What’s your attitude about the future? If you’re only keeping track of the news, then you probably have a bleak outlook. But as a believer in Jesus Christ, you can remain hopeful by fixing your eyes on the Lord. In part one of his “Encouragement” series, Dr. Stanley helps us move away from discouragement by underscoring how God is our Great Encourager.
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Dr. Charles Stanley: When
you experience discouragement,
where do you turn?
Well, all of us are going to
face it at one time or the other
because that’s the world
we live in.
Then I have a choice.
I can remain discouraged,
or I can choose not to be
discouraged.
It’s a choice we make.
And sometimes people think if
they’re discouraged, they’re
just hooked.
No, you’re not.
It’s a choice we make to remain
in that state, because I
haven’t this choice.
I can allow discouragement to
drag me down into the pits of
despair and the pits, for
example, of depression, and all
the things that go with that;
and live that way.
Or, I can look to our
encouraging God and know in my
heart that He is going to take
me out of this discouragement
because He’s there to do what?
To lift us out.
He’s there to remind us of who
He is.
He’s there to help us to
understand that His best for us
is not what we’ve always
planned.
His best for us is always the
best.
God is not a God of
discouragement.
He never says, “Oh, well, why
don’t you just do thus and so?
It’s really bad.
But everybody else is having a
bad time too, so you might as
well have it with them.”
That’s not who He is.
And the one thing I want you to
discover in this message
is this.
We have a God who is an awesome
encourager.
But if you don’t know Him
personally as your Savior, then
it won’t make any difference.
You just keep on living in
discouragement.
And you can defend your
discouragement.
You can live in despair and
defend it, and you can get other
peoples to say with you, “Yes, I
do understand.
Well, if I were where you were,
that’s the way I’d feel.”
You don’t want any of that stuff
in your life.
You don’t have to live that way.
We have this awesome God of
encouragement, and that is the
whole point of this message is
for you to see He’s that kind of
God.
Now, if you don’t know Him
personally through His Son,
Jesus, you won’t get it.
But if you’re a Christian,
you’re a follower of Jesus, you
have no legitimate defense for
living in the state of
discouragement.
So I want you to turn, if you
will, to the fifteenth chapter
of Romans, and I want us to look
at a couple of verses here in
this fifteenth chapter, because
this is what Paul is talking
about.
And let’s start with this first
verse and read just through the
fifth verse.
He says, for example, “Now we
who are strong,” well, look at
this, “Now we who are strong
ought to bear the weaknesses of
those without strength and not
just please ourselves.
Each of us is to please His
neighbor for his good, to his
edification.”
That doesn’t mean just to bow
down to everything, but help to
look out for what’s best for
them.
Then he says, “For even Christ
did not please Himself, but as
it is written, ‘The reproaches
of those who reproached you fell
on me.'”
Now look at verse four and five,
“For whatever was written in
earlier times,” in the Old
Testament, “was written for our
instruction, so that through
perseverance and the
encouragement of the Scripture
we might have hope.
Now may the God who gives
perseverance and encouragement
grant you to be of the same mind
with one another according to
Christ Jesus.”
And I wanted you to see how he
puts these two words together,
and that is, perseverance and
encouragement, because they
fit together.
Perseverance means I don’t quit,
I don’t stop, I don’t give up,
I keep going.
I don’t just figure out what’s
the easiest way to go.
Perseverance means you just keep
at it, whatever it takes.
Encouragement means, listen, to
be inspired, to be motivated, to
be energized.
And so, he’s speaking of
perseverance and encouragement.
And these two words certainly go
together.
And if you’ll think about it,
nobody likes to live in a
discouraged state.
Now, some people put it this
way.
Some people seem to enjoy being
sick.
So, let’s say yes, they do enjoy
being discouraged.
And you know why they do?
Because they want attention.
If they got their attitude right
and got their focus right, got
their focus on God, they
wouldn’t be trying to be happy
being sick and getting some
attention.
They would understand that God
is the greatest encourager.
And when I finish this message,
I think you will agree that all
of us need a personal
relationship with such an
awesome God as Jehovah God,
whose Son is the Lord Jesus
Christ, who’s our pathway to Him
and to heaven.
Now, when I look at this passage
of Scripture and think about
what he’s saying here, I want us
to look at a couple of words
here, but first I want us to
look at the word encourage.
And I’m going to put a couple of
words up on the screen here in
just a moment because the same
word, parakalein, is an
infinitive, to encourage.
And I want you to see this for
this reason.
Here in the fifteenth chapter of
Romans, it is translated
encourage.
But now hold your Bible right
there and turn over, if you
will, to Second Corinthians for
a moment, and look at this very
encouraging passage of
Scripture, Second Corinthians
chapter one.
And I want you to look at
something because it’ll help you
understand why sometimes the
same word is translated two
different ways.
But look at this, verse three,
“Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and the God of
all comfort.”
