Jerry Mercer

Encouragement, Not a Pep Talk

Encouragement is a call to action for an extended period of time, unlike a pep talk that is utilized for a current, in the moment realignment to get you through the task at hand.

To give encouragement we must first establish these three criteria for being a persuasive encourager. Modes of persuasion are: ethos, which convinces others of your qualifications and gives you place in their lives; pathos, which shows you have compassion and a genuine care for the good outcome of others; logos, shows and directs folks towards logical solutions, a persuading of the thought process.

Changing the thought process is an ongoing solution to a negative pull that would stimulate and develop a state of certainty in one’s ability to deal with the now, and thrive in the future. Engaging you and enlightening you as to what is immediate and can be carried out in the now moment, but also staying with you as you persevere in the future.

As we continue in counseling and encouraging, words are supplied to cause an image of overcoming, a stimulation of your core being that enables you to move forward purposefully. “I believe in you”, “you are a perfect fit”, “you got this”, “you are making a difference”. All these words grouped together form images, so that you can gain confidence in yourself, and become self-assured.

You see, we as people tend to be our own persuader of uncertainty and that leads to our being unsettled in our abilities, whether that be physical, mental, or spiritual. Physical hurdles are overcome by spiritual action, the main persuasion of the spirit is hope, hope is an action of expectation and expectation believes the future will be bright, it sees ourselves as more than conquerors. Amen!

A self-stimulation formed by an outside – image or a word of encouragement that brings hope would cause recognition of an accurate discernment of the truth. Then the truth about your situation is the basis for your persuasion, but when we allow contrary ideas and images into our vision we become discouraged. We in essence are discouraging ourselves, by seeing a distorted image of ourselves and our situation.

We need a renewed vision, and I encourage you to listen to a special word of persuasion; “Jesus Christ by His Grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, so encourage your hearts”. This scripture would bring a distinct vision of future encouragement and some Bible hope. Amen!

It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, a strengthened heart is an encouraged heart, a grace-filled heart is a cheerful heart, and our cheerfulness will exterminate discouraging thoughts and replace them with, Godly vision. God speaks to our heart in vision, so my encouraging word for you today is, “be strong and courageous” and let these words form a vision in you that stirs you up, cheers you up, and calls you to the act of being persuaded.

Believe in yourself today, you are well able to achieve all that is required of you, all your desires, and all your dreams!

Dream big and let your dreams persuade you, you are the apple of God’s eye!

If you need a faith boost today please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

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Scriptures of Encouragement: 2 Timothy 1:12, Romans 8:37,
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, Hebrews 13:9, Deuteronomy 31:6 and
Titus 1:1 in the AMP classic “Paul a bondservant of God and an apostle (a special messenger) of Jesus Christ, to stimulate and promote the faith of God’s chosen ones and to lead them on to accurate discernment and recognition of and acquaintance with the Truth which belongs to and harmonizes with and tends to Godliness.” Amen!

Grief, Abandon it by Faith

Grief at times can be a misunderstanding, a confusion of the circumstances, a failure to see and sense the true happenings of a situation. We need inner strength to console ourselves, a substance of a hopeful future that is grasped “by Faith”.

Faith, our true inner beliefs, our deep-seated knowing, and understanding can lift us up quickly and establish situational clarity.

Clarity allows, or extinguishes our ability to process our grief in a healthy manner dependent on our past choices in regards to what we believe. Clarity is the necessary agent required to deal with, and understand the effects our grief will have on our ability to console ourselves.

This clarity can be defined as soul peace, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace. Soul peace would eliminate the discomforting feelings and emotions and deliver you out of the heaviness and oppression associated with the grief.

Therefore let us make every effort to do what leads to peace. Calling on God can enlist Him to lead you and start the healing process. Amen!

Unchecked grief robs us of our natural healing process, but faith in God propels our healing process by a soothing of the mind, heart, and emotions. Our faith in God becomes the seat of our emotions and that gives us a clear place to sit. Seated with God in heavenly places alleviates the pressure that is causing our grief.

