She Often Refreshes Me

“You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.” (2 Timothy 1:15-18 ESV)

If you are serious about following the Lord Jesus with your life – and your faith is NOT just a religion and religious practice, especially that of formalities and traditions which are practiced on religious holidays while you barely make mention of Jesus Christ at any other time – and so you talk about Jesus to other people regularly, and so you follow him in obedience to his commands in holy living, in daily practice, then you can expect that the ungodly of this world and the shallow professers of faith in Jesus will turn away from you, they will desert you, and they will not support you.

But thank the Lord for the encouragers of Christ who come alongside us and who speak words of encouragement and comfort and support to our hearts. They may be few in number, and they may be non-existent at certain times in our lives, at least to the point to where we are not aware of them, for they may not have a way to communicate with us, but they may be praying for us. But whether or not we have human support and encouragers that we are aware of, the Lord is our support, and he is our encourager if we are walking in his ways and in his truth in obedience to his commands in holy living.

Yet the Lord has given me a Christian lady who is my Onesiphorus right now who always seems to have just the right words to say to me to encourage my heart. And I am so thankful for her, and for God sending her my way, for she has been such a blessing in my life. She is not my only encourager, but she is my primary one who is “not ashamed of my chains” and who publicly supports what the Lord has given me to do and to say. But my dependency is not on her nor on her support, for she may not always be there for me, but the Lord is always there, and I can depend on him always.

Now I really like this part – “but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me.” Wow! This lady who the Lord has brought my way also looks for what the Lord has given me to post on the internet, and she looks for ways to encourage me, and she seeks me out to give me encouragement, and I so appreciate that. Honestly, I don’t have other people in my life like that that I am aware of who make it their consistent effort to find ways to encourage me and to take the time to do so. But if I don’t have her, I will still do what I am doing for the glory of God.

But I pray for her that the Lord will encourage her heart in knowing that she is being such a blessing to me. I pray that the Lord will bless her as she has blessed me, and has been a blessing to me. And I pray that this will serve as an encouragement to her to be bold in her witness for the Lord, too, in sharing Jesus Christ with the world about her and in proclaiming his gospel message so that many may come to genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, so that they will have salvation from sin and eternal life with God because she dared to tell them the truth, even if she is rejected, in return.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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