Now, look at this word.
It’s the same word translated
encouragement on the one hand
and comfort on the other.
And so the reason those two
words are interpreted that way
is because of the nature of the
people and the situation or
circumstance that Paul was
writing to.
In Romans, he had one thing in
mind.
Here he’s talking about
comforting and assuring
and so forth.
But, watch this, if you read
this same passage in Second
Corinthians chapter one,
“Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and the God of
all encouragement, who
encourages us in all of our
affliction so that we will be
able to encourage those who are
in any affliction, with the
encouragement with which we
ourselves are encouraged by
God.”
So, I just wanted you to see
that sometimes it’s translated
one way, sometimes the other,
same word.
And sometimes you’ll find
different versions using the
same word.
And so I want to look at it in
the light of encouragement
because if I’m comforted, I’m
being encouraged.
If I’m encouraged, I’m being
comforted in whatever that
situation might be.
Now, to encourage means to call
to one’s side, help, to console,
to strengthen, to put courage
into a person, to inspire
another with courage.
That’s what encouragement means.
And Jesus spoke to His
disciples, and He was usually
speaking to them to encourage
them in some way, and sometimes
to comfort.
But both of those words have the
same connotation, except comfort
seems to be a little softer, but
encourage is motivation.
You can do it, and God is the
greatest encourager there is.
And I think when you and I begin
to look at the Word this
morning, we’ll realize that
oftentimes we miss out on the
blessing of God because we don’t
realize what an encourager He is
and how He desires to encourage
us in any and every situation in
which we face.
So, if we look at this passage,
it’s very interesting also that
in the Bible, a hundred and five
times the word encouragement or
to encourage or encourage is
there, so that’s a whole lot of
encouragement in the Scripture
because God does not intend for
us to live discouraged.
Now, somebody might say, “Well,
you don’t know my circumstance.”
God does.
And He–and since He knows
you’re in–your circumstance,
neither does He want you to live
discouraged.
Remember what we said?
Discouragement is a choice we
make.
I’m–something may happen that
gets me discouraged
for the moment.
I make a choice whether to stay
that way or to move out of that,
step out of it on the basis of
my knowledge and understanding
of the Word of God and what He
wants to say to us.
So, I want you to listen
carefully because I want to give
you some ammunition.
I want to give you some steps to
help you understand you do not
have to live discouraged no
matter what.
In many ways, if you read the
news this day and time, this is
a very discouraging day
in our nation.
But you don’t have to
live that way.
Somebody says, “Well, that’s
just the way things–they are.”
Let me tell you something.
I’ve lived long enough to know
that there’s always going to be
discouragement.
You and I make the choice of
whether we’re going to be
discouraged or not.
You can’t let somebody else make
your choice about such an
important aspect of your life.
Now, let’s look at this for a
moment, because I want to answer
the question: what attributes
does God possess that make Him
our great encourager?
Now, you know what an attribute
is, it’s a characteristic of
God.
So, here’s the question.
What is it about God, what is it
about His nature, what are His
attributes that make it possible
for Him to be our great
encourager?
So, all I’m going to do is to
describe what He’s like, who He
is, so that when it comes to a
question of, “Well, I
feel discouraged today.
What shall I do?”
Well, who are you going
to turn to?
You see, if people don’t know
God personally, if they don’t
know who He is, if they don’t
know what He’s like, if they
don’t know how He operates,
they’ll just stay in their
discouragement.
Now, more than likely, everybody
in here would say, “Well, yes I
believe in God.”
But how would you describe your
God?
If my God is this spirit way up
yonder somewhere out yonder, I
hope, maybe, possibly, that’s
one thing.
But if He is the God who lives
within me through the Holy
Spirit, through His Son Jesus
Christ, with all of His power
and might and love and all this,
that’s a whole different story.
So, all I want you to do is to
listen to the kind of God you
say you believe in.
Who is this God who is the great
encourager?
Well, first of all, if you will
go back to First–Second
Corinthians for a moment and
look at this first chapter
again.
And notice how he starts off
here when he says in verse
three, “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies.”
He’s a God of mercy.
And mercy means He bends toward
us.
In other words, God doesn’t
stand straight, so to speak.
God is always bending toward us.
He’s always leaning in our
direction.
He’s a merciful God.
He understands what I feel.
He knows my hurts.
He knows my pain.
He knows what’s going on in my
life that would cause me to need
to cry out to Him.
He’s a God of mercy.
Don’t ever forget that.
Secondly, He’s omnipresent,
which means,
watch this carefully.
You’re not discouraged out of
the reach of God.
Omnipresent means that He’s
everywhere; and so He’s not over
yonder and up here and back
there, everywhere is in the
presence of God.
So, think about this.
You’re discouraged about
something.
You say, “I feel so lonely.”
