Tag: encourage

1 Peter 2:11 – Holy Pilgrims

Posted on by Will

Beloved, I encourage you as strangers and foreigners, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,

Truth to Learn

We are to live like citizens of heaven, not like earth dwellers.

 

Behind the Words

The word “encourage” is an interesting one. It is the Greek word, parakaleō which is the verb form of a name given to the Holy Spirit, paraclete (translated “comforter”). It is a compound of para, meaning “alongside or near” and kaleō, which means “to call.” Hence, the Holy Spirit is the One who is “called alongside” with the idea of being the One who walks alongside us on a journey to keep us company and to counsel us. In the verb form, as used in today’s verse, it carries the idea of a coach calling an athlete to him in order to give words of encouragement and support.

Peter then uses two similar words for “strangers” and “foreigners.” These words are paroikos and parepidēmos. They are also compound words that start with the word for “near or alongside” (para, shortened to par). The first of these words, paroikos, means “one who has a home in a place nearby, but not here in this place.” The second word, parepidēmos, means a “foreigner” or an “alien (not of the local race of people) who has temporarily settled locally.”

The word translated “abstain” is apechomai, a compound word of apo (shortened to ap), meaning “from” or “away from” and echo, meaning “to have.” Hence, it means “to have away from” or “to keep away from.” It is expressed here in the middle voice, indicating action that is done by the subject to the subject. Therefore it means, “keep yourself away from.”

 

Meaning Explained

One of the metaphors used throughout the Bible is that of being on a journey, walking through life. Peter is picking up on that metaphor here as he coaches us as people who don’t live here (on this earth) and who are not local residents (we are heavenly residents who are temporarily wandering through this land). The coach’s message is to abstain from, that is to actively resist and keep oneself away from, the lusts of the flesh that make war against our soul.

You may remember from a previous verse that the world system is made up of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). These things are not of God but of the world, and since we are not of this world (but strangers and foreigners here) we need to resist the local customs and keep ourselves pure like our Father.

There is a fine line between the desires that are a necessary part of us as human beings, and lusts, or overly strong desires, that control us if we do not control them. Peter is coaching us to resist these lusts even as we are daily bombarded by the customs (advertisements) and attitudes of the local residents.

 

Application

Let us stand fast and resist, keeping ourselves holy because our Heavenly Father is holy and we want to reflect the family image. Let us be lights in the midst of darkness. Let us be witnesses, not by using condemning words, but by showing our kindness to others and by demonstrating our abstinence from the lusts of the flesh.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Thessalonians 3:2 – Growth and Service

Posted on by Will

and sent Timothy, our brother and minister and fellow laborer of God in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,

Truth to Learn

Christians are called both to grow in faith and to serve God through faith.

 

Behind the Words

The verb “sent” is from pempō, which means “to send.” The emphasis of this verb is on the point of departure, rather than the destination.

“Minister” is translated from diakonos (from which we get our English word “deacon”). This word is probably derived from diakō, meaning “to run an errand.” Therefore, diakonos refers to “a helper” or “an assistant.”

The words “fellow laborer” are from the Greek word sunergos, which is made up of sun, meaning “with” or “together with” and ergon, meaning “work” or “labor.” Thus, sunergos refers to “someone who labors together with someone else.”

Stēridzō is the word translated “establish.” It is based on the word histēmi, meaning “to stand” or “to set in place.” Stēridzō means “to set firmly in place” or “to firmly establish.”

“Encourage” is from the Greek verb parakaleō. This word is made up of para, meaning “to the side of” and kaleō, meaning “to call.” Thus, parakaleō literally means “to call alongside.” It is a picture of a coach or mentor who comes alongside an athlete to give advice, to comfort, to challenge, and to encourage.

 

Meaning Explained

We learned in yesterday’s verse that Paul endured his separation from the saints in Thessalonica as long as he could. Since he had been prevented from returning there himself, he sent Timothy to them. He refers to Timothy as a “brother” in the faith and as “an assistant.” Notice, however, that Paul does not refer to Timothy as “his” assistant, but as God’s assistant. Paul recognizes that he is not working for himself, but for God. He also recognizes that everything that he has, in terms of all things necessary for him to accomplish his task, are supplied by God. Therefore, even the people who work alongside him and assist him are not working for Paul, bur for the One who calls each one of us to our ministry. He refers to Timothy as “God’s fellow laborer” because he is God’s worker who works “with” not “for” Paul.

