When You Need to be Strong

I look at the days ahead and wonder what they hold.
Don't we all?
And then these words make their way to my heart:
"Go in the strength you have...am I not sending you?"
Judges 6:14

We don't have to...
wait to overcome our weaknesses,
complete the ten point improvement plan,
figure everything out.
The strength we already have is all the strength we need.
Because we have a limitless God within us who loves us.
As is.
And He promises to stick by us.
All the way.

-Holley Gerth

What Matters Most

By: Julie Clinton, M.Ed., M.B.A.

 

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21 

Food. Alcohol. An affair. Shopping. Exercise. Obsessions with hobbies or a job. Too often, instead of looking to God and the relationships He’s placed in our lives, we look to other things to fill the emptiness and ease the confusion we feel. But how well we live hinges entirely on our ability to develop healthy relationships with others.
And herein lies the secret to making every day count. To focus on what matters most—time with God and those we love. This is incredibly difficult to do in a world that values anything but intimacy with others. Wealth. Beauty. Fame. The decision to focus on our relationships—with God and others—is directly at odds with what society values.

If relationships with God and others are what matter most in life, we need to ask ourselves what we’re doing to strengthen them. Often, we’re so caught up in life that we inadvertently put our connections with others on autopilot, hoping that the relationships will still be intact when life settles down a bit. Because life rarely settles down, we can go weeks, months, and even years without investing time in the people we love most.


Where is your heart? Is it trapped by the human desire to store up treasure in this world? Or do you focus on people the way Jesus did when He was here on earth?

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A well watered garden...

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  (Isaiah 58:11)

Do you walk in quiet desperation?  In other words...do you have an unspoken desire?  A keen awareness of need?  Often times we try to fill our need/desire with what is tangible or by being active.  I would like to challenge you to do something different.  I will use one word...Stillness.  Spending time in His presence being still, waiting and listening.  As you know Him your roots will grow deep into Him and you will become a a well watered garden, a spring whose waters never fail, a Saint reflecting His glory.

Hope In Him

"The Lord will succeed in carrying out His plans and keep all of His promises to you.  Nothing - not even death - can separate you from the Father, so you will never be alone or helpless.  And no matter what happens to you - it is only temporary.  Eventually, God will set you free from the problems you face."  ~Charles Stanley

Sufficiency

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.  (2 Corinthians 3:5)

You won't have to lift a hand in this battle, just stand firm, Judah & Jerusalem, and watch God's saving work for you take shape.  Don't be afraid, don't waiver.  March out boldly tomorrow - God is with you.  (2 Chronicles 20:17)

Sometimes we can get bogged down thinking that we do not have what it takes to accomplish the task at hand, or walk down the path set before us.  Faith and action go hand in hand that is true.  However, God does not leave us alone in action.  The moment we take a step, He is right there giving us the strength.  This knowledge is too wonderful for our minds to fully comprehend I think.  Dear ones, please know that our strength, our sufficiency is not our own, but HIS.  Walk therein and know that you will finish the race in HIS strength.

Love

How does God love you?  Is it through the touch of your husband's hand?  Through the hug of a friend?  The gentle kiss of your child saying goodnight?  All of these things we take for granted in our daily life, but these are gentle reminders that He loves us.  And when we hug our friend back, hold our husband's hand, kiss our child goodnight, it is loving Him in return.

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'  Matthew 25:40.

Snow

Softly and silently the flakes come down,

Whiteness blankets the earth.

Cold and wet it glistens,

Brightening the night as the day.

For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.  ~Job 37:6