Category: Encouragement

4/20/2023 1 Comment

The Critical Importance of Mentoring

Will is a senior at Liberty University and a member of the Army ROTC program. He will commission as an officer in less than a month. I was blessed when he asked me to help him create a sponsorship program for their ROTC department. In this case, sponsors are older men or women who have served in the military as senior officers or NCOs and who are willing to be mentors to any of the cadets who would like to be paired with them to meet and learn and become better prepared to serve as officers. With the help of four mature individuals I was able to recruit, we shared with several cadets who came out on a Monday evening to learn about the critical importance of mentoring.

12/31/2022 1 Comment

Schlep Naches

Schlep naches is a Yiddish phrase that means “deriving pleasure from the achievement of others.” In her book, The Myths of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomisrsky wrote:
The surprising finding is that the closest, most intimate, and most trusting relationships appear to be distinguished not by how the partners respond to each other’s disappointments, losses, and reversals but how they react to good news. Flourishing relationships have been revealed to be those in which the couple responds “actively and constructively”—that is, with interest and delight—to each other’s windfalls and successes . . . Both men and women who say that their partners respond in this “active-constructive” way report the highest levels of satisfaction, trust, and intimacy in their relationships.

12/23/2022 0 Comments

Practice Hospitality This Holiday Season

Hospitality unites people. It helps us find room to help others in need and is the antidote to hostility and division. This holiday season, especially in these times of intense division, we should all practice this virtue and apply its power to strengthen relationships at home, work, with our fellow citizens, and even strangers. In the Christmas story (Luke 2:1-20), Mary was in labor while her husband, Joseph, sought shelter. The innkeeper had no available rooms, but seeing Mary’s desperate situation, offered the holy family shelter in a stable where the animals resided.

11/29/2022 0 Comments

Give Her a Coin

First Sergeant Eric Johnson was tired of spending Saturdays inspecting the 98 dorm rooms occupied by his airmen. Most of the rooms were a mess, and it did not seem like inspecting was making a difference in improving standards. So the innovative senior master sergeant went out and bought coins. After the next inspection, he arranged with a warrant officer to have a female airman show up at the company headquarters without explaining why. Everyone thought she was in trouble. When Eric arrived, he announced that she had the most squared-away room, and he gave her a coin with her name inscribed on the back. His action gratified her, and word spread like wildfire through the dorm residents.

Three weeks a month, Eric inspected one floor (about 32/33 rooms). Each week, he gave out a coin with the inscribed name of the airman with the cleanest room.  Soon, he had to put names in a hat and draw the “lucky” winner because the rooms were so clean. It was not long before Saturday inspections passed quickly, and Eric could golf or do other enjoyable activities. Before he left that assignment, Eric hosted a barbecue with invitations to coin holders only to honor and bless them for their efforts.

Meditation
Matthew 16:27--For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.

We can learn so much from what Scripture does not say. Jesus did not promise that He would return with His angels in God’s glory to torch lazy Christians and punish all those who performed poorly in the faith. He incentivized all of us to look forward to His return with the promise of reward. We work harder when we know there is a benefit coming. To incentivize is to motivate people to perform beyond what is the norm. Rewarding people for greater effort is far better than punishing them for substandard effort.

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz observed in The Power of Full Engagement, “Extrinsic rewards have actually been shown to undermine intrinsic motivation.” Edward L. Deci opined in Why We Do What We Do, “When people proffer rewards without intending to control there is less likelihood that the rewards will have deleterious effects.” In essence, wisely use rewards for appreciation and motivation, but not to manipulate or control. Eric changed an entire culture by investing at his own expense in a token coin. Imagine how great Christ’s reward will be to His followers who are willing to lose their lives for His sake, willing to deny themselves, pick up the cross, and follow Him (16:24)!

Inspiration
“What gets rewarded gets repeated.”—James Robbins in Nine Minutes On Monday

©2022 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.

Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)

9/19/2022 1 Comment

Inheritance

News flash—there was an attack by a Demon Assault Team (DAT) in heaven today, which wiped out an entire wing of the Central Automation Records Division (CARD) that contained the Book of Life (BoL) and the computerized records of those who are to receive a heavenly inheritance. Michael led a task force of angels that was able to wipe out the DAT, but the CARD facility was severely damaged, and the Book of Life (BoL) was badly compromised. It would seem that Satan hoped to disrupt God’s eternal life reward plan for His saints.

7/22/2022 0 Comments

Revisiting Grace

There is a thoughtful piece on grace circulating on Facebook that I have amplified and maximized with apologies to the unknown author.

Grace constitutes unearned or unmerited favor. She is seen throughout the Bible. Grace means promotion, not based on qualifications. When she speaks, protocols are suspended. So, King Ahasuerus extends the scepter to his Queen Esther. With Grace at work, laws are set aside for a higher purpose. A hungry David understood this when he ate consecrated bread (1 Samuel 21:6). Jesus commended his insight because “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). A Samaritan woman with five different husbands was blessed by a thirsty grace-giving Savior. An adulteress experienced no stones from a sin-convicted crowd. When Grace acts, pedigrees and ethnic background are irrelevant, so Joseph, the Hebrew prisoner, became Egypt’s second most powerful leader. When Grace operates, educational qualifications are thrown out. Fishermen become disciples, to the dismay of the religious elite. Grace instills hope in the hopeless, joy in the forlorn, and peace in the agitated. She has your back while she holds your heart. She transforms lament into a dancing melody. She is the warmth that accompanies light, and she is God’s gift to you forever.

6/29/2022 0 Comments

Understanding Delay

I hope this is an encouraging word for someone—discouraged by delays, by the hiccups of life that seem insidious; by the time that goes too fast when you want it to be slow and too slow when you want it to be fast.

12/1/2021 1 Comment

Fire

When was the last time you sat beside a fire, alone, and able to think and meditate? The previous home owners left me a gift of numerous piles of dead branches all over the property. I guess they didn’t have time to burn anything but I still would label their actions a gift because they gave me plenty of reason to clear away brush piles and, in the process, burn. There is something mesmerizing (and therapeutic) about sitting next to a fire and watching it reduce large masses to smoldering ashes. No branch escapes. All that feel the hot fury of flame are engulfed and reduced to residue.

10/24/2021 0 Comments

Individualism

Jim Van Yperen wrote a terrific book on resolving conflict entitled Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict. One of the topics Yperen tackles is individualism. He notes specifically that western individualism actually works against spiritual vitality and fellowship because it breeds autonomy at the cost of biblical community. Individualism results in consumerism.

8/7/2021 0 Comments

Harmony

Trina is a disrupter. She never lasts long in organizations because she has a bad habit of stirring up trouble. When she finds weaknesses in people she exploits them. She enjoys pitting one person against another. She is a gossiping genius. At first her gregarious nature and warm appearance win her instant friends. Slowly, as they learn she cannot be trusted with information, they pull away.

2/14/2021 0 Comments

Competition

Competition is one of my signature strengths. I don’t like losing or being wrong. By God’s grace I am mellowing with age. So, I can somewhat identify with John when he and his buddies were bothered that someone they didn’t know was taking on demons in the power of Jesus’ name yet wasn’t part of their signature team. I’m sure he felt that that it was completely inappropriate for one who was not spending time at the feet of the Master to minister as a supposed follower. But John and his fellow disciples were misguided in their thinking.

2/8/2021 1 Comment

No Regrets

Started in 1994, the No Regrets Men’s Conference is an annual event whose purpose is to challenge men in their relationship with God at home, at work and in their ministry. Hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the organizers seek to create an environment over about a four-hour period that ministers in a great variety of host sites around the world. Spiritual growth is set in motion when men and boys come together to worship and to hear challenging messages. What is also encouraging is the effort by the leaders to provide ongoing Bible Studies and messages designed to stimulate men spiritually so they don’t just experience a “one and done” but have impetus to keep maturing.