Well, if you just major on
feeling lonely, lonely, lonely,
lonely, lonely, you’ll get more
and more and more discouraged.
But if you think, “Wait a
minute, now.
My God is a God who’s
omnipresent.”
If He’s omnipresent, I can’t be
by myself.
In other words, watch this, no
matter what state you find
yourself in, you’re not there
alone.
Now, your husband or wife may
have walked out.
Your kids may have walked away.
Your parents may have walked
away.
Your friends may have walked
away, but you’re not alone.
If you’re a child of God, the
Spirit of God is within you.
He’s omnipresent.
He’s always there.
And personally, in my own
personal life, I think if
there’s one word that’s the most
meaningful to me personally,
that keeps me from being
discouraged, is the simple word
presence.
God is present.
If I’m in His presence, I know
that whatever’s going on, He’s
going to work it out because He
is a here and now God.
He is a living God who lives
within us.
He’s a God of encouragement.
A third characteristic,
attribute would be that He’s
omnipotent.
That is, He has all power.
He governs all things.
I don’t have to wonder if
whatever state I’m in, whatever
I’m facing, I don’t have to
wonder if God’s going to be able
to handle it.
Because you can’t weigh all
that God has.
You can’t measure all
that God has.
He is omnipotent,
He has all power.
Now, watch this, if I’m serving
a God who has all power, and
this God is living within me
through the presence of the Holy
Spirit, there isn’t anything too
big, too great to keep us
discouraged.
God is there to help us through
it no matter what.
But if I don’t know Him and have
no experience with Him, I can
still live in the dungeon of
discouragement.
So, He’s omniscient.
He, listen, He knows everything.
He has all the knowledge.
This is why somebody says,
“Well, I don’t know what to do.”
Now, watch this, you may be
discouraged today about whatever
decision you are facing, and you
say, “I don’t know what to do.”
He knows everything about your
circumstance.
He knows why you’re there.
He knows how you got there.
He knows exactly how to bring
you out of that.
He has the answer for
all of that.
He’s omniscient.
He knows it all.
That knowledge, listen, that
knowledge is within you in the
presence of the Holy Spirit.
Remember what Jesus said
to His disciples?
“I’ll not leave you as orphans.
I’ll come to you.”
He wanted them to be sure to
know that He would always know
their circumstance no matter
where they were–are
and where they would be.
And so, He says, for example,
“I’ll be with you always, even
to the end of this age.”
What He promised to them, He’s
promised to every
single one of us.
As a child of God, you have the
wisdom and the knowledge of God
within you.
Now, He is also a God of
grace, encouraging us when we
don’t deserve it.
For example, when you sin
against God or you say the wrong
thing or have the wrong attitude
and so forth, what do you do if
you’re a true child of God and
really want to do what’s right?
You ask Him, “Lord, I ask You to
forgive me for this.”
And what do you do?
You say, “Well, Lord, You said
in Your Word, If I confess my
sins, agree with You about it.
If I confess my sin, You’re
faithful and just, that means
You always will and you always
have the right to because Jesus
paid my sin-debt on the cross.
You’re faithful and just to
forgive me of my sins and to
cleanse me from all
unrighteousness.”
What an awesome God.
What an awesome promise.
He knows we’re not going to be
perfect.
He knows we’re going to fail.
If you ask Him to forgive you
and to cleanse you and to
sanctify you and to help you to
walk faithfully before Him, He
will enable you to do it.
You keep living in sin, you,
what’s He doing?
He’s going to be faithful.
Listen to what He said.
He’s faithful and just to
forgive us and He’s faithful to
keep His own word toward us.
So a person chooses to live in
sin, disobedience to God, then
He’s still going to be faithful.
And the hand of discipline will
come down.
He, listen, He is an
encouraging God.
Thank God He lays the rule
of discipline on us
when we need it.
Amen?
Otherwise, you just keep going
the same direction and wreck and
ruin your life.
So He’s an awesome God of grace.
He is a patient God.
And in the second epistle of
Peter, and he’s talking about
God’s patience, and here’s what
he says.
He says, “The Lord is not slow
about His promise, as some count
slowness, but is patient toward
you.”
God is patient with us.
How many times in your life has
God begun to deal with you about
something you didn’t want to
deal with it?
You put it off.
He wanted to have you go to
someone and ask for forgiveness
for the way you treated them.
Or, He wanted you to deal with
something in your life that only
you and He knew about, but you
just kept putting it off and
putting it off and putting
it off.
Listen, if our God were a stern,
hard-nosed God, second time you
did it…that’d be the end
of it.
What does He do?
He waits and waits and waits.
And I look back in my own life
and think, God, how did You put
up with me that long?
Why could You have been so
patient?
Watch this, because His
all-knowing mind knows that out
here you will change, you will
get the point, you will move on;
but He also knows when you
won’t.
And so the fact that He’s
patient with us, think about
what a wonderful attitude that
is.
