Exhorting
Acts 14:21-22 [21] And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, [22] Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Imagine being attacked, stoned, and being dragged out of a city. I’m willing to bet that if that was to happen to any of us we would not then return to that city. Yet, we find that’s what Paul has done. He has returned to the cities that had stoned him. He knew that those he had preached the Gospel to would face much tribulation. He returns to exhort them to continue in the faith. If you look up the word exhort you’ll find it’s simply to strongly encourage or urge someone to do something. We can exhort one another to continue in the faith like Paul is doing. We know things will get worse before Jesus returns. It can be easy to get discouraged during these times. Exhorting one another is something we should do as brothers and sisters in Christ. However, beyond that we should strive to exhort one another in our daily lives. The strongest of Christians will battle things in this world that we might know nothing about. They might be facing something on their job that’s causing them to want to quit. They could be faced with family issues that has them wanting to give up. A word of encouragement could go a long way in helping them face a difficult situation. Having someone verbally telling you they are there for you, they believe in you, maybe even that they have your back, can be the difference in someone continuing or just giving up. How differently would we look at some of those in the Bible had they made different decisions? What if some had a person there to exhort and encourage them in the Lord to continue on and not give in to the sin that was set before them? Are you an exhorter to those around you? Would your friends and family consider you more of an encourager or a discourager? Proverbs tells us how our words can make a difference:
Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it !
God bless you today! Bro. Josh Richardson
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