Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing. In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.
Hebrews 10:24-25 TPT
This is a message for the times we are living in now. These times call for something different from the usual, the normal and the expected. We have done the usual for some time now, and nothing has really changed. We have spent time cutting each other down, not caring about the interests of other people. We have looked to our own interests alone, but we have found ourselves even worse off. There must be something about what God prescribes that makes it impossible to disobey Him without consequences.
In this season of fear, I am to find new and creative ways to encourage people. I note that the foundation is love. That must be at the root of all I do; otherwise, it will be about show off, hypocrisy and deceit. Whatever it is I am led to do, I must ask myself the question: WHY do I do it? When I know the WHY, the WHO and the WHAT will sort themselves out. And I also note that it does not tell me what the other person's reaction or response to me should be; in fact, it does not seem to care whether the person appreciates what I do or not. I must clear my heart of the need to be noticed or appreciated. I don't do the good because it is popular, but because it is the natural outflow of a heart that the good God has done His work IN and ON.
And another reason why I must watch the WHY is because this season of fear makes it easy to stay away from people. Suspicion and animosity towards people brings distance. We tend to want to stay away from people who don't look or talk or dress like us; unfortunately, the world has become more complex and it is now more difficult to find people who are exactly like us. Is the solution to this difference staying away? Would I stop going to work simply because I have a disagreement with a colleague? If I won't do this in the office, why is it so easy to do with church fellowship? At the slightest hurt, we stay away, not knowing that fire does not catch on when the catalysts are away from each other.
When we come together, the fire of God's presence is able to impact all of us. This is even more important now as we wait for the return of the bridegroom. That day is surely coming, and there is nothing I can do to stop its coming. I can only make sure that I am ready when Jesus returns. He is coming back for a church without spot, wrinkle, blemish or stain. As I take stock today, I must really ask myself: am I ready for His return? Am I doing all the good I can do with all the grace that God has made abundantly available? I know now that whatever God commands has consequences for disobedience, so I ask God for grace to obey, and to do so to the end. That grace is free and available. His time of favour is here.
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