That God is patient with you and
me, not because we deserve it.
It’s, we’re talking about His
characteristics,
that’s who He is.
Then if you will notice, He’s a
God of wisdom.
He always chooses the best for
us, always the best.
And to bring about decisions
that are best for us.
Look in Romans chapter eleven
for a moment, and I want you to
look at this particular verse,
verse thirty-three.
Listen to what he says.
When the Bible says, “Oh, the
depths of something,” that’s
like saying, “Look into the
bottom of the ocean, miles and
miles deep.
“Oh, the depths of the riches
both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are
His judgments and
unfathomable His ways!”
What an awesome verse of
Scripture.
The God who is our encourager,
what?
“The depths of the riches both
of His wisdom and knowledge.
And how unsearchable,” in other
words, you can’t plumb the
depths of it.
“Unsearchable are His judgments.
Unfathomable His ways.”
What does that say to me?
I can’t think about anything
that God doesn’t know all about.
The depths of His wisdom and
knowledge, that is, He knows
what is best for us at every
turn in our life.
Whatever the decision, whatever
the question, whatever the
circumstance, He has the wisdom
to know, to tell us exactly the
right thing.
He’s likewise, a God of
faithfulness.
And this is a wonderful verse in
Second Timothy if you look there
for just a moment.
Now, I’m moving right along but
you can write them down.
Second Timothy two thirteen.
Here’s what he says, “If we are
faithless,” that is, if we’re
faithless, that is, we’re not
faithful.
We lose it.
We don’t choose to live up to
what we know is right, “If we
are faithless, He remains
faithful, for He cannot
deny Himself.”
You say, “Well, what do you mean
deny Himself?”
What did He promise us?
If we confess our sins, He’s
what?
“Faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.”
That’s the kind of God He is.
He is a very encouraging God.
And all the attributes of God
tell me something about His
faithfulness to us.
And then, if you look, and there
are many verses in the Psalms
about God’s goodness and love
and so forth.
The hundred and sixth Psalm, and
the very first verse says,
“Praise The Lord!
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for
He is good.”
Do you remember that chorus you
sing?
♪ God is so good, God is so ♪
♪ good, God is so good, He’s ♪
♪ so good. ♪
What?
♪ To me. ♪
He’s a good God.
You think about what kind of
an encouraging God,
is He’s a good God.
That is, He sees the good things
that fit your life and mine.
Some things that are good for us
at one age, they’re not good for
us at another age.
Some things are good for us,
good sometimes in our life, not
good at other times in our life.
And the wonderful thing about
God is, look, He doesn’t even
push good things toward us that
we can’t handle.
We may scratch and do thus and
so to get them, but God sends
good things in our life when
we’re ready for them.
He knows what is good for me.
He knows what’s good for you.
Now, some things He sends into
my life or your life, we say,
“No, I–Lord, I–this is not
what I call good.”
Well, who’s doing the calling?
And who is this all-wise God?
We agree that He’s all wise and
full of wisdom.
And so, we say, “Well, when
the tough times come,
we don’t think that’s good.”
God says it’s very good.
It’s like creation.
You remember what He said after
He created everything, “And God
saw that it was very good.”
Sometimes tribulation, trial,
heartache, burdens,
difficulties, things we don’t
like, God says it’s very good.
You know why?
Because we said, “Look, He’s
omniscient.
He knows all things.”
Right here in my life, I say,
“It’s not good, it’s bad, God
where are You?”
And by the time I get over here,
I think, “Thank You, Jesus.
Thank You, Jesus.
Thank You, Jesus.
You knew that was going
to be good.
I didn’t know it,
but You knew it.”
And so, if I understand who He
is, then some things in life
will not be painful because I
will recognize God has something
good going on even though at the
moment I don’t understand it.
Then I think about one of the
most wonderful characteristics
and the closest verse, you go
back to Malachi, last book in
the Old Testament.
And if you’ll notice in this
third chapter and the sixth
verse, He says, “For I, the
Lord, do not change.”
He doesn’t change.
Now, think about this.
You know what that means?
That means that the God of
Abraham is the same God we
have today.
Look how faithful He was to
Abraham.
The God of Joseph.
The God of Jacob.
The God of David.
In other words, all through the
Scriptures, He hasn’t changed
any.
The only thing He’s done is
given us more insight and
blessed us in more ways than we
could ever begin to count.
That’s the kind of God you and I
have.
Now, if I don’t know Him
personally and if I just know,
and people have two or three
different attitudes about God.
Well, God is a spirit somewhere
up there.
And they can’t figure out what
it is, but they believe there is
some kind of a god.
Or there’s something out there
that they can’t describe.
No, God is a warm, intimate,
personal being.
And He has allowed us to see Him
through Jesus.
One of the primary reasons Jesus
came, the primary reason
is to save us.
