouraged based on all the things that are happening in this world, coupled with all the things that are happening in our own lives? How can we find encouragement? How can we have the courage to go on to face life in these trying times? There are so many difficulties and trials that we all face.

One of the first steps to being encouraged is to come to truly understand that you cannot change the past. No matter how many tears we cry, no matter how many times we say, what if, the past is a past and we cannot do anything about it. Crying over spilled milk will not put the milk back in the bucket. I used to, unfortunately, have to milk the cow occasionally, and you try to milk with two hands, put the bucket down on the ground, cow kicks the bucket over, you got spilled milk.

You can cry over it as a little boy I wanted to, but it did no good and would do no good. One thing we must be careful to realize is that oftentimes our grief over past events has to do with how they affect us personally. And oftentimes we're not concerned with the burden that is upon other people. So we can become so easily concerned with the burden on us that even though the burden that is on us might be somebody else's fault, they too have to deal with whatever situation it is.

And one of Satan's principle strategies is to have all of us to become obsessively concerned with ourselves. When we think of encouragement, we generally think of how someone can encourage us. If so-and-so would just do such-and-such, then I would be encouraged. Is that what it would take for you this afternoon to be encouraged?

If I or someone else would do something that you might be able to identify, some person could do something, would that be what would encourage you? And if that is the case, that would only last for a short period of time. And for the most part, so-and-so never does such-and-such. So, if we're depending on others, we may never be encouraged.

And that is a very pitiful trap to fall into. And I would hasten to add that just about everyone in this room, I know I have fallen into that trap at one time or another. The old saying goes something like this, give a man a fish and he will envy you, teach a man to fish and he will love you. And so, you need to give something and we all need to give something of value that lasts. One of the things that we find in the Bible is that you can encourage yourself.

Let's notice in 1 Samuel 30 and verse 6. 1 Samuel 30 verse 6. David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him. In David's life, we think about David, the glorious king of the United Kingdom, one of the most powerful kings that ever ruled, especially in Israel. Of course, the extent of Solomon's kingdom and the glory and splendor of Solomon's kingdom exceeded that of David.

No king exceeded David with regard to respect and honor and what he achieved in the sense of character. David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved and every man for his sons and for his daughters. Because they had just lost their sons and daughters and they were blaming David for their loss. But David encouraged himself and the Lord his God. Now, let's read a little bit about the backdrop.

We go back to verse 1. It came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire. Had taken the women captives that were therein, they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city and, behold, it was burned with fire. Their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captive.

Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept bitterly until they had no more power to weep. David's two wives were taken captive, a Henanom and the Jezreelites, an Abigail wife and Nabal, and a Carmelite. We've already read verse 6, and David said to Abathar the priest, a Hymnalek son, I pray you bring me here the Ephod, and Abathar brought there the Ephod to David.

And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. So David went up and did as the Lord said. But I'm focusing on that verse 6, and David, in the face of all of that, with the people ready to stone him, and he was greatly grieved having two of his wives being taken in this, he encouraged himself.

Believe it or not, the principle way that we can encourage and be encouraged is by helping others. We all know the verse, it is more blessed to give than to receive. The only lasting good, really, that we get out of life will be what we do for other people.

Old High School principal, who was a sergeant in the Marine Corps for years, engraved that into our hearts and minds at the high school that I attended. He was a very meticulous little man, very prim and proper, in some ways quite austere, but in other ways with a heart of gold and sterling character, who didn't let a piece of litter ever.

It seems like he wouldn't let it fall on the ground on the school campus. But we didn't have landscapers. There were no landscapers. There were no janitors.

We had a schedule in which the upperclassmen took turns every evening of the last period. We would take the big oil mots, remember scheduled, and we would mop the halls in some of the classrooms. It was the oil mots. There was a schedule for picking up paper on the school grounds, and I forget exactly who cut the grass. There wasn't much grass to cut.