If we continue to leave our emotions unchecked, we will allow our imagination the opportunity to oppress us, burdening us down with fear, anger, or guilt, and this weight will keep us from climbing out of a heightened state of grief.

As grief gets its grip we enter into sadness or a feeling of hopelessness and this is the point where we must look up to, and cry out to God for help.

In times of despair, we need spiritual encouragement and we need it quickly, calling a personal friend, a trusted minister, or a Christian counselor, without delay.

You see at this point we need to be guided in a different direction, set on a corrective trajectory, leading back to that soul peace that we allowed ourselves to drift away from. Amen!

Soul peace is a place where we find our grounding, soul peace is an inherent character of God, and this soul peace ends the agitation that is causing continued grief.

Soul peace is actually the desire of us all, but realizing where it comes from takes words of encouragement, words of Godly wisdom, and a hearing of the Word of God that would lead us back to “Faith”.

A spiritual sensation that would override all our sadness and grief and replace it with hope, a hope of things not yet experienced but longed and looked to ‘by faith”.

Heart faith looks to and accepts the feelings that it is longing for, reaching towards, and then that heart faith lays hold of the substance that it was clinging to all the time, Soul Peace.

Faith is the comforting inner peace that causes us to prevail over sadness and grief, then sadness and grief are replaced by unfailing love and redemptive compassion for others that propels us forward, up and out of our feelings of despair and back into caring for ourselves and others.

Giving and receiving care, being ourselves comforted by God, and then being equipped to care and comfort others, this is the true meaning of our living and being.

Living is being full of life, and life is the condition that distinguishes, our unity with God and others, and leads us on a path of continual change.

By faith, we change from Glory to Glory, and by loving one another as we love ourselves we are distinguished as children of God.

From grief to glory, that is the plight of everyone who chooses to accept God and His goodness over the negative pull that works to cut us off from true living.

So, mourn with those who mourn, even take time to experience and process grief, but remember that rejoicing is just around the corner.

Come back to life today, seek love and help today, while it is still called “today”.

If you need a faith boost today, please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

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Helpful scriptures: 1 Corinthians 14:33, Romans 14:33, Ephesians 2:6, John 1:12 and Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen” TPT.

Life Like He (God) has It… Eternally!

Our life past here will be a manifestation of “life like He (God) has it”. Our eternity will be lived in a manner unlike we experience here.

Mundane living and activity should not be our daily quest. We get up get ready, let the dog out, feed the kids, go to work, come home, tweet and text, and bathe the kids, sleep, and repeat.

This type of living will not be lived eternally and should not be our only existence now!

Life like He has it is fulfilling, satisfying, and new every morning, rewarding and eternal. Amen!

Life like He has it would be living by faith, walking by faith, experiencing those things that are promised to us by our believing in Jesus Christ.

The in-Him promises, that cause us to have and enjoy, “life like He has it”.

Graceful living is a life lived in Him and is characterized by, elegance in manner and movement, beauty of character, love for moments instead of love out of requirement.

In Him we live and move and have our being, we are even considered God’s offspring, so as His kids we have the ability and authority to live, “life like He has it”. Amen!

You see, in Him was life even before there was even one, Jesus had life like the Father has it, He was, He is, and He is to come, the Alpha and the Omega!

Jesus came to earth and He overcame every obstacle, He completed His mission, and then He returned to life as He had it before His natural existence.

In Him, we have our place of existing, our place of compassion and care, and by our continual searching and seeking we find our life and it resembles His.

As we live an obedient life, a blessed beyond measure life, a grandeur form, and essence of life. This “life like He has it” leads to complete joy and happiness, truly living in a happy place, because happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

Life like He has it is a happy life, you have heard of happy wife, happy life, this may have some truth to it, but it will not allow you the whole life that is found by trusting in Christ Jesus.

Trusting in and being committed to God causes a happy life and leads to everlasting or eternal life.