One of the primary reasons He
came was this, that you and I
would get a glimpse of God the
Old Testament saints
could not have had.
That’s why that we say He was
God incarnate.
That He is God in human flesh,
walking among us as
a man would walk.
So, we get a different glimpse
of Him.
For example, if you want to see
what He was like, what did He
say to the little children,
“Come unto Me.”
And what did He say in different
situations and circumstances
that we find Him in the New
Testament?
He’s always encouraging.
And it’s interesting, the only
people Jesus condemned in the
New Testament when He was
walking among them were the
priests, the Pharisees, and the
Sadducees, the most religious
bunch that had no earthly idea
what God was like.
And Jesus was revealing and is
revealing so that when I think
about God, what encourages me is
not thinking about this God I
can’t quite describe physically
because that’s not who He is.
But I can relate to Him
spiritually because He walked
among us as a man.
He was tempted and tried.
And all the situations and
circumstances that He felt, that
He walked through, now He’s
given us a beautiful example.
You and I should never live in
discouragement.
It doesn’t fit who we are or
what we call ourselves,
followers of Jesus Christ.
This awesome God that I just
described with those ten
attributes, that’s who He is.
Now, if you concentrate and look
at that and read it and ask
yourself the question: is that
my God?
That’s the God of the Bible, it
should be our God.
If that’s your God, then you
have no reason to stay in the
state of discouragement when you
have this kind of Almighty God
on your side, in your behalf,
being faithful to you, true to
you, and enabling you to live
out your life because He’s
gifted you, we’ll come to in a
moment, gifted you to live out
your life in a way that’s
pleasing and honorable to Him.
That’s an awesome God.
And when I think about that kind
of God, how could I stay in a
state of discouragement?
Well, okay now, let’s talk about
how does God encourage us.
That’s who He is.
How does He encourage us?
The first way I would say is He
encourages us with His Word.
Listen, if, whatever I’m facing,
if it’s a decision, I’m going to
the Word.
If it’s a relationship, I’m
going to the Word.
If it’s something I’m hurting
about, I’m going to the Word.
The Word, the Word, the Word.
And somebody says, I’m trying to
make a decision.
I don’t know what to do.
I can tell you exactly what to
do.
You turn to a passage of
Scripture that most of us know
in Proverbs three five and six.
What does it say?
“Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, Lean not to your own
understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge
Him, And He will direct your
path.”
That’s a promise from a God that
we said while ago yes,
He’s faithful.
He’ll keep His promise.
So, if I go through these
situations and circumstances,
let’s say for example, that I’m
fearful.
Then I turn to Joshua chapter
one, that ninth verse that you
know by heart, “Be strong and of
a good courage, fear not Neither
be thou dismayed: For the Lord
your God is with you
wherever you go.”
How can you be discouraged when
you’ve got God walking
by your side?
So here’s what it boils down to.
Either I believe what He says or
I don’t.
If you don’t believe the Word of
God, then you have a thousand
reasons to be discouraged.
Because if you don’t believe in
Him, one of these days you’re
going to be eternally separated
from Him, and there’ll be no
hope.
God has given us His Word.
And He’s given us His Word to be
an encouragement to us.
I don’t have to be anxious.
“Don’t be anxious,” Paul said,
“about anything.
But in everything with prayer
and thanksgiving and
supplication, let your requests
be made known to God.”
And what will He do?
Then He will answer that
petition and encourage
your heart.
We have an awesome,
encouraging God.
And one of the ways He
encourages us is
through His Word.
A second way He encourages us is
through prayer.
For example, somebody says,
“Well, I don’t know that I know
how to pray.”
You want me to tell you how to
pray?
You want me to help you know how
to pray?
Let me ask you, Do you want a
long prayer or a short prayer?
Here’s a short prayer, watch
this.
This is–this prayer is just as
meaningful and reaches God just
as long as a prayer that may
take pages to write it down.
And here’s the prayer.
Jesus, help me!
Jesus, help me!
And I’ll give you a little
illustration that my
granddaughter was with our
family out west in this dude
ranch, and so they went out for
this breakfast ride one morning.
And she was just, I think she
was about seven or something
like that, and her horse took
off and left the whole crowd.
And he was galloping away and
she, I said, “Annie,
what were you feeling?”
She said, “I was scared
to death, Gimps.”
I said, “What else?”
She said, “I was just praying,
Jesus help me, Jesus help me,
Jesus help me, Jesus help me.”
I said, “Well, did it work?”
She says, “It worked,” because
the horse just finally just
pulled up and stopped and they
caught her.
But listen.
What a powerful prayer.
Jesus help me!
Now who is this?
This is omniscience,
omnipresence, what, omnipotence,
grace, in other words, that’s
the God we’re talking about.
How can you be discouraged if
you know Him?
If you don’t know Him, it’s just
all sort of hazy, foggy.
If you know Him and you have
this awesome God on your side,
how can you be discouraged?
