Posts Tagged ‘Strength’

THE LORD IS OUR SHIELD

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

Day 269

“But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill”
Psalm 3:3

It was a bitter moment.

The rebellion and wickedness by one of David’s son, Absalom, had now turned against his father. He seized the throne and drove him out, proceeding to pursue him with the intent of killing him.

The burden was great.

David “continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went.” His own son turned against him. Absalom was his closest counselor. Yet, he became a traitor leading David to losing a kingdom, and now possibly his life. Adding insult to injury, David was cursed by a man who pelted him with stones. David even believed the Lord may have caused him to do so and would not permit his troops to kill or stop him. This had to be one of the lowest points of David’s life.

The Lord is greater.

David could not rely not on his own strength or position. He declared the Lord was his shield and protection. God will save him by taking him through these troubled waters. David was a king, but his glory was not in the office, but in God Himself. Even though he was in despair and recognized his own past sins may have set the stage for these events, he also knew that the Lord would turn it to good. He knew God would lift his head up in joy for sorrow, glory for the despised and blessedness for the humble. What mercies our God gives us.

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me”
Psalm 3:5

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HIS HELP AND CARE

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

Day 224

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”
Isaiah 41:10

Our Father is faithful to us, and knowing our frailties He comforts us. More than an earthly father, He walks with us, holds us up, giving us assurance of His help. When life’s circumstances throw us into turmoil, He says, “do not be dismayed, I am your God.” Even though you may not sense His presence, He is saying He is there, He hasn’t let go, He is with you.

Our Father strengthens us. The Amplified Bible says, “I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties.” There is a progression where He builds strength in us through trials and tribulations. He didn’t promise we would free of difficulties, but He would help us and assist in our needs. Further, He will hold us up and retain us with His victorious right hand of rightness and justice. When Paul was ministering in the midst of great trial, the Lord spoke to him in a vision and gave the same promise, “for I am with you, and no man shall assault you to harm you…” [Acts 18:10].

Our Father is an encourager. His divine presence and care continually encourages us as we walk before Him. In our weakness, His strength prevails, giving us His companionship in trials. His overshadowing care of us is so prevailing that we are unaware of the many ways He assists us. Ask the Lord to make you aware of His care.

“And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows”
Matthew 10:30-31

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GOD IS ALL SUFFICIENT

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Day 216

“I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted”
Job 42:2

One of our greatest tensions is between self-strength and God’s strength. Even as Christians we continue to rely on our plans, ways and strength to carry them out. A minister speaking at a Bible School many years ago stated he had a plan to save the world and that all they needed to do was pray and get God interested in it! Although we may laugh at this, we probably do the same thing in many different ways. The heart can be very deceitful.

Job’s eyes were opened to this at the end of his ordeal. Although declared a righteous man by God, there was much more for him to learn. The greater revelation of God’s glory and omnipotence caused Job to declare, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” [verses 5-6]. It was at this moment that Job’s opinions died. He had been presumptuous and said foolish things. His self-strength had ruled and God gave him a quick lesson in Who’s strength he needed.

We need to have our eyes opened. Jesus showed us the way to walk in—”The Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing” [John 5:19]. There are many mountains in our life and rather than facing them in self-strength, He has given us His strength to draw on. Our God has made a way for us and by relying on Him we have assurance of the outcome.

“With men this is impossible;
but with God all things are possible”
Matthew 19:26

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HIS STRENGTH

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Day 200

“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength
of my heart and my portion forever”
Psalm 73:26

Tribulations are part of life. From physical to mental, many things can assault us in the course of a day. For many, relationships are an area of suffering. These affect our family, work, social, and life in general. Surprisingly, being a Christian does not exempt us from these life’s difficulties.

What most of us do, how we react under these circumstances, is to draw on our strength. Human nature has an amazing capacity to handle adversity in life. The problem is it is self-strength. The reaction is to the self. Asaph, the psalmist, said that when his flesh and heart failed, God was His strength. In his weakness, it was God who empowered and kept him. When all else had failed, he came to understand that he could only live in God’s strength. When He is our strength, we can trust Him. When we trust ourselves it is self-strength,.

