Jump Starting

How many of you have had to jump start a battery in your vehicle? You go out to go somewhere. You turn the key in you car and the engine groans but it will not start. Nothing is wrong with the motor, but it it is that little thing in the car called a battery which is discharged. This can happen even with us. We get up in the morning and we don't feel very motivated maybe even discouraged. We start out the day well, but at a certain point in the day we feel down, and oppressed. We check under our hood and everything seems to be in working order. Yet, there is something that has robbed us of our peace and joy. Then we discover our battery is dead, and we wonder why. What caused our battery to go dead. Usually we don't have an answer for this, but we look for some jumper cables to jump start it. If we can't find them, we are dead in the driveway or street.

In our lives we all face down times, times of discouragement, times of disillusionment, times of depression, and times where we lack the vibrancy we once had. There can be many causes for this and sometimes we can't put our finger on it, but there is a solution. We need someone to jump start our lives. We can say all I need is Jesus. All I need to do is get into God's Word and presence. These are important things, but sometimes we need someone to jump start us. We need someone to encourage us.

Pastor John Meadth at Port-au-Prince Fellowship in Haiti gave us six ways to encourage others.
1. See the real potential in people.
    James saw the potential in Saul. (Acts 9:26-27)
2. Affirm the capability of others.
    Moses did this with Joshua. (Deuteronomy 1:37-38; 3:28)
3. Point people to the opportunity in the problem.
    James does this. (James 1:2-4)
4. Speak prophetically one to another. (I Corinthians 14:3)
5. Testify about what God has done or is doing. (Philippians 1:14)

Finally, we must be committed to the Christian community.

Hebrews 10:24-25 - "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching"