Be Encouraged!

Greetings Everyone!
I know it has been a long time since I posted on my blog and I wish I could come up with a really good excuse but since I can't I better not fabricate one. If you subscribe to our churches weekly e-mail newsletter then you know I have decided to begin making weekly posts on my blog. Each week I am going to be sharing with you at least one devotional thought for the week. I may post other thoughts I have during the week as I am reading and studying but I promise you at least one post each week. For those who are a part of the Cornerstone fellowship I will also keep posting slide shows of special events. I will try to get a slide show up of our recent trip to the Quakes game as soon as I can.
As I begin this new endeavor there has been a scripture on my mind for several weeks so I thought I would begin here. Let me ask you this question; how do you encourage yourself? If you are feeling down, depressed, or discouraged what do you do to pick up your spirits? Being a male I hate to admit this but I have often found that going shopping encourages me when I am down. The bad thing about that is I usually spend money I don't need to spend and the end results can be as bad as the original problem. Maybe you like to go for a drive or go play golf or just watch TV. I am sure we all have some method we feel helps to lift us out of our depression or discouragement, but I have a feeling that whatever method we might use really doesn't provide the kind of lasting results we really need.
In 1 Samuel 30 we read of a time when David got discouraged. I encourage you to take a few minutes and read that chapter to get the big picture. To put things in a nutshell David's men were upset with him and were talking of killing him. Let me tell you that as a leader few things will cause more discouragement than to have those under your leadership upset with you. You want people to be happy and approve of what you do. I have certainly had my share of experiences where people were upset with me but I have never been in David's shoes where people wanted to kill me (at least as far as I know). So what did David do to encourage himself in such a desperate situation? I think I would have been looking for a place to hide, but in a sense that is exactly what David did.
1 Samuel 30:6 says this in the KJV, "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. I take courage in the fact that what David did not do was blame and complain to the Lord. That certainly would have been the easiest thing to do but that is not the posture David took. Instead in a time of great discouragement he chose to look to the only place where he or any of us will ever find real encouragement. Now let me quickly tell you how to do this.
This really isn't hard and it really isn't anything that most of us have not heard many times before. To encourage ourselves in the Lord we need to read His word. A good novel might work as an escape for a while from our discouragement but it will not relieve our discouragement. It is reading things like this story of David that help us find the answers we need. Secondly prayer needs to be a part of the equation. Who better to talk to about our struggles than Almighty God? He has huge shoulders to carry the load we have. We are told in the scriptures to cast those cares on Him because He cares for us. Thirdly I would say, Be in fellowship. Again we see that the bible tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. I have never understood all these years I have been a pastor why I hear people tell me that the reason they weren't in church is because they were discouraged. What help can we possibly get by staying home and sulking? We need the Body of Christ more than ever when we face discouragement.
You may not be discouraged today but trust me the time is coming. I encourage you to use these three steps to find encouragement and why not share them with someone you know that is in that place of discouragement now?

God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon