Hard times are here and worse times are coming.  I want to be steadfast. I don’t want to falter, or faint, or turn aside. I don’t want to let Him down. I want to be stronger.

A stronger heart is not only possible, it is promised!

Paul prayed that God would grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. (Ephesians 3:16)  

God tells us in His word to us, the Bible, that our adequacy for doing His will comes from Him. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)

Apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5); but with Him, we can do all things through Him who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

But HOW?

A strong heart is not automatic. 

Here are keys to strengthening your heart:

Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you (Colossians 3:16).

Strengthen me according to Your word. (Psalm 119:28) 

We need to know what God says and be able to apply it to the situations we face. We can’t dabble in it. I heard someone say we have to drink the word of God, not gargle. 

We must mediate on God’s word. (Psalm 1:2)

We must guard our minds, relying on God’s word, not the lies of so many. 

Decide to believe God, to trust God

Make permanent, firm decisions about your life based on the word of God. Determine to want God more than something apart from Him. Want God more than people’s approval. Want God more than apparent safety or escape from pain. Want God more than anything. 

Don’t fear those who can kill the body. Fear God. (Matthew 10:28)

Decide to walk according to God’s word, even if scared

Let God’s word flow out of our minds and into our thoughts, words, and deeds.

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (John 13:17)

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it. (Luke 11:28)

As we act in God’s strength, according to His word, we become stronger. It will be easier to do the right thing the next time. Do it scared, if necessary, knowing that obedience brings the peace of God.

Have fellowship with believers, helping them and letting them help you.

We can strengthen ourselves. (1 Samuel 30:6) 

We can help strengthen others. (Luke 22:32, Isaiah 41:6)

Know that you CAN

Know, really know, that you are in this situation because God has you there. If you are there by the will of God, know this: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

God has made us sufficient to face it. Our adequacy is from God. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)

Pray. And Pray. And Pray!

~~~

Father, thank You that You are our almighty, loving, accessible Father. Thank You that You have us here are Your lights in the world, giving us opportunities and hard times to make You known to others. Thank You that You have made us adequate for the work You have for us. Please help us know You better and better, and consistently apply Your word to our circumstances. Please strengthen our hearts according to the richness of Your grace. 

Bad Motive?

Martha was distracted with all her preparations, and spoke to Jesus. 

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” (Luke 10:40) 

Martha linked whether or not Jesus cares with whether or not He would tell Mary to help her. 

So, according to Martha, if Jesus doesn’t tell Mary to help Martha, He doesn’t care.

How often do we do something similar? 

When something bad happens to us, do we question God’s love for us? 

Yep. Too often.

Let’s determine to remember:

God is our loving sovereign.

All things, including Satan, are under His control.

He promises to work everything for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Trials produce good in us.

God is good. He is a righteous judge. For those of us who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are saved from sin’s penalty, we are being saved from sin’s power (sanctification), and we will be glorified, saved from sin’s presence.

Rejoice!

Rejoice through apparent good and apparent bad.

Rejoice that your name is recorded in heaven! (Luke 10:20)

Eve blamed the serpent. Adam blamed God who gave him the woman.

I’ve heard this called the second original sin. Certainly, casting blame is second nature.

One time I walked with a friend and her young son. He tripped over a rock … and blamed the rock!

You laughed! But I bet this isn’t unfamiliar.

When someone blames another person or situation or God rather than him or herself, that person is not taking responsibility. This leads to lack of repentance, failure to confess, and inability to grow. It is deadly. Without repentance and belief, people die in their sins.

The US currently has many people, and large groups of people who blame their current lives on others, or the system, or God. They demand their “rights,” but, instead of accepting any responsibility, they blame. This harms our county as well as themselves. We blame a person for … We blame a system for ….  We blame God for … And on and on. And on.

What to do

For ourselves, believers in Christ, we must take responsibility for our own sins. We must never blame (James 1:13-15). We must abjectly confess (Psalm 51). We can rejoice, knowing God, when we confess, forgives our sins (1 John 1:9).

As the Holy Spirit prompts us, we can help others take responsibility and stop blaming.

And we must continue to pray for our country.

Pray

Father, thank You that You are our Holy Judge and Savior. Thank You that You hate sin. Thank You that You see everything: motives, thoughts, words, and deeds. Thank You that in Your timing, You judge. Thank You for saving those who have repented and believe in Your Son. 

Thank You that You are using for Your glory and our sanctification the mess we are in. Please show us our sin and lead us to repentance and belief. Please strengthen Your church that we might be Your light in this dark world. 

God loves us. We are to live out the love God gives us. We are to be known by our love.

God Loves

Our God loves the world, sending Christ to seek and save, and giving eternal life to those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

God gave us, believers in Christ, the capacity to love. (Romans 5:5)

We are to love

God gave us, followers of Christ, the command to love. We took in God’s love, we are to live it out.

Who are we to love?

Love our neighbors

Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)

Love our brothers and sisters in Christ

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34–35) 

Love our enemies 

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44) … and do good to those who hate you. (Luke 6:27) 

Are we known by our love?

Valentine’s Day is a logical time to take stock. 

Do we know God’s commands about love?

Do we want to follow His commands?

Are we known by our love?

Prayer

Father, thank You for loving us. Thank You for showing us and telling us about love. Thank You for giving us a heart to love You, to walk in Your ways, and to love others. Forgive us for our failure to love as You would have us. Help us be marked by love, showing others we are Your disciples. Help us know specifically what to do in love towards others. 

Consider it All Joy

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials… (James 1:2) 

How?????

Decide

“Consider it all joy” is a command to us, believers in Christ. It isn’t a suggestion. It is God’s command.

The first step in obeying God’s command (any command) is to decide to do so. 

Deciding is a big deal. Following His command can feel like a huge impossibility. 

But without deciding to obey, we’ll get nowhere. 

Believe

To consider our trials joy, we need to believe God. We believe in God, but we must believe what He says. 

God tells us, in His word, the Bible, that He will work all things for good for us. 

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) 

“All things” includes our trials.

Jesus, James, Peter, and Paul all tell us of good things that result from our trials. We must believe God. (Matthew 5:12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; Romans 5:3-5.) 

We must believe what He says. We must believe He is our all-powerful, loving God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). We must trust Him.

Look Beyond

This command tells us why we can consider our trial a joy: there are good things coming.

the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:3–4) 

Our trial, whatever it is, produces endurance in us, perfecting us, and completing us. 

If we focus on the trial, if we focus on our misery, we won’t be joyful. If we focus on how our loving, all-powerful God is perfecting and completing us, we see reason to be joyful.

Look at the flower, not the thorns.

Test of Faith

Do we believe God is in control of this trial and that He loves us? Do we have faith?

Our faith is being tested by fire in this trial. Decide to believe our loving Savior in this trial, which will result in praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:7)

