Do You Pay Forward the Encouragement That Inspires You to Hope?
I felt compelled to write a quick message to my friend today, reminding her to keep moving forward. It’s so easy to get stuck when there are barriers in the way or we are struggling to change a difficult situation. Often all we need are some boosts of encouragement along the way, and someone to help guide us in the direction we need to take.
My mum had forwarded an excerpt of a story from Christ for All Nations. I found myself reflecting on the story and finding many parallels. The words God spoke to me personally while reading was “keep moving forward, don’t stop”! I had been inspired and encouraged and then passed that on.
Hope does not disappoint! As we look up and look out, not only do our dreams become a reality, we also facilitate hope and purpose in others too.
“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5, ESV)
Here’s some of the excerpt from Christ for All Nations:
How do you get from where you are to where you know God wants you to be?
If you are honestly asking that question, I can tell you that you are in a good place. It most likely means that you have a dream (in your heart) that’s been sent from heaven. When you know you’re carrying a dream and desire that came from God, you can sincerely embrace the fact that absolutely everything you need is going to be provided.
How do you get there? What do you need to do? The straightforward answer is found in two clear-cut words “get moving!” In order to walk into all God has for you in your future, you have to begin by moving forward now, taking small steps in faith, in obedience to Him, and in the right direction.
God is looking for men and women of action! “Be ye doers of the word,” James says, “and not hearers only” (James 1:22)
Here’s a tremendous example:
Ever since our ministry, Christ for All Nations, was incorporated in the United States in 1987, we never owned any property here because we always felt it was our mandate to fast-track all available funds to the mission field - to invest in souls rather than bricks and mortar. But in 2011, one word from the Lord changed everything.
You see we were renting offices in Orlando and were very content with what the Lord had provided. But one Saturday morning I received a call from our founder, Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke. He said, “The Lord spoke to me this morning and said that He has a ‘Harvest Home’ for us in Orlando.”
Evangelist Bonnke believed God wanted to give us a facility of our own. The problem was we didn’t have a penny for any sort of building fund and had never even considered such a project. But Evangelist Bonnke was sure the Lord had spoken, so he said, “I am coming to Orlando, and I want to meet with you right now.” He immediately drove two hours (that same Saturday morning) to meet with several of us to discuss the ‘Harvest Home’.
Obviously, nothing could have been done at that very moment. Even if God had spoken, so much groundwork, research, and due diligence had to be completed first. When I asked Evangelist Bonnke why he was in such a hurry to meet on Saturday morning he said, “I feel that the eyes of God are on me and I want Him to see that when He speaks, I jump."
I’m reminded, don’t delay. Take the steps of obedience today. Not only will you grow hope and confidence in what God has spoken, but you will also be a blessing to others around you that are watching your steps of obedience.
