August 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Everyone in the church needs encouragement. The functioning of the church will soon degenerate if there is no encouragement, offers of help, counsel or consolation. Volunteers will be hard to come by and a mood of indifference will permeate the body of the church. There will be the danger of disintegrating into individualism.

In Philippians 2 the apostle Paul speaks of the consolation that comes from being in a relationship with Christ. The word that the NKJV translates as “consolation” is the same word used for encouragement, counsel and comfort. It is the word Jesus uses in John 14:16 as a title for the Holy Spirit. The Spirit counsels, encourages, and consoles believers in Christ.

The Spirit encourages us by directing us to what Christ gives. We receive grace, mercy and the forgiveness of sins. We are given hope and consolation in trials. Since we have encouragement in Christ, since He shows us the way into His kingdom, we are to respond by being of the same mind. Paul’s words to the church at Philippi echo Christ’s great prayer in John 17:20–21, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.” Those who are in Christ may not ignore what He wants in His church. As the Spirit comes alongside us and provides us with all things in Christ, we are to encourage each other to put into practice what we have received.

Having received the promises of the Lord in such rich measure, we should never say, “Just leave me alone and let me go my own way.” We have received encouragement, comfort and consolation in Christ. Let that be an incentive for us to do what is precious to Him. Problems in church life are often diagnosed as a lack of faithfulness, deformation and rebellious attitudes. Yet many times disunity stems from our failure to encourage and help one another. The encouragement we receive in Christ needs to filter down into all parts of the body. A church in which the redeeming love of the Lord is faithfully preached should also be known for its emphasis on encouragement.