David had to flee for his life from King Saul, so he spent his days with a ragtag army of men out in the wilderness. Once while on a raid, the Amalekites came and stole away their wives and families and burnt down their camp. David’s army of men blamed him for all that had happened and even wanted to kill him. This was a really bad day for David but he did what he knew best and that was he encouraged himself in God. No one else was encouraging him so he reminded himself of the faithfulness of God and most likely read some scripture and sang some psalms.
The Lord then told him to pursue the enemy, and assured him that he would catch up and get everything back again. It all came to pass that day and they did defeat the Amalekites got their families back and took a great spoil. They eventually shared it all with all their friends throughout the land. Not only that but King Saul his arch enemy for many years was killed in battle and within a week David was made king in his place. What a turn around from the worst day of his life to the best day in just one week.
This was all made possible because David encouraged himself in the Lord putting him in a position to hear from God and receive wisdom that led him to victory.
“David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him but..
“David encouraged himself in the Lord.” 1 Samuel 30:1-6
We too need to know how to encourage ourselves in the Lord when there is nothing else to encourage us. The ideal situation is to be surrounded by encouraging people, but that often isn’t the case, so we need to know how to encourage ourselves in God like David did. He learnt how to do this when he was out in the fields looking after sheep on his own. We too need to constantly remind ourselves that Jesus always loves us and will never leave us, even if others do. This was an ability that made David into a great King and it can also cause us to reign in life in Christ.
Did you hear the story of the shoe salesman many years ago who went to a place where no one had ever been before, to sell shoes? He phoned back that night saying. “It’s no good as no one wears shoes around here so I’m coming home”. Later another shoe salesman came to the same area and phoned back to his boss and said. “It’s great here as no one has any shoes, please send me some more.” It’s funny how these 2 people saw the same situation through different eyes.
The 2nd Salesman encouraged himself and thought positive about the situation even though it looked bleak.
There are so many discouraged and depressed Christians out there today and everything looks bleak to them, and they can’t seem to see or hear from God anymore.
On a lot of occasions there isn’t much wrong with their lives and it’s an attack from Satan blinding their minds to the blessings of God.
I have met so many young people who are depressed. They say; “Life Sux.” On closer observation I can’t seem to find much wrong with their lot at all. They all seem to have so much, and yet they are depressed. They are looking at all they don’t have and not what they have already. It’s obviously a problem from their neck up.
These truly are the days spoken of when the Devil has come down to the earth in great anger creating havoc in people’s minds, for he knows his time is short.
“Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." Revelation 12:12.
Most of Satan’s attacks comes through words, thoughts and propaganda, which end up poisoning our thinking. I spent some time in the Rhodesian Army and saw first hand the effect of propaganda upon the masses. A war can be won or lost through lies, fear and rumours. It is not only caused by the work of the enemy but also by the careless words of your own people. The main battle is not on the battle field but in the battle field of the mind.
In these days we need to constantly encourage ourselves in God as David did and change our thinking with scripture.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 (KJV)
When you were saved you became a New Creature in Christ, but your mind still needed some major work done on it. This is our responsibility and not God’s. This process is called the ‘Saving of the Soul,’ that is spoken of in the bible. Your soul is made up of your emotions, your will and your thinking and this process of the saving of your soul continues throughout your Christian life.
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” James 1:21 (KJV)
“Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:9 (KJV)
The saving of your soul doesn’t just mean getting people saved from sin, its something that needs to happen in the life of those who are already Christians and involves the mind.
When I was saved I came out of the drug scene and my mind was damaged and I suffered from depression. I had to work my way out of this situation by praying heaps in tongues, reading the word, praising God, prayer and especially encouraging myself in God. I learnt that most of my problems were from the neck up. Its what I call, “Stinking Thinking.”
When you encourage yourself in God you’ll see and appreciate Jesus more, and be changed to be like Him. There are so many flaky, negative Christians around today who are picking up every scrap of negative stuff left by Satan and they spread false rumors and set off faulty fire alarms. It especially happens when it comes to things about the End Times and the Anti-Christ. Remember what was said about Y2K and how Christians were saying that the world money system would soon collapse, but it was all fake news. Need I say more about what folk were saying about Donald Trump and now its the Covid 19 Pandemic. We need to fill our minds with the word of God and not clog it up with media from the internet.
God is not the author of confusion. He still has great things ahead for the Church. Jeremiah 29:11. It is all good news ahead for us Christians and He wants us to spread the same kind of good news to a dying world.
Many Christians style themselves after Old Testament Prophets with an Old Testament message of ‘Doom and Gloom’, but the Spirit of a New Testament Prophet is that of.
“Edification, Exhortation and Comfort.” 1 Corinthians 14:3.
In these New Testament days our ministry is to be that of Reconciliation and not Condemnation. Instead of shouting at the darkness we need to turn on the lights. Those who are lost in their sin do need to hear the law in order to be saved, but after that they need to hear the new law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,” Romans 8:1-3
“Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” Galatians 3:23-25
In the light of all this let us get into the business of encouraging ourselves and others in God and stop all this stinking thinking and negative speaking. I love this encouraging story from an old Bob Gass daily reading.
Arthur Gordon tells the story of a friend who belonged to a young men’s writing club comprised of several bright young writers. Each time they met, one of them would read his story and the others would critique it with such viciousness, that eventually they called themselves “The Stranglers.” On the same campus however, a group of women also formed a writers group called “The Wranglers.” But instead of showering criticism on each other, they spent their time trying to find positive, encouraging things to say to each other, no
matter how weak or underdeveloped their writing was. Twenty years later, not one of The Stranglers had made a name for himself as a writer. But The Wranglers produced six women who gained national prominence as writers. One of them was Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who won a Pulitzer prize. That story dramatically illustrates the power and importance of praise and positive input into the lives of others. For most people, it’s not what they are that holds them back - it’s what they think they’re not! The Stranglers made one another feel unqualified to write, and in time they became convinced of it. If only somebody in that group had taken the initiative to be positive and nurturing, maybe a Hemingway, a Faulkner, or a Fitzgerald would have emerged to give the world another library of masterpieces.
Its great when you have others to encourage you, but when you don’t you need to learn how to encourage yourself in God like David did. This is only possible when you meditate on the God’s words from the bible every day. If King David could do this under the law, then how much more can we it under grace. We have a far better covenant than he had, with far better promises. You too can change your life around and it all starts from the neck up, by encouraging yourself in God.