Tag: Encouragement

Today’s Word Is DELIGHT

Tue-Jun-23-2020

For the Lord takes delight in his people; He crowns the humble with victory. (Psalm 149:4)

The radio talk show host of many years ago, Steve Brown, used to say, “God’s not mad at you, he’s really not!” But, oh, how many people think that he is! Instead of running toward God for life, peace, and victory, they run from God thinking they should avoid some inevitable punishment or escape from a life of God-imposed boredom and deprivation.

God is the perfect father. God is love. Ask yourself what a perfect father who is perfectly loving would do about you. If your answer is punishment, then you have not heard the true message of the Bible. Or maybe your ears have heard the true message, but your mind blocked it out, and preferred a self-condemning message that you learned from the negative experiences and the poor preaching you have heard in the past.

God is delighted for you to come to him, to rely on him, to be loved by him and to love him in return.

You come to him in humility … but … sometimes … you might be trying to be humble, but it is really self-condemnation. The difference? True humility leads to victory not condemnation. And this victory is not achieved, it is gifted to you, placed on you as if wearing a crown. It is God’s declaration of your worth to him. It doesn’t matter what you think you’re worth. It matters what God thinks you’re worth. It matters that God thinks you are worth dying for, worth blessing, worth crowning you with victory.

Are you a child of God, one of his people, have you been reborn through his Spirit? Well … God takes delight in his people … and thus in you! Do you begin your devotional time with self-condemnation, or does it occur to you that God your Perfect Father is delighted that you have sat down to talk, to share, to unload, to seek help and wisdom? I am not suggesting you skip the confessional part of your God time. But I am saying that as you confess, your words fall on the ears of the Holy One who understands and forgives … the God of second chances.

As you relate to the Father, your joy grows. Now you can do the victory dance!!

“Let them praise his name with dancing, and make music to him with timbrel and harp.” (Psalm 149:3)

Have a blessed day!

Chaplain Mark

The BEMA Podcast is a great Bible Study tool from a Messianic Jewish perspective. I highly recommend it. It is a long-term study which will increase your understanding of the Scriptures in a new and deeper way.

Today’s Word Is BUILD

Thu-Jun-11-2020

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1st Thessalonians 5:11)

Suppose you have an area of your life where you want to “get better” or “get well.” You have been inspired by some person or event, perhaps a book you have read, a sermon you heard, a difficult experience you faced. You believe God is calling you higher, toward spiritual and emotional health, toward greater faith, deeper peace, higher joy.

So, being inspired you put better things into practice in your life. You start going back to church … or you quit a bad habit … or you apologize and fix a broken relationship … etc.

Then you discover that your choice to “get better” has caused some other person to have difficulty adjusting to the “new you.” That’s because all of us are part of a system of relationships. The basic ones are family connections, and some families are healthy to various degrees while others are perhaps slightly or severely dysfunctional. The same is true for friendships, co-workers, church family, or neighbors.

To the point … There is a theory in family systems that when one person improves, another person sometimes gets worse! That person begins to act out in negative ways. The more dysfunctional the family system, the more likely this is to happen. And why would someone get worse in response to your getting better?? … Because they want things to go back to the way they used to be. They have lost some feeling of importance perhaps. Their reaction is a temper tantrum of sorts.

Suppose, for instance, that you decide to start going back to church. And someone in your family tells you that “we always have family dinner at grandma’s house every Sunday at noon, and now you have messed that up! You’re causing a problem for the rest of us. See how selfish you are!” Any number of decisions could affect others in ways they resent.

They may even react so negatively that they become angry or spiteful. This behavior makes you think they are getting ready to wreck their life … or wreck your life … or damage the whole family. You consider abandoning your plan to improve your life and going back to the way things were. You say to yourself, “This was a bad idea. I had no idea so-and-so would be against it. I don’t want to hurt their feelings or lose their friendship, etc., etc.”

But you should consider that if you give up, you are in effect giving that person control over your life, even your faith life. You may realize that this person actually has control over the whole family system. They use their switching between good and bad behavior to manipulate and control everyone else.

Everyone’s situation is different, of course, but in general this is a time in your life to stick to it. If this is God-inspired, then you can go ahead with the plan, but also step up your love and encouragement of this person. Trust God for strength and believe that you will make it, and that the upset person will finally adjust, perhaps even improve just like you did.

As believers it is our job to encourage people in these situations and to build them up. So if someone is being bullied back into regression or belittled for trying to improve, it is our privilege and a command from the Word to “go to bat” for that person. Speak up. Offer encouragement.

