Where Can I Find Strength To Face This?

I hope this short post gives comfort, hope, and encouragement, as it points you to a source of strength as we find purpose in our struggles.

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We face a test or challenge, it is daunting like a high mountain we must climb, but we feel weak, unprepared, and too small. Where can we get help?

"It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he causes me to stand on the heights." Psalm 18:32-33, NIV.

This verse was written by the warrior poet, David, thousands of years ago; seasoned by many battles he knew what he was talking about.

IT IS GOD
David acknowledges God as the one who provides. These two verses have three references to God.  They progress and build on each other.

     * God who arms...strength.
     * God makes... feet secure.
     * God causes... stand.

God provides the victory, therefore, God is the victory.

ARMS
God gives him equipment for the battle but the equipment is not a sharper sword or longer spear but strength. This is open-ended since the verse does not specify if it is physical, spiritual, or emotional strength, but that makes it limitless- God can give whatever strength you need.

SECURE
God was his protector and gave him security in his way. He can make our physical way secure from attack and harm.

There are other forms of security. In every difficulty there are choices. God gave David security in his choices. God makes the way clear and without compromise so the victory is honest and upright.

FEET LIKE A DEER
The deer of that land were adept at climbing the rocky mountains in search of food and shelter. They were nimble, sure-footed, they would not stumble or fall, and they dominated the mountains. God can give the perfect provision that is completely suited to your need.

STAND ON THE HEIGHTS
This is the one who has overcome and is standing on the top. This speaks of victory and accomplishment. From the heights were security, domination, and rule. Those below had to look up to see him standing there. Standing is a picture of confidence and status.

The heights were a picture of worship. God makes us stand on the heights of worship because he is gracious not because we climbed the mountain; His son climbed a hill carrying a cross to die to pay for our sins so we can stand before him on the heights.

Whatever mountain you face God can give you strength and stand you on top in the victory.

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(c) Adron

Is It Enough Just To Give to God? 1 Chronicles 21:24

How do we know what to give to God? Should it be a percentage, a set sum or is it that just the giving that is important?

"But King David replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that cost me nothing." I Chronicles 21:24 NIV*.

THE DESTROYING ANGEL
David's sin of pride caused the Lord to send a destroying angel to bring a plague through the land. David repented and at that spot David was going to make a sacrifice to the Lord. The spot was the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David asked Araunah for it and he offered it freely, but David replied, "No, I insist on paying the full price..."

SACRIFICE
Our worship must be truly our own. Not just some words we recite from a prayer book or sing the same old song but to be like David who would not sacrifice another's property or give what cost nothing. David's worship cost him something. A sacrifice that costs nothing is not a sacrifice. Our worship should not be cheap.

JESUS' SACRIFICE
The statement of David reflects Jesus' sacrifice on the cross years later where he would pay the full price for our sins. The sacrifice that brought us into fellowship with the Father was very costly- it cost his Son on the cross; we belittle or even mock it when we respond with stingy and easy service or worship! It is arrogant to complain about church service in light of Jesus' sacrifice as if our puny sacrifices compares!

OUR SACRIFICE
We should ask ourselves, "When was the last time we gave service to the Lord that really cost? When did our wallet hurt for the kingdom or when did we miss a meal for his service, or got just plain worn out for him? How often have we said this church job or that Christian service it too hard?" It is when we got to that point when sacrifice or worship begins.

GOD HONORED DAVID
The passage ends with, "He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering," verse 26-b. David honored God, and David's sacrifice was honored by the Lord. The plague was stopped, the angel put away his sword, and David got the answer from the Lord, and later the threshing floor became the site for the temple. God honors our sacrifices.

 To read this verse in other translations follow this link: Online Parallel Bible.

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(c)Adron Dozat 12/17/12

Why Does God Make Daily Life So hard?

Is there a reason for all these hardships?

If God loves us and has a perfect plan then why do we have so many chores and live lives of drudgery where we can barely get ahead?

"He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance, and David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them." Psalm 78:70 -72. NIV*.

