THINK TOGETHER.
What kinds of things encourage you?
READ TOGETHER.
Acts 9:31. The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.
Today’s verse is a very positive and uplifting verse for Christians. “The church” refers to all the Christians back then who lived in Israel – Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (the three main regions of Israel).
But the church wasn’t always doing as great as it is in this verse. You see, there was a man named Saul who hated Christians and hated the church. Saul went around persecuting the Christians. Do you know what persecution is? Persecution is when you treat someone very badly usually because of what they believe. Saul hated what Christians believed about Jesus. He thought Jesus was a fake. Saul was a very religious Jew who thought that the Jews who were turning to Jesus were abandoning the truth. So Saul started putting Christians into prison and even murdering them. Yikes!
But then something amazing happened. Jesus appeared to Saul one day while he was traveling down the road. Jesus confronted Saul and Saul trusted in Jesus. It was a miracle. The same person who hated Jesus and Christians was now a Christian himself. The worst persecutor of the church would become the greatest missionary of the church. You might know him as Paul.
When Paul became a Christian, everything changed for the church in Israel. Instead of being persecuted. the church then had peace. Instead of getting weaker, it became stronger. Rather than living in fear of Saul, the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And instead of being discouraged, the church lived in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what the Holy Spirit does best, he encourages us. He reminds us that if we have Jesus we have everything that we need, all the love we need, all the friendship we need, all the kindness we need, all the forgiveness we need, and all the hope that we need, even when things seem hopeless.
Does the Holy Spirit encourage you? If your encouragement doesn’t come from the Holy Spirit, then where does it come from? Your good grades? Your winning team? Your friends? Your new stuff? Yes, all of these things can be an encouragement, but these things can also come and go. But not the Holy Spirit. He will never leave you or forsake you. He alone offers you an encouragement that is eternal and perfect – the love of God through Jesus!
What about you? Are you an encourager? If you have the Holy Spirit in you, then you can be an encourager to others too. You can remind your friends that Jesus is with them and for them, and so are you.
Because of the Holy Spirit we have the encouragement of Jesus.
With the Holy Spirit we can encourage others like Jesus.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Pick someone who needs encouragement and make a plan to encourage them today (write a note, visit, take a gift, etc.).
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, we all need to be encouraged and you sent the Holy Spirit to be my encourager each and every day. I want to encourage others too. Help me to lift others up and not put them down. Amen.
TLICfamily 