VOICE OF DISCOURAGEMENT PART 4

MEMORY VERSE: and he spake that saying openly. And peter took him, and began to rebuke him, Mark 8:32

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Sam 29-30, 1 Cor 10, Ezek 8, John 9

As discussed, the voice of discouragement is inevitable. The voice of discouragement is from the enemy whose sole aim is to steal, kill and to destroy, John 10:10. The voice of discouragement can come at any time.

It can come from a total stranger. It can come in form of a thought going through our minds. It can also come from confidants, family and friends and from people who we hold their opinions in high regard. It is easy to dismiss the voice of discouragement coming through our thoughts. It is very easy to turn deaf ears to the voice of discouragement coming from a total stranger but it is almost impossible not to give second thought to the voice of discouragement coming from close friends. In the case of Jesus, it was Peter – one of His disciples, Mark 8:31-33.

What are the voices of discouragement? Whatever destroys your faith is the voice of discouragement. Whatever causes fear is the voice of discouragement. Whatever causes you to look down on yourself is the voice of discouragement. Whatever encourages you to give up on your dream or vision is the voice of discouragement. What do I do with the voice of discouragement? The only way to deal with the voice of discouragement is rebuke it right on the spot. What we tend to do is keep quiet when the voice of discouragement comes. Plato once said your silence gives consent. If the voice of discouragement is trying to discourage a fellow or destroys his faith and he keeps quiet. It means such fellow is in agreement with the voice of discouragement. When the voice of discouragement came through Peter, Jesus didn’t keep quiet. He did not smile and say stop it because I don’t like it. Immediately Peter tried to discourage Him from pleasing God, He rebuked him right on the spot. The next time someone says there are no jobs; right on the spot tell him or her there are jobs for you. If they say it is impossible, right on the spot tell them for you it is possible.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please make all impossibilities become possibilities in my life.
Bro Samuel - Reaching the world for Jesus

DISCERNING THE VOICE OF DISCOURAGEMENT 3

MEMORY VERSE: fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness, Isaiah 41:10

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Sam 28, 1 Cor 9, Ezek 7, John 8

In these series we have learnt that the voice of discouragement is inevitable for anyone who wants to succeed. Not only that, we have to come understand that the voice of discouragement is not from God. God is not a discourager but an encourager. Isaiah 41:10 says fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Before we look at another source of voice of discouragement, I want you to know that the voice of discouragement can come at any time. It can come weeks before breakthrough like we saw in Mark 8:31-33. Jesus told His disciples about the plan of God for His life, how He had to die and save the world. Peter called Him aside and began to rebuke Him in other words discourage Him. Immediately Jesus rebuked him and he kept quiet. The voice of discouragement can also come days before a major breakthrough like we saw in 2 Kings 7:1-17. There was famine in the land; the only food available in the market were dove dungs (feces or excrement) and only the rich could afford it. The poor started eating their children. The Lord spoke through Elisha that in 24 hours, there is going to be abundance of food. People will have so much food to the extent that the prices of food stuff will drop. An item that was sold for 10 units before the famine will now be sold at 1 unit of the currency. As Elisha was relaying this message to the king, one of the personal advisers to the king – an economist said it was impossible. Even if God were to open the windows of heaven, things cannot get that better. Elisha told him you will see it with your eyes but shall not partake of it.

The voice of discouragement can come moments before breakthrough.
Friends the enemy is most active moments before breakthrough. I have shared my experience of how the voice of discouragement came an hour to my breakthrough (completion of my final year project). The voice of discouragement can come minutes before breakthrough, an example of this can be found in 2 Kings 5:1-19. Naaman had everything money can buy but he was a leper. Not only that, he was lonely and willing to do anything to get his life back. He heard about Elisha and decided to pay him a visit. On his way the prophet sent a servant to instruct him to go and wash in river Jordan seven times. The voice of discouragement began to tell him why river Jordan when there are better rivers in Damascus. As he turned to leave in anger, one of his servants begged him not to give up and do what the prophet had commanded. He washed himself seven times and was healed. If not for the mercies of God, the voice of discouragement would have robbed Naaman of his breakthrough. It takes only the grace of God, to overcome the voice of discouragement moments before breakthrough.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to stand to the end.

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus

DISCERNING THE VOICE OF DISCOURAGEMENT PT1

MEMORY VERSE: and he spake that saying openly, and Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, Mark 8:32.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Sam 26, 1 Cor 7, Ezek 5, John 6

BIBLE STUDIES: Mark 8:31-33

In Mark 8:31-33, Jesus called His disciples and began to brief them of the plan and purpose of God for His life. He hinted them of the rejection He was going to face while fulfilling the plan and purpose of God. He summarized the challenges and pain ahead of Him. He told them how He needed to be beaten because every stripe was going to cater for every disease known to mankind. He told them how He needed to go through pain because His pains were going to bring us joy. He told them all these were temporary because at the end He was going to get a name that is above every other name (Philippians 2:9-11). After speaking Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him in other words discourage Him from dying on the cross of Calvary. Thank God Jesus rebuked Him and carried on to please His father in heaven.

When the Lord is about to do something great in a life especially moments before the appointed time, the voice of discouragement will come. The voice of discouragement is the voice of the devil. The voice of discouragement can come through our thoughts. When the enemy knows that the Lord is about to reward a brother for his labour of love in the vineyard of God, he will use the voice of discouragement to distract him. When he knows that a particular service is going to mark a turning point in the life of a sister, he will use the voice of discouragement to ensure that the sister does not attend the service. He might tell the sister all these while you have been going to church ,why not rest this Sunday and go the next Sunday.

Friends I want you to know that the voice of discouragement will always come when breakthrough is around the corner. Few days to the submission of my final year project, the system I developed stopped working. I and the project supervisor worked on the system but all to no avail. On my way to work the voice of discouragement came through a thought that I should quit because God was not in the project. If God was in it, the system will not develop fault at the last minute. The voice advised me to inform my project supervisor of my decision to quit and re-submit a new project proposal the next year. Meanwhile my project supervisor was busy with my project trying to get the system to work but I didn’t know. Any way I decided not to give up and try again when I get home. Around ten minutes later my project supervisor called me that the system was now up and running. The enemy knew that breakthrough was close so he put pressure on me to quit. If I had informed my project supervisor of my decision to quit, he would have quit working on the system and that would have been the end but thank God I didn’t.

TO PONDER: You stand a chance of succeeding when you don’t quit.