Meditate.
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11
What wise advice Paul used in closing this letter
to the church at Corinth.
Be
joyful. Let the Holy Spirit fill you with His joy—and spread that
joy—that happiness to others. A happy face makes others happy. A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken
heart crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13.
Grow to maturity. What does it mean to “mature”? How about…become complete or to be perfect…or to be what one should be. That’s how I see it that God wants us to grow—to be like His Son, Jesus.
The seeds that fell among the thorns
represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is
crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they
never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent
honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, cling to it, and patiently
produce a huge harvest. Luke 8:14-15.
Encourage
each other. You want to be inspired, refreshed, revived or cheered—then
do the same for others. Just like Jesus’ teaching of the Golden Rule: Do to others as you would like them to do to
you. (He continues) If you love only
those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those
who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should
you get credit? Even sinners do that much! Luke 6:31-33.
Paul wrote that he
wanted encouragement…and to encourage others. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also
want to be encouraged by yours. Romans 1:12.
The author of Hebrews also admonished his
readers not to neglect getting together with other Christians. That’s
important. How can we learn from each other or encourage each other if we don’t
spend time together?
And let us not neglect our meeting together,
as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His
return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25. Are you encouraged by others…and are
you inspiring others?
Live in harmony and peace. There is so much strife in this world. Don’t listen to the news or watch it on TV if you don’t want to hear about violence. When was the last time you experienced peace?
I went out for a short kayak trip on the Columbia River Thursday afternoon. It was wonderful. A truly peaceful time—I sang softly about the sweet, sweet spirit in that place. Sometimes we need to draw ourselves away from others for even just a few minutes to experience God’s peace—to find His harmony within our lives. Surrendering our agendas, our preconceived ideas about how our lives should be and yielding to His will and allow Him to guide and direct us. May our lives grow towards maturity, being filled with His joy, encouraging others, and living in harmony and peace with ourselves…and everyone.
Prayer ~ Lord Jesus, please give me grace to follow Your path, to become like You as I spiritually mature, to encourage and be encouraged by those around me...and to live in harmony and peace.
Verse of Salvation ~ But may all who search for you
be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, "The LORD is great!" Psalm 40:16
Happy Birthday Lisa Marie!
Unless
otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of
Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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