Encouragement

 It's a fact: we all love to be encouraged. It inspires, strengthens and/or brings joy. God designed encouragement to build us up and help us. But does God command us to encourage others? Are we just supposed to soak it all up... or give it out as well?

 I define encouragement as one of three things: either 'something that inspires us, gives us courage or builds us up' ('hey, that's a nice top'; 'I just wanted to say, you have such a godly character'; 'you are doing such a good job, keep it up!'; 'you can do it!' etc), or 'an urging or advice' ('I'd encourage you to apologise' etc), or 'something, usually an action, and often unconsciously done, that brings joy or relief' ("Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." {Philemon 1:7}). (I know these may seem blurred and/or all the same, but I did my best. :D I reckon you guys get the gist of encouragement.) Here, I'm just going to talk about the first one. 

 So: does God wan't us to give encouragement? OF COURSE!!! It may be hard to do at times, or seem weird, but God commands us to encourage each other. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." (Let's hope that last bit is true!) There are stacks of other Bible verses that talk about encouragement; check out Romans 12:8, 2 Timothy 4:2 and Titus 2:15b. There are many places where the Bible talks about specific people encouraging: like Paul in Colossians 2:2, Barnabas in Acts 11:23 and Judas and Silas in Acts 15:32. Guess what? The Bible even tells us that God encourages us! (Psalm 10:17, Romans 15:5.) So does the Holy Spirit. (Acts 9:31.) God also speaks through the Scriptures to give us encouragement. (Romans 15:4; I think you've probably experienced these ideas for yourself!)

 Why encourage? Why does God command us to build each other up? Well, there's the simple fact that it makes others feel nice. You know how you feel when you're encouraged; others feel that way too when you encourage them. Everyone likes a boost. 
 Then, there's the effects your encouragement can have. Check out this verse: "But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see." (Deuteronomy 3:28, emphasis mine.) Your encouragement could do something big! OK, OK, maybe not saying 'I love your shirt' (I guess, you never know... it could start that girl thinking about creating her own fashion label... :P), but some things could have a big impact.
 Lastly, there's what might happen if you don't encourage someone. 2 Samuel 19:7: "Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall!" (OK, my example may be slightly exaggerated, but the concept still holds.) If you don't encourage someone, something negative could happen. Maybe if I hold back from telling the girl on my street that she looks pretty she'll grow up hating herself. (Maybe not, but who knows. My encouragement could just be the thing that pulls someone away from something bad or helps change a life course. But always remember, such encouragement - indeed, all encouragement - needs to be constant and consistent.) 

 I'd also like to point out that we can be channels for God's direct encouragement. This may or may not be a new concept for you, but it's really cool! For example, when I ask God for a message of encouragement for someone, He most often gives a picture. I then ask God what it means, and deliver the message. By the way, not everyone gets a picture, but I usually do.
 Sometimes God gives you a message (for your or someone else) suddenly, sometimes He gives it when you ask. Sometimes when you ask you don't get something, and that's fine. 



 So lets rise to the challenge... and the command! Let's spread encouragement all around us!


Love in Christ,Cassie xoxoxo



P.S. Check out this wonderful video!!!

New and Awesome Discoveries!

 I have exciting news! {Insert drum roll...} I've recently made 3 discoveries! And I'd love to share them with you.

1) {Rediscovered} The book "Do Hard Things" and the Rebolution. 
These are VERY cool. The book "Do Hard Things is written by teen writers Alex and Brett Harris. They inspire and challenge Christian teens to rise above our perverted culture's incredibly low expectations for us and the teen years. And to DO HARD THINGS for God. (That's what the Rebolution's all about too.) I know, I can hear you groan. 'Hard things? Who wants do do hard things?' But hey, I can tell you, this book is a HUGE life-changer, NOT a burden. (See http://www.therebelution.com/) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND "DO HARD THINGS"!!!!! I was given it two years ago, and didn't really take it in, but this holidays I decided to re-read it, and I'm SO glad I did, because it lead to...

2) My Personal Rebolution! OK, this is a long story, so I'll tell it in stages.
Stage 1: Before I re-read "Do Hard Things," the question of 'what to do with my spare time and how do I use it wisely for God' had been lurking in the background of my mind. Occasionally it reared it's head more strongly, but I never did anything about it. Then along came...
Stage 2: "Do Hard Things!" As I read it, the 'time question' bubble burst (or should I say, exploded!). I knew I had to to something. My thought process went something like this: "I needed to harness my time. And my passion... wait, passion? But I'm not passionate for anything 'big' (for example, poverty, modern-day slavery etc). Well, then, what is my passion? Ah, I'm passionate about the things on my blog, that sort of stuff... OK, how do I turn that into something hard?" Hm, good question. I needed a little...
Stage 3: Brainstorming! I thought of something and put it to my mum, who suggested some other things. Now I had a mental 'hard thing' checklist (actually, this came a little later, but I put it here because it's more relevant). My goal: take a further step in my passion to encourage girls to be pure and follow God whole-heartedly. My checklist:

1. Submit to God each morning when I wake up. 
2. Email Sarah Mally (author of "Before You Meet Prince Charming" and founder of the Bright Lights ministry) to see if she has any use for my testimony/message or me in person. I wanted see if God had an opening for me with Bight Lights, apart from starting a group. (However, nothing really came of that email.)
3. Email our Children's Ministry Pastor to see if there may be a place in the church for a ministry to young girls.
4. Attend the Radiant Purity conference that Sarah Mally is hosting - and probably her Strong in the Lord conference and the Bright Light Leaders Training too. 

If your still not convinced about this 'hard things' business, let me tell you: deciding on my hard thing, and anticipating the things God's gonna bring about, has had me full of joy for the last few days! I'm soooo excited!!! No negative results yet! (And though possible future 'failure' (you only fail if you give up!), burnout etc may seem 'negative,' they are positive, or at least outweigh the negative by a million miles, in the long run! I can brace myself for them without getting down for sure!)

Stage 4: Action! My list now looks like:

1. Submit to God each morning when I wake up. \
2. Wait for the church's response. (Then follow up, or explore other options.)
3. Attend  the conferences (held in December). 

So that's my Personal Rebolution! It's bound to make a change in my life and in the way I spend my time. Yay! Now, my third discovery...

3) The Modesty Survey. This is very exciting! The Rebolution.com hosted a survey, asking Christian guys specific questions about modesty and different clothing. It was both very helpful and encouraging to read the results. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU HAVE A LOOK! I'm glad I came across it. 

And that completes my discoveries! Awesome, don't you agree!? Open to any comments!

Cassie xoxoxo

P.S. Check out the conferences I mentioned earlier! They're worth a good hard look.