But he instilled that lesson, the only lasting good you'll ever get out of a life is what you do for other people. See, the lasting good of any event, such as a family event that we experience, you store memories there, and maybe you plant a seed. Maybe you encourage somebody to go on and do better and greater things.

Notice what the Apostle Paul writes concerning love and sharing one another's burdens in Galatians, chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1.

Galatians chapter 6 verse 1, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual restore such a one.

How in the spirit of meekness, consider yourself lest you also be tested. Bear you one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. It is a commandment.

You're going to fulfill the royal law. Bear one another's burdens for if a man thinks himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives himself.

But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another, for every man shall bear his own burden.

But if thought comes down to it, of course, we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We all must give an account to God. Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teaches in all good things. This word communicate has deep meaning to it. It means communion or fellowship to become a sharer, to become a partner, to enter into fellowship, to join together. So let him that is taught in the Word become a partner, become fellowship, become a sharer unto him that teaches in all good things. But if a person withdraws from the arena of life and does not fight the good fight of faith, no one can help them.

You know, if you make up your mind not to be encouraged, you won't be encouraged.

And to a large degree, encouragement has to do with turning, I guess you could say, turning certain switches on in your mind and having a perfectly teachable heart. Before we can truly learn to serve others and thus be encouraged, we must learn to let others serve and help us. Some people are so proud, as it were, that they won't let other people help them. And so you deny them the opportunity of extending a helping hand to you. And I know there is satisfaction gained from being, quote, independent, but at times, we need to let other people help us and we need to let our needs be known. If we refuse others the opportunity, then we are taking away from them the opportunity to be encouraged to have joy because the last thing good we get out of life is what we do for others.

One of the great tragedies of our current culture in the spirit of the times is that we have been sold the bill of goods, and it's a false bill of goods, that life should be filled with fun and frivolity all the time. Fun, peace, frivolity. The commercial world is built around that.

If you were to come on with commercials, it talks about depression and trials and down in the dumps, you're not going to sell much toothpaste or any other product with that. So advertisers always focus on fun and frivolity in their commercials. Health and happiness are yours if you buy this product.

Trials and testing, on the other hand, seem to not be a reality if you were to look at our superficial, artificial world and the image thereof that is portrayed in the advertising world and on commercials.

But what does the Bible say about life? Is that the source we want to look to when we look at life? Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 7.

Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Oftentimes, we only read this section of Scripture here at a funeral, and it's like this section of Scripture only exists after somebody died. But I think it must be relevant because it's not going to profit the dead person at all.

It only profits those who are there who are trying to deal with the grief.

In Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 1, a good name is better than precious ointment.

In the day of death and the day of one's birth, how could that possibly be?

Well, if our focus is totally on seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness first and foremost, and understanding and having that big picture burning brightly in our minds, that the purpose of human existence is to be in the kingdom of God, the family of God, and you cannot, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better.

Some of these things are very difficult to understand at times, but one of the things that we learn is that in the face of suffering and trial and difficulty, and all of the things that life presents to us, the bitter sweetness of life, is that you come to the point to where, hopefully, God can really reach inside our beings and really teach us what life is all about and what He's trying to do with each one of us. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.

Whereas the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool, this also is vanity.

Surely oppression makes a wise man mad, and a gift destroys the heart.

Better is the end of the thing than the beginning thereof, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud of spirit. Now along these same lines with regard to the testing and trial and an opportunity to show God and Christ that we understand what life is all about. Do we really understand what life is all about? Most of the world doesn't, and when tragedy happens, they want to blame it on God. You know, when I go to a place like the Natural Museum of quote, called Science, and you walk in the door and to the left, big diagram, a journey through time.

So here's a big bubbling pot of water or stew. It all began with this big bubbling pot of water and stew. But there's no explanation where the big pot of water and bubbling stew came from. But magically out of the big bubbling pot of water and stew came all of these living things, and it's finally evolved into human beings. I mean, after I'd been in that place five minutes, I wanted to flee. I wanted to throw up. And then all of this dinosaur stuff that they had spent all this money on putting together that is supposedly a replica of skeletons they found where they might have found a tooth and a hind leg. In 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6, what life is all about. And we're talking about encouragement. You say, well, boy, this doesn't sound very encouraging to me.

