Wednesday Devotion 9-9-20 6 Minutes

How to Build Up Others

Good evening everyone watching by video this evening,,, it's time for our weekly devotion.

And the devotion reading will be from David Jeremiahs Morning and Evening Devotions.

Our reading this evening comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:11

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (HCSB)

11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this evening.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this evening,,, with all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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In the verses preceding this verse,,, Paul had been warning the Thessalonians about worrying too much about Jesus' return.

He wanted them to have their focus on the right things and not lose sight of what they are supposed to be doing.

And just as it was then,,, it's the same today,,, we need to be sure that we are building others up instead of beating them down because Jesus is coming back and we need to be doing our job,,, which is just as our mission statement for the United Methodist Church says.

And that reads in the Book of Discipline - "The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

So that's where our focus needs to be as well,,, and we don't achieve that goal by beating people down or tearing them down with words,,, but by lifting them up in the same way that God has lifted us up.

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In my Devotional reading today,,, David Jeremiah talked about how to build up others.

He said that "We say, I'm going to sit down and figure out how I can build others up."

And that's fine,,, but how do we accomplish this?

How do we know what to do?

He said that Paul gave this advise in Acts 20:32:

Acts 20:32 (HCSB)

32 “And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

He asked "how do we get built up enough to build up someone else?"

The answer is,,, of course,,, the Bible!

Read the Bible!

The word of God is the fuel we need to become builders.

In 1 Peter 2:2 we are told,,, 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it for your salvation,

In this verse,,, Peter is wanting them to desire God's word,,, like babies desire milk,,, so that they could grow spiritually.

Another New Testament passage,,, found in Jude verses 20-21,,, talks about building ourselves up where it says: 20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.

So what does Jesus want us to do?

He wants us to be builders,,, someone that encourages others instead of tearing them down,,, men and women that are committed to strengthening ourselves and others.

We spend too much of our time looking down on others instead of doing the right thing and lifting them up.

We forget sometimes,,, that we were headed to hell just like those that we now look down on,,, and we need to help them and love them just as God loved us while we were still sinners,,, just like them.

It's this type of attitude that will help to cure this world of all our problems,,, no matter what that problem is,,, because "love always wins in the end"!

So lets do our best to lift people up instead of tearing them down.

Jesus had a job for us to do and we can't do that without loving others as He commanded us to do.

And we can't do our job if we aren't spending time in God's word,,, getting the spiritual nourishment that we need!