Category: weakness

Thursday 7/5 ~ Oh, how we need eachother

On By In discouragement, emptiness, healing, problems, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, July 5 (7/5) is 2nd Corinthians 7:5ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

00-Cover-KINDLE-Thumbnail-New“For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn ~ conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me so that my joy was greater than ever.”

Oh how much we need each other.

Sometimes in life, we go into our own Macedonia where we have no rest and are full of fear. Our Macedonia may be religious or political or medical; or it may be at work, out on the street, or at home.

At such times we need a Titus to help us, to encourage us. Our Titus may be a relative, a neighbor, a friend, or even a stranger.

Have you been a Titus to anyone lately? Look around. Be a Titus to someone today. You are so very needed.

~~~BUYLINK for eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/500GoodWorks

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#problems, #trouble, #fear, #rest, #tired, #friend, #GoodWork, #encouragement, #help, #Christianity, #Bible, #Scriptures, #church, #JesusChrist

Sunday 6/17 ~ I would die if I couldn’t eat

On By In humility, Inspirational, power, prayer, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 17 (6/17), is Matthew 6:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-Medium“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face.”

This is interesting because Jesus did not say “If, you fast” but rather “When you fast.” It was as though he was teaching us to take for granted that we would fast ~ it would be second-nature to us. In a sense it is, for when most people go through a sudden tragedy such as loss of a loved one, they often cannot eat.

But what about voluntary fasting? The early church sometimes fasted. Acts 13:2 says a congregation in Antioch, Syria, fasted and worshipped, then chose men to go out as missionaries. Queen Esther fasted before going to the king uninvited with a request he might not like (Esther 4:16). Isaiah 58:3 says people fasted in order to humble themselves.

Some people respond, “I’d die if I had to fast.” Perhaps that’s kind of the idea. We know we would die if we went without food long enough. So perhaps one day of fasting is a way of saying, “God, I would die for you if I had to.” Yes, fasting is a humbling experience, and frightening to some people. But perhaps that is the point.

Is something important coming up that you know you will be urgently praying about? Once you skip one meal, you will have conquered your desire to eat. Then, with your brain not having to concentrate on digesting food, it will be able to focus more on that important thing happening in your life. Your prayers will be more focused. You will be more focused with your eyes more clearly on God.

So, take a shower, comb your hair, put on some nice clothes, and look like you have something important to do. Then fast.

~~~BUYLINKS for eBOOK & discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/HeroesAlone

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#fasting, #hunger, #food, #humility, #prayer, #desperation, #weakness, #hope, #power, #death, #Christianity, #Bible, #Scriptures, #church

Wednesday 6/13 ~ Feeling hopeless? Go in the strength you have

On By In attitude, emptiness, Inspirational, power, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, June 13 (6/13), is Judges 6:13f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Thumbnail” ‘But sir,’ Gideon replied, ‘if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about?… But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us in the hand of Midian [enemies].’ The Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have.’ “

How dynamic! When you feel trapped, God says, “Go.”  When you feel paralyzed, God says, “Go.”  When you feel hopeless, God says, “Go.”

Sometimes you spend your time concentrating on your problem rather than a possible solution. Or you try to find someone else to solve your problem for us. Or you feel so helpless, you sit huddled in a dark corner and ask God to take care of your problem for you. When Captain Gideon did this, God replied, “You’ve still got strengths. Use them.”

Yes, you have to wait for God’s final solution, but he does not expect you to sit idly by while he does all the work.  “But how?” you ask.  You are not a rock or tree or grain of sand.  You are not an elephant or tiger or worm.  You are a human being made in God’s image.  God breathed life into you and gave you special gifts and talents.

Don’t sit idly by while bad things happen around you. Everyone has God-given strength. Look deep within your heart. It’s there.  Then go forth in the strength you have.

~~~BUYLINK for eBOOK or discount PAPER; http://bit.ly/crippledprince

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#emptiness, #weakness, #hope, #discouragement, #strength, #power

Saturday 6/9 ~ When you are desperately low, your job is just to hang on

On By In death, discouragement, emptiness, Loss, persecution, victory, weakness2 Comments

The scripture for today, June 9 (6/9), is Job 6:9-8 found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-LgThumbnail“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!”

Job was suffering terribly. The Bible says he had sores all over his body. There were other symptoms listed elsewhere in Job that indicate he had a form of leprosy. Now he just wanted to die.

When we get into a life problem that seems hopeless, do we just give up and say, “God, I can’t go on like this. Just take my life right now. It’s too hard. I can’t do it anymore”?

God knows what you are going through. God knows that Satan is attacking you. When things are desperately low, your job is just to hang on. It often takes God time to shift around a lot of other people’s lives in order to alleviate your pain.

Remember, God hurts just as much when you suffer as when he watched his own Son suffer on the cross. His Son’s suffering accomplished something wonderful for others. So too, someday your suffering will somehow in some way accomplish something good. And ultimately, just by surviving, Satan loses and God wins.

This too will pass. You may not think so, but it will. You may think you will never smile again, never want to go around people again, never sing again. But you will. Just like Job did.

~~~BUYLINK to eBOOK and discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/HeroesAlone

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#endofrope, #deadend, #attacks, #persecution, #illness, #troubles, #problems, #suffering, #giveup, #Bible, #Christianity, #Scriptures

Sunday 5/20 ~ What is your deepest longing?

On By In blessings, emptiness, love, weaknessLeave a comment

The Scripture for today, May 20 (5/20), is 2nd Corinthians 5:20a as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Thumbnail“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

We all have a special and deep longing. When we are in pain and long for reassurances that God is with us, one of the things we often want is to see God, feel God’s touch, look into God’s eyes. This is where Christians come in. God says to Christians, “Go to those in pain. Let them see you, feel your touch, look into your eyes.”