But to understand, like David encouraged himself after he learned that all of these people had been taken captive, and two of those people were his wives. In 1 Peter 1 and 6, wherein you greatly rejoice, though, now for a season, if need be, you are in heaven for a season. If need be, you are in heaven through manifold trials, that the trying of your faith, being much more precious than gold, that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Remember that Peter is the apostle of hope. You go back to that last incident, this encounter that Peter and Christ had before Christ's ascension, where Peter had led this group out to go fishing, and Christ appeared to them.

And after having eaten the meal that they had together, Christ began to ask Peter if he loved him three times. Peter became quite upset at that. He was put out by that question, oh, Lord, you know I love you! Then it finally came down to the question of what's going to happen in the future. And Jesus told Peter that he was going to be crucified, that he was not going to be crucified. But that was the way that he was going to leave this world, was to be crucified. And according to legend, Peter was crucified upside down.

So Peter the apostle of hope, this is a book to read, this epistle, and along with 2 Peter, if you are in need of encouragement and to realize the backdrop of the one, and the life of the one who wrote this. Now in 1 Peter 4.12, 1 Peter 4.12, Beloved, thinking not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.

There is no trial that is not someone who has already had in the past.

But rejoice inasmuch as your partakers of Christ's sufferings, that wherein His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Partakers of Christ's sufferings.

That's one of the things that we've been called to do.

But if you be reproach for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.

Let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters.

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. But let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Wherefore, in view of all of that, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well-doing as unto a faithful Creator. So it always comes back to this providence of God that we talked about in the last sermon regarding Job. Job tells his brothers, boys, you didn't send me here. You're not that big. But God sent me here to preserve life. The providence of God, He's looking out for our best interest years in advance.

Understanding how to deal with trials and testing is one of the things that separates the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, the wise virgins from the foolish virgins. And what we're talking about here has to do with real spiritual understanding, spiritual maturity, spiritual growth. In other words, the meat of the word of what life is all about. And note how the Laodiceans are counseled to go by gold tried in the fire.

Let's notice this in Revelation 3, verse 15. The Laodiceans counseled to buy gold tried in the fire. Gold is representative of the highest form of character in the symbolic sense. We turn here recently in a sermon as well.

Revelation 3, verse 15. I know your works, writing to the Laodiceans, that you are neither cold or hot.

I would you were cold or hot. So then because you're lukewarm and neither cold or hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. Once again, the backdrop of Laodicea, as we've already explained, Mr. Erickson gave a sermon out on this as well over a year ago. Laodicea had no fresh water supply of their own. It had to be piped in from Heropolis. By the time it got there, through these conduits, it was lukewarm. It was also the site of a famous wool and also of a famous isaf. So there is the physical symbols, but those represent deep spiritual realities. Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods, thinking that you are spiritual and you really are on top of the things and have need of nothing and know not that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. All of those are symbols of unrighteousness and sin. I count for you to buy of me gold tried in the fire. We read 1 Peter 1 verse 6 where it says that the trying of your faith is more precious than gold tried in the fire. I count for you to buy of me gold tried in the fire. Of course, you can't really buy it in the parable of the 10 virgins. In Matthew 25, the foolish virgins are told to go buy and sell for yourself because the foolish virgins said to the wise virgins, give us your oil because my lamp is going out. The wise virgin says, oh, we can't do it. If we do that, then we wouldn't have enough. So you go buy and sell yourself. And so they went forth, but it was too late.

But this kind of character cannot be bought and sold in the marketplace.

It is only in the arena of life and your interaction and my interaction with God and Christ and each mirror of the body of Christ and the whole human family that this can be developed.

