Moving Forward In His Strength!

“Do you believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will  be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.  Yet I am not alone, for my Father in heaven is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:31-33 NIV

Right after Jesus made these comments, he looked toward heaven and prayed and while he was praying, he prayed for you and me (in John 17:20) and I’m so thankful that He looked down through generations to come and saw me and He saw you, too. He loves us enough that He wanted to make sure we knew, He was thinking about us before we were ever formed in our mother’s wombs.

Understanding that God’s Word was written with me in mind–providing me with understanding of how things were, why they happened, and a look at the future has given me the fortitude needed to keep moving forward in His strength, rather than my own. And if you have developed a relationship with God–His Word was also written for your benefit and not mine alone.

In times like these–we need to know more than ever than we do indeed have a Savior that loves and will guide us in all we do. We need to know that with Him going before us, we are more than conquerors and we can do all things through Him. Nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible for God to accomplish through those who love Him. When we are at our weakest moments in life–He is our strength. When we feel we can’t go on, He speaks to the hearts of those around us and they encourage us to keep moving until victory is won.

Though we do not understand the foolishness that prevails in the White House, we can be assured that God is allowing this all to be revealed to His glory, not the glory of any man or group of men, but so the world will know–when people lie on Him, He will expose the lies and truth will make a way and soon we’ll all be free of the idiocy that now exists in the land (Washington, DC).

Don’t give up no matter how tired you are! No matter how foolish the speeches are that come out of the White House through the press secretary or any of the surrogates who only speak lies–look towards heaven and pray and God will hear and answer our prayers.

This we must do–stay vigilant–observing everything that happens, making sure sources we use for information are credible, and ignore all the machinations used by the enemy, including the bots promoting negative, inflammatory remarks that attempt to belittle or negate whatever anyone says that does not favor trump. We are in this to win it and we will not be deterred by the lies and deceit. We will move forward in His strength and encourage others to do the same. The Resistance is here to stay and will not  be moved by lies or threats or bullying of others.

Strengthened By Faithfulness In Our Obedience to God!

“He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the LORD will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (I Samuel 2:9,10 NIV)

Those who are faithful–obedient out of reverence for The Lord–have no need to fear judgment at the end--for The Lord will judge them according to their faithfulness to Him.

At the same time, those who have not acknowledged God and not obeyed Him, will be silenced in the midst of their wickedness and at the end, they shall appear before God, trembling and shaking and rightfully so.

When children are obedient to their parents, they have nothing to fear from their parents, but can look forward to receiving the just reward of their behavior. Obedient children quickly respond to questions parents may have and own up to any mistakes made, accepting responsibility for anything they did that caused a problem.

On the other hand, disobedient children will deliberately do whatever they “feel” like doing, allowing their emotions to rule over them and then they will lie or blame everyone else for the negative things that happen in their lives. When they are caught in a lie, they become defiant, arrogant and unruly. When punishment is meted out, they become resentful and instead of owning up to their behavior, they blame others for the predicament they find themselves in.

Good parents–parents who are observant and know their children–always know which child did what in their absence. They even know that older, more mature children, will often take the blame for younger, immature children to keep them from suffering a punishment. Parents know who did what when they have paid attention to their children and know their personalities–who’s mature and who’s not. They know, but sometimes they don’t say anything and judge according to the information presented to them.

Those older children who take the blame for the things the younger ones, only exacerbate the problem since the younger ones seldom learn to take responsibility for their actions. Then they go through life, never willing to own what they do, but always willing to blame others.

God knows His children–the good and the bad–and His judgment will be based on the works we do out of obedience and since those who are disobedient don’t accomplish much (based upon His plans), they will get their just reward from Him.

Don’t get weary doing what is right even though it appears that those who never do what’s right seem to get ahead of you in life. They haven’t gotten ahead and in the end, they’ll discover just how are far behind you they really are. Do good and know your reward is secure because of His love for us and He is faithful to those who are obedient to Him.

In His Strength

I’ve been very busy lately.

Teaching and writing, and writing and teaching, and taking care of home.

Some nights, I don’t sleep well, but I still have to keep going, and going, and going.

When the body is tired, the mind is confused and the spirit is listless, logic is gone.

But when I feel I cannot go another step, cannot rise from a bent position, and just feel like laying in the floor, ready to give up, I hear the voice of the Lord, “You can do this, just one more day.”

“No, Lord, not today.  I cannot make it one more day.”

“Have faith in me,” The Lord continues.

“I do have faith in You, but I cannot make it.”

“If you have faith in me, you can do all things necessary,” The Lord says.

“But, Lord.  I’m tired.  I’m drained. I’m completely empty.”

“Good!  Now let me fill you with my spirit, “says The Lord. “When you can no longer count on you, you can always lean on me.  In your weakness, I am made strong.  There is nothing too hard for me.  I love you and I will not forsake you.  Now, get up!”

“Lord, I’m so tired.”

“Get up and speak only those things I have spoken to you,” says The Lord.

Slowly, I turn my head and say, “I can do all things necessary.  In my weakness, You are my strength.  There is nothing too hard for You.  I am loved and never alone.”  As I repeat this several times, I feel renewed energy surging through my body and slowly I rise–feeling my spine straighten, hearing my joints squeak as they begin to move, and then I am standing, raising my hands, looking towards heaven and singing praises unto Him who loves me and will never leave me alone.  I am moving once again and just for today, I am re-energized and ready for anything the enemy throws my way.  I am a living testimony and I will proclaim His goodness this day!  Hallelujah!