It’s great when family and friends are there to encourage us in difficult times, but we can’t depend on others to encourage us. We have to learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord every day. We have to remember what God has done in our life. We have to get in agreement with God and say, “Thank You, God, for who You made me to be. You made me to be more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. I’m an overcomer because You back me up, because I have Your Word in me, and I will overcome this.”
I was talking to a girl the other day
who had had a breakup in her
relationship and she was so disheartened
she said that she thought this
relationship was on the right track she
thought that it could even be headed
towards marriage and then one day he
came to her and he said I’m taking a job
in another state where she was so
discouraged she thought what’s happening
when she began to think about how he
could leave so quickly it began to
demoralize her she thought well I’m not
as special as I thought I was I guess he
didn’t love me like I thought he loved
me she said I began to dwell on these
thoughts and I became more discouraged
she said you know I was just really just
trying to make sense of it all
trying to figure it all out what
happened what did I do
she said I got to the place where I
didn’t even want to go hardly go to work
I certainly didn’t want to go out with
any friends I found myself just staying
at home a lot and she said one evening I
turned on the television and I saw your
ministry she says as I began to listen
and listen to the messages I begin to
regain a sense of who I was she said I
began to become encouraged again she
said this that I thought was so good she
said I realized what I had been doing
was I had been so focused to what had
happened to me that I wasn’t
understanding what was happening in me
she said I had been so hurt I have been
so discredited I felt so all alone and
what was happening to me was causing
what was happening in me to totally
destroy my life she said I didn’t want
to do anything she said and as I became
encouraged
she said that discouragement left in how
Rose she said I literally got to the
place where I could look myself in the
mirror and like myself again she said
little by little she said I’d get up in
the morning and I would look in the
mirror and she would say you were
beautiful
you are talented you are Val
Yubel she said I begin to have this fun
person come back into my life the person
I really was and she said I got so
excited I got it I got encouraged to get
up in the morning and look at myself and
tell myself how well I was doing you see
I love that she added this and I can’t
leave this out she said and I would say
to myself God is gonna bring the right
person across my path because I’m in the
palm of his hand I love the fact that
she did something about her
discouragement she made a choice she
took what she received on the inside the
encouragement she got from the ministry
and she began to encourage herself it
says in Exodus 6 that when Moses was
going to lead the children of Israel out
of captivity which God had promised
would happen when he went to them to
tell them that this was their time this
was the moment that God was going to
cause them to leave this burden of this
yoke this bondage that they had been
under the scripture says this it says
that they were too discouraged to
believe they had been under so much
discouragement
that they couldn’t even believe that
what God could do for them you know
that’s a sad statement too discouraged
to believe but I’ll tell you what it
shows me it shows me the power of
discouragement in our life it shows me
that when we become discouraged we can’t
even get the faith to believe that God
can take us to the places we need to go
to take us over a challenge through an
obstacle you see discouragement is
heaped on us and we can’t see you know
it’s very interesting because the young
girl that I talked about when she began
to encourage herself when she began to
take this encouragement that she had on
the inside and encouraged herself you
know nothing had changed on the outside
that man didn’t come back to her life
but everything
had changed on the inside and when hope
rises in your heart faith causes you to
act faith causes you to move forward the
scripture tells us that David the mighty
man of God who faced challenge after
challenge learned this secret he
encouraged himself in the Lord you see
David had a warrior’s mentality he took
this place inside of him that he had
built up this place where he had
encouraged himself in the things of God
and he was able to take that war chest
and encourage himself on the things on
the outside he was able to look at the
face of discouragement and say no my God
can supply all of my needs my God can
get me through this you see at one point
in David’s life everybody had turned
against him even his men that were
fighting battles with him were so down
and discouraged that they turned to
David and they said we want to stone you
they were looking for someone to blame
for the difficulties that they were
facing David had no one around him that
could encourage him yet he encouraged
himself in the Lord his God you know
it’s great when your family is there to
encourage you when your friends are
there to encourage you but what happens
when no one’s there to encourage you you
know what I believe I believe we
shouldn’t depend on other people to
