Encourage and Build Up

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. – (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NLT)

So encourage each other and help each other grow stronger in faith, just as you are already doing. – (1 Thessalonians 5:11, ERV)

So support one another. Keep building each other up as you have been doing. – (1 Thessalonians 5:11, VOICE)

 

I continue to stand in awe as I watch how God orchestrates community. A few years ago, when my world turned upside down, I found myself in the midst of friends who became family. These people encouraged and built up both me and my boys, and we have grown stronger as a result. As life keeps moving forward, and the circle expands, each of us have opportunity to encourage, build up, and support one another as we grow. Though time marches on and life becomes busy, the joy that is found in time spent together, remains. May we lay hold of every opportunity to encourage and build each other up, as we grow in faith and His strength as we walk out His will.

 

Called to encourage,

And build others up;

To grow in our faith,

In strength we lift up.

Choose invest time well,

In community;

It is where your friends,

Become family.

All thanks be to God,

Who knows what we need;

Surrounds us the best,

So we can succeed.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You call us to be invested in communities. Thank You that as we encourage and build one another up, we grow stronger in our faith, and friends become family in You. Thank You that You know our need and meet it far better than we ever could. Forgive us for attempting to isolate ourselves or for withdrawing from the places that we have been planted. Teach us to trust You completely, so that we would invest well in the people that You have brought into our lives. Show us how to love, encourage and build others up, just as You have done for us. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we support each other as You have called us to do. Amen.

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.  – James 5:13

Called to be Family

When Jesus saw His mother standing there beside the disciple He loved, He said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home. – (John 19:26-27, NLT)

 

As Jesus was hanging on the cross, weighed down by the weight of the world’s sin, He still took notice of the growing grief on the faces of those He dearly loved. A further example of how Jesus loved people, even as He hung in agony, is revealed to us in this short exchange between Jesus, His mother, and John. Knowing that both Mary and John would need comfort and care from another who had shared in the entire experience of the life and death of Jesus, He presented them to each other in new familial roles so that they could help one another in Jesus’ absence. Clearly Christ’s words were taken to heart, as John took Mary into his home from that day forward. Jesus is all about relationship. He cares about our heart and wants our grieving hearts to be comforted. The people around us are not in place by mistake. He sets the lonely in families, and loves us to life when our light has grown dim. May we ever fix our eyes on Christ, and allow Him to move in us and through us in ways that bring comfort and care to all in need, as we look to the hope that is held forever in Him.

 

Jesus sees our hearts,

And knows all our needs;

Surrounds the lonely,

And hungry, He feeds.

Wherever we are,

He sees and He knows;

His heart is to love,

So our faith might grow.

Even in anguish,

Christ spoke how to be;

Support each other,

We’re now family.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that family is not only those related by blood, but rather they are those whom You surround us with to be our safety and support. Thank You that Jesus showed us how important it is to be in ongoing relationship with one another, as it was one of the last things He pointed out before He drew His last breath on the cross. Forgive us for withdrawing or not investing ourselves into those that You have placed in our lives to be family – whether they are related by blood or not. Teach us to trust You more, so that we would love those around us as You have loved us. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we embrace and invest in those around us, just as we are called to do. Amen.

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present

Listen… be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. – Proverbs 23:19

Helping Each Other is Obedience

Help each other with your troubles. When you do this, you are obeying the law of Christ. – (Galatians 6:2, ERV)

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. – (Galatians 6:2, NIV)

God created us to be in relationship with one another. He did not intend for us to do this life alone. When one is struggling, those around them are meant to come beside them, and help, support, encourage and lift them up until they again are able to stand securely. When we help one another, we are living as Christ is calling us to live. To carry the burdens of another can be something so simple as preparing a meal for an exhausted friend, a quick phone call or text that offers encouraging words, ongoing and faithful prayer for the circumstances that are wearing the other down, and providing time to be present to sit beside one another and listen. God both uses and honors the help that we offer, as we are obedient to that which He calls us to do. Our offering is fulfilling the law of Christ. May we help one another with our burdens, so as to love well, as Christ calls us to love.

When we look around,

what need do we see?

We are called to rise,

“Lord, come and use me.”

For if we choose love,

in tangible ways;

we’ll help each other,

and in tough times, stay.

Oh Lord show us how,

to bear burdens well;

grant us grace to love,

and Your words to tell.

Let all that we say,

and all that we do;

encourage others,

give glory to You.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You created us for relationship and that You did not intend for us to navigate this life alone. Thank You that You call us to help one another and to bear one another’s burdens. Thank You that to do so, is to walk beside in love, making Your grace and strength tangible when it is needed most. Thank You that when we walk in this way, we are fulfilling Your intended purpose for us. Forgive us for withdrawing into ourselves when we struggle or for neglecting the needs of another that we see. Help us to reach out beyond ourselves when we see a need and when we have a need; for You are our Great Provider. Lead us to love others in such a way, that they feel supported, encouraged, strengthened and loved, even in the midst of their own struggles. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we carry one another’s burdens in obedience to all that You ask of us. Amen.

© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. – Job 8:21