Remembering the things He has given us and being thankful corresponds to a happy life.

Stepping out by faith on revelations determines a happy destination of a life past here and allows us to live in a freedom that will be enjoyed here and eternally.

You see, if we only live in this physical, time-bound reality, we live in a very small fishbowl.

The bigger part of what was created for us to live in must be obtained by faith! We strive to live beyond what we see and feel, not living a life controlled by that proverbial shadow of what life could be.

But actually stepping into a vision of victory, a determined destiny, a place where we experience now, and eagerly look toward, “life like He has it”.

Zoe life, the very life that God has in Himself; this life was manifested in and through Jesus Christ, His one and only unique Son.

Jesus’ main purpose in coming to life like we have it here was to produce in us a new life, a rebirth, to become like He and the Father, One!

One in the “life like He has it”, which is the greatest need of mankind today, as we look to and follow the path that God has laid out for us, we have a foreshadow of life like He has it, an Eternal bliss, eternal happiness and eternal fellowship with the Creator of Life Himself.

This life is available to all of us who enter into the true race of life, the race to win the prize which leads us upward to Christ Jesus; He is the Author and Finisher of our faith and the Light of “life like He has it”.

If you need a faith boost today, leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

If you like this content, please consider signing up for my newsletter to receive emails directly.

Helpful scriptures:

Psalm 144:15, “Yes, joyful are those who live like this! Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord”

Lamentations 3:22-23, Hebrews 11:6, Galatians 2:20, Psalm 16:11, John 1:1-5, and John 6:40.

Your Spiritual Residence is Past Here

Let me tell you of a place past here! A place where you are represented by a personal being, created for you, and who stands before God on your behalf.

Created by God and subject to God, but standing on your behalf, what an amazing Grace!

You were known by God before you ever adorned this flesh; we are spiritual in essence and physical in stature.

Where we have been or have come from we also have a memory of. As we look past here let us also look to our previous existence, where we came from is where we are returning to if we get this faith walk right. Amen!

Let us look into spiritual development; God knew us when we were in our mother’s womb. He loved us while we were being rebellious towards Him, He receives us back at any time we call on Him out of a pure heart. He keeps us from failing and from falling. He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit, by way of our conscience, and He sent His Son to intercede for us all day every day!

What a wonderful Savior we have, He is real and He is real good.

As we look to God’s Word we find many paths available for God to lead us down, so many available, but distinct ones marked out for us individually. He has a distinct plan for each of us and it starts with eternity.

How do we start with what most consider to be our future? By faith.

By faith, we were, by faith we are, and by faith, we will always be. Be what you may ask?

Be the one He created you to be, be the one that He knew before you adorned this earth suit, be the one that knew Him previously, left Him partially, but are now reunited with Him eternally. Amen!

You see, eternity has a beginning, a middle, and a glorious, boundless, infinity. God is not finite (having limits or bounds). He is infinite (impossible for measure, no eternal limitation), and so are we.

God created us in His image and He is a Spirit, so we must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

We are created to remember Him in spirit and in truth, and to follow Him in spirit and in truth, and remain with Him in spirit and in truth.

He had a place for us in His heavenly realm and He placed us on this earth, but not of the earth. He sent His Son Jesus to go and prepare a place for us – back home.

By our faith in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, we will return to our first dwelling place to be one with the Father and the Son, and meet our very own angel who guided and protected us and stood before God on our behalf. He assisted the Holy Spirit in keeping us, keeping us for our blessed return home. Now I understand the meaning of “Home Sweet Home”.

If you are missing anything in your life today, look back, past here!

If you need a faith boost today, please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

If you like this content, please consider signing up for my Newsletter directly!

Scriptures to validate and ponder: Matthew 18:10, Acts 12:15, Hebrews 1:14, Jeremiah 1:5, Luke 1:41, Romans 8:34, Psalm 32:8, John 4:24.

John 14:2-3, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may be where I am.