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.  

In Position for a Miracle

We as Christians try to encourage one another when the issues of life try and bring us down.  That is what we are supposed to do.  The Lord is our comforter and His Word says that we are to comfort one another as He has comforted us.  The thought that popped into my mind this morning is that when our sisters and brothers in the Lord are in a tough situation and we say things like, “you are in the perfect position for God to show up and do a miracle”, do we really understand how difficult the position the person is really in if that is true?

If that is true, then that person is potentially in peril for their life, a Moses red sea parting moment when they would have died if God did not deliver them, or they are potentially in a situation where what they believe needs to be done is so “stupid” in the eyes of man, that they face ridicule and their faith is pushed to the limits.  Think of Joshua and the Israelites marching around the wall of Jericho and shouting, expecting the walls to fall down.  Is that sound battle strategy?

Well, I challenge you today that if you know a child of God who is really in an “only God can do it miracle moment”, that you pray for their faith to fail them not.  Pray that the Lord helps their unbelief.  Pray earnestly for them that the Word of God envelops them and girds them up so that by faith they see the salvation of the Lord.  Words of comfort and encouragement are good, but at times like these prayers of strength in faith avail much.  AMEN.