Rejoicing At Encouragement (Acts 15:31)

 


Saturday, July 5, 2025


Psalms 15; 16

1 Samuel 25:2-23

Acts 15:22-35


Rejoicing At Encouragement (Acts 15:31)


And when [the church] had read [the letter], they rejoiced because of its encouragement.


Who doesn’t love a bit of encouragement? Have you ever been going through a tough stretch and perhaps read a certain passage of scripture, or had a particularly spiritual moment of prayer, or had someone say some uplifting words, and found the difficulty decrease and your heart lighten? I personally have found myself in several occasions where the Lord has put a word of encouragement in just the right place at just the right time to keep me going. And where it says in today’s reading from Acts that the church rejoiced as a result of their encouragement, I found myself nodding along, because that’s what encouragement does: it brings joy.


Dear Christian, I want to encourage you. I am just reading out some words that I have typed up, but the Lord has done more with less. And he gets the words he wants to the people he wants to hear them. The Bible teaches us in several places to be an encouragement to one another, and so hear my encouragement. The promises of God in scripture are that you have been created intentionally, for a specific and heavenly purpose, with great care and precision. His love for you is more immense than you have ever thought. And his protection over your ways is assured. Be encouraged, dearly beloved: Christ Jesus is praying for you right now, and his Holy Spirit is leading you home to your heavenly Father with every breath you draw.


Who do you know that is going through a tough stretch right now? How might you bring them joy by being an encouragement to them?


God whose promises assure us of your love: encourage us through your word and your world and your people, that we may rejoice with you and with one another, and be an encouragement to others.

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