The only way you can remain
discouraged is discount what He
says in the Word of God.
“Well, I know that’s what the
Bible says, but I don’t, you
know,” and I used to get this
when I was in college years and
years ago.
And a bunch of guys who weren’t
Christians, and we’d get in big
arguments, and they’d end up
saying this.
“Well, that’s the way you
see it.”
I said, I’d say to them, cocky,
sort of probably, “That’s not
just the way I see it, that’s
the way it is!”
Ha, ha, ha, ha, because that is
the way it is.
Whatever God says is the way it
is.
And so, prayer is–and I think
about the awesome ways that God
sometimes in prayer will bring
us back to the Word to remind us
that He is that kind of God.
Then, for example, the fact that
He has plans for our life, and I
will oftentimes turn people to
Jeremiah twenty-nine, which I
certainly hope you know
by heart.
And look, if you will, in this
verse.
He says, “For I know the plans
that I have for you,” period.
Do you believe that?
“‘I know the plans that I have
for you,’ declares the Lord,
‘plans for welfare and not for
calamity to give you a future
and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and
come and pray to Me,
and I will listen to you.
You will seek Me and find Me
when you search for Me
with your heart.'”
It doesn’t make any difference
who you are, where you are, what
the circumstance.
This awesome God has a plan for
your life.
If you’ve never trusted Jesus as
your Savior, I can tell you
this: part of His plan is your
salvation through faith
in Jesus Christ.
He has a plan to how you live
out your life, what you’re to
accomplish in life, what you’re
to achieve.
And you say, “At this point in
my life, I think it’s too late.”
You’re not dead.
It’s not too late.
And oftentimes we just disregard
the awesome promises of a holy,
righteous God who cannot lie,
who does not change, who has all
power, who loves you
unconditionally.
Why live in discouragement when
you have all of that working in
your behalf.
And so, He has a plan for your
life.
And somebody says, “Well, how
does He guide us?”
And I just keep this verse on
the tip end of my tongue all the
time when I’m talking to people.
I say, “Well, listen to this
verse.”
He says, “I,” God speaking, “I
will teach you.
I will instruct you in the way
you should go.
I’ll guide you with my eye
upon you.”
Which means He’s–oh, where’d
that–what verse is that?
I can’t wait to tell them.
Psalm thirty-two, verse eight.
And, because it is a definite
promise from God, “I will
instruct you.
I will teach you in the way
which you should go.
I will guide you with My eye
upon you,” which means what?
Omnipresence, He’s always there.
He knows exactly where I am.
He knows exactly where you are.
He knows exactly what He’s doing
in your life.
And these awesome promises of
God, if you want to benefit from
the encouragement of God, you’ve
got to know what He says.
Now, one of the ways God
encourages us, with friendships.
I want you to turn, if you will,
to the little epistle of
Colossians, and right after
Philippians there.
Turn to Colossians chapter four,
and this is one of my favorite
chapters in the Bible, because
here’s Paul in prison.
Things are really tough on him.
He’s been persecuted and
persecuted and persecuted.
And listen to the encouraging
words of a man in prison,
knowing that he’s probably going
to be executed before long.
He says, beginning in verse
seven of Colossians four, “As to
all my affairs, Tychicus, our
beloved brother and faithful
servant and fellow bond-servant
in the Lord, will bring you
information.”
He’s writing to Colossian
church, helping them understand
where he is.
“For I have sent him to you for
this very purpose, that you may
know about our circumstances and
that he may encourage your
hearts.”
I’m writing to you so you’ll
know where I am.
“And with him Onesimus, our
faithful and beloved brother,
who is one of your number.
They will inform you about the
whole situation here.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner,
sends you his greetings, and
also Barnabas’s cousin Mark,
about whom you received
instructions, if he comes to
you, welcome him; and also Jesus
who is called Justus, these are
the only fellow workers for the
kingdom of God who are from the
circumcision,” they were Jewish,
Hebrews, “and they have proved
to be an encouragement to me.
Epaphras, who is one of your
number, a bondslave of Jesus
Christ, sends you his greetings,
always laboring earnestly for
you in his prayers, that you may
stand perfect and fully assured
in all the will of God.
For I testify for him that he
has a deep concern for you and
for those who are in Laodicea
and Hierapolis.
And Luke, the beloved
physician,” on and on he goes.
Now, what’s he talking about?
Talking about his friends.
Now, listen carefully, how many
friends, true, genuine friends,
can you count on one had?
True, genuine, faithful, loyal
friends.
Now, there are some people who
are your friend to a point.
There are some people who are
your friend in certain
situations.
There are some people who are
your friends if you can profit
them in some way by being
their–none of that’s
friendship.
Listen, one of the jewels of
life is a godly friend who is a
faithful, loyal, devoted friend.
That is a jewel in your life.
Sometimes we get disappointed.