Someone in your life needs you right now because they need God.  They don’t know how to reach out to God, but you do. They don’t know how to understand God, but you do. Stop whatever you have planned for today that is kind of important. Replace it with the very important. Go see someone or call them or Skype them. 

Are you or are you not God’s ambassador? Is God doing anything through you? Yesterday? Today? Tomorrow?

~~~BUYLINK for ebook or discount paper:  http://bit.ly/GodsSpirit

 

 

Saturday 4/28 ~ God is still on His throne

On By In church, discouragement, Inspirational, persecution, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 28 (4/28), is Mark 4:28 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“All by itself, the soil produces grain ~ first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.”

Jesus was explaining that the kingdom of heaven is like a seed planted in the ground. It grows almost miraculously. The church (kingdom) is, indeed, like this. Planted some 2000 years ago, it has survived through every adversity and attack contrived by man. Sometimes the attacks were even from within. But at such times, just when it looked as though it was going to die, just like a seed dying in the earth, it would begin to sprout anew and grow up stronger than ever.

A little seed turning into a stalk is miraculous and amazing. The survival of the church for 2000 years in a hostile world is even more miraculous and amazing.

God is still on his throne, and all is well.

Monday 4/16 ~ Are you strong enough to forgive?

On By In discouragement, forgiveness, healing, love, sin, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 16 (4/16), is Hebrews 4:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Anyone who has lived very long has committed some sin they hope no one ever finds out about. Some people have committed many such sins. Sometimes because of that one “big” sin or the constant repetition of a particular sin, do you punish yourself by putting words in God’s mouth? Do you say, “God could never forgive me for that”? Perhaps you can never forgive yourself, but God is greater than you.

Jesus told Peter we must forgive our brothers 70 times 7. If kept literally, that would mean we’d have to forgive the same sin 490 times. It is figurative for forgiving all the time. 1st Corinthians 13, the “love chapter” of the Bible, says, “Love…keeps no record of wrongs.” That means not holding grudges.

In addition to forgiving yourself and others, can you reach out to help people who cannot forgive themselves? Are you strong enough to imitate God? Are you strong enough to find enough mercy and grace in your heart to forgive?

Saturday 4/14 ~ Shhh. Listen. Don’t you hear them?

On By In Daily, Inspirational, love, problems, weakness1 Comment

The scripture for today, April 14 (4/14), is Esther 4:14b as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

000-COVER-KINDLE-Thumbnail“And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Today’s scripture is about a reluctant young lady who won a beauty contest and was chosen to be the queen of Persia. Time has passed, and now a command has just gone out to kill all Jews. Queen Esther was a Jewess but had not told anyone at the royal court. She could continue to hide her nationality and let all her people die, or she could intervene with the king. She was the only Jew the king would have listened to. So she took the chance that she, too, would be killed, and spoke on behalf of her people. They were saved.

There are always situations in life in which you are the only one who can accomplish something very needed. Perhaps you are the only adult standing near a strange child who is about to run out into a busy road. Perhaps you are tall and a short person needs to reach something at the store. Perhaps you know a particular language and others around you need you to explain something to them. Perhaps someone called a wrong number on the telephone and reached you instead.

As we go through life, there are situations in which you are the only one who can handle them. Do you? Do you watch for those situations, or do you walk around in your own little world?

Listen! It’s the silent cries of people only you can help. Do you hear them?

 

Thursday 3/22 ~ You can never be consumed

On By In discouragement, emptiness, Inspirational, Loss, love, problems, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 22, is Lamentations 3:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

000-COVER-KINDLE-Thumbnail“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.”

Jeremiah had spent years warning people of the coming destruction of their country and beloved Jerusalem due to their selfish sinful life and taking advantage of each other. He endured taunts, reprimands, imprisonments, and threats to his life. Now it has happened. All hope is gone. Nothing left but ashes.

There were innocent people who suffered as a result.  Would they let Satan get his way and destroy their lives, their spirits, their souls too?  It is at this point that lamenting Jeremiah utters bravely amidst his own tears, “We are not consumed.”

Are there things going on your life that seem to be consuming you? Do you feel utterly hopeless?  Do you feel as though life may not be worth living anymore? Look up. God is still there. He still loves you.

When you have the love of God, you have the courage to take the next step and the next and the next. You have the courage to keep walking and walking and to hold your head high. Nothing and nobody can ever take away the love God has for you. With his love, you can never be consumed.

Sunday 2/18 ~ Today, be a warrior!

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The scripture for today, February 18 (2/18), is Hebrews 2:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 6-PromiseKeeper-Cover-thumbnail-new-kindle“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Do you find yourself caught up in some kind of sin over and over? Is the temptation always there? Do you commit the sin and then curse yourself for your weakness in giving in to the temptation? Do you see no way out?

A lot of people never think of Jesus ever being tempted. He was too good. But he had a human body and was tempted in every way that we are (Hebrews 4:15).

Try to imagine Jesus with your particular haunting temptation and imagine how you think he would have resisted it. Jesus used to get angry at temptation, which of course is caused by Satan. In other words, he got angry at Satan. One time when tempted, he declared, “Get behind me, Satan!”

Temptation is not the same thing as sin. Temptation is when we want to commit a sin, but haven’t decided yet to do it. Jesus faced Satan (temptation) head on. Once when he went through over a month of harsh temptation alone in the wilderness, Satan gave him all the reasons he should do certain things and made them look so good and reasonable; then Jesus gave all the reasons he should not do those things.

Hebrews 4:15 says, “We do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are ~ yet was without sin.”

Jesus stood up to Satan.  Jesus was a spiritual warrior.  Today, be a warrior!