Tag Archives: unhappy

Defining the Gift

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Day Two

This is my 2nd day of a 21 day fast for understanding the things to come.  Like Daniel in chapter 10, I have “set [my] mind to gain understanding and to humble [myself] before God,” (Daniel 10:12).  Most Christians agree that we are living in the End Times.  Jesus is coming soon to Rapture His Church, and many terrible things will follow, including the final war, usually called Armageddon (although in the Bible, the name actually refers to a place, not an event).  However, there are probably things that we need to do to prepare for those terrible times.

I want to make it very clear that I am not asking God to reveal to me when the Rapture will be.  Jesus said that only the Father knows the day and the hour.  The angels don’t know, and even Jesus, Himself, doesn’t know (Matthew 24:36 & Mark 13:32).  If the Father isn’t revealing that to Jesus, then it’s for sure that He won’t tell me.

What I want is to understand what is coming and how to help God’s people prepare for it.

This morning as I was praying and contemplating my role, the Holy Spirit reminded me of my main spiritual gift: Encouragements.  In the King James Version, the gift is called Exhortation.  The Spirit urged me to consider the difference between the 2 words: encouragement and exhortation.

So I looked it up in the online dictionary.

Encourage:

  1. to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope : hearten
  2. to attempt to persuade : urge
    1. to spur on : stimulate
  3. to give help or patronage to : foster

Exhort:

  1. to incite by argument or advice : urge strongly
  2. to give warnings or advice : make urgent appeals

Then I got curious about the original language: Greek.  In the Greek, the word is paraklesis.  Paraklesis is from the root parakletos, the word Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit, and translated as comforter.  That discovery is very encouraging to me.  I love the thought that my spiritual gift is much like the Holy Spirit, Himself.

Paraklesis:

  1. a calling near, summons (esp. for help), importation, supplication, entreaty
  2. exhortation, admonition, encouragement
  3. consolation, comfort, solace; that which affords comfort or refreshment—thus of the Messianic salvation (so the Rabbis call the Messiah the consoler, the comforter)
  4. persuasive discourse, stirring address, instructive, admonitory, conciliatory, powerful hortatory discourse

In contrasting these definitions, it seems that encouragement is too soft.  It seems to imply jollying-along someone who is depressed or unhappy.  But exhortation seems too hard and cold, almost like how a teacher talks to a lazy student.  Paraklesis is precisely what I do, which includes both encouraging and exhorting, and also refreshing and comforting.

C. Peter Wagner defines the spiritual gift of exhortation as frequently being part of the pastor’s gift mix:

The gift of exhortation is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to minister words of comfort, consolation, encouragement, and counsel to other members of the Body in such a way that they feel helped and healed.  “Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow” © 1979, 1994 C. Peter Wagner, Regal Books.

Now, having defined and contrasted the definitions, I understand at least 1 thing: this time of fasting and praying for understanding is important for helping the missionaries and pastors of Europe that God puts into my path (and others who will read it on my blog or in my next book).  God is good!

If You’re Happy, Inform Your Face

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I was thinking about Bill this morning.  Bill does something that most Bulgarians don’t do—he smiles.  He smiles a lot.  It’s not that he has no problems, but Bill really gets it: that he has an Almighty God that is on his side.  In fact, many Christians (both here in Europe and in the US) don’t even get it.  Some Christians are always complaining about money, their job, health, relationships, unreliable car, you name it.  They rake over the past again and again, looking for clues there.  Often they struggle with sin in their lives.

The problem is that their focus is all wrong.  They are focused on obstacles, problems, troubles, sin, and behaviors (both theirs and others’).  The solution is so simple, and here it is:

Focus all your attention

and all your affection on Jesus.

That’s it!  If you focus your attention on Jesus, problems shrink to their proper proportions, and you begin to understand that truly nothing is impossible for you if you believe.  I told Bill that it’s like the moon.  You look at the moon and it looks so small that you can hold it in your fingers.  But the moon is really very big.  It’s just that we are very far away from the moon.  Whichever you’re closer to is the thing that seems biggest: your problems or your God (I wrote about this in greater detail in my book “Laughing in My Dreams”).  He liked that and said that he wants to use it in a sermon.  Bill is a very encouraging person.

Likewise, if you focus your affection on Jesus, you will lose all interest in sin.  You will begin to see sin for what it really is: enslavement.  One of the devil’s cleverest lies is that sin is fun.  There may be fun moments, but I have never had more fun, and more continuous fun than I’ve had since the day I completely surrendered to Jesus—not the day of my conversion or of my rededication, but total and complete surrender came just 4 years ago.  And that fun will never, ever end!  One of the coolest quotes I’ve ever read on laughter comes from “The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis.  The book is supposed to be a collection of letters from a demon named Screwtape to his nephew and protégé, Wormwood.  About Christian laughter, he says:

Something like it [laughter] is expressed in much of that detestable art which the humans call Music, and something like it occurs in Heaven—a meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience, quite opaque to us.  Laughter of this kind does us no good and should always be discouraged.  Besides, the phenomenon is of itself disgusting and a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell.

That blew me away the first time I read it.  Whenever I start to take myself too seriously, I remind myself that dignity comes from pride, and belongs in Hell.  It’s good to laugh, and especially to laugh at yourself.  As my friend, Bob, says, “God is not a killjoy!”

So listen to how you talk.  Are you always complaining?  Always unhappy, disillusioned, dissatisfied?  Always asking for prayers?  Get closer to God.  Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.  Get the Bible onto your MP3 player and listen day and night.  Just like a rocket ship to the moon, you’ll find God to be big enough to stand on.  God is good!