Refreshed by Faith

Have you ever felt forgotten? Have you ever gone through a difficult season and wondered if anyone noticed your struggle? Maybe you've carried burdens silently, fought battles privately, or walked through challenges that seemed overwhelming.

Today, I want to remind you that God often sends people into our lives to refresh our spirits, strengthen our faith, and remind us that we are not alone.

Our Scripture today comes from 2 Timothy 1:16-18.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to our Cur Let's Pray Ministries, the podcast where hearts are encouraged, faith is strengthened, and you are reminded that someone occurs, God occurs, and so do I. Thank you all for joining me today. Today we're going to talk about refreshed by faith, the blessing of encouraging others. Amen. Have you ever felt forgotten? Have you ever gone through a difficult season and wondered if anyone noticed that you were struggling? Maybe you've carried burdens silently, fought battles privately, or walked through challenges that seemed overwhelming. I want to remind you today that God often sends people into our lives to refresh our spirits, strengthen our faith, and remind us that we are not alone. And I'm a true living testimony to that because I have some wonderful cousins, wonderful friends, sister, extended family that always refreshes my soul, my spirit, strengthens my faith, and reminds me to hold on to God's unchanging hand. Amen. I'm so grateful for every person I've met along this journey because God only knows why He placed different people along my path. Some people are still here, some people was from years ago, but I'm still grateful for every person God has sent my way that taught me a lesson or showed me me and showed me love. I'm telling you, God will always send people into our lives to uplift us, amen. And our scripture today is going to come from 2 Timothy 1, 16 through 18, and it reads this thus. That thou knowest very well. Amen. Amen. Let us open up in prayer. Honey Father, we thank you for this day and for the opportunity to gather around your word. Honey Father, we want to thank you for every listener under the sound of my voice. You know every thought that they think, you know every heartbeat that they beat, Holy Father. You know every prayer that they have prayed. Teach us how to encourage others and help us to recognize those you have placed in our lives as a blessing, Henry Father. God, I pray that you will refresh everyone's spirit through your presence and let your word strengthen our faith. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, let's get into our devotional. Well, we're gonna have a conversation about Paul. When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, he was in prison. Many people had abandoned him. Many had distanced themselves because of his circumstances, and people do that in today's society as well. Yet in the middle of hardship, Paul remembered a man named O Simpris. And please forgive me. I know I'm saying his name wrong, but I'm gonna call him O for the sake of not messing up this name. What made O special was because Paul said he all refreshed me. He didn't just encourage Paul, he refreshed him often. He consistently showed kindness, showed support, demonstrated love, right? There is something powerful about people who know how to refresh others. They speak life when others are discouraged. They pray when others are struggling. They stand beside people when everyone else walks away. Paul also said that O was not ashamed of my chain. Think about that. Paul was in prison for preaching the gospel. Associated with Paul could have brought criticism or trouble, right? But yet O was not embarrassed by Paul's situation at all. He was loyal, he remained faithful, he stood by a servant of God when it would have been easier to just walk away. And that is our lesson for today. The world often celebrates people when they are successful, right? But God honors those who remain faithful during difficult seasons. Anyone can stand beside someone during their victory moments, but it takes genuine love to stand beside them during their struggles, during their pain, through their breaking, right? And perhaps God is calling you to be a O for someone else. Maybe there's a family member who needs encouragement. Maybe there's a friend who needs a phone call just to say, I'm thinking about you. Maybe there is someone at church carrying a burden suddenly. Give them a hug on Sunday. A hug can change someone's world all the way around. And maybe there is someone simply that just needs to know that they matter. And that someone sees them right. A simple act of kindness can become a divine appointment from God. And I want you to remember this today. God sees your labor, God sees your tears, God sees your faithfulness. Even when people overlook you, God does not. Even when others forget you, God remembers everything. Just as God sent Paul to encourage Paul, He knows how to send encouragement exactly when we need it and when we need it the most. Who has refreshed your spirit during a difficult season? Maybe it was a friend or a pastor or a close loved one. Is there someone God is prompting you to encourage today? It might