EACH OF US lives some of our days in the war zone…

Weekly we face battles, challenges, and shock.  When we see the missiles whizzing by overhead, we need someone who will encourage us.  Encouragement is transfusing some of your courage into another life.  The Bible says, “In the last days perilous times will come” (2 Timothy 3:1).  The book of Hebrews says we ought to be more and more involved in encouragement as those days approach.  When the perilous times increase and the battles intensify, we will need encouragement more than ever.

One of the motivations behind Paul’s letters to the New Testament churches was his desire to encourage his friends.  These early believers were members of churches scattered throughout the ancient Roman Empire, a time ruled by cruelty and persecution.  These persecuted, isolated followers of Christ, trying to make their way in the world, often met in caves and catacombs of Rome for mutual encouragement.  They faced life-threatening challenges every day.  Paul, who founded most of these churches, wrote to communicate his heart to them.  In the beginning verses of almost every one of his letters, Paul labors to deliver a word of hope and affirmation:

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the world world.  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” (Romans 1:8-9).

If you received a letter like that from Paul, wouldn’t you be encouraged?  To know that he put you on his prayer list and prayed for you every day and night?  David Jeremiah in The Joy of Encouragement

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  Hebrews 10:25

Mike Benson