People we thought were our
friends, or maybe we’ve done a
lot to help them in some way,
and next thing you know their
whole attitude and ambition all
along was something totally
different.
But listen, one of the blessings
of God, one of the true means of
encouraging us is to give us
friends.
So I would ask you, who are your
real friends?
It may be somebody says,
“Well, I’ve got some buddies
I drink with.”
They’re not your friends.
“Well, I’ve got some friends I
do this with and that with.”
You’re friends?
Now, what I want to, where are
the people when you’re hurting?
Where are the people when you’re
in real need?
Where are the people who can
pray with you?
Where are the people who really
genuinely are concerned about
your spirituality and want to
help you in your
relationship to God?
Where are they?
Well, you’ve got friends who
will dress up and
go out and eat.
And you’ve got friends who
will dress up and
go to the ball games.
You got all kind of, what about
people who will pray with you?
Ask you a question.
How many friends could you call
today, now, right where you are
in your circumstance and say, “I
just need you to come over to my
house or my apartment, whatever.
I just need somebody to pray
with.”
And they wouldn’t say, “Ah,
well, uh, um, well, you know
I um, mm-mm-mm,” and that’s the
end of that.
That’s not a friend.
Let me tell you something.
Nothing more powerful than
somebody who knows how to talk
to God in your behalf for your
good with no selfish end in
mind.
And most people don’t have that
kind of friend.
And sad to say, most people are
friends to a point.
And most people have a second
ambition in mind, something that
being your friend can profit
them.
But what about the people who
have your best interest at
heart, who really care for you,
who genuinely pray for you, who
would sacrifice for you up to
the point that God would have
them to do it?
But somebody you can depend
upon, listen, this is why when
somebody says, and many people
will stop and ask me, “Well,
what can I do for you?”
And here’s what I tell them.
Pray for me.
They say, “What do you
want me to pray?”
Here’s what I tell them.
Pray God will give me wisdom
and good health.
I’d be satisfied with those two.
True, genuine friends.
Now, one of the ways that God
encourages us, I think is
through music.
Think about some of these old
hymns that are awesome, the
words in them, just awesome.
“When through fiery trials my
pathway shall lie, Thy grace all
sufficient shall be my supply.”
And on and on it goes.
There are songs that God gave us
to do what?
To encourage us, encourage us in
different ways.
So, if you get up feeling bad,
start singing.
Somebody says, “I can’t sing.”
Don’t say that.
Listen, anybody who can talk can
sing.
It may not be very good, but
that’s not the issue.
You’re not singing for approval.
You’re singing to glorify God
and to praise Him.
And so, however you
sing is fine.
Then of course, there are the
daily blessings that God sends
into our life, one of the ways
in which He encourages us.
For example, you woke
up this morning.
That was a blessing, amen?
Things are good.
They’re bad on the one hand,
but it depends on
how you look at it.
If I’m looking at it through
God’s eyes, I’m blessed.
Every day that I’m alive and I’m
healthy and strong.
And so, I look at that and I
think about how people–here’s
the problem.
With some people, no matter how
much they have, it’ll never
be enough.
You know why?
Because they don’t understand
what life’s all about.
Because if I’m walking in the
will of God, He’s going to see
to it that I have enough.
If I’m disobeying Him,
squandering what He’s
given me, see.
If I’m living a sanctified life,
I’ll be careful with my money.
If I’m living a sanctified
life, I’ll be careful
with whom I relate.
If I live a sanctified life,
which means a life separated
unto Him and under Him,
then it’ll affect every
part of my life.
And so, when you think about the
blessings of God, I think about
the people who’ve been through
all these earthquakes and
tornadoes and all the rest.
And one thing I’ve noticed,
how many of them say,
“Well, there’s my house.
I have nothing left, but I’m
thanking God I’m alive and my
family’s still alive, and we
don’t have anything,
but we have Him.”
You know what, they know more
about God than oftentimes we do.
Let me ask you a question: what
is it that happens in life that
you shouldn’t look for God?
To–people say, “Well, God had
nothing to do with that.”
That is a confession of
ignorance.
God is omniscient, He knew all
about it; omnipotent, He has all
power; omnipresent, He was there
in the process.
He’s a God of grace and love
and mercy and goodness
and all the rest.
God is in everything
in some way.
Do I understand why He allows
certain things to happen?
Not so, but He didn’t require me
to know it.
He required me to trust Him no
matter what.
And then I think about other
surroundings, for example.
One of the reasons I love to
photograph is I can capture a
mountain scene with beautiful
golden leaves in the fall.
And I can wait a little while
and go back to the same place,
and all covered in white snow.
I can think about a turbulent
shore or a very peaceful shore.
And then I can look up and think
about the little that I know,
enough to be exciting, that up
there in the daytime, when I
can’t see anything but a little
bit of sky, all these
constellations are moving in
perfect order.