be a coworker, it might be your child, it might be a brother or a sister. Reach out to them and say, hey, I'm just thinking about you today. Is everything all right? You need anything? Just want to hear your voice and brighten up someone's day. Just take a moment to reflect on those questions as always. And then spend time with God just thinking about who has refreshed my spirit and to give thanks for when you were in difficult seasons, right? And how can you encourage someone else today? And before we pray, I want to leave you with some words of encouragement. Never underestimate the impact of encouragement. A simple smell can refresh someone's soul. A prayer can refresh someone's belief. A text message can refresh someone's heartbeat. A visit, just to wave your hand, can just brighten up someone's day. The kingdom of God grows not only through preaching and teaching, but also through believers who choose to love, support, and strengthen one another. Ask yourself, whose life can I refresh today? Then be willing to act on it. Amen. Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Holy Father, in the name of Jesus, we bow down at your throne full of grace and mercy, just saying thank you, oh God. God, we thank you, oh God, for being the head of our life. We thank you, oh God, for being the provider in our life. We thank you, oh God, for being the joy in our life. Honey Father, we thank you for being our anchor today, Holy Father. God, we thank you for showing us what faithful encouragement looks like. Honey Father, we thank you for helping us become people who refresh others. Help us to notice those who are hurting, Honey Father. The ones who are lonely and struggling, Honey Father. Give us compassionate hearts, O God, listening ears and willing hands to bless every listener today, oh God. If they are discouraged, encourage them, Honey Father. If they are weary, strengthen them, oh God. If they are grieving, comfort them, Henry Father. If they are uncertain, guide them, oh God. Send divine encouragement into their lives, Holy Father. Surround them with people who will strengthen their faith and remind them of your goodness, oh God. May we never be ashamed of the gospel. Never never be ashamed of serving you and never be ashamed to stand with others in their time of need. Holy Father, we want to be able to meet people where they are, Heavenly Father. We want to be able to hold their hand and say, everything's going to be alright. We want to be able to just sit there and listen to them, oh God. Not giving them advice, not saying what you should and shouldn't be doing, but just listening, Heavenly Father. God, let us be a sounding board for people who's in need, Heavenly Father. Let us be able to help them to get their life in order according to your purpose and will over their life. Honey Father, we want to be like, oh, we want to be able to be with them in their moments when people walk away, Heavenly Father. So God, give us the strength to see everybody's spirit, oh God. See their heart, oh God, for what it really is, Henry Father. We definitely want to be your servant, your vessel, to touch people heart to heart, breast to breast. So God, send people our way that we can encourage, Helena Father. And God, I pray that everybody under the sound of my voice is being encouraged through this podcast, Helena Father. God, I pray that you fill them with love and joy and peace and happiness, oh God. I pray that you touch their dreams and make them come to pass. I pray you touch their visions, oh God, and make it come to pass. God, I pray you touch their whole life and let it be upgraded, Helly Father, according to your will and your way. God, speak life into their dry bones, Helly Father. Open up their eyes and take the scales off their eyes, Holy Father, so they can see you, Helly Father. Now I trust you with every believer on this podcast right now, oh God. I know you see their silent tears. I know you see their pain and their frustration. And God, I pray you touch them right now and give them peace. Peace will surpass them all understanding, Holy Father. Let them know we may endure for a night, but joy will definitely come back in the morning. Have your way, oh God, and let them see your splendor. Let them see your glory. Let them see you, oh God, working on their behalf. Holy Father, we ask all this in the mighty name of Jesus. Name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart for joining our care. Let's pray ministries today. I want you to remember God can use you to refresh someone's life, just like somebody he sends your way to refresh your life. So today, with a heart full of faith, a spirit full of compassion and a willingness to encourage those around you, go out and evangelize. Everybody can evangelize, it's just giving a word of encouragement. Remember that God cares. I care. You are too blessed to be stressed. You are too anointed to be disappointed. And here's the reason of why. Because you have a Father that sees you. He sees you, he hears you, and He said, I am with you always. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hold on to God's unchanging hand. Until next time, stay blessed, smell, and rejoice. God loves you, and so do I.