I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire that you may be rich, that is spiritually, and white raiment, symbolic of the righteousness of the saints, that those who have on that will be in the weddings, the marriage supper of the Lamb, Revelation 19, that you may be clothed. The shame of your nakedness do not appear and anoint your eyes with eyesave, that you may see, that is to see spiritually. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open it and open the door, I will come into him and will set with him.

And he with me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as also overcame, and am sat down with my father in his throne. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.

So how can we be greatly encouraged in the face of great trials? Well, we can be if we can really understand what this life is all about. The lay of the sins apparently thought what mattered was the notion that they were superior to everyone else.

None of us are superior to any other person here. None. Zero. Now there may be some far more spiritually mature than others.

There may be some that do not have God's Spirit.

Obviously, there are non-baptized people here today, but in God's eyes, he loves us all. And no one is superior to anyone else.

We're not superior because we do X, Y, or Z. We're not superior because we have our own little clique, and thus we're superior to you. And because we have our little clique, and we think we're superior to you, we have the right to criticize you.

No, that's not the way it works in the Bible. That's not what God's Word says.

So the lay of the sins seem to be unable to grasp that we are members, one of another.

That we are indeed a spiritual family. That we're all baptized into one body by one Spirit.

Thus, all join together in members, one of another.

Let's look at spiritual confirmation of what I just said. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 12.

1 Corinthians 12, verse 12.

For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ.

As I gave that sermon on the last day, on the last sermon of the Pentecost, Christ is not divided.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. Now, this family concept, we talk about the family concept probably more than anything else in the Church of God. For sure, in the top three or four. Have we yet really grasped who we are and what we profess to be?

By this, ye all men know that you are a mighty disciples, that you love one another. Verse 25, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care of one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

So the Laodiceans just don't seem to be able to understand what true encouragement is all about. I'm convinced, have been convinced for a long time, that the reason so many people become lukewarm and disinterested and fall away, and this is especially true with the youth, because Satan's educational system that I just referred to, the Museum of Natural History, and Satan's educational system is geared to destroy any concept of the great creator God.

And God's system doesn't seem to have the great glamor, glitter, and glitz that Satan's system has. Now, if you're looking for glitter, glamor, and glitz, I mean, you can have that for maybe 70 years. Well, what about eternity?

What about eternity?

The Apostle Paul writes, I have not seen, ere and not heard, neither the entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him. What God has prepared, and the glory of the splendor, you want to talk about glitter and glitz. Read a description of the New Jerusalem.

Even what a person will be as a spirit being, glorious, radiant spirit being in the Kingdom of God. You know, Avon or no other company can make the products and make you look like a spirit being.

And at best, you can only look so-called glamorous for just a few years. Then they're ready to put you in the trash bin. But I'm ready. I'm convinced that so many become lukewarm and disinterested and fall away because they're looking for a loose brick. They're looking for an excuse to fall away.

Ministry did this. The administration did that. These people, he was a deacon in the church.

Or my parents. I look at my parents. The example they said, this is the church of God. I don't want any part of it.

As if that was the criterion or criteria plural for judging who and what God is.

Note this and note it well. There are no loose bricks in the Word of God.

There are no loose bricks. There is no slack in His promises. There is no wavering in His love for you.

You may waver. You may be a yaybutter. But God never fails. All of this stuff we come up with about why we are happy with this or that, or why we're unhappy with this or that, is just that. It's just stuff.

You know, as the saying goes in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't mount to the hill of beans.

And when the oncologist comes in and looks you in the eye and says, you've got a few months to live. Get your house in order.

And you think of Psalm 23, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear an uneven. When you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

So when you face that, all of this other stuff is just that. Sometimes we think we're justified in what we're doing. We don't like the way so-and-so looks at us. We don't like what so-and-so said. We don't like the way the preacher talks. We feel like everybody is judging us. We feel like we don't belong. And we would rather be somewhere else. You know, when Jesus Christ gave that Bread of Life sermon recorded in John 6, it says, you've got to eat and drink of me. If you don't eat of my body and drink of my blood, you have no part with me. Some were offended. Some left. In fact, most did. And then he turned to his disciples and said, you leave also? And they said, in essence, no, Lord, we don't have any other place to go. Where else are we going to find what life is all about? Where else are we going to have the keys, open the keys to the kingdom of God and what life is about?

