Be strong and courageous...

 Be strong and courageous.....words I have often heard from the Bible.  Upon looking I see where they are repeated eleven times in the Old Testament as God spoke to His people.

Two of our grandsons competed in wrestling at the high school level this winter.  After watching their matches I realized that they had to be very strong and courageous.  As they wrestle they couldn't stall or just hold their own but they had to go forward and try to get new holds on their opponents so they could obtain points or get a pin for themselves.  To do this they had to risk losing points or possibly getting pinned themselves.  

Recently I was with Gail at a roping competition.  When the ropers (a header and a heeler) catch their steers quickly enough they get to come back to a final round, called the short go. Gail had been roping well and was in the short go.  I was so nervous!  Almost as nervous as when I watch an action-packed movie!!  I thought to myself that I needed to be strong and courageous to watch! (Sorry what a silly thing to be nervous about but I was! Gail works so hard at his roping sport and I so want/wanted him to get a sweet win for his hard work.)  Any, I was nervous!

I mentioned this to our daughter, Lindy.  She said, "Yes, we all have to be strong and courageous in our lives."  Lindy is a nurse in the ICU at our local hospital.  She had to draw upon her courage to give someone a difficult IV that day. Gail had been strong and courageous to enter the roping competition.  Other family members or friends were strong and courageous at their jobs.  Do you have something staring you in the face that is causing you to need to be strong and courageous? Is there someone or something at work causing you to fear?  Is it a decision you need to make about yourself or your spouse's future?  Is it a business decision? 

We all have times and things we face that require courage.  We CAN have the courage if we know the Lord.  He is with us and will give us all the power we need to face the situation or task. He also is sovereign and in control. 

I have been recently reading about faith, more specifically the faith of Abraham.  He had faith in God and because of his faith, he was able to trust God and live in obedience to Him.  Because of his faith, he was able to do good works.  James 2: 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works.  

Thinking through all of this I am reminded that I do have faith in God, that I can trust Him to be with me, that he will never leave me, and that I can be strong and courageous in whatever He calls me to do.  You can do this too!! If we have faith in God, we can trust Him to take care of us. Our works can show our faith is on solid ground and we can be strong and courageous. 

Friends? Yes! Are you a Friend of God?

I have recently been reading about Abraham.  God asked Abraham to do some hard things.  First, he and his family were to move - to leave all they knew and go to an unknown land.  Then God said that Abraham and Sarah would have a baby in their old age!  And, yes, the miracle happened and Isaac was born.  Then God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the altar.  And, yes, Abraham was obeying God's request when miraculously God provided a ram for the sacrifice.'

The devotional I was reading said Abraham was the only person in the Bible called "a friend of God". This is taken from Isaiah 41:8c the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

Why? Why was Abraham called a friend of God?  My devotional said it was because Abraham had the right relationship with God because of his faith.  Then his faith was shown through his works. 

So what is faith?  How do we show that we have faith? Faith is belief in the one true God without actually seeing Him.  (Heb. 11:1 - faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.) We show that we have faith in God that we have not seen by our obedience to His Word.  Thus, Abraham hadn't seen God but he did have faith and showed it by his obedience AND he was called a friend of God.

How about you? or me?  Do I have faith?  Am I obedient to God and what he asks of me when I can't see where I'm going? Prov. 17:7 says "a friend loves at all times."  Do I always show God I love Him?  Do I treat Him like a friend?  Do I want to be with God? Would I be called a friend of God?

A Friend of God.......could that be said of us??

Prayer...most important 'thing' we can do!

 Prayer.....something we are going to get around to...when we have time.....

I was thinking about what I would do today and it came to me that maybe the most important thing I could and should do was to pray.  Years from now no one will remember me or what I wrote.  Years from now we will have grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.  NOW we can pray for them.  We can pray that they will know our God, that He will be real in their lives, that they will have the salvation that comes from accepting Jesus, that they will have strong Christian families, and that they will be strong leaders and examples for those around them.  

Praying is the thing that really lasts!  Several years ago my husband, Gail, was visiting with our neighbor, Lloyd Hall.  Gail had been sharing the gospel with some of the neighbors and they were open and receptive to salvation.  Lloyd told Gail that the reason they were open was that there had been an older widow lady in their area years ago who prayed that someone would bring the gospel to the cowboys where she lived.  Lloyd said that because of her prayers, people were open to Gail sharing the message of salvation.  

We may not see our prayers answered now but know that God does hear and will answer.

Let's pray more for our families who are with us now and those that will come in future generations. 

Ephesians 6: 18 ...praying at all times in the Spirit,...

Passing on our faith and the stories behind it...

 

I have been reading lately in the Bible about Abraham. Today I read a devotional about him and Isaac and the time Abraham went to offer Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice. Why did Isaac lie down and go along with the plan? The devotion said it was because Abraham had told his son about all the miracles that God had done in his life to that point in time.  Thus, Isaac knew and trusted God.