~~~

As usual, this post is for me. I, too often, grimly endure, trying to do the right thing, but not with joy. I have decided to be joyful in my trials. Pray for me!

“Thank God!”

I’ve said this. You’ve said this. Most likely, we’ve heard unbelievers say: “Thank God.”

We definitely thank God for blessings and rescue. But how often do we thank Him for a hardship, or for a less-than-desired outcome? I bet unbelievers never do.

We are told to thank Him in everything, apparently good things, and apparently bad things.

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) 

always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father … (Ephesians 5:20) 

Why we can thank God

We can confidently thank God in all circumstances because we know Him. We know He is sovereign, and we know He loves us, believers in Christ.

His love guarantees He wants the best for us. His sovereignty ensures His best happens.

Becoming more thankful

As we know Him better and better, and trust Him more and more, giving Him thanks becomes a way of life. 

Reminding yourself to be thankful helps.

But to fundamentally develop a character of thanks requires knowing Him and trusting Him. Let’s resolve to learn what He says about Himself (the Bible), believe what He says, and trust Him.

In everything give thanks.

In a scary time for me, when I had a serious eye issue, didn’t know whether I would retain useful sight, and was far from my doctors, I would wake at night to see if I could still see. 

I was scared.

During this same time, I was editing my book (When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?). Four chapters deal with God’s love. As I carefully reviewed God’s love for His adopted children, in the midst of my scary time, I rejoiced. In fact, I became giddy with assurance that He loves me.

In these dark days, with ominous clouds for the future, we must make sure we both comprehend God’s love and that we place confidence in His love for us. To stay on course, we must have informed trust in His love.

So we have known [ginosko: understand, grasp, ascertain] and believe [pisteuo: be persuaded of, place confidence in, trust] the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. (1 John 4:16)

God loves us, believers in Christ, with an infinite, everlasting love. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, and He has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness.

Please study God’s word to us, the Bible. Please prayerfully and daily read about who He is, what He has done, and what He promises. Please, as you know Him better and better, increasingly believe what He says, and order your thoughts and life in that knowledge. 

It matters.

Please.