And even though people may be mistreating you or me, these kinds of feelings and attitudes are not from God. They are from Satan the devil. And if God be for you, who can be against you? In reality, encouragement centers on living by faith, believing God, doing what He says.

And if we don't believe from the heart, then nothing, I mean, we're not going to go anywhere anyhow. But if we do believe from the heart, all these peripheral things will take care of themselves. Take no anxious thought for the moral, so for as sufficient is the evil of the day. God says, if I so close the lilies of the field and take care of them, if I'm so aware of my creation that not even as farrow falls to the ground, unless I'm aware of it, the hairs on your head are numbered. Can He take care of you and me?

Of course, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced the fiery furnace, did you think they were encouraged or discouraged?

Probably afraid, but their faith didn't waver. And they said, you know, be it known unto you, O King Nebuchadnezzar, our God is able to deliver us from this fiery furnace. But if not, be it known unto you, we will not bow down and worship you as symbolized by this image. And you know that God delivered them.

One of the things that we all have a tendency to think about is why did God let this happen to me? He could have prevented it, but then I think this is an opportunity to show that I indeed know what it means to live by faith. In approaching the trial this way, we can come to the point that David did in the face of weeping. They wept so long and bitterly that they could weep no more. They wanted the stony. But David encouraged himself in the Lord. Let's go to James chapter 4. We are all familiar with the first few verses there in James 1 of my brethren counted all joy when you fall into different trials. We've sort of worn that one out. You might think of wear out of several others. But anyhow, in James chapter 4 verse 7, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

As long as we encourage ourselves in the Lord, Satan cannot get us now. Here's the way that one writer summarized difficulties. It's titled, I ask God.

I ask God to take away my pain. God said no.

It is not for me to take away, but it's for you to give up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said no. Her spirit was whole. Her body was only temporary. I asked God to grant me patience. God said no.

Patience is a product of tribulations. It isn't granted. It is earned.

You know, James says, look, patience has its perfect work that you may be whole, the entire wanting nothing. I asked God to give me happiness. God said no. I give you blessings. Happiness is up to you. I asked God to spare me pain. God said no.

Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

Hence, when the oncologist says, a few months, son, the rest of the stuff doesn't matter very much. I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said no. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you more fruitful. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. God said no. I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.

I asked God to help me love others as much as he loves me. God says, ah, finally you have the idea.

The response of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when facing the fiery furnace, we've already said, I don't know whether God's going to deliver me or not, but be it known unto you, O King.

Oh, a lot bow down and worship you. So when we live by faith, we can be encouraged all day, every day. The first time that I'm not going to turn there, if you would turn to Hebrews 10 on the way in Hebrews 10.38, the first time that this phrase, this sentence appears is in Habakkuk 2 and verse 4, the just shall live by faith. Paul in some ways repeats this five times in his epistles, that is, the just shall live by faith. And now we are here at Hebrews 10 and verse 38.

Now the just shall live by faith, quoting from Habakkuk 2 and 4, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But you are not of them who draw back into perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Now let's note Romans chapter 10 and verse 17. Romans chapter 10 and verse 17. Romans 10 and verse 17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So if faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then we know that if we read and study the word of God, it will increase our faith and provide encouragement. If we're down in the dumps, one of the best ways to find encouragement is to open the pages of the Bible and I advocate going to the Psalms, and especially Psalm 119. Of course, there are many other places, but the Psalms is a great place to find encouragement and consolation and comfort.

Faith is a gift of the Spirit and fruit of the Spirit. And you remember the Scripture that I quote every Sabbath.

