OUTLINE:
Encouragement
Don’t be an island, or think others are OK being that way. Heb 10:25, Ro 1:12
Ro 1:12 [NLV]
Both of us need help. I can help make your faith strong and you can do the same for me. We need each other.
Do Not Be Deceived
It’s a privilege to have the time/energy/opportunity to encourage another human being. (Ref. Jn 15:10-13)
Escaping Misery
It’s impossible to remain miserable if we focus on Christ.
Our Time Is Short
If you knew you only had a short time remaining, would you allow earthly distractions to prevent you from living for God?? Eph 5:15-17
Eph 5:15-17 ESV
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Our Time Is Short
Let’s not buy the lies of the world, the fears and the empty promises, to take our eyes off the prize! Php 3:14, 2Ti 4:7-8
2 Ti 4:7-8 NIV
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Heb 1:3b [Amplified]
[Jesus Christ is] upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal].
The Deceitfulness of Sin
And don’t let your own sin nature concoct reasons why you ought to begin doubting God’s divine providence in your life. Once we begin down that unholy road, we leave our joy and peace behind.
God Is Love
Christ, Himself, showed us how to form healthy relationships…
He showed us that to love is to give.
Relationships Require Effort
We seek to give rather than to receive. Christ is our pristine example.
“I have called you friends”
Friends are those we share confidential things with (our hopes, our dreams, our innermost intents, etc.). Jesus intimates such things with His sheep, but only those who come to truly know Him will ever benefit.
Mt 11:28“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Heb 4:11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
Ps 4:8
In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to
dwell in safety.
Jn 16:33
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Ro 8:6
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.
Php 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1Ti 2:4
[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Ti 3:6-7 NIV
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
2 Ti 3:6-7 TLB
They are the kind who craftily sneak into other people’s homes and make friendships with silly, sin- burdened women and teach them their new doctrines. Women of that kind are forever following new teachers, but they never understand the truth.
2 Ti 3:6-7 MSG
These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn.