Devotions 25-11-06

I Thess 5: 14
"And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men"

I seem to have gotten stuck in the last chapter of I Thess. I just have seen some things that I feel God wants me to do some thinking on before I move on. Lord, help me to pay close attention to what You want me to reflect on each and every day.

So God tells me to admonish or give strong advice to those that are undisciplined. Life requires a lot of discipline if we are to succeed or to accomplish what we really want to do. God wants us to learn the value of discipline for our good and for those that we love.

Then there is the fainthearted. To admonish them would make them even more fainthearted. What they need is to be encouraged. My responsibility is to find out how I can encourage them. Maybe it is to do something fun together or just to pray with them. My goal is to strengthen their heart to do what is right.

Then there is the weak. They do not need admonishing and neither will they respond to encouragement. They just need someone to help them and show them that they are truly loved. Help them with their studies that they are bogged down with and feel that they just can not do it. Help them with that letter that they need to write but just cannot seem to get started.

To understand these three needs requires me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to respond accordingly. My goal must be to restore others so they might be able to live a life of fruitfulness and purpose. Satan wants us to become lazy and undisciplined or fainthearted and discouraged or weak and feeling like we can do nothing but cry or sleep.

I am thankful Lord for those who have been sensitive to me and known when to admonish me or encourage me or to help me. I have been in each of these situations and have experienced the wrong kind of advice as well as the right kind of advice. The wrong advice weakened me more and the right advice lifted me out of my difficulties. Lord help me to stay sensitive to where others are struggling with issues in their lives. Help me to choose the right actions to take.