Encouragement: Urging to persist and persevere in their efforts to attain their goals; stimulating others toward love and good deeds. (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 10:24)
This week’s 52 Week Plan is on Meeting The Need for Encouragement In Believer’s and Other’s. Normally this plan would be on HOW to meet that need but we wanted to do something a little different this week. We want to encourage YOU our reader! After all you fall into one of those categories, believer or other, right? 🙂
This week we want to encourage you to continue on with meeting the relational needs of your spouse. You read each week so you already have a heart to grow your marriage to the best it can be. We just wanted to encourage you to keep up the good work!
We know this is not always easy. It is a choice you make each day, sometimes each moment of the day, to love and meet the relational needs in your spouse. Selfishness wants to have its way often, but we encourage you to keep pushing aside that urge to satisfy your own need and continue looking and trusting God to meet your personal need while focusing on your spouse.
THREE SOURCES OF LIGHT – Help Us Experience Encouragement
Light Source #1: Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12) Walking in the Light: Having a fresh encounter with Jesus. (Encouragement)
We want to encourage you to spend time daily with God. Yes, we all know we should, but do we actually do it, daily? Again, this is another choice. I was recently convicted of not giving God enough time. I allowed my schedule to dictate instead of making it a priority above the other items in my personal schedule. I realized I was adding God into my life instead of letting Him lead it. This was an “ouch moment”, for sure. How did I get to the place that I forgot that God is The Almighty? A little at a time, my friend. It is a very slow fade.
So…I am encouraging you! If you find yourself forgetting that God is THE Almighty and you have grabbed the reins…let go! It has been a few weeks now that I am making a conscious effort to spend time- first thing – with God, and I can tell you I noticed a change right away! Friends, we can’t be all God created us to be if we are not allowing Him to speak life into us daily! We will automatically choose ourselves every time if God is not in control of our heart and thoughts. I am not talking some major sin, though there is no degree of sin in God’s eyes, sin is sin. But I am talking about missing joy, peace, patience, love…all the good stuff God fills us up with. I don’t know about you but I am a much better, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend when God is #1 in my life instead of me!
If your desire is to be the best wife/husband you can be for your spouse the only way to make that work is by giving God your full attention and heart. Our nature is to look after our own need, to protect it, to seek its desires. Only God can change that. Look to your Savior to fill your need and ask Him to use you in meeting your spouse’s needs. An awesome thing will happen! You will feel fulfilled! I promise!
Light Source #2: God’s Word is a lamp and a light, so walk in the light of frequent experiences of doing His Word. Psalm 119: 105
Let’s do: Eph. 3: 14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Would you join me in praying this for our spouse everyday for 1 month? Ask the Lord to fill your spouse with ALL of His fullness by adding his/her name into this prayer.
Don’t be tempted to add in, Lord, will you fix _______________ in him/her.
Just pray this scripture prayer over him/her and see what the Lord does. I bet your spouse will not be the only one affected by this prayer.. You just might find God doing something in your own heart towards your husband/wife.
Light Source #3: God’s people are sources of light so walk in real fellowship with believers and others: “the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14
Have you ever thought deeply on #3 Light Source? What does “walking in real fellowship” look like with believers and others/spouse/children?
In my mind I have a picture of Jesus walking with me, the others in my life, my spouse or my children, together down a path. We laugh as we walk, making jokes with one another, we have deep heart to heart talks, we hold hands, we rest under a huge shade tree and just look into the eyes of our Savior and He looks into ours, and we feel so completely loved, safe and relaxed.
If I could carry this mental picture with me every time I am with my spouse, friends, kids, neighbors, church family and remember that HE IS actually right there with us, that is what real fellowship would feel like to me. Laugh, have heart to heart talks, do life together, being completely real….together with Jesus.
Imagine what your own mind picture would look like for #3. Put your spouse, because that is our focus today, in that picture of what “walking in real fellowship” means for you. What does it look like, sound like, feel like? Love it? Then strive towards it! Ask God to show you how. Talk with your spouse about what their mind picture would look like and make a plan to live that way, realistically.