DO THIS! (PART 3)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Encourage the disheartened, help the weak.

1 Thessalonians 5:14b

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Live in peace with one another.

Warn those who are idle and disruptive.

These are the first two things we’ve learned that Christians are to do as they live out life as the Lord intended during our study of the fifth chapter of 1 Thessalonians. Today, we add another exhortation:

Encourage the disheartened, help the weak. v.14b

Jesus believers are called by Him to carry on the Gospel work He started (Matthew 28:18-20). That makes us His hands and feet as we go forth to ensure His ministry continues until such time as He returns, just as He promised.

Look at the ministry of Jesus and you will find compassion, caring, and love at the core, especially for those who were experiencing difficulty. He healed the sick. He drove out demons. He brought salvation to those who were excluded prior to His coming. And He even brought people from death to life.

No one who truly knows the life of Jesus could say that He didn’t encourage those who were disheartened or help the weak. He was perfectly obedient to the will and word of His Father God who we know He was one with (Romans 10:30). Here’s what we learn from the scriptures regarding God’s concern for those who were and are disheartened:

You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and You listen to their cry. Psalm 10:17

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:2

If you are a person who is disheartened today, I pray you will find comfort and support in these wonderful promises because the God who made you, knows you and is here for you. He is aware of your situation and has heard your cries for help. And in His appointed time, He will heal your heart and bind up your wounds and rescue you from your crushed spirit.

God has never broken a single promise He has made. Not ever. Let your mind be filled with the assurance that He will do what He says He will do and be encouraged.

If you know someone who needs encouraged, share these words with them. For in this way, you too can be obedient to the command to “encourage the disheartened”.

The second command we see in today’s scripture passage is to “help the weak”.

Who are the weak?

I believe there is a very broad application to the word for there are many life circumstances that can lead to weakness.

A person can be severely afflicted with illness or disease and find themselves physically weak.

Someone could be dealing with difficult circumstances regarding finances or relationship(s) and find themselves mentally stressed or anxious to the point of severe mental health weakness.

And one could consistently struggle with sin because they may be spiritually weak and unable to withstand the attacks of Satan.

Need some biblical examples regarding help for the weak?

Go to the twenty-seventh chapter of Acts and you will find Paul on a ship that was supposed to go to Rome but found itself in the midst of a terrible storm at sea, one that seemed as if it would never end.

The ship’s crew was so paralyzed by fear and worry over possibly capsizing and dying at sea that they wouldn’t eat. Their emotional weakness quickly crossed over to their physical health, so much so that we find Paul addressing the problem head on:

Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Acts 27:33-36

Note here that Paul first provided words to address the mental weakness of the crew by assuring them that they wouldn’t “lose a single hair” from their heads, another way of saying that they wouldn’t perish at sea. What he did next completely modeled the way of Jesus.

For we read that Paul “took some bread” and “gave thanks to God in front of them all” and then he broke the bread and ate it. As a result of the Apostle’s deep faith in God, despite the calamity that raged around the ship, the entire crew gained encouragement and they ate themselves.

Later, we know that although the ship would wreck, all onboard made it to the island of Malta and not one crew member died, just as Paul had promised.

We can go back to the Old Testament and see how God commanded His people to ensure the weak were cared for. Consider this from the Book of Exodus:

“For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it.” Exodus 23:10-11

This order from God to His people is known by several names like Harvest Rest, Land Sabbath, or Sabbatical Year. All mean the same thing.

For every seventh year, the land wasn’t to be plowed or planted. It was to be left unused and any food that was still produced could be eaten by the people, particularly the poor who were financially weak.

In the New Testament, we find James, the brother of Jesus, sharing these words about caring for the marginalized in society:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. James 1:27

As we worship and serve Him, God wants us to care for those who are in deep need. In biblical times, women who lost their husbands and had no children to care for them afterwards found themselves without anyone to provide for their needs. Ditto for children who had lost their parents. Both groups were vulnerable and in danger of perishing without charity from others. This is why James writes these words.

Today, we could insert the homeless or the elderly who are shut in or wallowing in assisted living within this category. The Bible calls us to take action and do something to make a difference in their lives.

And then, there are these words found in the Gospel of Matthew, spoken by Jesus Himself:

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’” Matthew 25:34-40

Here, the weak are the hungry or the thirsty and this could be a physical or spiritual hunger or thirst. They are the stranger, the unclothed, the sick, or the incarcerated. All are in places of weakness and need. All are people we are expected to help because we are Christians who are to model the life of Christ Jesus, the only human being who perfectly helped the weak.

Friends, we live in a time where there are a lot of people who are disheartened or weak. There’s plenty of work out there for the Lord’s people to engage in so let’s go and do something to make a difference, helping and encouraging the needy in obedience to the scriptures.

Tomorrow, we will look at Part 4 of this series.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com