encourage us I believe our main source
of encouragement should come right from
the inside of us see I can’t even
imagine my husband trying to encourage
me every time I’m discouraged you know
what if I went to Joel every time that I
was discouraged
he’d probably lock himself in a closet
and not come out you see we’ve got to
learn to encourage ourself every day
we’ve got to remember what God has done
in our life we have to understand that
we have to get in agreement with God
that you are made in the image of
Almighty God God created you and he made
you and if you believe that about your
life then when you criticize yourself
you might as well be criticized
your Creator the one who made you you
see if you can criticize his creation
then what you’re doing is criticizing
the Creator because he made you he
formed you he fashioned you just the way
you should be see when you encourage
yourself what you’re doing is you’re
saying thank you God for who you made me
to be thank you God that you’ve made me
to be more than a conqueror in Christ
Jesus
but I’m an overcomer because you backed
me up because I have your word in me see
it’s so easy sometimes to see the good
qualities and other people yet ignore
the good qualities in ourselves but I
believe that we need to see are the good
things in ourselves and we need to
applaud even the smallest
accomplishments you know maybe you feel
like you’re a procrastinator and there’s
been a project that you’ve been putting
off well when you begin to start that
project even if you don’t finish it
applaud yourself you know what what
about that diet you’ve been trying to
stay on listen when you have a good day
applaud yourself what about the
addiction that you’re overcoming when
you see yourself trying listen cry on
your own efforts with the success
applaud yourself you see we’ve got to
learn to applaud even the smallest
accomplishments in our life when we
applaud ourselves you know what we’re
doing we’re not being boastful we’re not
being egotistical and prideful we’re
building confidence and faith in ourself
too often we see what we’re doing wrong
and not what we’re doing right we see
all the times we blew it but I want to
tell you something don’t go around
looking at all the times you blew it
applaud yourself for all the things
you’ve done well buy yourself some
flowers celebrate yourself you’ve been
made in the image of God you got to
understand when you celebrate yourself
you’re celebrating God on the inside of
you see it’s so important that we do
this
you know life doesn’t always turn out
the way we planned and maybe today you
can say well not everything has gone my
way but can I encourage you with this
you’re still here you’re still full of
purpose you’re still full of value you
can still get to where God wants you to
be
you can’t live negative and expect to
have a positive life you can’t dwell on
everything that you can’t do and expect
to go out with strength and courage to
do it you see we’re all in the process
that is the truth every one of us in
here is in a certain area of our life in
process to becoming and it’s up to us to
stay encouraged along the way I’ll never
forget the time we were in another state
and my husband was on a book tour and we
had done an interview with this
journalist but I’ll never forget he got
in the car we all piled in the car and
he sat there for a second and he said
you know what I did a good job he said I
did everything that I knew to do I said
what I knew to say he said and I just
feel good about what I did today I did
the very best that I could and we had a
friend with us and a little later he
said Joel you know when you affirmed
yourself after that important interview
he said it reminded me of how negative I
am towards my own self he said I thought
about what if that was me that just came
out of that interview he said I would
have probably had a mind full of doubt I
would have probably thought I didn’t say
the right thing and I didn’t do the
right thing but when you had the
boldness and the courage to affirm
yourself he said it was such a freedom
for me it made me realize that I can
affirm myself but could see the truth is
we can only do the best that we can do
today and it will do the best we can do
today whether it was the best or not
we’ll be more equipped to do better
tomorrow you see my husband is one of
the greatest encouragers that I think
I’ve ever seen
he’s encouraged people all over the
world and I believe one of the greatest
secrets to his encouragement is the fact
that he knows how to encourage himself
he practices finding the best in himself
see when you’re full of good things it’s
interesting how you see through that
lens of good things then you’re able to
see the best in others to affirm and
encourage other people so you can’t give
away what you don’t have if you’ve got a
full tank then you can give
encouragement and love to one another
listen I believe I’m looking at people
who’ve decided they’re gonna practice
looking in the mirror and deciding who
they really are
I believe I’m looking at people who are
gonna affirm themselves they’re gonna
watch the negative talk and the negative
thoughts that are going on in their mind
and I believe that as we get up every
day and we say who God says we are and
we reflect the image of Almighty God
that we’ll be able to go out and be
encourages everywhere we go amen your
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