InstaEncouragements Blog

God Delights in the Small Things

2/5/2019

Of the four apostles closest to Jesus, Andrew is the least known. Yet he was often the means by which others were introduced to the Savior. He is known as the apostle of the small things. From the very beginning he had an eagerness to follow Christ and a zeal for introducing others to Him.

"One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus...." John 1:40-42

Those five words, "he brought him to Jesus" define Andrew's purpose in life after he himself met the Savior.

"...it is clear that the four disciples in the inner circle all aspired to be leaders. That is why they sometimes had those shameful arguments over who was the greatest. Their eagerness to lead, which caused so many clashes when they were together as a group, ultimately became immensely valuable when these men went their separate ways as apostles in the early church. Jesus was training them for leadership, and in the end, they all filled important leadership roles in the early church." —John MacArthur, Twelve Ordinary Men

Scripture doesn't tell us much about Andrew. Apart from the places where all twelve disciples are mentioned in the New Testament, his name is only mentioned nine times. He lived his life in the shadows, and that's how he preferred it. He realized the value of small things.

I love how the passage in John 1:40-42 says, "He first found his own brother..." After Andrew made the decision to follow Christ, the first thing he did was go and tell someone else—his own brother! Simon Peter was Andrew's brother, and would eventually become the Rock of the early church. Read more about that here. This says a lot about Andrew's character and his mode of operation.

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Joy to the Heart & Light to the Eyes

2/1/2019

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"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you deeply, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16

Being rooted and established has been an all-encompassing theme of my life for some time. It began way back in January 2015, and so began the InstaEncouragements movement. You can read more about that here. Follow the movement on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Etsy.

When we are rooted and established, the winds of the storm can blow hard but we will not be tossed like tumbleweed. The deep roots into the Living Water give us stability. In times of drought our roots need to go even deeper into God's Word. They need to go deeper to pull out the spiritual nutrients so that fruit continues to grow.

I saw this Bible study journal on Instagram a few weeks ago and I knew I was going to need a copy. The more I can do to "Let the Word of Christ Dwell in [Me] Deeply" the more prepared I will be for the difficulties life throws my way.

I ordered the Dwell - A 12 Week Guided Bible Study Journal on a Friday afternoon from the comfort of a local coffee shop. Two days later, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, it showed up on my doorstep. Personally, I thought the Dwell Bible study journal showing up on a Sunday was a pretty good sign that this was going to be special.

So I've committed myself to letting the Word dwell in me deeply over the course of the next 12 weeks. I'm excited because I know that the journey is going to have benefits like joy to the heart and light to the eyes! Follow the blog as I document the journey!

"The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart; the commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes;" Psalm 19:8

This week has been an especially difficult one fill with lots of opportunities to trust God more. I find trusting Him is easy to write about, but still challenging to do. You'd think, after all these years, I'd "get it" and be able to trust His Word, His way and His timing without a second thought. After all, Who has loved me more? Who has my best interest in mind? Who sought me and loved me before I ever began to seek or love Him?

Who DIED for me and forgave my sinful soul? Who loves me even through the messy, unloveable, untrusting days? No one like Him! And yet, I struggle to trust. Why? I cannot say. It doesn't even make sense to me.

I do know though, the more rooted and established His Word becomes in my life, the more natural it is for me to trust Him. Without His Word, trusting would be near impossible. So when I saw this opportunity to be one of the first to dive into the Dwell 12-week Bible study journal, I ordered it!

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Peter: The Making of a Great Leader

1/29/2019

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Who was Simon Peter? Who was this citizen of Heaven and sojourner on earth? He's was a great leader, but he didn't start out that way. Let's look today at the life of Peter and discover how Jesus molded him into the great leader he became. If you see similarities in your own life, it may be that Jesus is also working to mold you into a great leader.

Jesus didn't create us to just be stagnant Christians or to live stagnant Christian lives. He created us to grow, and to be growing Christians—always growing in the grace and knowledge of Him.

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." II Peter 3:18

When we study the life of Peter we see this kind of growth. The growth that developed a great leader.

The road to leadership would not be an easy one for Peter, although he already possessed some of the required qualities. When his path crossed the path of Jesus, there were many others that still needed to be developed.

One of the most terrifying passages in scripture is found in Luke 22.

“Simon, Simon [Peter], behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32

Satan wanted to sift Peter like wheat, much like he had Job. But Jesus Christ had plans to make Peter a great leader.

When we study the New Testament, we see in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts four, distinct lists of the twelve apostles. When we see these lists we notice that the first named apostle in each list is always Peter. He was a born leader!

Peter, James and John were with Jesus at all the major events of His ministry. They were what you might say, "in the inner circle", with Peter being the closest to the Savior. Although there were twelve apostles, these three seem to have a more intimate relationship with Jesus than the others.

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