1/23/2021 1 Comment

Fellowship: Why It Matters

Fellowship is a rich concept much deeper in meaning than we probably realize. In Hebrew the primary word for fellowship is šelem and it occurs 87 times in the New International Version (NIV). Only once is it used in the context of meeting with others (Psalm 55:13,14), in every other instance fellowship connects to God through the giving of a fellowship offering. The fellowship or peace offering in the Old Testament emphasized the opportunity the Hebrews had for close communion with God. This fellowship was consummated by eating the flesh of an animal presented as an offering to God (Leviticus 3 and 7:11-21). The peace offering meant that all was well relationally between Yahweh and His people and it was the last offering given.[1]

8/23/2020 1 Comment

Marking People With Grace

Ron and Joyce York

At the age of 88, my dad is walking the final chapters of his life on earth still on fire to share the gospel with any and every person he can. Mark Cahill wrote the book One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven and that one thing is evangelism. Dad is making sure he maximizes now what he won’t be able to do once he is home.
I’m working on writing a biography of his life and was challenged by an entry in his journal on October 10, 1983 while he was serving as the country leader for the Navigators in the Philippines.

7/27/2020 2 Comments

Block Party

Saturday afternoon we hosted a block party at our home on Westchester. All but two of our neighbors showed up which was downright amazing. About 25 of us shared food and got to know each other a whole lot better. Because of the rain, most of the time was spent eating and talking under the shelter of our cleaned-out garage. One of the best things about fellowship is hearing people’s stories. Most love the opportunity to talk about their lives and there is something bonding about learning the history of those we live near. Perhaps because of all the COVID-19 issues we were even more eager to spend time together.

7/9/2020 1 Comment

Crushed!

While working on getting a book published I still lacked the artwork and so I called Bruce,* my project manager, to find out the status. When he answered the phone, it was obvious by the tone in his voice that he was stressed. Instead of diving into my request, I asked him how he was doing. Bruce sighed and then shared. “I’m going through a divorce . . . my house flooded and I’m having to replace the flooring in several rooms and it is not covered by insurance. I’m not sure if I can get a loan. I have an ulcer . . . my mother died and left me her house in a trust but one of the trustees was dishonest and it turned out that there is a lien on the home for unpaid debt . . .

1/21/2020 1 Comment

The Finest Encouragement

Lew Boore--mending with joy!

Meditation
Acts 16:40--After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house where they saw and encouraged the brothers, and departed.

9/30/2019 1 Comment

A Charge to PRESS

Recently I spoke at the retirement ceremony of my good friend Chaplain Bruce Sidebotham. Rather than focus on what he did in the military the Lord led me to address his future with a charge. A charge is an exhortation to action to fulfill an intended outcome. As an example, Paul exhorted Timothy, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism” (1 Timothy 5:21). My charge to Bruce was a message to all of us attending his celebratory event based on the acrostic PRESS.

5/8/2019 0 Comments

Overcomers!

Fitbit likes to encourage me when I surpass my daily goal of 12,000 steps. I receive a message on my phone that congratulates me for being an overachiever. The dictionary defines an overachiever as someone who performed better or accomplished more than was expected, especially by others. But to be an overachiever is really not all that great because I’m only surpassing the expectations of someone else. Left to our own effort, we may overachieve all of our lives but end up empty in the end. Death conquers life. Youth succumbs to aging. Health is battered by disease. Human achievement in the end is hollow. Perhaps this is why so many overachievers feel empty and despondent.

4/10/2019 1 Comment

Confirmation

My good friend Dan moved from Tigard to Albany Oregon to work with Dana, another mutual friend. Unfortunately, Dana’s business experienced a downturn and he had to let Dan go. In 2012 Dan felt led to stay in Albany and serve as an Associate Pastor in a Calvary Chapel.

Photo used under Creative Commons from Rachel Maxey Miles