When Joshua attacked Ai (in his own strength), he suffered a great defeat. He turned to the Lord and repented. The Lord said, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,” and Joshua became victorious so that not one man was left in Ai. When David was assaulted by His enemies, He turned to the Lord who delivered him from all his enemies. David declared, “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect” (2 Samuel 22:33). Our Father desires to deliver us today from all our enemies and take us through adversity in victory. Self-strength will bring discouragement, fear and defeat. His strength makes our way perfect.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth
give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though
its waters roar and foam and the mountain quake
with their surging . . . The Lord Almighty is
with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
Psalm 46

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OUR FATHER’S HELP

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Day 180

“Thou art my help and my deliverer”
Psalm 40:17

Deep in our nature there is a great desire to be accepted. It is the nature of love. Sin has twisted this in a way that we deeply struggle with these issues. Consider how much the word ‘self-esteem’ pervades discussions today. The wrongful expression of these deep desires leads to sin.

God greatly desires our love. He created us to love and know Him. And He longs to have our whole being and heart to love Him. But, how can we love God with our sin, faults, imperfections, failures, etc.? We are blinded by our own flesh. Even the best of our intentions, all our self-strength, strongest will, best efforts will not cleanse us or make us right. We may express our desire and say we love God, but our lives often seem to prove otherwise.

God is our helper. He can do what we cannot do. He can do what is not possible. That’s why He first loved us. Then He shed His love abroad in our hearts so we can love. And He promises to circumcise our hearts – cleanse us and make us right. He is a Father who looks upon His children with tenderness and will do whatever it takes to make us clean. He will lead, direct, and take us through life to accomplish His purposes. He is a glorious God full of grace and mercy for us, His children.

“The Lord will cleanse your heart …
so that you will love Him with
all your heart and soul”
Deuteronomy 30:6

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GOD’S WORK

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Day 148

“He will rescue us because you are
helping by praying for us”
2 Corinthians 1:11

When Paul mentions his missionary trip, he recounts the hardships he and his co-workers went through. It was so severe they thought they were going to die. They were under great pressure, weighed down, beyond their own strength to endure, all of which brought them to despair. They were crushed and overwhelmed to the point they saw no way of escape from death. It was a gripping account.

Paul states, in the midst of this ordeal, “we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead.” And learning to rely on God in the face of death brought strength and deliverance. God delivered them from mortal danger. It was at this point that Paul addresses his main point – they were rescued because the Corinthian church was helping by praying for them. The results of their prayers brought gratitude to God by many others who heard this account.

God has not just saved us. He has made us co-workers and it is a great honor to be among those that labor in the kingdom of God. The Corinthians finally discovered that when they heard how their prayers assisted Paul and his companions and served to have many give thanks to God. What a great opportunity we have because all of us, men, women, and children can pray! God has entrusted us with this work.

“They were holding golden bowls of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints”
Revelation 5:8

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HE GIVES STRENGTH AND POWER

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Day 105

“He gives power to the weak, And to those who
have no might He increases strength”
Isaiah 40:29

Self-strength; Self-reliance; and, Self-sufficiency.

Isn’t this our way? It is one of the greatest pitfalls of our nature. There is a funny thing about all our self-strength, reliance and sufficiency; our bookstores have hundreds of titles on ways to solve loneliness, overweight, lack of self-esteem, and every other conceivable human weakness. So, if self-strength, reliance and sufficiency don’t work well for you, there are plenty of authors wanting to help you! Sadly it is not just the worldly books; visit a Christian bookstore and you see the same thing with a religious twist.

God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” [Isaiah 55:8]. Fallen man believes in self-strength. God’s way is in His strength, but it only works in those who are humble and know they are weak and lack true strength. Godly strength comes only in weakness – “God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” [1 Corinthians 1:27].

How do we walk in His strength? It is “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” [vs 31]. What a gracious God – He is our strength. He gives us power. He equips us. He cares for us.

“My grace is sufficient for you;
for My strength is made perfect in weakness”
2 Corinthians 12:9

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