Good Morning Friday...
Thank You Father for loving us so much and the blessing of this NEW day. Please continue to fill our HEARTS & MINDS with Your TRUTH & LOVE so we stay focused on Your Sustaining Grace TODAY!
When someone is discouraged it can be a very powerful emotion. Discouragement is a tool the enemy likes to use on a regular basis, because many times discouragement can fog good decision making and blind our Christ-Centered decisions. Ultimately, discouragement can lead fellow Brothers and Sisters to turn their backs on Our Father and His Son, Our Messiah.
When we take a look in The Book of Job we see the enemy in full-effect trying to discourage God's Servant Job. The enemy hit Job with one catastrophe after another and left him in a position that seemed hopeless. When things seemed at their worst, that's when Job's "friends " turned on him...and tried to have him turn on Our Father. How? With discouragement.
Let's take a look at Job's wife's response:
“Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!””
Job 2:9
Before we begin to judge Job's wife, we probably need to do an assessment of the situation. What is the most powerful tool the enemy could use to discourage us? Through the ones we love most, and those who love us the most. Sometimes the people who love us most struggle to see us go through "tough times." They don't want to witness us hurting, discouraged, or going through a "rough patch" in life, because they care for us deeply. This is where our fallen nature takes center stage. How does the enemy use our loves ones against us? By having them try and coax us into taking the easy way out... man's way out. In a world filled with "instant gratification," rarely do people "consider the cost" of their actions and decisions. The enemy knows this and uses our loved ones to try and persuade us or lead us into a quick, easy temptation and right out of the The Will of Our Father. A prime example of this, though he was dealing with The Master Who Couldn't Be Discouraged, is Peter. Our Savior had to deal with one of His servants and best friends urging Him not to speak about His Future Prophetic Fulfillment and being sacrifices on the cross. Yeshua, Jesus, Our Master, for the benefit of all our sakes, knew just how to deal with that situation... He wasn't putting up with it. Our Messiah knew the source of this dissent and "bad" thinking, He Spoke With Authority and Declared: "Get Behind Me Satan!" Let's take a look:
“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:21-24
Notice, after Yeshua, Jesus says "get behind me satan," one of the very next things He says is "follow ME"... not follow man. We as Followers of Our Savior have a large responsibility to one another. When we come to a situation where we see a Brother or Sister facing a "tough" situation we must be mindful of the advice and direction we try to lead them. We must make sure we are giving God's Instructions, not our instructions. It is important for us all to fight the urge to lead our loved one dealing with the issue to the easy way out. We must make sure we are not encouraging them to give in or give up on their walk with God. We must learn to join our Brother or Sister in their struggle and encourage them to take God's Way, The Way, and follow The Commandments of God even when it seems like "the hard way." We all have heard the saying: "nothing good comes easy." While this is not always true and can be very "worldly," there is another saying or Truth that we can hold on to, and we can always share with the discouraged we love without tempting them to "cop out." God's Way Is Always The Best Way. Period.
The Wisdom of Life, The Word Of God:
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
Proverbs 14:12
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
Proverbs 16:25
“They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down.”
Joel 2:8
“Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.””
II Samuel 11:25
“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.”
I Thessalonians 5:9-14
A copy of this devotion, pictures with verses, and other encouragement for sharing, is available at:
https://servantofyeshua7.weebly.com
Thank You and Yahweh Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, God Our Father and His Son, Bless You!
