Courage means “the ability to disregard fear.” I got this definition from the Reader’s Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder published in 1996. Twenty-six years ago. Still holds true today.
However, what does God say about courage.
Genesis 46:3-4 – 3) I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. 4) I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”
God was speaking to Jacob. He was going to be with him during this major situation in his life. God promised to be with him. Jacob’s God was God. No matter what he went through, including death, God would be with him. We will all die someday. I would rather die with God than without Him.
Jesus reassured the disciples in John 16:33 – “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
There are so many Scriptures that encourage and direct us to be of good courage. I shared one Old Testament and one New testament Scripture because courage is necessary when we are going through, even unto death. There is a need to focus on more than what is just comfortable for us. In fulfilling God’s plans and purpose for our lives, there is a need for courage. Each of us, individually, must dive into the Scriptures for our own lives.
When we have the courage to stand on God’s word, our life is in His hands. God is not going to tell you to do something He is not prepared to carry you through. When we have surrendered to the Almighty God, there is nothing He cannot do in our lives.
Do you have the courage to surrender to Him? The gift of salvation is free. Moving forward on this journey can sometimes be a challenge, but you are not going alone. He tells us to be of good courage, trusting and relying on Him. Praise God! Hallelujah and Amen.
This post follows my post from Thursday. As I stated there, it was a rough week full of challenges. However, I have recouped. I would like to offer thanks to the bloggers who post the Word of God and share the timely truths that get us back on the right track. Although I do have my own Bible and read it, it is nice when the written word comes from those who speak the Gospel in what they write. I have been truly blessed the last couple of days reading the reminders that help us stay on track. Although I have been very busy, it is nice to be able to read the blogs when dashing here and there. Below are some posts worth reading to be re-energized to run this race.
The enemy takes advantage of this opportunity by adding fuel to the fire with more negative thoughts. We are the product of our daily habits. I found that I had slipped in the practices that had me right on track. Consumed by the “necessities” of life, like paying bills, etc. I found myself drowning. Although temporary, it is necessary for me to put this in the forefront to remember what happened. I am not sure when it happened, just how it happened. We find ourselves getting too busy for the right things on a daily basis. I pray in my car all the time. But what I wasn’t doing was the concentrated prayer. Setting time aside not to be distracted by the traffic, the drivers or the customers. Drive by prayer. Not good.
That is not saying that God has not spoken to me, He most certainly has. It is necessary to give God the time, praise and worship He deserves without the extras. This is where we build strength and staying power. I say this because multi-tasking has become such the thing to do these days. You cannot do just one thing at a time. I believe it may be because our jobs now require that you do four things at once because it has to be done yesterday, we have lost the pleasure of enjoying what we do. With single parents having to do so many things just to provide a decent life for the families, we can’t afford to do one thing at a time, do it well and enjoy it. So we think. However, when the rat race becomes overwhelming, we have no choice but to stop and slow down. Revisit the priorities and take a stand.
Devotion today from Numbers 20. Chapter 20 begins with the cause of Moses missing out on entering the Promised Land because of His response to the Israelites in yet another session of complaining. These challenges caused Moses to go against God and react in the flesh. The Israelites had moved forward to the wilderness of Zin and they had no water. God said He would draw water from a rock for them to drink and all Moses had to do was speak to the rock. Now, in support of Moses, it can be very difficult to continue dealing with people who, no matter what you give them, are never satisfied. It is a reminder that we are all human and because of Jesus, we are considered righteous before God in spite of our human nature.
Because God knows man [He created him] it was still necessary for the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, to come, die on the Cross and resurrect in order for Holy Spirit to be in us and help us in this nature thing. God is so in the very intricate details of our lives. This is a great reminder that He sees all. How great it is that in His omnipotence, He knew we would need the ever-present intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ when we miss the mark. We cannot remain holy even a little bit without Christ. Jesus’ resurrection is such an integral part of our lives and this story proves how much we so need it. When we consider the significance of the Resurrection in respect to the Old Testament, it should certainly motivate us to fall to our knees in praise and worship for what He has done for us and how much God truly does love us.
