I WILL BE STRONG!

Psalm 95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker,

7 for he is our God. We are the people he watches over,  the sheep under his care.

  Oh, that you would listen to his voice today! 8 The LORD says, "Don't harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. 9 For there your ancestors tried my patience; they courted my wrath though they had seen my many miracles. 10 For forty years I was angry with them, and I said, `They are a people whose hearts turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.' (NLT)

Read Psalm 95

When we read the Old Testament and the history of the Israelite's we see a people who made plenty of mistakes.  What we should also see is ourselves, and the many times we have refused to do what God is telling us.  In this Psalm, there is a call to be different from the early people of God.  We have a new opportunity, by the power of the Holy Spirit to be obedient.  We have to make a choice, a choice to make God proud and not angry.  Everyday we are challenged to choose.  We must choose to please the Lord Jesus, and not our flesh.  We must choose to please God, and not satan by our nasty attitude and behavior.  We have a choice of whether we are or are not going to sin against God, and if we are going to rely on the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to make the right choice for Christ.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the Lord looking down and shaking His head at me saying, “How many times must I give her this test?”.  I want to pass the test, and I WILL NOT be weak and subject to my flesh.  The Word says that greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.  Do you believe it?  I know sometimes we don’t act like we do; BUT today make the right choice that shows that you do!  Declare that you will NOT be in the “they” that refuse to do what the Lord tells you (v10).  Declare that you WILL BE strong in your discipleship, and walk in all that the Lord has for you!  

Jesus thank you for helping us, strengthening us, encouraging us, and teaching us.  In Your MIGHTY name we pray, AMEN.  

He Has Us Covered….

As I stood talking to this lady today, her expression, tears, and words reminded me of a very familiar feeling I have experienced one too many times as a child of God, regret and condemnation (not from God but from myself).  See we all make decisions without consulting God that we just feel are right and can’t logically figure how God would see it as wrong.  The problem is that we should make no decision without consulting God in His Word or through prayer.  Sometimes it is our emotions or zeal that push us forward when we should pause for Holy Spirit confirmation or correction. 

Then the regret comes when the situation plays itself out and we see what God could have steered us away from in the first place.  Then we condemn ourselves for not doing what we know we should have in the first place…seek God first and all things will be added.  The only answer that will silence our regret and cover our condemnation is Love.

1 Peter 4:⁸Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]. (AMP)

1 John 4:¹⁰In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. (AMP)

Love has already forgiven us.  We must let the past be the past and honor Jesus’ sacrifice by accepting that He has forgiven us after sincere repentance, and let Him love us in and through our consequences.