ENCOURAGING INVESTMENT

ENCOURAGING INVESTMENT – A Periodic Review

Friday, January 05, 2018

Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17; 3:2-7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. … And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. … Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

  We read “… if you have any words of encouragement for the people, feel free to speak." And it was given and the people were pleased with the encouragement it brought them. (GW Act.13:15; 15:31)

  Today in reading the above in The Book of Acts and other NT passages about giving and receiving encouragement I am once again reminded that the practice of receiving and giving support is a matter of attitude and at times requires a humble disciplined determined manner; we being bombarded by discouraging and encouraging news necessitating exercising free will to choose our personal book of acts.

  Among the things I heard and experienced I’ve chosen to share:

·         The delightful discovery that my precious 2 year old greatgranddaughter Sapphire’s favorite song is “Down to the river”. https://www.yahoo.com/music/video/down-river-pray-live-010303386.html

·         There are corrections officers that actually practice improvement beyond enforcement of rules. My wonderful son-n-law Tom for one. And then there is the good report I recently received of a female CO that entered a cell, work order in hand, but politely asked offender’s permission to search his cell. The offender returned expecting the usual tossup, but found his bed remade better than was, clothing neatly folded, and personal items organized. This uniformed lady not only is an edifying encourager, she obviously doesn’t see her employment as work, but as a place of service.

·         Pastor Paul Marine has experienced many unpleasant events culminating with his resignation. Saturday evening potluck farewell celebration was a crowded upbeat affair. Ending almost 20 years shepherding at Benson Baptist he continued his role as encourager by using his musical talents and exhorting the congregants to then publically share joyful memories. They did so.

·         Presently being a non-driver, yesterday wonderful son-n-law John and buoyant daughter Dawn transported me to Christ Community Church to participate in singing and hearing Pastor Mark Ashton teach on Simply Jesus. I was delighted to be reminded of familiar knowledge and discover that 5 times in the first 5 chapters of the Gospel of John Jesus is better than water.

  Have I, do I invest in encouraging you?

  Have you, do you empower others by encouraging them?

  Are we encouragers, godly edifiers emulating Lord Jesus Christ?

  Is Romans 12:1-3 our personal portfolio with verse 8 in our daily walk in the midst of the knowledge of good and evil?  

EBB4 (Feb. 2016)