Be Encouraged! How to Thrive.

<p style="text-align:center;"><a href='http://visioncomsolutionscom.siteprotect.net/Be_Encouraged.pdf'>DOWNLOAD KEYNOTE NOTES</a></p> <p> </p> <p>1 Thessalonians 5:11, Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.</p> <p>Joshua 1:9, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.</p> <p> </p> <p>Definition of Encourage</p> <p>To strengthen; To grow strong; To prevail; </p> <p>To make firm; To support; To repair; To hold, contain; </p> <p>To strengthen oneself; </p> <p>To put forth strength, use one's strength; </p> <p>To withstand;  To hold strongly with</p> <p> </p> <p>Discourage Defined: </p> <p>To deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; dishearten; to obstruct by opposition or difficulty, To hinder </p> <p>To express or make clear disapproval of; frown upon</p> <p> </p> <p>Overcoming discouragement does not come from fighting it. </p> <p>Overcoming discouragement starts with agreeing with God who said, “Be strong and courageous.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Success in any struggle doesn’t come from what you can or cannot do. </p> <p>Success in any struggle comes down to who is with you. (God and people)</p> <p>Again Paul said, Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thess. 5:11)</p> <p> </p> <p>Keys to Encouragement</p> <ol><li>Fill your heart with hope. It’s like carrying an umbrella when rain in threatening</li> <li>Encourage others, because you reap what you sow</li> <li>Never feel attacked. Recognize that there are always more broken hearts than hard hearts. Hurt people, hurt people. Don’t take it personally</li> <li>Surround yourself with encouraging voices and sources. You will need this to help discouraged people.</li> <li>Look at beautiful things. Things that speak to you. Things that cannot be diminished. (<a href='https://youtu.be/f_vqOeyT9kQ'>Examples from nature</a>)</li> <li>Remember that courage is not the absence of