COURAGE

Joshua 1:9

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The greatest example of courage is what Jesus Christ modeled for us. To lay down ones life for another. Sacrifice, the denial of self.

1

: an act of offering to a deity something precious; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar

2

: something offered in sacrifice

3

a : destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else

b : something given up or lost <the sacrifices made by parents>

John 10:18

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

As Jesus talks about His life purpose I realize this is the calling, everything centers here. All of the mysteries of life find its purpose here in one laying down their life for another.

John 12:24

New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Think about this, when you plant a seed, it actually dies before it produces life. This is the ministry and call of Jesus and from Him to us.

Matthew 10:39

New International Version (NIV)

³⁹ Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

This apply s to everything, think about when you get discouraged or feel like a failure and you have internal battles in your heart about what is right and what is wrong, and what you should do to change the results of your choices.Those feeling are connected to the flesh by the spirit producing conviction. The spirit knows it ‘s goal and will work on your heart until you submit to the spirit. The flesh desires pride and ownership of our hearts. the flesh wants to be first, the flesh is selfish, self righteous, greedy. The lust of self-will. The path of holiness is found by offering your life to Christ. allowing the spiritual seed of your body to die so that it will find it’s life in Christ. One day our physical bodies will die and if we die in Christ He says the dead seed of our bodies will produce life eternal. The seed of a sinful mans body glorified by God in death.

John 3

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d]

Flesh and spirit do not go together, one must replace the other. The flesh must die for the spirit to live. This is what Jesus modeled. This is why we love and respect Him above anything else. An all powerful King of the universe humbled himself, died to Himself, came to earth as a defenseless baby, so that we would know how wide, how deep His love is for us! Courage, His name is Courage, and I pray this very morning that we together will find courage to walk in love, dieing to ourselves that we might find life!

Proverbs 21:21

New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Whoever pursues righteousness and love
finds life, prosperity^[a] and honor.

May the Lord fill your spirit with truth and your heart with divine love. May He stamp your heart with courage.

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FACING GIANTS

When I became a Christian I had no Idea about how to face the giants in my life, at least not from a Godly perspective. I think I looked at it pretty much as challenges come and you just have to tough it out, or party through it. Now as I am a Christian, facing giants has a whole new meaning. The kind of giants I am talking about are things like finding out you have a terminal illness, someone very close to you has just passed away, you lost your job and are now loosing your house, you were abused as a child and you are dealing with the anxiety of facing the internal issue and seeking healing. There are so many more. When I first got saved I truly hated myself and facing that giant was very difficult.  Getting to the heart of the giant takes courage, faith and God. I had so much fear in my heart and I didn’t believe in myself. I grew up bullied by other kids, when I was younger I was very small and skinny. It wasn’t until I turned sixteen yrs old that I sprouted and those problems ended. Even though they ended I still deal with some of those emotional issues from back then. What I can tell you is even though I still have some emotional issues and fears, I will take on the giants that come. I have learned as David did with the lion and bear. God is faithful and full of joy when we put on faith believing in Him and His word. Lets look at Davids heart in facing Goliath.

1 Samuel 17

New International Version (NIV)

David and Goliath

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

Notice Saul, doesn’t he sound like the whispers of satin? “You are not able” Isn’t that just like our enemy filling our heads with fear and doubt! If I could count how many times I have heard those thoughts “you are not able”. This is where truth comes in. Listen to David “when a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God”.

This is how David did it,with His truth in God

Romans 8:37

New International Version (NIV)

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

If you have conquered a giant before, you can do it again! As David defeated a lion and a bear, he knew if God helped him then, He will do it again! If you haven’t faced your giant yet, then you need to trust God and walk through it trusting Him. Once you have defeated a lion with God you will be ready to take on Goliath! Whatever giants you face you can trust God, you can take hold of His truth, you can put on the faith to be victorious in whatever you face in this life. David didn’t wait for the giant to come to him, he went to the giant, with God at his side.

God bless you and may your faith move mountains by overcoming the giants in your life. God bless you and keep you victorious.