And if you’re the one who needs the encouragement, a good thing you can do for yourself is to make it easy for others to support you, by being open. Don’t give up on the “better” things God is calling forth in you. He will provide a way for your future. Turn the naysayers over to God. He can help them better than we can anyway.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is CIRCUMSTANCES

Thu-Jun-4-2020
Originally published
Wed-Nov-27-2019

The verse that says “I can do all things” by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:13 is popular and encouraging. But it means something more than what some people think. Philippians 4:10-14 is about Good Times & Hard Times … and how to thrive spiritually, mentally, and emotionally in all of them.

To do so we need to overcome what I call “try-harder” theology. You see, Paul was not saying, “I can do all things, if I try hard enough.” But that’s how many people use it.

So, here’s “the rest of the story” …

First of all … Sometimes we need help. The Apostle Paul earned money making tents, but many times that was not enough. He still needed offerings from churches. It’s OK to ask for help. But it’s not OK to complain if someone can’t help. For awhile the church couldn’t help Paul, but Paul thanked them when they could.

Paul says (v.10) But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.

Also … True contentment is apparently hard to achieve, since so few appear to have it. Learning how to adjust to a wide range of circumstances is not popular. After all, if I go through a drought, what am I going to do about the house and car payments? We want the circumstances to adjust to us. Paul learned to adjust to them. He had a mission that was more important than circumstances.

(v.11) Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

Next … Without that passion for a calling or purpose in life, we often resort to bemoaning our misfortunes. When there’s plenty, we’re happy, but when we must do without … well … does our joy leave when difficulty arrives? Paul is our witness that it is possible to be as content in poverty as it is in prosperity. We will endure circumstances when we are on a mission. It could be as a schoolteacher, as a nurse, as a pastor, as a social worker, or any other job, as a parent to our children, loving our spouse, working for a non-profit or a church project. What we are passionate about will help us to disregard certain difficulties.

(v.12) I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

NOW, HERE COMES THE BLESSING …

(v.13) I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Some folks take this to mean that any bad circumstance can turn into a good one simply by believing it can happen, or that God will fix it for me, or that just trying harder is the way to overcome the barrier … and once the circumstance turns good, then I can rest, get the precious joy back, and be thankful that I succeeded.

But Paul is making a deeper point. “Doing all things” might just mean putting up with irritations or lack of amenities in order to accomplish a higher purpose.

Even if things are bad right now, and even if they’re going to stay bad for a while. No matter. I have God and he is enough. And my joy doesn’t come and go with good times and bad. They’re all alike to me in this sense: I am the same ‘me’ and God is the same God, regardless of my circumstances.

He is our strength in good times. He is our strength in hard times.

LAST THOUGHT …

We are not to wallow in our difficulties in order to get mileage or sympathy points out of our suffering. If things are difficult, we stay on course, and give thanks when caring people pitch in and lift us up.

(v.14) Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Stay steady in all circumstances, difficult or easy,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is SHARED

It’s Humor Day!
Fri-May-15-2020

First some pastoral humor …

A pastor visits an elderly woman from his congregation. As he sits on the couch, he notices a large bowl of peanuts on the coffee table. “Mind if I have a few?” he asks.

“No, not at all!” the woman replies.

They chat for an hour and as the preacher stands to leave, he realizes that instead of eating just a few peanuts, he emptied most of the bowl. “I’m terribly sorry for eating all your peanuts, I really just meant to eat a few.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” the woman says. “I can’t eat peanuts anyway. Ever since I lost my teeth all I can do is suck the chocolate off of them.”

Oops.

And now for my word … SHARED …

The Apostle Paul said: Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15)

The word “shared” makes all the difference. It increases our joy and reduces our sorrow.

I spent too many years keeping my difficulties and sorrows to myself. There are others around us that don’t mind sharing our load a little bit. And there are certain friends and family who not only don’t mind being supportive – they really want to share our load, because they care.

Jesus said: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5: 4)

Do you resist letting others share in your sorrows? I’ve had church members in the past who didn’t want anyone to know when they went into the hospital or had difficult burdens, such as wayward children, lost jobs, or financial struggles. Something in our culture and in human nature resists telling others the difficulties we face. But God is not pleased in our secretiveness. If we desire for the love of God to come in and bless us, then we must change our approach – listen to others’ burdens that we may lighten their load – and share our burdens that others may lighten ours.