LOWLY SHEPHERD

To be an ancient shepherd was a boring job. Shepherds lived outdoors every day, sun or rain, they missed community activities like worship or festivals. Shepherds wandered over the hills looking for lost sheep, pasture or water, they lived in fear of predators or robbers. Shepherds had no future, few friends, and little thanks.

CHORES AND FRUSTRATION
Our lives are full of dull drudgery. We clean the house and it gets dirty again, we change the diapers over and over, we care for kids or bosses, or spouses, with no thanks.

We are impatient to "get on with it." We want to do something great like be a preacher or missionary or theologian. We have to remember it was from the boring years of drudgery and thankless labor that David was made ready to lead Israel.

PURPOSE

There is freedom when we recognize the common daily drudgery as full of God's purpose.  As Christians our lives are not our own, we serve him not ourselves. God is doing something in our lives, and it takes time. To grow a squash only takes six weeks but to grow a stately oak tree that may take a hundred years; so, we must be patient with God's timing, he is remaking us into something beautiful. Consider that Jesus spent 90% of his life on the earth working in a carpenter shop and only the last 10%, three years, in ministry.

There is great power when Christians go about their daily task without complaining. The world does not want more "superstar" Christians; the lost people around us are seeking meaning, and when they see people living the grace of God in daily trials they respond.

MAKING READY

Instead of resenting, and complaining we must rest in God's grace. We must see his hand in the everyday boredom of life's tasks and focus on His purpose. He has a plan for each of us, that plan may include cleaning the toilets, taking out the trash, and working hard at a dead-end job. We learn to do these things by His power and over time we will become the person He desires us to be. Like David when we master the lessons of the daily common tasks we will be ready to apply those lessons to great things.

To read this verse in other translations follow this link: Online Parallel Bible.

© Adron 12/2/12

Why Are There Defeated Christians? 1 Samuel 17:4

We know we should be doing great things for God, but often, we seem to get nowhere.

"All those gathered here will know it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's..." 1 Samuel 17:47, NIV.

The conflict between David and Goliath was not private but designed to be a public spectacle. The enemy of the Lord loves to openly humiliate and defeat the Lord's own. Our struggles do not happen in secret. We may keep them from friends, but there are angelic and demonic witnesses to our faithfulness and our betrayal of faith.

OUR BATTLES

Why Are There Defeated Christians?

We think that we will win the battles of our times with bigger weaponry, more dollars, or greater campaigns. However, technology, organizations, movements, and political parties do not win the Lord's battles.

In 1 Samuel 17:4, David was facing a giant problem, yet his focus was not on his abilities or weaponry. He did not say, "It is not by spear or sword that I will save," but "it is not by spear or sword that the LORD saves." He saw the struggle was not a conflict between two armies, ideals or political entities or even between his king and the Philistine leaders, but it was between the Holy God and that which opposed him.

THE LORD'S WORK
Some translations use the word "saves," "delivers," or "rescues." Defeat in ancient times meant the vanquished were often annihilated, and families enslaved. The fight was for national and personal salvation; the armies of Israel were facing such an overwhelming foe that the thought was not of victory but of survival. Here God is not a helper but the one who alone rescues, the Lord saves means total dependence on the Lord. David looked to him to be the Savior.

WHOSE?
The battle is the Lord's. We feel that we are struggling and fighting against the evil overrunning society. When we make the battle ours, we lose it. It is the Lord's battle—not ours. Victory does not depend on us; it depends on him.

DAVID'S EFFECT.
There are many points to ponder in the lesson of David and Goliath.

     * When the youth David faced the giant, he stood his ground.
     * He acknowledged and glorified the Lord.
     * He obeyed the Lord.
     * He was prepared by accepting earlier challenges, such as the lion and bear.
     * He used what he knew- the sling and stone.
     * He refused man-made contrivances such as the king's armor and trusted on that which was provided by God- a rock.

These are all wonderful points, but the greatest is that the battle is the Lord's, and that lesson is a lesson of faith we often need to realize over and deeper as we go through our lives

Let us make a similar declaration of faith, and go out in faith and face our Goliaths.

(c) Adron 8/30/12