Refreshed Through Fellowship

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by Michelle Miller

Posted on 14/03/09.
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God created us to encourage one another! In addition to being refreshed in God's presence, we can be refreshed through fellowship with one another.

Foundation

Let's first look at some key verses:

...That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. Romans 15:32
For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such. 1 Corinthians 16:18
Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. 2 Corinthians 7:13
The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain... 2 Timothy 1:16
For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Philemon 7

You may like to look each of these verses up in your Bible to see the context. Do you notice what they all have in common? Refreshing that comes from encouragement or fellowship from a brother or sister in Christ. The Bible reminds us not to give up meeting together as a family in Christ. Let's look at that verse in a bit more detail:

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching Hebrews 10:24-25

Consider Others

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

To consider others better than ourselves is to put their needs above our own. One of the greatest ways to receive refreshing is to take your mind off yourself and look for ways that you can encourage someone else. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, thinking about how no one cares about how you feel, or that no one encourages you, go out of your way to encourage someone else who needs it. This way, instead of feeling down, both you and the other person will be encouraged!

Encourage On Purpose

Stir up…
When I think of stirring up, I think of the embers of a fire. When the fire starts to die down, often you need to poke it a bit, to stir up the embers and let the fire come to life once again. In the same way, we are called to stir up our brothers and sisters in Christ that they may continue in love and serving the Lord. At some times, our fire may die down a little bit because of the weakness of our flesh, but often all we need is an encouragement from another believer, a smile or a hug and it can stir us up once again to continue serving the Lord with passion and fervency.

One thing we need to realise, however, is that this stirring up does not happen automatically. The embers don’t get stirred up again simply by us watching them glow. Instead, we must get up, pick up a stick and actively stir up the fire to bring it to life again. In the same way, we need to be deliberate and on purpose stir up our fellow believers that they can receive refreshing from the Lord through fellowship with us. The Message translation of this verse reads: Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out. We can be inventive and deliberate, on purpose thinking of creative ways that we can stir up love and good works in our fellow believers. And the Bible says that as we sow, we will also reap (Gal 6:7). So, as we sow into the lives of other believers, we will also reap a harvest of refreshing through them. We will be refreshed both by them encouraging us, and by encouraging them.

… love…
More specifically we are told to stir up love and good works. Ephesians 5 tells us to walk in love at all times, and 1 Corinthians 13 explains to us what that love looks like. One way we can stir up love in other people is to ourselves walk in love, living in such a way that it is easy for others to respond to us in love. When someone's stressed, don't show frustration or annoyance at their bad mood, instead continue to love them, walk in patience and kindness; not touchy, fretful or resentful (1 Cor. 13 Amplified Bible). The best way to diffuse an argument is not to argue! You can help your brother or sister to walk in love by being a blessing when they are stressed or upset.

Another way is through praying for them. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19 is a particularly good outline to follow, praying that they may have a revelation of God’s love towards them and that they then can take that love and show it to the world.

… and good works…
While there are many ways that we can stir up good works in those around us, we can gain insight into one of these ways through Ephesians 2:10:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We can remind people that God has a great plan for them and that they are a new creation in Christ Jesus. A realisation or a friendly reminder of who we are in Christ brings refreshing and stirs us up to not grow weary while doing good (Gal 6:9).

… exhorting one another…
The next key that the verse in Hebrews gives us for refreshing others (and experiencing refreshing ourselves) is to exhort one another. Other translations, such as the NIV and NCV (New Century Version) read encourage one another. When we see people serving the Lord, or we see potential in people, we need to tell them! Call forth that purpose in them. In my opinion, one of the best ways to see someone seek God in order to fulfil their full potential is for them to know that someone else believes God is at work in and through them. We live in a society where putting one another down is considered “showing friendship”. Let us go against the flow and be deliberate in encouraging one another and seeing each other refreshed and walking in the purpose of God for our lives.

I challenge you to think about how you can encourage someone else today!

Scripture quotations marked "Amplified Bible" taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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