Encouraging, Comforting and Urging

“For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” 1 Thessalonians 2:11,12 NIV

encourage
1. To inspire with hope, courage, or confidence; hearten.
2. To give support to; foster: policies designed to encourage private investment.
3. To stimulate; spur: burning the field to encourage new plant growth.

comfort
1. To soothe in time of affliction or distress.
2. To ease physically; relieve.

soothe
1. To calm or placate.
2. To ease or relieve (pain, for example).

King James Version:
“As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

exhort
To urge by strong, often stirring argument, admonition, advice, or appeal: exhorted the troops to hold the line.

admonition
1. Mild, kind, yet earnest reproof.
2. Cautionary advice or warning.

comfort
1. To soothe in time of affliction or distress.
2. To ease physically; relieve.

soothe
1. To calm or placate.
2. To ease or relieve (pain, for example).

charge
To impose a duty, responsibility, or obligation on: charged him with the task of watching the young swimmers.

Encouraging Verses

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:5,6

“David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.” 1 Samuel 30:6

“You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.” Isaiah 57:10

“The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” Isaiah 9:10

“Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope? Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?” Job 4:4-7

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [a] and crowned him with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:3-5

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” Psalm 31:24

“We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:13-18

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

“And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:30-31

“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Psalm 94:19

“All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.” 2 Thessalonians 1:5

Coming to a School Near You

Future-spotting
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/future_spotting/

“Quebec is certainly the most secularist and statist province in Canada, so much so that the Quebec government is currently implementing a new school curriculum – Ethics and Religious Culture. Its avowed purpose is to teach children an ideology – the ideology of so-called “normative pluralism”, whereby they will be told that religious faith and practice are all right as long as people don’t take these matters too seriously. It’s a program that is designed to deter children from assimilating the basic tenets of the two cultural institutions most likely to influence their world view, their families and their churches, and to turn them into passive citizens, looking for guidance in all matters to the state rather than to civil society institutions.”

“French and English Canada both appear to be suffering, albeit in different degrees, from the same growing spiritual illness that people like J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, Christopher Dawson, T.S. Eliot, and C.S. Lewis wrote about throughout the last century. It’s a loss of hope and purpose resulting from the loss of interior life and a living faith. The history of both Catholic and Protestant Christianity in Canada over the past 50 years has been largely, although not exclusively, one of erosion of Christian doctrine and morals and of buying into secularism.”

“Though this world should threaten to undo us”

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD
Martin Luther

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Free Indeed

I was just watching the fourth part of the DVD series, How Should We Then Live?, with the boys. It was the part about the reformation. It ended with this:

“When we begin to speak of the results of the reformation, it did bring tremendous freedom. And we must always say both things together. The first thing, and the primary thing is, it sudddenly gave freedom from having to work one’s way to God. No longer was it necessary to merit the merit of Christ. One must understand the terrible psychological slavery. Because if you beat yourself 100 times in order to merit the merit of Christ, how do you know that you don’t have to beat yourself 101 or 102? So the terrible slavery… So suddenly, when we come to the gospel (the Good News), and that Christ has done it all, and we accept this with the empty hands of faith, we have tremendous freedom from this awful, awful bondage that I have spoken of. But it brings many other freedoms. Because it is a terrible bondage really, as a man, as a finite man, to have to act as God and make our own absolutes (or try to, ’cause we really can’t). This is a bondage. And suddenly when we have, in the Bible itself, that which gives us the absolutes, we are free then, to function, whether in the area of science or morals or sociological things or behavior patterns, we are free to operate within the circles that the absolutes of the Scripture gives us.”  Dr. Francis Shaeffer

I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES
Charles Wesley

I know that my Redeemer lives,
And ever prays for me;
A token of His love He gives,
A pledge of liberty.

I find him lifting up my head,
He brings salvation near,
His presence makes me free indeed,
And He will soon appear.

He wills that I should holy be,
What can withstand His will?
The counsel of His grace in me
He surely shall fulfill.

JOY UNSPEAKABLE
Barney E. Warren

I have found His grace is all complete,
He supplieth ev’ry need;
While I sit and learn at Jesus’ feet,
I am free, yes, free indeed.

Children in the Covenant

Just finished listening to this:
http://www.followersmedia.com/gohope/20080518_Gen2519_rrg.mp3
Randy Greenwald (Hope PCA)

Hat tip: http://www.tulipgirl.com/index.php

Precious Lord

“For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”
Isaiah 41:13

PRECIOUS LORD, TAKE MY HAND

Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light:

Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call,
Hold my hand lest I fall:

When the darkness appears
And the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand,
Guide my feet, hold my hand.

Living on a Small Speck of Dust

Our Awesome Universe
http://www.tbyil.com/theuniverse.htm