As for shared joys, I find it interesting that when people in church are asked to share their prayer concerns, joys, and sorrows, it is likely that there will be ten concerns shared, and then a silence. Everyone is having a hard time thinking of some good news to share – anything that would make us smile or shout for joy. I wish I had a catchy phrase to explain how to overcome this. I think our culture in general, and our churches in particular, have a hard time experiencing true joy.

The 23rd Chapter of Leviticus is entitled, “Feasts of the Lord.” And God says, “These are My feasts” – Sabbath, Passover, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles – seven in all. The routines of the working world were set aside for many days, and celebration took place. There were serious days, yes, but then there was dancing, singing, storytelling, and thankfulness for the goodness of God.

 It is sad that the church over the centuries has lost much of the celebratory spirit of the faith. God wants us to know how to have a good party – where joy and laughter abound, where God is at the center while his people enjoy the life he has given.

Sharing our joys and sorrows as Christians means acknowledging that God is right there in the middle of it all – he is the giver of good gifts that bring joy, and he is our comfort in times of sorrow. Sharing it with one another multiplies the blessings and divides the sorrows.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is MOTIVATION

Mon-May-11-2020

Compassion for others can be a great motivator, and that might be why you are working in a certain profession, or why you are involved in your church’s efforts to help others, or why you are driven to be on the lookout for someone to assist. The drawback to being motivated by the compassion in your heart for those in need is this … it can end up in “burn-out.”

Without sufficient “thank you’s” – without enough successes –  and because of untimely or distressing failures – we can sometimes find ourselves ready to quit. And our moments of discouragement like that can begin to occur more frequently. We might begin say to ourselves, “I’ve had enough,” or “This isn’t working.” We could just be gradually wearing down and wondering when we will cross over the line into saying, “I can’t do this anymore.”

Compassion, while necessary, cannot permanently stand alone as a motivator. Compassion both “empties our tank” and “fills our tank.” The time and energy we expend, which drains us, can be somewhat counterbalanced by the joy and satisfaction of seeing people get well, and of finding fulfillment through our work. But sooner or later, the drainage factors win, or the frustration of dealing with difficult people becomes too much, or we run into barriers or opposition to the good things we are trying to do. When this happens, and our tank gets low, we may be tempted to just hang it up  – unless there is another source of inspiration and energy that doesn’t depend on how successful we are at maintaining a positive attitude.

Here is a truth … The only long-term, sure-fire way of operating with sufficient and even excessive mental, emotional, and physical energy is to have a source other than just feeling good about helping the people we serve, or feeling fulfilled in our calling, or gaining respect and success.

From my perspective, the combination of the love of God, the work of Christ on the cross, and the comfort and power of the Holy Spirit is the only sufficient source in all the world to sustain us when our motivation is at a dangerous low. This love, affirmation, and encouragement from God is the emotional fuel that we require. When our motivation for our work is rooted in Him, we have an unfailing source that works equally well whether we are in a season of successes or in a moment of failure.

This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17) We may be doing works of compassion, and we may care deeply about those whom we serve, but the motivation for doing them cannot simply be our desire to help.

So, I describe the deeper truth this way – “Yes, I am doing this because I care about you.” But underneath is a deeper motivation, that “I am doing this for Jesus and in His Name.” My ability to care about people has limits. My compassion can be tested sometimes and may begin to slide. But the compassion of Jesus has no limits. In the words of the Steven Curtis Chapman song, “His strength is perfect when our strength is gone. He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on. Raised in His power, the weak become strong. His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect.” (Based on 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10)

If you are relying on yourself, your successes, or even encouragement from friends to keep you motivated, eventually there will come a time when it won’t be enough. God doesn’t just want us to “survive,” he wants us to “thrive.” God alone can supply unlimited motivation. The other support we receive will be icing on the cake.

Have a blessed day,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is DISCOURAGED

Tue-Apr-28-2020

“Disappointment is inevitable, but discouragement is a choice.” – Dr. Charles Stanley

We have every reason to be disappointed sometimes, as we are human, and disappointment is a natural emotion. But we do not have to let disappointment become discouragement, because faith in God makes discouragement avoidable. Do you believe the Scripture and the promises of God? Then you have a constant source of encouragement from the Holy Spirit, plus more from others who care about you.

The French word for “heart” is “couer,” and this relates directly to the words encourage and discourage.

Encouragement … means having “heart” put into you.

Discouragement … means having “heart” taken out of you.

