Encouraged

Have you met anyone that couldn't use a little encouragement? It might be the beginning point for most ministry.

The great preacher Paul had a life changing encounter with the Son of Encouragement, or Barnabas as we know his friend. The encouragement of Barnabas launched the apostle into a courageous career of faith. Perhaps that courage is rooted in the uplifting words of a real friend.

As I have traveled the world, a common need of many believers is simply the need to be encouraged. I am not talking about some vague fluffy nonsense but genuine hope clothed in words of expectation and faith. This is the encouragement that changes lives. This is a foundational ministry that most believers can master and utilize to build up one another in the Body of Christ.

Jesus is the master encourager. He us and speaks to us in view of our destiny and fulfilled personhood. He calls the things that are not as though they were. He sees us as finished products, not as incomplete projects. He speaks to us as grown sons and daughters although we may be babes or adolescents. He sees us as what we will become, not what we have been. He always sees the best in us, because he sees us through the finished work of the cross.

Dear friend, be encouraged today. Take courage in the truth that Jesus sees you as a wonderfully created son or daughter destined to be like him. You will make it. You will become all you were intended to be. He will finish the good work he started in you!

Mark