“So then, brothers and sisters, stand
firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of
mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who
loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage
your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” (2 Thessalonians
2:15-17, NIV)
There are moments in any friendship when
we find encouragement not only in the relationship with the friend but also in
the words they may speak to us and the support they may give us. Friends are sometimes closer than our
siblings (Proverbs 18:24) and vital in helping us in countless way. Still friends can move away, fail us and even
disappoint us. At critical times, they
can be unavailable for numerous reasons or even be inadequate even though they
might care about us deeply. We may even
lose our dearest friends through death and the void of losing the encouragement
from their friendship can be and might be impossible to duplicate in new
friendships.
In all families and in marriages we find
wonderful encouragement and support as well.
Yet even in those relationships, encouragement can be limited at times
and every person no matter how deep their commitment to us will not always be
able to encourage us at all times.
Still there is an encouragement far
greater from a source that is everlasting.
It is an encouragement beyond compare that is always available and
always appropriate. The words of our Savior encourage in the deepest part of
our hearts because He knows our hearts better than we do ourselves. He speaks these everlasting words as He comes
in the presence of His Helper, the everlasting Encourager. The Holy Spirit brings unending and
everlasting assurances as precious consolation because our hope is secure in Him
because He is everlasting. He knows our wounds and brings the healing balm of
His words and His presence. He is never
too busy to listen. He is as close as
the call of our prayers, knowing what we ask before we ask. He never asks us to repeat our requests and is working before the words are spoken from our lips. The
encouragement from Christ in every situation is perfect and the encouragement He
brings is everlasting because He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and
Omega. Our Savior comes in the presence
of the Everlasting Helper to encourage us every day of our life and to carry us to
eternity where the hope in the promises of God will be released into the
presence of God forever.
Suggested Daily Reading … 1
Thessalonians 2
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