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SHINE

Isaiah 60

Expanded Bible

Jerusalem Will Be Great

60 “Jerusalem, ·get up [arise] and shine, because your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord shines on you.
² [^LLook; ^TBehold] Darkness ·now covers [or will cover] the earth;
    deep darkness covers ·her people [the nations].
But the Lord shines on you,
    and people see his glory [^Chis manifest presence] ·around [upon] you.
³ Nations will come to your light;
    kings will come to ·the brightness of your sunrise [or your radiance].

Isaiah had a powerful message to give to the people of God which I believe stands even more today! There are messages all through the bible telling us to shine and I think we read it and at the moment think how powerful but never light the fire. If we do light the fire most of the time we have the shade over the light. I believe this happens for many reasons. First I think most Christians do not really know what it means to SHINE! How do we SHINE?

shine

v. shone  or shined, shin·ing, shines

 

To emit light.

 To reflect light; glint or glisten.

 To distinguish oneself in an activity or a field; excel.

 To be immediately apparent: Delight shone in her eyes.

 To aim or cast the beam or glow of (a light).

 past tense and past participle shined To make glossy or bright by polishing.

 Brightness from a source of light; radiance.

Brightness from reflected light; luster.

Excellence in quality or appearance; splendor.

To reflect light! We are to reflect the light of Christ. Again how do we do it? First we have to understand what we are using to reflect the light. We use our hearts to reflect the light of Christ. We must position our hearts in such a way that His light reflects from our heart. So first our hearts have to be positioned towards Him. Getting our hearts into focus, think about it, have you ever tried to reflect the sun with a magnify glass to burn a piece of paper? You have to get it into perfect focus and then it begins to smoke and then burn. His word is the magnify glass, our hearts are the paper. We need to get our hearts smoking in Gods word. Do you remember the two men that were walking on the road when Jesus resurrected? After Jesus left them, one of them  said, didn’t His words burn in our hearts? His word needs to smoke in our hearts to begin to burn.

1. To aim or cast the beam or glow of (a light). Once you have your heart smoking and burning in His love and truth, you have to refocus the light. Intentionally aim the light. How do we aim the light? Wherever the light is shinning on your heart you aim it. So for example the word of God brings conviction in a certain area in your life, you intentionally refocus the light on that area bringing even more light to it, which can be done by confessing your sin and acknowledging it. Repenting causing the sin to burn away by Gods truth. Then casting the beam or glow from your spirit that is now free from the heavy burden. Now shown on your face from your smile and the sparkling of your eyes because His spirit will emanate from your eyes the more you reflect His light (His Truth).

Removing the shade from your light is very important. Many people struggle doing this. Removing the shade means you have to share your light (His Light). Sharing can be difficult for many of us. Sharing is the greatest act of love and love is light. I have found that giving simple testimony to people causes my light to reflect Him. I aim His light towards others especially if I have walked through something very difficult with God and through that time God did so many things inside my heart that I now have something to give. What I now have to give is a talent and the word of God says not to bury our talents. If you overcome a stronghold you now have a talent in that area that reflects Gods light and Glory. Give your light away by reflecting His love to others.

This can also be done in your marriage, for example lets say your marriage is struggling and Gods light ( Gods Word) Causes the pride in your heart to burn. You refocus His light to your spouse with Humility and you aim His light ( His Love) at your spouse and once again your marriage begins to SHINE! Isaiah was and is telling us to emit light. Excellence in quality or appearance; splendor.

God bless you and may your heart smoke and burn the light and love of Christ. May God bless you and SHINE upon you!

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PRESS ON

Press on! I’m sure you can imagine what I was going through when I wrote this poem. I could actually write a sequel to It this very moment. I want to encourage you and if you haven’t read my post Rainbow Symbolism Of Promise I encourage you to do so. I am going to expand on that post in this post because I believe it was a powerful revelation to our walks with God.

