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Deuteronomy 8:18

Then you shall remember the Lord your God, for He it is who gives you strength, that you may gain power, and He may establish His covenant the Lord swore to your fathers, as it is today.

Encouraging Words…

Sometimes we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life or get pressed down under the burdens of all that we have on our to do list that we forget to take time out for our Lord. He is the source of our strength. He is the one that gives us the power to make it through the day. He is the one who established His covenant of peace and joy with us. Glory be to God!

Judges 16:20

And Delilah said, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” So he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as before, and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Personal Challenge…

The story of Sampson and Delilah is such a clear reminder of what happens in our lives when we flirt with sin. We start down a slippery slope and before we know it we have slipped so far from God that we are no longer empowered by His Holy Spirit. These actions always come from our choices. Whether it be that we choose to lie, or dabble in an addictive behavior, or gossip about others, or take something that is not ours, or…fill in the blank.. If we keep dabbling in this area we soon fall in love with it and switch our focus off of God and on to it. The result will always be painful and difficult. Just as Samson had to struggle to make it back to his former position we have to do the same and will suffer the consequences of our choice to sin. How much better it is to say “No!” the first time that little voice in our head tells us to do something that we know is wrong. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the Lord is of great strength,
And when the righteous run to it, they are exalted.

Encouraging Words…

It is not our righteousness or our running to the Lord that lifts us up, but it is the Lord and His strength. He is our shelter and our source of strength. It is only in Him that we can be lifted up from the drudgery and challenges of this earthly life and realm into His eternal life and heavenly realm. Glory be to God!

Psalm 62:5 (61:6 LXX)

However, be submissive to God, O my soul,
For my patient endurance is from Him.

Personal Challenge…

I have sometimes , actually often, wondered why I have such a hard time patiently enduring a situation. Well, here is a good hint to the core of the problem…not being submissive to God first. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Deuteronomy 7:9-10

Therefore know, the Lord your God, this God, is a faithful God, who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with those who hate Him; He will repay them to their face.

Personal Challenge…

Our God is constant. He is never changing. He is faithful to those who love Him, even when we are not faithful to Him. He is also consistent with those who actively reject Him and hate Him.Thoughts that are both encouraging and challenging at the same time.

1 John 2:4-6

He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Personal Challenge…

These are pretty tough words to read. We are being called liars if we do not keep His commandments. And what are these commandments? They are to love God and to love our neighbors; basically to do everything in love. Do I get angry and short with the people in my life? Do I get involved in gossip about other people? Do I put down others so that I look better? Do I lift myself up and call attention to myself? If I do any of this then I am not walking as Jesus walked and I am a liar about being His follower. God doesn’t look at how many books I have read, or how many creeds I can quote, or how articulate I can be about His teachings, but He does care about how much I am willing to love Him and others and then follow that love with loving, Christ-centered actions. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Judges 7:9-11

On that same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. Listen to what they shall say, and afterward your hands shall be strong and you shall then go down into the camp.” And he went down with Purah his servant to the edge of the camp of the fifty.

Encouraging Words….

God knows us. He knows our hearts. He knows our fears. And He is willing to guide us through our endeavors, our battles, our challenges, gently and effectively to victory. He does not just demand that we go out and fight without first preparing us and the way before us. However, winning the battle is a joint effort. We must act. We must prepare for the fight. We must trust God and that He is our Protector. The early church fathers taught that the battles recorded in the old testament were metaphors for the battles that we fight in our lives against the passions of our flesh that lead to sin. What an interesting way to be reminded to prepare for the battle, to be equipped for the battle, and then to fight the battle with all the energy we can muster until the victory is won…theosis.

James 1:5-6

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

Encouraging Words…

We are promised that if we ask of God in faith that He will provide. The key here is not the asking and the providing, but the faith without doubt. If we are living out our faith in Christ then we will only be asking for those things that God wants us to have. This promise is not about God being at our beck and call, but about us trusting in Him so much that we don’t desire things that are apart from Him.

Romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Personal Challenge…

Our lives as Christians are to be transformed from worldly centered lives to Christ centered lives. This requires a transformation of our minds, which can only be accomplished through God’s grace. We cannot do this on our own. Living this way will begin to draw us away from the ways of the world and toward the ways of God. Living this way will take work on our part, but it will result in knowing and living out God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will in all that we do. Glory be to God.

Luke 18:27

But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Encouraging Words…