Lately the Lord has really been impressing upon me the importance of encouraging and affirming others, pointing people to Christ and reflecting the glory of Christ in my life to the best of my ability. It just seems that almost everything I read, listen to, or find myself in conversation about is around these areas.
I recently read a transcription from one of Joni Eareckson Tada’s radio bits called “
God Impressions”. The visual really struck me (probably because even at 31 I still think that Silly Putty is pretty cool!):
Do you remember Silly Putty? You could squeeze it, stretch it, and press it against Daffy Duck in a comic book to stamp his impression right there on the clay. I still think of that putty when I want to leave “God impressions” on people. You squeeze in a moment to press your love of Christ up against that person with your smile and words of encouragement. And when you peel away, you’ve left a God-impression on that individual.
Matthew 5 says, “Don't hide your light!…let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.” Now someone may not immediately praise God, but I'm convinced they won't be able to shake their encounter with you, a true Christian. So today, if you encounter someone in need of hope, tenderly yet firmly press your love for Christ on them. It may end up as more praise for our Heavenly Father.
I had a friend who made it a point to pray before she left her house that God would show her the people that she needed to stop and spend some time with. I doubt she ever showed up to church or a church function without having asked the Lord to make it clear to her who she was supposed to encourage during that specific time. It depends what kind of person you are but I know for me I can get overwhelmed going into a large group situation – I
want to connect with as many people as possible but sometimes that’s just unrealistic and I need to be sensitive to who the Lord wants me to connect with. And I want to be intentional about speaking truth, hope and love into the lives of those that I get to interact with.
Keep working on using your words to build up, affirm, love and point others to Christ – if we’re all working on this my guess is that Harvest Barrie is going to be an even more incredible place as we see Christ using us to push one another to deeper pursuits of holiness. And keep sharing the stories of what God is doing in your small groups and Bible studies – those stories encourage us as staff and a church family SO MUCH!