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Have you ever seen a
balloon that has been punctured by a fingernail
or object? It only takes one little hole in the
balloon to deflate it. It may take a while for
it to completely deflate but eventually all the
air goes out. You may try to patch it with
something and it might help for a while but
doesn't last.
It is the same with our
hearts. When someone says something negative to
us, a sarcastic remark, a discouraging word, or
something that pulls us down, that is all it
takes. It only takes one discouraging or
sarcastic remark to put the hole in our hearts.
That is why it is so important to choose your
friends wisely.
People can try to
encourage us and tell us not to listen to those
people who delight in putting us down, but the
hole is already there and nothing anybody says
or does can take the hole out of our hearts.
Jesus is the only One Who can reach down His
Healing Love and completely make our hearts new.
Someone told me that I had written
something in a writing that I had already put in
another writing. I was unaware of it, but I
think the reason I used the same illustration is
first of all, when I write I have no idea what I
am saying until I read it back.
Second,
God probably inspired me to use the same
illustration because of what a Pastor said in a
sermon I heard years ago. He said, " I've had a
lot of people ask me why I preach almost the
same message Sunday after Sunday. It is because
God told me to preach it until you grasp it and
employ it in your daily lives."
Please
don't say things to discourage people. Joyce
Landorf says on one of her teaching tapes: "Men
and women are leaving full time ministry in
droves because we have not encouraged them."
We need to realize that God is the only
One we should be listening to for our final
Instructions. Yes, we do need counsel, but only
from people who love Jesus. A person can know
the Bible and have all the written Words in his
or her head, but if that person doesn't have the
Love of Jesus in his or her heart, that person
has no business telling someone else what to do.
I urge you to be an encourager of
others. Let's start building people up instead
of putting them down.
Proverbs 16:24
"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet
to the soul, and health to the bones".
King
James Version
© Joanne Lowe March 16,
2005 |