DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT THURSDAY – NINE BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES TO LIVE BY... The conclusion.

Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery, and the best form of tenacity I know is expressed in a Danish fur trapper's principle: "The next mile is the only one a person really has to make." - Eric Sevareid.

I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. – Prov 4:2.

We conclude our series today, if you have missed any of them, you can read part 1, here, and part 2, here.

7: BE ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD AND OTHERS FOR YOUR DECISIONS.
The road is lined with broken dreams and disappointments, because people have failed to follow God s guidelines, for making decisions. What protects you from the deceit of your own heart?

Jeremiah 17:9 says… The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Once we believe we have heard God speak through the Holy Spirit or His Word about a given situation, seek confirmation. Our first wave of defence against poor decisions is confirmation through our spouses, or others in whom we are accountable…

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. - Prov 15:22.

God will protect you from poor decisions if you truly want to find God’s will for a decision, however, we must learn to give up our rights to have our own way in the process.

My greatest thought is my accountability to God. - Daniel Webster.

8: SPEND TIME IN PRAYER WITH GOD, AND INVITE OTHERS TO PARTNER WITH YOU, TO PRAY FOR YOU.
God desires to communicate with His children. Intercessory prayer is the method He has provided for us to communicate with Him. We must have a life that includes intercessory prayer for ourselves and from others who will intercede for us. If we are truly in a battle, then we must have those in the body who are front-line scouts who can warn us against impending attacks and minefields.

Intercessors are those people. Intercession is not a spiritual gift, but a calling for each believer. Some are called to greater degrees of intercession and often appropriate the gift of prophecy at times.

Intercessory prayer is:

1. Intense prayer for others.
2. The priestly calling of all believers.
3. The Holy Spirit praying in us.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. - Colossians 4:12.

God is calling many men and women in the workplace to pull together intercessory prayer teams to support them in their marketplace calling.

I fear John Knox's prayers more than an army of ten thousand men. - Mary, Queen of Scotland.

9: SEEK GOD FOR STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS IN YOUR WORK LIFE
God wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, including our work lives. He wants to provide strategy for accomplishing the purposes of your life. God has given us specific instructions on how to win a battle…

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. – 2 Cor 10:4-6.

God gives us this strategy to fight the battle with prayer. Our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness. He wants to guide you in your work life and make you successful. However, it requires total dependence and obedience to Him…

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. - Prov 3:5-6.

For several years a lawyer and a doctor had regularly played golf together. They were evenly matched, and there was a keen sense of rivalry. Then one spring the lawyer's game suddenly improved so much that the doctor was losing regularly. The doctor's efforts to improve his own game were unsuccessful, but finally he came up with an idea. At a bookstore he picked out three how-to-play golf texts, and sent them to the lawyer for a birthday present. It wasn't long before they were evenly matched again. - Bits & Pieces.

Loving Father, help me by the power of the Holy Spirit, to learn these principles, and apply them to my walk with Jesus, that I may be a better disciplined, and therefore a better child of God, for your glory. I ask this in the wonderful and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Be encouraged.
GBYAY