Ecouragement

I was watching a "vodcast" (wow.. how technically advanced is that! haha) and it was talking about the 7 pillars of wisdom, and how encouragement was wisdom. The 7 things were "encouragement 1. listens, 2. inspires, 3. gathers, 4. gives, 5. strengthens, 6. bounces, 7. is active"

Without getting into a lot of detail of the message.. I got a lot out of the fact that we shouldn't just encourage people when we believe they need it or deserve it. We should be doing it daily! (Hebrews 3:13)

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/default.asp?pid=2153

You can watch episodes there- but then there was also something else that spoke to me.

In Jeremiah 29, we all know verse 11.. being used often. Verses 4-7 talk about God encouraging the people to build and settle down, make a living and increase, don't decrease.

Don't let your here and now be when you're waiting for better days.. waiting for tomorrow because you know something better will come.. What are you supposed to be doing TODAY?

The 4th thing that really stood out to me:

Stay committed to the prosperity of the place where you find yourself.

Bringing this all full circle- "This is what encouragement does. It doesn't unsettle people. It doesn't destabilize them. It doesn't weaken their position. In fact, it does the opposite. It actually encourages them to actually build, increase, prosper... and the way to get the best out of any season in your life is being committed to the prosperity of the place where you find yourself. Because prosperity has a way of rubbing off on others..... that's contagious. It rubs off on people." -Brian Houston