The flesh profits nothing. It is the Spirit that quickens or makes alive the words I speak. They are speared in their life, John 6.63. So one of the greatest ways for you and I to be encouraged is to open up the pages of our Bibles and read of God's love, care, and concern for us. It will increase our faith. It will encourage us.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Another way that we can be encouraged is through prayer, by talking to another person.

God is there. And we have access to His very throne. And we have an intercessor and a mediator, Jesus Christ, sitting in His right hand, who has suffered all of the things that can possibly be suffered in the flesh. Notice now 1 Peter 5.5. Remember once again Peter, the Apostle of Hope, who experienced many, many trials, who has tried many different ways during his time with Jesus Christ, as Jesus was teaching Peter and the other apostles in preparation for what their ministry would be after he departed. And Peter writes 1 Peter 5 verse 5, Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves under the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility. You wear it like you wear your garment, which is the way you are.

For God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. And here's our key verse, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

But the human tendency is that we want to carry it ourselves. Somehow we think that if we do a certain amount of penance, that somehow that helps out. And of course, we are, there is a time to grieve, there is a time to be sorry, but there's never a time to believe that we can carry all of our burdens by ourselves and thus be comforted.

So the principle way that you can cast all your care on Him is to pray, to say, Father, Heaven, I'm going to commit this into Your hands. I'm going to go on now and try to do the best I can, but I've got to face each day there's a certain amount of things I have to do, and I can't just continually dwell on this. And sometimes some of the problems that we face, the more we dwell on it, the more paranoid or the worse it becomes. There is this thing of casting all your care on Him, for He cares for you.

And one of the best ways to do that is just in prayer, tell God that you're putting it into His hands.

There's another little essay that the person wrote, What Satan Fears Most. What Satan fears most is a man on his knees, not vast marching armies with great weaponry.

See, none of that can defeat Satan. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10, verses 4-6, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty, spiritual, to the pulling down of strongholds. Those strongholds have to do with spiritual things, strongholds that grip the mind.

So what Satan fears most is a man on his knees, not vast marching armies with great weaponry. All the things you read in the news items in the great battleships, and the airplanes, and the nuclear bombs, and the neutron bombs, and marching armies, and anything else you want to name, Satan's not afraid of that. He has more power than that.

He knows he can stand against the power of men to engage us in battle, his mere sport to him.

But a man on his knees with his head bowed in prayer is something quite different to the Prince of the Air, for when he sees us in prayer to our God Most High, he knows we have seen through his devilish lives. That's what Satan fears most, a man on his knees, and we'll keep him trembling if our prayers never cease. Copyright by Jan McIntosh. People encouraging people. Now, we can encourage ourselves, but we have the power of life and death in our own combs, in our own beings. Remember the song, people who need people are the luckiest people in the world.

Sometimes, just the sight of another person will cause encouragement to well up in your heart and mind. Let's notice in Acts 28 verse 14. Acts 28 verse 14. From chapter 12, basically, to the end of the book of Acts, and in fact, it even starts a little bit before then, the book of Acts to a large degree is taken up with the life of Paul. Of course, there are a few other things in there. The life of Paul, and it has to do with his journeys that they call missionary travels, missionary journeys. And finally, his trial before Roman officials, and he finally winds up in Rome. The road to Rome was a quite interesting one, filled with all kinds of drama and intrigue, appearing before various officials. And finally, he comes to Rome.

In Acts 28, 14, when we found brethren, we were desired to tarry with them seven days, and so we went toward Rome. And from there, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appiah for them and the three taverns, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage.

See just the sight of those people, because those people heard, the Apostle Paul is coming. Let's go meet him. Let's go encourage him. Let's go help him.

Brother, we all have that power within us. And when he came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard. But Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier that kept him. And it came to pass, after three days, Paul called the chief of the Jews together. And when they were come together, he said unto them, and he began to give his testimony to the Jews. So he was, in fact, able to a certain degree to continue his ministry, even though he was a house prisoner.

Another little essay here, the strength of a man. The strength of a man isn't seen in the width of his shoulders.

