There’s an old story about the Devil having a garage sale. I think you’d agree…that would be an interesting sale! 🙂
He had a HUGE garage filled with everything he ever owned or used to do his evil work. The prices were displayed openly on every item. But in the center of the garage, there was a very SMALL hammer with no price tag on it at all. It really wasn’t very impressive.
Such A Small Thing
When someone asked the Devil if the hammer was for sale, he shouted, “NO! That’s priceless to me!”
When the person asked what it was, the Devil said, “It’s DISCOURAGEMENT. I really don’t need anything else in this garage to do my job, just that little hammer called DISCOURAGEMENT!
Thanks, I Needed That
Each and every Sunday, I’m always amazed at the number of people that I meet in the hallway that tell me, “I NEEDED that sermon SO bad! I have been so discouraged all week!”
Think about it. How many times do we allow people, situations, and obstacles to disengage us from the courage that we know we need to win?
Take Control
We should ENCOURAGE ourselves this week, to STOP listening to the negativity of our own minds and especially the mouths of others. We can’t allow harmful thoughts to police our minds any longer.
“[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)” 2 Corinthians 10:5 (AMP)
Let’s take CONTROL of the negative conversations, CHANGE the topic if necessary and stop allowing the enemy to discourage us any longer!
One of the best ways to overcome discouragement is to ENCOURAGE someone else. We can start by sharing this blog post with a friend today!
6 comments
No negative…all positive! Count it all JOY! Encouraging others…also encourages me as I see them go from sad to glad!
Ty pastor Nicole. I needed to read this. I love you.
Amen to that nicole a great encouragement
There’s a terrific amount of kndweloge in this article!
Thanks for the great info dog I owe you bigytig.
Appreciate the encouragement, Nick. What is it about hunmas and the path of least resistance? The tendency to repeat the pleasurable and instantly rewarding things, while procrastinating over the tasks that bring significant growth and progress? Growing pains’ comes to mind. I’m suitably prodded! Thanks for sharing.