In the Kingdom of God, no outside force can overpower the Spirit of God that is within you and remove all the “heart” from you. Your heart is Spirit-filled to be motivated and empowered.

But … we do get discouraged sometimes, so why is that? It starts with being disappointed, and that is natural and happens to everyone. But then … we have a choice … am I going to focus on the problem and “allow” (give my permission) for this disappointment to take some “heart” out of me … or will I lean into God and let him put more “heart” into me?

You will overcome a great hindrance to your faith and growth if you will accept the fact that … as Charles Stanley points out … discouragement is a choice. We see the obstacles and get scared, rather than seeing God and taking courage.

As Americans we have been somewhat conditioned to think that we can’t help being the way we are. If you think about it, this is equivalent to giving up control of ourselves and letting the world and circumstances turn us into what they want to. Yes, we have basic personality characteristics which remain with us throughout life. But the truth is that regardless of what we are like today, we can change by submitting ourselves to God and allowing him to transform us. God does his part and we do ours.

We can undergo this transformation by not choosing discouragement at times of disappointment. Jesus endured far greater disappointment and suffering than we ever could. So, think of him, as the Scripture says …

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” (Hebrews 12:3)

In times of disappointment we can catch ourselves and make a declaration  … “I may be disappointed by what has happened, but I will not get discouraged, because my God is bigger than my problems.”

Look around. Sometimes you can see the discouragement in someone’s eyes or body language, hear it in their tone of voice, or sense it in their attitude or conversation. My tendency earlier in life was to think that the way to help them was to solve their problem so the disappointment goes away, and the discouragement is avoided. But if we are always fixing the problem, they are not learning how to keep disappointment from becoming discouragement. They are learning that God is not the solution, the “fix” is the solution.

This is not to say that I should never help anyone. But I do have a responsibility to ask myself, “Am I pointing people toward Christ or toward me?” Is there someone who needs your encouragement today? Take the time. Put some “heart” into them.

Have a blessed day!

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is … CIRCUMSTANCES

Wed-Nov-27-2019
“my joy doesn’t come and go with good times and bad”

The verse about “I can do all things” by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:13 is popular and encouraging. But it means something more than what some people think. Philippians 4:10-14 is about Good Times & Hard Times … and how to thrive in all of them.

To do so we need to overcome what I call “try-harder” theology. You see, Paul was not saying, “I can do all things, if I try hard enough.” But that’s how many people use it.

So, “Here’s the rest of the story” …

First of all … Sometimes we need help. The Apostle Paul earned money making tents, but many times that was not enough. He still needed offerings from churches. It’s OK to ask for help. But it’s not OK to complain if someone can’t help.

  • Paul says (v.10) But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.

Also … True contentment is apparently hard to achieve, since so few appear to have it. Learning how to adjust to a wide range of circumstances is not popular. After all, if I go through a drought, what am I going to do about the house and car payments? We want the circumstances to adjust to us. Paul learned to adjust to them. He had a mission that was more important than circumstances.

  • 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

Next … Without that passion for a calling or purpose in life, we often resort to bemoaning our misfortunes. When there’s plenty, we’re happy, but when we must do without … well … does our joy leave when difficulty arrives? Paul is our witness that it is possible to be as content in poverty as it is in prosperity. We will endure circumstances when we are on a mission. It could be as a schoolteacher, as a nurse, as a pastor, as a social worker, or any other job, as a parent to our children, loving our spouse, working for a non-profit or a church project. What we are passionate about will help us to disregard certain difficulties.

  • 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

NOW, HERE COMES THE BLESSING …

  • 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Some folks take this to mean that any bad circumstance can turn into a good one simply by believing it can happen, or that God will fix it for me, or that just trying harder is the way to overcome the barrier … and once the circumstance turns good, then I can rest, get the precious joy back, and be thankful that I succeeded.

But Paul is making a deeper point. “Doing all things” might just mean putting up with irritations or lack of amenities in order to accomplish a higher purpose.

Even if things are bad right now, and even if they’re going to stay bad for a while. No matter. I have God and he is enough. And my joy doesn’t come and go with good times and bad. They’re all alike to me in this sense: I am the same ‘me’ and God is the same God, regardless of my circumstances.

He is our strength in good times. He is our strength in hard times.

LAST THOUGHT …

We are not to wallow in our difficulties in order to get mileage or sympathy points out of our suffering. If things are difficult, we stay on course, and give thanks when caring people pitch in and lift us up.

  • 14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Stay steady in all circumstances, difficult or easy,

Chaplain Mark