It's the Apostle Paul that didn't have much going for him physically. Apparently, a high squeaky voice and weak eyes, but of such great courage and strength and character.

The strength of a man isn't seen in the width of his shoulders. It's seen in the width of his arms that circle you. The strength of a man isn't in the deep tone of his voice. It's in the gentle words he whispers. The strength of a man isn't how many buddies he has. It's how good a buddy he is with his kids. The strength of a man isn't in how he's respected, in how respected he is at work. It's in how respected he is at home. The strength of a man isn't in how hard he hits. It's in how tender he touches. The strength of a man isn't in the hair on his chest. It's in his heart that lies within his chest. The strength of a man isn't now how many women he's loved. It's in how he can be true to one woman. The strength of a man isn't in the weight he can lift.

It's in the burdens he can carry.

So we can ask ourselves, is our life on fire for God? Or, on the other hand, are we being consumed by the fiery trials of life? You know, Christ, when he came to Jerusalem, he began his earthly ministry. He had turned the water into wine at the marriage supper. Cana went on into Jerusalem. And he went to the temple, found the money changers there, and he chased the money changers out of the temple and said, don't make the house my house a house of thieves, but make my house a house of prayer. And the disciples then said, you remember how it is written, the zeal of mine house is eating me up? The zeal of mine house. We can be eaten up by the zeal for the trials, the difficulties of this world. Or we can be eaten up, be filled with the zeal of the kingdom of God, the family of God. So we can ask ourselves, are we being on fire for God? Or are we being consumed by the fiery trials of life thinking that all is lost and your life is being consumed in smoking flames? Is your hut burning? The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames.

The smoke rolling up to the sky, the worst had happened. Everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. God, how could you do this to me? He cried. Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of the ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. How did you know I was here? asked the weary man of his rescuers. We saw your smoke signal, they replied. It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it just may be the smoke signal that summons the grace of God. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it. You say it's impossible. God says all things are possible. You say I'm too tired. God says I will give you strength. Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. You say nobody really loves me. God says I love you. You say I can't go on. God says my grace is sufficient for you. You say I can't figure things out. God says I will direct your steps. You say I can't do it. God says you can do all things through me or through Christ Jesus who strengthens you. You say I'm not able. God says I am able. You say it's not worth it. God says it will be worth it. You say I can't forgive myself. God says I forgive you. You say I can't manage. God says I will supply all your needs. You say I'm afraid. God says I'm not giving you the spirit of fear.

You say I'm always worried and frustrated. God says cast all your cares on me.

You say I don't have enough faith. God says I've given everyone a measure of faith.

You say I'm not smart enough. God says I'll give you wisdom. You say I feel all alone.

God says I will never leave you nor forsake you. It is through experiencing the comfort and encouragement of God in the fiery furnace of trials that we learn how to comfort and encourage others. The choice of whether we're going to wallow in the pits of pity or whether we're going to look to the hills for strength and encouragement is up to us. I can assure you that in less than one thousandth of one percent of the cases, probably less, no knight in shining armor is going to come along and pull us from the pit of pits of self-despair. So what would it take for you to be encouraged this afternoon? Just one thing? The knight in shining armor is probably not coming along, but there is one who is coming on a great white horse, and his reward is with him. He is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father, and he ever lives to make intercession for us. And when our focus is on ourselves, he can't do much. But when our focus is on him, we have at our disposal the greatest power in the universe. So let's get our focus off ourselves and our fight and fight the good fight of faith. Let's cast all our cares on him, for he cares for us. Let us truly learn the keys to love, joy, peace, and true encouragement. Christ says, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. You shall find rest in your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I choose to believe God in Christ. I choose to fan the fires of hope and keep the big picture burning brightly in my mind and heart. I hope you choose the same thing. He is faithful who is promised. He is promised as honor, glory, immortality in the family of God. So let's pick up the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. Let's go fight the good fight of faith, being fully persuaded that what God has stored up for each one of us, He is able to give us, and He will give us a crown of life.