Romans 5

Expanded Bible (EXB)

Right with God

5 [^LTherefore,] Since we have been ·made right with God [declared righteous; justified] by our faith, we have^[a] peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² ·who through our faith^[b] has brought us into that blessing of [^Lthrough whom we have access by faith to] God’s grace ·that we now enjoy [^Lin which we stand/live]. And we ·are happy [rejoice; boast] because of the hope we have ·of sharing [or of experiencing; ^Lof] God’s glory. ³ [^LNot only this, but] We also ·have joy [rejoice; boast] ·with our troubles [through suffering/trials/persecution], because we know that ·these troubles [suffering; trials; persecution] produce ·patience [endurance]. ⁴ And ·patience [endurance] produces [tested and proven] character, and [tested and proven] character produces hope. ⁵ And this hope will never ·disappoint us [let us down; or put us to shame; dishonor us; ^Chonor and shame were among the most important values in first century culture], because God has ·poured out his love to fill our hearts [or flooded our hearts with his love]. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.

⁶ [^LFor] When we were ·unable to help ourselves [^Lstill helpless/weak], at the ·right [or appointed] time, Christ died for ·us sinners [^Lthe ungodly/wicked]. ⁷ ·Very few people will [or Rarely/Scarcely will anyone] die for a ·righteous [just; pious] person. Although perhaps for a ·good [truly good; noble] person someone might possibly die [^Cthe “righteous” person may be someone who is outwardly religious, while the “good” person is genuinely generous and loving]. ⁸ But God ·shows [demonstrates; proves] his ·great [^Lown] love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

⁹ And since we have now been ·made right with God [declared righteous; justified] by ·the blood of Christ’s death [^Lhis blood], ·we will surely also [^Lhow much more shall we…!] be saved through Christ from ·God’s anger [final punishment; ^Lthe wrath]. ¹⁰ [^LFor if] While we were God’s enemies, ·he made us his friends [^Lwe were reconciled to God] through the death of his Son. ·Surely [^LHow much more…?], ·now that we are his friends [^Lhaving been reconciled], he will save us through his Son’s life. ¹¹ And not only that, but now we ·are also very happy [also rejoice/boast] in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we ·are now God’s friends again [have now received reconciliation].

As we go through many trials in our walks especially the testing of our faith which is the trials I am addressing. We must understand we have been set apart for Gods purpose. As I described In my last post Gods presence is upon us like a cloud. In our hearts He is like a consuming fire, glowing metal, a rainbow in the clouds. His spirit is constantly working to burn out our sinful nature making room for His spirit which is the rainbow in the clouds. We are ashes presented to God daily, which He receives and replaces with His beauty. Beauty for ashes! We should have a heart of conviction and if you do, that is His inner work that takes place from reading His word and encountering His truth. His truth becomes the consuming fire within us, casting out self-righteousness and living in conviction. We no longer judge others or try to remove the speck out of the eyes of others instead we remove the plank from our own eyes. If we are not having this experience we should be seeking God deeply for His spirit of truth. When we live in self-righteousness we will think more highly of ourselves and hold strict judgement towards others which places judgement from God on our sin and pushes out the grace God has poured out on us.

So the trails are producing change through pressure that is strengthening us for what is ahead. The longer we resist the change God is calling us to, the longer we will struggle in the current trial if the trial is for the testing of our faith. Sometimes we run from the trial which is only to find us face to face with a similar trial aimed to produce the heart surgery God scheduled. We are called to press on in our trials because they have a purpose producing perseverance. Tested proven character which produces hope and this hope will never disappoint us. Through Christ we are now friends with God. So don’t seem it strange that you are going through theses trials, your brothers and sisters are experiencing the same kind of trials.

The question has come up do I believe God is causing these trials? Trials come by many reasons, some we bring on ourselves. Some are attacks from the enemy satin, some by God for the testing of our faith and some by tragedy,  regardless where they come from we have the promise that God will take our weakness and turn it to strength so don’t lose hope or live in hopelessness Christ is with us. God knows your deepest need and He is with you. I am addressing mostly in this post the testing of our faith.

brothers and sisters I am so blessed we can join hands in our trials. Inspire and encourage one another. As Iron sharpens Iron, and one man sharpens another. Bless you In the name of Christ, I pray you are strengthened and moved to press on in hope. May Christ bless your heart!

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