Thursday, May 30, 2013

Be Strong And Of Good Courage

"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Deuteronomy 31:6

On the verge of your Promise Land you will surely find opposition…  Too often people present a false doctrine and make the voyage of following Christ appear to be a (n) easy task… We believe that we can win souls for Christ by presenting all the things that He will and can do for us and hope that the person we are entertaining doesn’t read the fine print or the disclaimer that informs them that they will deal with persecutions, hardships and trials… As a child of God we are to “consider it pure joy when we face trials” because we are being developed and molded… The pain you endure today releases the power you need to obtain victory tomorrow… Don’t be fooled by the way things may appear to be in your life; instead prepare yourself every morning to be attacked by the enemy… This is why we are charged by Paul to “Put on the whole amour of God…”  There is a battle taking place daily over your very soul and you must come to realization that this is a reality that will be in place until Christ returns and you are called home… Make no mistake about it, the word of God never declares that things will go as we draw them up, His word never tells us that the Christian journey will be peaceful and a smooth ride from point “A” to point “B”; however, His word does tell us today that we are charged to “Be strong and of good courage…” Like I said, there is battle taking place everyday and it is not you are not tasked to run or fear, but to stand strong and fear not… This passage was written at point in the lives of the children of God after they had endured the ten plagues, they have already exited the land of Egypt, and the children of God have already crossed the red sea on dry ground and have been fed manna from heaven… This has come after the exalted snake which healed all manner of disease and they have received water from a rock… On the verge of their destiny, Moses (there fearless physically present leader through the whole ordeal) is now passing the mantel to Joshua… It is in this passage we can find uncertainty and also find encouragement… The uncertainty is easily found in our lives when things change… The same can be said with the children of God as Moses is removed in our focus verse… Just like the Hebrews, we are on the cusp of something great and right when we are beginning to celebrate there is a perceived setback that takes place or comes into play… The challenge that we face in our Christian journey is not the setback, but displaying the ability to “Be strong and of good courage…” You can’t be strong (as this passage indicates that you have to be) if you are not prepared and this is why it is so important that we understand that trials and tribulations are a very important part of our growth and maturity in Christ… When you expect the unexpected, when you prepare for the worse, you can move from being strong and of good courage into the next level of Christian maturity which teaches and instills in you that you should “fear not, nor be afraid…” See the children of God feared what would happen under a new leader when Joshua took over, they feared change; however, if they simply recalled the past to the present they would have learned that there was no reason to fear since God had already delivered them before… Today, in your life, when you feel like you are suffering a setback know that you have no reason to fear; the same God that saw you to the storm will be the same God that leads you through the storm… The enemy wants you to believe that you will not succeed, he wants you to give up and throw in the towel; however, the word of God tells us today “for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee…” You can rest assured that God will not leave you; you may feel at time like you are alone, but you can be assured today that God is always with you and will always be by your side… You can endure your trying time today; you can go through the turmoil without worry or panic simply because you have the Lord on your side… The children of God lost sight of what God had already done and that generation was cut off and never reached the Promise Land… The message we learn from this text today is simple yet powerful… If I had to sum up the charge put forth from this passage I would warn, challenge and encourage you by these words… God has already been were you are and where you are going… The path you are traveling had to be paved for you to travel it and the battles you encounter have already been won… With that being said, don’t let the appearance of things derail your divine reality…  

BE BLESSED!!!

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