January 2025

But what do you do when you are discouraged? What do you do when you are struggling with emotions that attack your mind? Have you piled countless reasons to lock yourself away at home, alone, maybe feeling depressed and anxious? The Bible tells us in Hebrews, Chapter 10, verse 25, not to forsake the assembly of ourselves together with other believers.

The moment people start feeling like they are failing or falling short, or others are advancing faster than they are, the enemy is quick to encourage us to hide away and deal with these emotions alone. He might say, "No one else understands" or "This is what you get for dealing with the same problem over and over. You will never defeat it." The enemy is great for shaming us for struggling with a problem that we "should have already conquered by now." If the enemy can get you to fall out of fellowship with our family of believers, he can more easily convince us to live defeated.

But being together with other believers gives us strength. We receive encouragement by their stories. We receive encouragement by the things they are doing to serve others. We are encouraged by hearing what they are struggling with and praying together as a family.

This is why the church is so important. When we are in this place of cold isolation, we can feel the warm presence of the Lord. We can defrost by getting encouragement. And in the end, the enemy does not have a foothold. We are able to rise up into heavenly victory instead of letting the devil get the best of us in our moment of weakness.

Yes, we need to pray at home. Yes, we need to read God's Word to hear His heart and grow in the spirit of wisdom and understanding. But find or build a tribe of dedicated believers that you trust, who can build you up in the faith and encourage you, who will seek the Lord together. In so doing, you will find that fire within that burns even in the coldest night.

Prayer:

Lord, I ask you to push my flesh and my feelings aside. When I am tempted to isolate and be alone, your word promises to encourage me if I fellowship with other believers. I ask for your help, Lord, to deny the lying emotions and discouraging voices in my head. Help me to get out of my house and stop focusing on areas of my defeat. Give me the strength of will to attach myself to a band of believers who will encourage me to stand tall. I will fight like someone who has the armor and the power of God working in my life. I declare that Satan is a liar. He does not have power to keep me down and depressed when life comes against me! I put my hope in Jesus Christ. I run to the people of faith who can encourage me. I will not fall out of fellowship. I will not stay away from my church. I am faithful and I receive encouragement every time I get in God's presence. I declare that I will build up my church and I will allow them to build me up as well. I declare this by faith in Jesus.