Dear Precious Friends,
On this beautiful TGIFF I pray you are embracing the gift of this day and walking in the strength of our Lord. There are no words to comprehend the love Jesus has for us... When I remember the price paid for my sin, the grace He has given me and the love He has for me, it is overwhelming. Ephesians 3:17-18: reminds us " so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, you will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.…
So how do we get through the difficulties of life with unexplainable hope, faith, strength and joy?
It starts with knowing God... and the only way to know Him is to know His word. In the beginning was the word, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us... To make the Kingdom of God our primary concern means to put Him first in our life to fill our thoughts with His desires, to take His character and serve and obey Him in everything. The walk of faith cannot be accomplished in our own strength. To know our Lord is to know His word and to know His word is what strengthens our spirit to endure the difficulties of life!!
So what do we do when we feel waves of fear, insecurity, discouragement or stress crash around us.. It is easy for us to feel we will be overtaken. Our problems become our focus instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus. Without fail, we will sink under the weight of our circumstances and fall.
Here is the amazing thing about Jesus. When Peter began sinking, he cried out for Jesus to save him. And Jesus did. Just as Jesus didn't hesitate to pull Peter out of the rough waves, He will pull you and me back too as soon as we ask. The best place to fix our eyes is on Jesus. He's our peace, source of hope, our strength and the One person we can trust will always be there for us. And when we do fall, as soon as we call out to Him, He'll pick us up.
Here are a few verses on God's strength... to know His strength is to walk in vicotyr. I pray you walk in victory today.. and no matter your challenge He guides you and shows us the path to take. May we open His word and fill our hearts with His truth.
AMEN!
My strength is perfect in weakness: 2 Corinthians 12:9–10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul had a weakness or physical difficulty that he called “a thorn in my flesh.” Whatever this disability was, he prayed regularly for God to take it away, but still it remained. Instead of removing this thorn, God told him, “My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul realized that in all of the difficulties of his life, God power was being demonstrated. These weaknesses were actually Paul’s strengths.
Be strong in the Lord: Ephesians 6:10–11
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
The Christian life is difficult. Our enemy, the devil, is looking for ways to destroy our fervor, entice us to be unfaithful to God, and ultimately destroy us. Paul finishes his letter to the church at Ephesus with this encouragement to be strong. But that strength comes from wearing God’s truth, righteousness, and salvation like armor.
Through him who gives me strength: Philippians 4:11–13
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 is a rather well-known verse, but you really need the context to really see it for the profound inspiration that it is. Paul had endured so much in his ministry: persecution, shipwrecks, betrayal. Throughout this time, he learned the secret of contentment. He wasn’t only content when he had what he needed. He learned to be fulfilled even when he was hungry and in desperate need.
Through his obedience, Paul had learned that it was Christ who gave him strength. And that strength brought him contentment in all sorts of trials.
We can trust in God’s strength
Each one of us will face a myriad of trials and difficulties, but through them all God will be faithful. If we wait on him and trust in him, he will be there to protect, guide, lead, and renew us. But it requires that we put our hope in Christ’s sacrifice and the power of the resurrection. As Paul reminds the Galatians:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Now lets go walk in His strength and embrace the victory we have in Him!
