God’s specialty is bringing renewal to our strength, not reminders of our weakness. Take it by faith.
From Proverbs 3:1-2: “My child, do not forget My teaching, but let your heart keep My commandments, for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you.”
Nothing makes us more uncertain and insecure than not being sure we are in the will of God. And nothing is more encouraging than knowing for sure that we are.
From 1 John 2:17: “And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God abide forever.”
If I have learned anything during my journey on Planet Earth, it is that people need one another.
From Proverbs 27:9: “Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the sweetness of a friend is better than one’s own counsel.”
Heaven is something we inherit. We are undeserving, therefore we do not earn heaven; it is a gift provided by the One who went before us.
From Psalm 145:13: “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all His words and gracious in all His deeds.”
God puts us in the wilderness to test us, to stretch our spiritual muscles. Our earthly wilderness experiences are designed to develop us into men and women of faith.
From Deuteronomy 8:2: “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.”
Nothing is impossible with God. Will you ask the Lord to handle that specific impossibility, and then leave it with Him in a faith that simply will not doubt?
From Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah Lord God! It is You who made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You.”
Because the Christian has the Lord Himself dwelling within, the potential for inner strength is unlimited. Only the indwelling, empowering Christ can give someone that much confidence.
From Psalm 107:9: “For He satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry He fills with good things.”
In the human family, there are various kinds of birth experiences. But in God’s family, everybody begins the same way. We are all adopted. We all have the same Father. We all come to him the same way–through His Son, Jesus Christ.
From Ephesians 1:5-6: “He destined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
How wonderful that God personally cares about those things that worry us and prey upon our thoughts. Not a single nagging, aching, worrisome, stomach-tensing, blood-pressure-raising thought escapes His notice.
From 1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
It hurts to endure life’s trials, and it hurts worse to repeat such episodes. Over the long haul, God is honing us through such tests. Reducing us to an absolute, open-armed trust, where we say, “Lord, I have come to the end of my own flesh.”
From Psalm 9:9: “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.”
Big Sky Buckeye 