In today’s verse Paul explains what Timothy’s assigned task is. It is two-fold: to ensure that the believers in Thessalonica are firmly grounded in the faith, and to be a coach for them. It was Timothy’s job to instruct and challenge these Christians to become more Christ-like as they grow in their faith. However, it was also his responsibility to encourage and comfort them through the growing pains and difficult times of their Christian walk.

It’s also important to note that Paul’s concern for the young Christians in Thessalonica did not focus on health, wealth, ease of life, or even self-esteem. Instead, he focused on the spiritual quality of their lives.

 

Application

We see two aspects of the Christian life in this verse, growing and serving. Any Christian who is not doing both of these is not being obedient to his or her Lord and Master. When you stand before Him will you be ashamed about what you haven’t done or rewarded for what you have done?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 4:1 – Serve One, Serve All

Posted on by Will

Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, encourage you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

Truth to Learn

We are all called to serve in God’s church.

 

Behind the Words

“Prisoner” is from desmios, which is derived from the verb desmeō, meaning “to bind.” Thus, desmios means “someone in bonds” or “a prisoner.”

The word “encourage” is translated from the Greek verb parakaleō, which is made up of para, meaning “to the side of” or “near” and kaleō, meaning “to call.” Therefore, we can see that literally this word means “to call near.” In usage, the basic meaning is “to comfort,” “to encourage,” or “to challenge.”

“Walk” is from peripateō. This is made up of peri, meaning “around,” “through,” or “with respect to” and pateō, meaning “to walk.” This Greek word means “to walk around.” It is used as a metaphor of how a person lives his or her life.

The word “calling” is klēsis, which is derived from kaleō, “to call.” It refers to “an invitation.”

“You were called” is translated from the verb kaleō, “to call.” It is expressed in the aorist tense indicating past completed action which occurred at a point in time (not a process).

 

Meaning Explained

The Apostle Paul starts off this verse reminding his readers that he is a prisoner of the Lord. This is very similar to the way he started off the previous chapter. There, he did so to introduce his ministry to the Gentiles and the mystery regarding the church. Here, he reminds them that he is a prisoner, because he is about to challenge his readers to live a life that is characterized by service to others rather than serving self. As a prisoner, he is a supreme example of this.

Most of the first three chapters of this letter were focused on teaching doctrine. In the remainder of the letter, Paul focuses on duty. Another way to say this is, previously he taught us what to believe; now he will teach us how to behave.

As you can see from Behind the Words, in this verse Paul uses several forms of the word kaleō (to call). This is typical Pauline style. He likes to play on words like this as a device to drive home his message. He is in prison because God called him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, thus angering religious Jews who thought he was perverting Judaism. He was more concerned with serving God than he was with protecting himself. In fact, before his final trip to Jerusalem, where he was arrested, he was told by a prophet that he would end up in chains:

And [the prophet Agabus] coming to us and taking Paul's belt and binding his hands and feet, said, "The Holy Spirit says this, In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt, and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' " (Acts 21:11)

Paul was totally dedicated to the ministry to which he had been called, in spite of the warning from other mature spiritual people. Now he will be challenging us to be just as dedicated to the ministry to which each of us has been called.

 

Application

Every Christian has been called by God to serve within the body of Christ. Each of us has a function to perform for which God has specifically gifted us. There is no excuse for any of us not to be serving. Are you performing the ministry to which you have been called by God?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Thessalonians 3:2 – Growth and Service

Posted on by Will

and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,

Truth to Learn

Christians are called both to grow in faith and to serve God through faith.

Behind the Words

The verb “sent” is from pempō, which means “to send.” The emphasis of this verb is on the point of departure, rather than the destination.

“Minister” is translated from diakonos (from which we get our English word “deacon”). This word is probably derived from diakō, meaning “to run an errand.” Therefore, diakonos refers to “a helper” or “an assistant.”

The words “fellow laborer” are from the Greek word sunergos, which is made up of sun, meaning “with” or “together with” and ergon, meaning “work” or “labor.” Thus, sunergos refers to “someone who labors together with someone else.”