This was a reminder to me to tell our children and their children, our grandchildren,  about the miracles we have seen God do in our lives.  Think back and remember those miracles.  Tell them to your children.  Write them down so the generations that come will know your stories.  Then they can know that God is real.  Then they can remember that God can be trusted to do what He has promised to do. 

Psalm 78:4 We will...tell to the generations to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

Ask God to bring these miracles to your mind. Then be sure to write them down on a slip of paper so you can go back to it and write from there.  I often find the Holy Spirit brings things to my mind.  If I write them down I can go back to write from my notes but if I don't write them down then I don't remember the thought anymore! 

Testing - temptation or a test? Who from?

 

I am really excited about what I learned about this topic!  When a temptation, a problem, or a difficult circumstance comes who is it from?  Is it a test or a temptation? Is it from God or from Satan? 

In a book I recently read by an author, Dr. Robert Jeffress, this subject was addressed.  The book was going through the Lord's prayer and explaining it verse by verse. I found the explanation of this next verse very interesting.   

Matthew 6:13  And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Dr. Jeffress went on to explain that in the English language, we have two different words. Temptation which means to entice to do evil.  He said that God never entices anyone to do evil. James 1:13,14  "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust."

Thus Satan is the one who tempts us to do evil.  

The other word is test, which means a difficult circumstance used to strengthen our faith. The Bible says God does test people. James 1:2,3 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 

So in English, we have two words with two meanings for the idea of test/temptation.   In the Greek language, there is only one word that has two meanings.  In Greek, the word sometimes means temptation, an enticement to do evil. The same word in Greek can mean test, a difficult situation to strengthen our faith.  

Now using what we have learned, let's look at another verse.  Genesis 22:1 says: After these things God tested Abraham...  In this chapter, God was asking Abraham to take his only son Isaac and to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.  How did Abraham respond?  Did this instance cause him to sin and disobey God....or did it cause him to obey and increase His faith and obedience?  Was it a test that led to sin or did it lead to a stronger faith for Abraham? We know Abraham passed the test!  He trusted God.  God provided the sacrifice, a ram.  God blessed Abraham for his obedience and faith. 

All this to say what really matters with the testing or temptation is how we deal with it.  If the problem entices us to do evil and destroys our faith it is a temptation. Satan has the victory.  If the problem strengthens our faith it is a test. God has won and our faith has been strengthened.

Complaining about others....

 Many years ago our family was attending a church that we were very thankful for as it was good news for our ears in that it preached the Word of God.  

I was honored to be able to teach in the children's Sunday school classes.

But I became unhappy with the worship leader.  It seemed to me that he showed up late for worship and then tried to pick a few songs to sing in worship.  It annoyed me that he wasn't prepared for leading worship.

Then the Lord spoke to me.  Was I doing the same with my Sunday school teaching?  Was I showing up and winging it?  Was I prepared in advance? Was I giving honor to God through my responsibilities?

Since then I have tried to do things differently.  I have tried to remove the log from my eye first.  When I am blessed to be able to teach I try to spend time studying the lesson ahead of time. I try to know what the lesson is about, print out handouts, gather supplies, and be prepared.  

This was a good lesson to me not to look at what others were doing but to do what I was supposed to be doing so that my deeds honored God! Then I could gratefully, earnestly, humbly pray for others that they might be able to do the same.

Luke 6:42

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

Keep on keepin' on...for today and tomorrow

 I have been discussing with myself this past week the topic of reading about God and His Word.  Sometimes I read... and then I wonder what I read.  Did I learn anything?  

I remember Gail's mom reading in her late years not long before she passed.  I knew she read the words on the page but I wasn't sure she knew what the book was saying.  

This is my conclusion.....We may not understand or retain all we read but we will learn something so KEEP IT UP!

I heard Charles Stanley say in one of his messages this week, "We don't drift towards holiness." We won't become holy without working on it.  We won't be what God wants us to be without working on it. 

As with anything we do that we want to be good at - be it your job, a sport, or parenting - we must work at it.  So it is with being a Christian - we must work at it.  

SO:  Keep reading! Write in your book!  Take notes! Make an outline!

This year I am using a journaling Bible given to me as a gift.  I love that there is room to write in it.  So as I read through my current book about the Sermon on the Mount I am writing in it and I am writing in the columns of the Bible what I've learned in the book about the sermon from Jesus.  Sometimes we will have time to do this in-depth study....other times we may just get to read a little bit in the Word or in a book that will help us in our Christian walk. 

I'm saying all this to encourage you to keep on reading and learning as you pursue your Christian lifestyle.  You won't become better at it without continuing to learn and grow.  You won't remember everything you learn but you will grow! What you learned will be a help to you for the day you read it.  Sometimes you will only have a few moments to read a little.  Other times you may be able to dig deeper into the Word.  Just do what you can when you can!

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,