Acts 11:23
Encouraged them all with the purpose of heart.
Encourage: to give or impress others with bravery; that quality of mind which enables people to encounter difficulties with firmness, without fear, or depression of spirits. To give or impress others to be filled with valor; boldness; and resolution.
The definition alone informs us of the type of heart we are to help others have. We in ourselves cannot impress others to have what we do not have. Whatever we share with others is done so with purpose.
What is your purpose for speaking to or over ourselves and others? Is it life or death? Our words when spoken can remain with us and those we speak with until the moment of death. If we have spoken negative words into or over ourselves and another person, we have spoken death. Death is a curse.
Everyone who has had their skin, muscle, or bone traumatized healed from that wound, and depending on how severe the trauma may have been there may be a scare that will remain. However, the scars that may be left behind on our flesh or bone will not haunt our being.
Words, however, are scars left in the heart, mind, and soul. These scars will remain until we and others affected by negative communication die. Though GOD through JESUS will deliver people from the sting of what we have spoken to ourselves or others. Those words remain in our literary library of the heart, mind, and soul.
We can become people who are encouragers and still face negative mental conversations with ourselves. We can win all types of awards and be recognized for exceptional accomplishments and still be haunted by negative words within our being.
Today should be the day that we first begin to encourage ourselves. What is it that we desire to do with our lives? What is the legacy that we would like to leave behind for our family? Whatever those things may be, speak them into and over yourself every single day until that which we want has manifested.
Just as Barnabas saw, others will need to see what GOD has done through us. GOD is where everything good originates and we are to rely on everything from HIM to be all that we desire to be in this world. GOD’s grace in our lives brings joy not only to ourselves but to others because people do not realize what they need until we speak and demonstrate how what we have will improve their lives.
This is how we became purchasers of those things that we now own or did own until we no longer have use for them. Everyday radio and television ads, magazine ads, billboard ads and the like subliminally inform us to purchase what they have to offer because we need what they have.
When it comes to what GOD has to offer what HE provides is eternal through JESUS. Then as we get to the place in our lives where we want to believe, rely on, and trust in HIM for everything, that is when success takes place for us.
So, how, or what are we to encourage ourselves? As I clearly wrote encouragement begins with words. Open your mouth and speak those things that you desire. Speak life! Here are some examples: I need JESUS in my life, I want JESUS in my life, and I invite JESUS into my life because I choose to believe in HIM. I desire to become an honest and loving person; I am an honest and loving person. I desire to become an entrepreneur; I am an entrepreneur”. And the list may go on and on.
When I needed to be encouraged about authoring a book, I had to first speak that over my life until I believed that. I said, “I want to write a book that my FATHER desires for me to write, I am an author, I will receive finances from my written books, and I will be well compensated for each book I author because many people will make a purchase and eventually those more notarized publishing houses will request me to become their client”.
How we choose to encourage ourselves and others will take on various molds for the current situation. Nonetheless, all encouragement begins and ends with words. Take notice of how long it took for what you spoke over yourself to become evident that others besides yourself can see. From the very beginning of our seeing what GOD has accomplished through our obedience to HIS Word in our spirit, our faith will begin to stretch out and become deeper, higher, and wider. And before we know it, we will have to be careful as to how we speak to others about how we can receive from GOD. Everything that we go after is done so by faith and speaking them into existence using words of encouragement and doing so without sounding arrogant.
Our desire is to share and teach others how to speak encouragement over themselves as well so that their worldview will change and then they will be able to be the one who speaks and teaches encouragement to others. Beginning with us the dominos will begin to fall then the big picture will be identified.
AMFBeM © TM