In Your Bible Read This
Joshua 1
Here Is Your Memory Verse
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous.
Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God
will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1.9
Afterwards Talk About
This
Is anyone in the group discouraged. Be honest
because God
gives grace to the humble. Minister to each other.
Something To Do Before
Next Time
Ask God in prayer to lead you to some people who
are
discouraged,
and begin to minister hope to them. Offer to pray for them
according to the answers we have found.
Written Diploma Work
Look at the reasons for discouragement and write
two pages
on where those reasons could be seen in life today.
Meditate Word By Word On
This Passage
1 Peter 5, 6-11
- Spend
a Minute to Change the World
- Pray
For Niger - 8,000,000 African desert tribes
- 90%
strong and organised Muslims, 0.38% Christian but open to gospel,
- At
least 19 unreached peoples
- Be
sure to teach this lesson to others.
- Always
pray and prepare well adding
- your
own verses and stories to bring it to life.
I will always remember my friend John. One
day shortly after he was wonderfully saved from a life of drug
addiction he stood up to sing Psalm 42, verses 1, 2, 5 and 6 in a
beautiful deep voice.
- "Why are you downcast O my soul,
- Why so disturbed within me?
- Put your hope in God,
- for I will yet praise him,
- my Saviour and my God."
Years later I heard that John had been
retired from leadership, and he was very discouraged. What had
happened?
Discouraged?
You Are Not
Alone!
Discouragement is one of Satan’s
favourite weapons, and he has used it against God’s people
down all the ages. Read what these people said,
- Moses, in Numbers 11.15
- Joshua, in Joshua 7.7
- Elijah, in 1 Kings 19.4
- Job, in Job 10.1
- David in Psalms 42, 5 and 43,5.
- Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 15.10
- Two disciples, in Luke 24.17.
So Why Are
You So
Downcast?
Encouragement is when we gain more courage
so discouragement means the very opposite and happens when some-thing
causes our courage to drain away. Here are some of the reasons
why that happened to people in the Bible ~
- The Hardness Of The Journey
- In Numbers 21.4 the people were tired of
their journey to the promised land. The desert was taking its toll.
-
- Rubbish From The Past
- In Nehemiah 4.10 the people were worn out
moving rubble from the past. That can be true for us too when past
habits come back and cause us to fall.
-
- Words From The Enemy
- In Neh. 4.11 the local enemies added a stream
of discouraging negative words.
-
- Eyes Off Jesus, Back On The World
- In Psalm 73, 2-3 the writer testifies that he
almost fell when he stopped trusting God and started envying the
prosperity of the wicked. Danger!
-
- Secret Or Deceitful Ways
- In 2 Cor. 4.2, Paul knows how discouraging it
can be when people do selfish things behind your back.
-
- The God Of This Age
- That’s Satan, mentioned in 2 Cor. 4.4. God is
the One who gives endurance and encouragement, see Romans 15.5, so that
you know you who it is that pours out discouragement.
-
- Personal Empire Building
- Never carries the blessing of God and always
leads to failure and discouragement. See 2 Cor. 4.5
-
- Physical Tiredness And Weakness
- In 2 Cor. 4.7 Paul calls us jars of clay to
show how fragile we are, and how glorious is God’s treasure within.
Remember that jars of clay easily break or crack and that is true of
our bodies and minds if we overwork them.
-
- The Dealings Of God
- If we forget that the Master potter is always
busy moulding, shaping and stretching us to make us more like Jesus,
then we can soon become discouraged with some of the things that happen
to us in God’s workshop. See 2 Cor. 4.8-11.
How To
Overcome
Discouragement
There is no one thing that you can always
do because as you have seen the reasons for discouragement are so
varied. But here are some steps to take.
- Recognise The Giants At The Gateway
- The two giants who guard the entrance to the
promised land even today are called fear and discouragement. If you are
hearing from them and feeling their pressure then you know that you are
close to your promises.
- At this crucial time like Joshua you must be
strong and courageous and press on in the grace that God gives. See
Joshua 1.9.
-
- Understand What Is Happening
- In 2 Corinthians 4.16, Paul says not to lose
heart because through our troubles we are being renewed inwardly. He
says that these light and momentary troubles are achieving something
good for us in God.
-
- Hope In God
- Even if faith is low you can still hope in
God and believe that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your
feet. See Psalm 42.5 and Romans 16.20
-
- Confess Your Need, Ask For Prayer
- In Ecclesiastes 4.12 we find out that two are
better than one, especially if one is overpowered. Don’t keep your
feelings to yourself, tell someone and pray together, particularly
binding Satan.
-
- Receive From God
- Open your heart and let Holy Spirit minister
God’s endurance, encourage-ment, hope, joy and peace to you. Romans
15.5 and 13.
-
- Deal With The Natural Causes
- When Elijah was tired and discouraged God
sent food and rest for him before dealing with the real reasons and
giving him a new word, a new direction and a new hope. 1 Kings 19,
3-18.
-
- Stand On The Promise Of God
- Peter counsels us to humble ourselves under
God’s mighty hand, to cast our anxiety on him, controlling ourselves,
resisting the devil and helping others who are also suffering. He gives
great hope by saying that the God of all grace will soon come himself
to personally restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." 1
Peter 5, 6-11
To Close Pray For The
World's Most Unreached Peoples By Name
Taken from
the
Joshua
Project Unreached Peoples List these people have no
churchand as yet no cell, church or mission has committed themselves
to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.
Russia
|
People
Name
|
Language
|
Population
|
Andi
(Qwannab)
|
Andi
|
10,000
|
Caucasian
Mountain Jew
|
Tat, Hebrew
|
15,000
|
|