And they can predict and tell
you when this one is going to be
here and this one’s going
to be here and this
star’s going to be over here.
Everything in perfect order, and
just functioning just like
God made it.
But if you look up at nighttime;
and once in a while, I’ll say,
“Did you see that
awesome, beautiful,
full moon last night?”
“No.”
Well, you missed something
beautiful.
There are a lot of people who
never look up.
And I think about, for example,
children who live in big
metropolitan cities, and it’s
all just what’s around them all
the time who never look up.
Their parents never encourage
them to look up.
And maybe they live in some
places, it’s hard to look up for
skyscrapers all around you.
But looking up, not just because
God is there, He’s everywhere.
And so, I’m to be encouraged by
what I see.
We’re encouraged by many things
that we see, and sometime we
look at things that are
discouraging, but you look up,
you’re going to see at
nighttime, for example,
especially if you can look
through a telescope or
binoculars of some sort.
And things that are happening,
things that are happening beyond
our sight one–listen,
twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week, three hundred and
sixty-five days a year, listen,
and they’ve been going on for
centuries.
This is the kind of God you and
I have.
And when I think about all of
that, I go back to what I said
to you before.
To me personally, the most
important thing that encourages
me above everything else in the
world is just being aware of His
presence.
Just write that word down,
presence.
That you live in His presence;
sleep in His presence, walk in
His presence, speak in His
presence, you work in His
presence.
Or, presence, that’s the most
awesome, encouraging factor in
life.
You are in the presence of this
God we described in the very
beginning.
That’s who He is.
And you can live in His presence
knowing that He has the best
worked out for you, no matter
what.
Now, think we would all agree
that these things being true,
that He’s an encourager.
Let me just say this, you can
just about look at someone and
tell whether they are encouraged
or discouraged.
I think it tells in two ways, by
their facial expressions and by
their words.
When somebody says, “Well,
things are really bad today.”
Or then you can hear folks say,
“Well, it’s a little tough but
I’m making it.”
Big smile on their face.
Doesn’t mean you have to go
around smiling all the time.
But that, listen, but you can
have this calmness, this
quietness, this
sereneness about you.
Why?
Because you know you are in the
hands of an awesome,
indescribable, all-powerful,
loving, merciful, kind,
gracious, good and on and on we
could go, God that we serve.
So give me a good example for
being discouraged and
staying there.
Can’t.
Remember this, discouragement
is a choice I make.
Encouragement is
a choice I make.
And the God whom you and I serve
is a God of encouragement, never
discouragement, encouragement.
Sin brings discouragement.
Disobedience brings
discouragement.
Salvation, obedience,
walking in the will of God
brings encouragement.
You can walk through anything
if you have Christ in your life.
So let me
ask you a question.
If I could see your face,
would I see discouragement
or encouragement?
Would I see peace and joy and
happiness and contentment, or
would I see questions, doubts,
fears, anxiety?
It’s a choice.
If you accept the Lord Jesus
Christ as your personal Savior,
who is the Son of God, who came
to earth in order to help us
understand who He’s really like.
If you’re willing to ask Him to
forgive you of your sins.
Father, forgive me of my sins
based on the fact that Your Son,
Jesus, went to the cross, shed
His blood for my sin.
He paid my sin-debt in full.
On the basis of that, I’m asking
You to forgive me of my sins.
And I’m surrendering
my life to You.
I want You to guide my life from
this point on.
My friend, He’ll change your
life in the most awesome ways.
He’ll drag you out of the pits
and put you on the pinnacle if
you’re willing to trust Him to
do what He promised.
And here’s what He said.
“Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord,” that’s Jesus,
“will be saved.”
“For God so loved you that He
gave His only Begotten Son,
Jesus, that whoever believes in
Him,” and believes to the point
of surrender, yieldedness,
“would never perish, but have
everlasting life.”
What an awesome God you
and I have.
Now, that being true, what will
you do about it?
Will you listen to this and just
move on in life?
Or will you listen carefully,
believe it because it is the
absolute eternal truth?
And watch God do some amazing
things in your life.
And what you’ll find is He’ll be
encouraging you every day.
Father, how grateful we are for
Your love for us.
We could never describe it
adequately.
We know that.
Thank You for Your precious Word
that makes it all come alive.
And I pray that every person who
hears this message will not just
hear it and think about it, but
hear it and soak it in.
Hear it and begin to practice
it, begin to watch You work in
their life so that You can
transform their life.
And one day, they’ll be singing
the songs of encouragement
because You never change and You
love us all the same.
I pray for every discouraged
person who is listening.
I pray for every discouraged
person who is watching, that
beginning today, it’ll be
a new day.
A new day of encouragement,
confidence and assurance,
recognition, a brand-new life
because they’ve begun to
understand who You really are,
our great God of encouragement.
In Jesus’s name, amen.
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