Deuteronomy 8:6. ‘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 before thee; he will not fail thee nor forsake thee.’
A good Monday morning to you my faithful friends and neighbours! Grace and peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to all those who sincerely trust and believe in Him. And since the breath of life continues to run through our bodies on this fateful Monday, it means that there is still important work for us to do down here in Christ’s name. Some of us know what that work is, and should faithfully put our shoulders to the wheel and do it without complaints, for He will greatly enable us to perform whatever He calls us to do.
Meanwhile, for those of us who don’t know our particular purpose, it’s ever so important for us to seek it out with the Lord’s help, for one day we shall all come before Him to answer for what we’ve done with our lives. And I don’t believe that ignorance of our earthly purpose will be a satisfactory answer. (smile) Remember, heavenly rewards are based on the fruit of our earthly labour, and if we didn’t bear any good earthly fruit, how can we expect to reap heavenly rewards eh?
And how do you find out your earthly purpose, you ask? Simple. Go to God and ask Him. Find a quiet place and some quiet time to spend with Him; read His word, think on it, and talk to Him like you’d talk to a friend, and He will answer your questions. Possibly not all at once, or in a loud voice, but quietly, in your spirit, you will eventually feel a nudging in a certain direction…or it might even be much more than a nudge, a direct command.
But remember too, that after we pose our questions to God, like in every other conversation, we need to be quiet and listen for His response. And that’s where so many of us fail, and complain that God doesn’t speak to us. It’s obvious that if we don’t listen, we can’t hear Him speaking. However, with the impatience of our current society, we expect to receive the answer right away, but that isn’t how our God operates. Unless it’s a dire emergency, He expects us to be patient and contemplative, not rushing around aimlessly like so much of our world is doing.
There’s no need to worry friends. If you ask God for directions, He will give them to you, just in His own time and fashion. Don’t worry about Him being late either. He knows what’s important and when and operates on the just in time principle. From personal experience, I know that’s an aggravating principle, but after the first few times, you’ll realize that God is faithful and will not let you down, He will arrive just in time.
But that means putting your trust in Him, which means spending quality time with Him, getting to know Him as intimately as possible, because trust can only be built through intimacy and sincerity and time spent together. And that trust can’t be built overnight either. It will take time, as much or as little time as you choose to put into the relationship. Remember, our heavenly Father is always there, ready, willing and able to talk to us, and when He feels the need, He will open a conversation with us, but basically, it’s our responsibility to get the ball rolling.
And in building trust, you must learn to rely wholeheartedly on His promises; promises like His grace is sufficient for us (2 Cor. 12:9); Temptation will not overtake us (1 Cor. 10:13); Victory over death (1 Cor. 15:57) To supply us with every need we have (Phil. 4:19) Eternal life. (John 3:16, 10:28) All things work together for good for those who love and serve Him faithfully (Rom. 8:28)
But yuh know what my people? Sincere trust also calls for bravery and courage. And believers need them each and every moment of every day if they are to be faithful to God’s desires. They are not easy to come by in this evil and ungodly world either, but God in His everlasting wisdom has also made provision for that. Remember these words of Moses to the Israelites. ‘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 before thee; he will not fail thee nor forsake thee.’ (Deut. 8:6)
And that’s gospel truth, for you see how He led the Israelites when He brought them out of bondage in Egypt. The Good Book tells us: ‘And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:’ (Ex. 13:21) But to acquire that bravery and courage, trust and surrender, here’s what the Lord said to Joshua, when He made him leader of the Israelites after Moses’ death.
‘This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh. 1:8) And therein lies the secret to success in God’s kingdom; learn His Word and put it into action.
That’s it in a nutshell friends. If you don’t know His Word then you can’t keep His commands. And to truly truly know it, you must also have good and frequent communication with the Lord so He can explain the parts you don’t understand. (smile) And communicating with God is called prayer, and there is never a better time for prayer than the moment you think of it. So, since it’s in our thoughts right now, I think it’s appropriate that we approach the Lord in prayer through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, laying out our problems and desires before Him.
As one strong voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’
Now remember that God not only listens to our words but also checks our hearts to see if our motives are right and true, before He answers our prayers. Much LOVE!
…to truly live for the Lord…one must put a sincere effort into it…meaning blood, sweat and tears…like Jesus did…
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