Encouraged To Encourage

The spirit of the sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has chosen me. He has commissioned me to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives, and the freeing of prisoners, to announce the year when the LORD will show His favour, the day when our God will seek vengeance, to console all who mourn, to strengthen those who mourn by giving them a hope, instead of ashes, joy, instead of mourning, praise, instead of discouragement. They will be as trees planted by the LORD to reveal His splendour. Instead of shame, they will get a double portion; instead of humiliation, they will rejoice. Isaiah 61:1-3, 7 NET

It is vital, life saving, to know that our past does not define us. It will shape us, determine some consequences, and potentially cause some future obstacles because we are human, but it will never trump God’s vision of who we are and where we are going for His kingdom. Fight any hold the past may have over you and embrace the new creation God has fashioned in His strong hands. That’s the power of grace.  Ask God to help your heart be humble and ready to receive His truth. God still does new things for His people today. Perhaps you’ve been dwelling on past mistakes. Now God tells you, Forget about it! Let Me do something new with you. Newness can be terrifying . We sometimes find comfort in clinging to our old ways. Even our old regrets can feel familiar. We know how to be sorry for past errors. We might not know what sort of courage we will need for the future. What kind of attitude adjustment is necessary to welcome the new life God wants for you? Forgetting the past requires mental and spiritual discipline. It takes faith to step forward into God’s new direction. How will God nurture that spirit in you—and help you let go of what haunts you?  

Furthermore, our dreams matter to Him! He has put something inside of each of us, planted a seed of sorts, that He wants to nurture through our pain and long-suffering and bloom at a very specific time.  There is nothing more valuable in this world to God than His children. He sent His Son to die in our place and claim the victory over sin so that we would no longer have to live in bondage to our past. My friends step into what He has done and is doing in your life and live the purpose you are called to live. When we’re saved, cleaned up, found, and set apart, it’s for a reason. God doesn’t set us apart to be an art piece on a shelf, or to get stale in a corner, or to be a weird loner. God sets us apart by His grace to send us somewhere we are needed.  Our Purpose: His prayer warrior eyes on the ground. Often, we pass people by on the streets of our communities without ever knowing their needs. Caught up in our own world, we miss the opportunities that pass us by every day – opportunities to share the kindness and encouragement of Holy Spirit and help others find the love of Christ that they desperately need. Think of the people we see every day, weighed down by past regrets. Sometimes we can see it in physical appearance—they seem to carry the weight on their shoulders—but sometimes we just sense it. Ya know ? So how can we ease that burden? How can we be an agent of God’s plan for salvation? Are there some who just need the reassurance of God’s forgiveness for mistakes they have made? 

Bring Jesus with you everywhere and offer people peace, empathy, forgiveness for the past and excitement over the new thing God can do in their lives. Be grace in daily interactions and situations.  I know its hard, we are impatient in the bank line up, frustrated by the slow person in the crosswalk but God is unlimited in His patience for each of us, and we in turn are to strive to be that calm in the daily storm of everyday life because grace is the unmerited favour of God; it’s getting all the good things we’ve been given in life and beyond even though we don’t deserve it.  We don’t deserve salvation, healing, redemption, blessings, and all the other wonderful gifts that come from God. However, we serve a gracious and loving Heavenly Father who repeatedly offers us redemption, salvation and acceptance. Our purpose is to mirror those gifts. God loved us so much that He sent His son Jesus to die for us. He went out of His way to meet us even when we were strangers to Him. When we do the same for people who are strangers to us, we literally bring the light of God to them.