No King BUT Christ no. 17

“Therefore, encourage each other, and build each other up — just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians (1 Th) 5:11). The importance of Church is encouragement. The Church is a powerful tool for goodness and righteousness in the world today if only we let His Will be done.

If you are looking for encouragement on social media then I wish you luck. Finding encouragement here is a rare and precious jewel for which I am thankful every time I discover encouragement. And I have had the pleasure of finding encouraging folks over the past three years of walking back in His Way. I have also found a lot of discouragement.

BUT our focus determines our reality. I can choose to focus on the discouragement or the encouragement. And if the Spirit is leading me, shouldn’t I be filled with its fruit? Shouldn’t I be seeking to encourage even when folks are less than encouraging themselves? How easy it is to slip into the ways of sin and death and begin reacting with the flesh? And then the Adversary wins. And, spoiler alert, He has more power than sin and death.

So, instead of slipping back into the ways of the world, “See that no one repays evil for evil; on the contrary, always try to do good to each other, indeed, to everyone. Always be joyful. Pray regularly. In everything give thanks, for this is what God wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua” (1 Thessalonians (1 Th) 5:15-18). Prayer and saturation within His Word is an encouragement. The strength and encouragement I receive from Him is not for me alone. I need to share that strength and encouragement with others. Loving my God and my neighbor is not keeping His gifts to myself; love is sharing. Love is joy. Love is thankfulness. Love is unity. Love is encouraging.

God is encouragement. So, I should reflect that encouragement in my walk. God is unifying so I should reflect that unity with His Church. I am going to be an encouragement today as I show His fruit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things” (Galatians (Gal) 5:22-23). How about you?

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

No King BUT Christ no. 16

“I pray that from the treasures of his glory he will empower you with inner strength by his Spirit, so that the Messiah may live in your hearts through your trusting. Also I pray that you will be rooted and founded in love, so that you, with all God’s people, will be given strength to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the Messiah’s love, yes, to know it, even though it is beyond all knowing, so that you will be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians (Eph) 3:16-19). To follow The Christ is to share His encouragement, His strength, His love with others. To share Him, He needs to live in our hearts through our allegiance or trust in Him.

Too often I am not an encouragement to others. I am often too busy encouraging myself that I forget the calling to, “. . . go and make people from all nations into talmidim , immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh , and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Mattityahu (Mat) 28:19-20). I need to encourage others in their walk with Him. We are all struggling to be his talmidim in this world filled with hell. And encouragement through conversation, through affection, and through prayer allows me to help share the responsibility of His Church with others whether they are aligned with Him or not.

I need to rely on His strength and not my own. This is often a matter of whose will is being done, His Will or mine? Relying on His strength means that I have nothing else enthroned in my life that takes away from His kingship. This is important because I cannot “. . . be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first” (Mattityahu (Mat) 6:24).

I need to show His perfect love. Without Him in my heart to shape the way I think, I will not love as He loves. His love is all about bringing about His shalom on this earth. God came to earth not to send me anywhere BUT to fix the problem of sin. His Kingdom is a place of love and things on earth need to become more like He intended. “May your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven” (Mattityahu (Mat) 6:10).

I need to choose relationships. Relationship with Him transforms my relationships with others. The more I work on a foundation of love in Him, the better able I am to bring His Will, the Good News, Heaven into the hell of this world.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH