Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Take Courage...Again


And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven." Matthew 9:2

And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him here." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you." Mark 10:49

Here are two examples of people about to be healed being told to “take courage.” Interestingly enough, one was spoken by Jesus, and one by His disciples. What does that tell us? That we need to tell others to “take courage.” Encourage them—and be encouraged also. Jesus cares about us as He cared about the sick during His time. Another interesting note is that the word “encourage” has “courage” within it. En-as a prefix means to cause…so encourage means to cause to have courage! Just think about it. When you are encouraged, someone is helping you to have courage to do something…and likewise when you encourage others you are helping them have courage to do or face some situation. Remarkable thing about the English language and God’s word in this word “en-courage”; intertwined to facilitate courage in our lives.

Take courage. Talk with your children or grandchildren about what it means to “take courage” and give them some examples of ways times that they may need courage in their lives: first day of school, moving to a new community, walking in a scary neighborhood or dark place—even if not alone, being confronted by a bully, riding a scary ride at an amusement park, or walking by a barking dog—even if he is behind a fence or on a leash.  Encourage your children to be courageous. Take them on a walk where they have to walk across a log or set up an obstacle course in your yard that will require some courage for them to complete. Praise them for their courageous efforts.

Lord Jesus, just as you have taught us we will take courage because we know that our strength comes from You.… O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary. The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God! Psalm 68:35 NASB
(Recycled from May 2, 2013 Banquet With The King blog.)

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 133

© 2018 Text and photo by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.

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