Stēridzō is the word translated “establish.” It is based on the word histēmi, meaning “to stand” or “to set in place.” Stēridzō means “to set firmly in place” or “to firmly establish.”

“Encourage” is from the Greek verb parakaleō. This word is made up of para, meaning “to the side of” and kaleō, meaning “to call.” Thus, parakaleō means “to call alongside.” It is a picture of a coach or mentor who comes alongside an athlete to give advice, to comfort, to challenge, and to encourage.

Meaning Explained

We learned in yesterday’s verse that Paul endured his separation from the saints in Thessalonica as long as he could. Since he had been prevented from returning there himself, he sent Timothy to them. He refers to Timothy as a “brother” in the faith and as “an assistant.” Notice, however, that Paul does not refer to Timothy as “his” assistant, but as God’s assistant. Paul recognizes that he is not working for himself, but for God. He also recognizes that everything that he has, in terms of all things necessary for him to accomplish his task, are supplied by God. Therefore, even the people who work alongside him and assist him are not working for Paul, bur for the One who calls each one of us to our ministry. He refers to Timothy as “our fellow laborer” because he works “with” not “for” Paul.

In today’s verse Paul explains what Timothy’s assigned task is. It is two-fold: to ensure that the believers in Thessalonica are firmly grounded in the faith, and to be a coach for them. It was Timothy’s job to instruct and challenge these Christians to become more Christ-like as they grow in their faith. However, it was also his responsibility to encourage and comfort them through the growing pains and difficult times of their Christian walk.

It’s also important to note that Paul’s concern for the young Christians in Thessalonica did not focus on health, wealth, ease of life, or even self-esteem. Instead, he focused on the spiritual quality of their lives.

Application

We see two aspects of the Christian life in this verse, growing and serving. Any Christian who is not doing both of these is not being obedient to his or her Lord and Master. When you stand before Him will you be ashamed or rewarded?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 6:22 – A Personal Comforter

Posted on by Will

whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.

Truth to Learn

The church needs people of comfort and encouragement.

Behind the Words

“I have sent” is translated from the Greek verb pempō, which means “to send out” or “to dispatch.” It is expressed here in the aorist tense, indicating past completed action at a point in time. It should probably be translated as “I sent,” not “I have sent.”

The words “that you may know” are translated from the verb ginōskō, which can indicate either “to come to know” or “to know completely.” It is expressed here in the subjunctive mood indicating the probability or possibility of occurrence.

“Our affairs” is from ta peri hēmōn, which literally means “the things about us.” This is much like the expression Paul used in the previous verse (“the things concerning me”).

Parakaleō is the Greek verb translated “may comfort.” It is made up of para, meaning “beside” and kaleō, meaning “to call.” Thus, parakaleō literally means “to call alongside.” By application it means “to comfort” or “to encourage.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse we learned that Paul sent a man named Tychicus to the church in Ephesus so that the members of the church there might know how Paul was doing. It appears that Tychicus was used by Paul as a messenger. He apparently is the one who carried this letter to the church, and he also possessed in depth knowledge of what was going on with the Apostle and all those with him.

We learned with yesterday’s verse that Paul was not in the habit of talking about himself in his letters to the churches. Instead, he sent trusted messengers who could relate in detail what was happening. He knew that anything communicated regarding his welfare would produce more questions. By sending someone like Tychicus, all the people’s questions could be answered in a calm and confident manner without having to wait for another letter.

This verse also highlights once again what a tender heart Paul had toward those with whom he had ministered in the past. We know from the nineteenth chapter of the book of Acts that the Apostle spent more than two years at the church in Ephesus. This appears to be the longest length of time that he spent with any one church. During that time, he built strong personal ties with the members of that church. A large number of these people were likely led to the Lord as a direct result of Paul’s preaching ministry. For this reason, Paul wanted to make sure that his beloved friends in the church were well informed and comforted regarding what was happening to him while in a Roman prison.

Application

There are some members of every church who are specially gifted in giving words of encouragement and comfort to those around them. This is an important ministry, especially as the church and its members are coming under increasingly strong attacks. If there is someone that you know with this gift in your church, be sure to tell them thank you for using their gifts in the body of Christ.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved