Be strong and courageous

By: Monique Smith

Be strong and courageous

The Lord impressed upon my spirit today to flip to Joshua 1 during my morning quiet time with Him. The words in the scriptures encouraged me so much today and I wanted to encourage you as well. The devotional will be coming from Joshua 1: 1-9. (HCSB)

1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, who had served Moses: ² “Moses My servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. ³ I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea.⁵ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or forsake you.

⁶ “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. ⁷ Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. ⁸ This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. ⁹ Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The first thing that was pressed in my spirit was the fact that Moses had died. Moses was a great leader and many people looked up to him. Think about it, God gave him, specifically, the 10 commandments to give to the people. So I figure that when he died, it was pretty devastating for everyone. Now for Joshua, knowing that he had the responsibility to take on the load of leading everyone, the old task of Moses, I’m pretty sure he felt overwhelmed and under qualified to do such a task. And immediately out the gate, God gave him the task of leading the people over the Jordan river into a new land. Not only did God want Joshua to lead, he gave him a huge task right from the jump. God knew that Joshua’s flesh was weak and prone to be discouraged, so He reminded him THREE times, to be very strong and courageous! He continuously comforted him by telling him, that He would always be there. He would not forsake him. He tells Joshua to not be discouraged because He will be with him, wherever he goes.

For me many times, when I am made known of a new opportunity or God has placed me in a new position, I look forward to being able to be eased into my role….not jumping in head first. The ladder of the two has been happening with me currently in graduate school. Many things, such as the magnitude of class work, being an intern, and being a research assistant thus far has made me feel like I’m jumping head first into things that hold great weight.  I’ve been very unsure of my ability and knowledge to perform in these positions due to my “lack of training” in these areas. This experience has been very overwhelming for me at times and has made me question my ability and qualification for even being in graduate school. However, I am so thankful to God that He chose me to complete this task specifically. God chose me and tells me to be strong and courageous. It is not God’s will for me to be afraid, overwhelmed, frustrated, or unsure of myself. God told me that He is with me. He will NEVER leave me or forsake me. God has granted me this opportunity and equipped me for the journey. God reminds me to stand firm on His word and not lean to the left or the right, but be solid and stay on a straight path. In order to have success, God tells me to absorb the entire Word and recite it day and night. I must stay focused and consistent in my quiet time with Him and learning the Word. Only then will I prosper and succeed. God knows in this journey of school, things may LOOK frightening, unobtainable, overwhelming, and stressful BUT God has already given me every place where my foot trots. Simply by granting me admission into graduate school, God has given me the degree-- I just have to go through the motions to receive it. 

God also comforts my feelings when He reminds me that no one will be able to stand against me as long as I live! No one or nothing! Even when I feel attacked by others, I must remember that God is with me and no one can STAND against me. People can be against me all day, but they can’t STAND. You might be against me but you’re not standing! I may dislike that you are against me, but the thing is, I’m standing. And standing on the Word of God! What a solid foundation!
I just love the Word and how God is speaking directly to my weakness and reminding me to stay strong and courageous! He tells me that THREE times in the scriptures. That’s just amazing in itself. All God has to do is speak a thing one time and it is. (Let there be…. And it was…). However, God loves me SO much and knows my flesh is SO weak and easily dismayed that He reminds me and speaks to my spirit Three times and tells me to be strong and very courageous! Man that thang ministered to me! I was feeling so overwhelmed and feeling like I wanted to give up over the past few weeks, pertaining to school, but God’s sweet words to me are simply: Be strong and very courageous! I’m not to fear school, if I couldn’t do it, God wouldn’t have put me here! I graduated from UNC with HONORS, so of course God will help me graduate successfully from a Master’s program at my alma mater! Why am I worried? Why am I concerned?! God is with me! I don’t have to fret! Everything that I do is for God’s glory! Will He make Himself out to be a mockery? NO. So why would He put me in a place to fail?? He wouldn’t! Just as Joshua was promised his land would reach from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River…God will allow my reach and my ministry to far exceed my life goals that I have written. God has greater for me! This program and this place that I’m in now is only a preview to the GREATER that is to come! I thank God so much! He is so great and He loves me so much! He’s my best friend, my provider, my healer, my savior, my way maker, my counselor, my corrector, my peace, my EVERYTHING. God is everything to me! Thank you Jesus!


Prayer: DADDY, I’m so glad you love me. Man, you’re so great! Thank you for the Bible and thank you for leading me to this scripture passage today. It’s soooo cool that you think so much about me that you care when I feel overwhelmed. Lord, thank you for ministering to me and saying exactly what I needed to hear, even when I couldn’t verbalize my need to anyone else. Lord, I also thank you for the people around me who continuously encourage me. God, sometimes I feel that I’m not supposed to let others know I’m in need of encouragement, since I’m usually the one they seek for encouragement, but God, I thank you for sending those people my way….even when I don’t ask for them. God I love you and I want to be in a relationship with you forever! Thank you for never forsaking me and for promising to always be with me! You’re so cool and I love you. In Jesus name, amen.

Trouble

By: Monique Smith

Peachy peach. All goodie over here. That is exactly what I expected and continually expect about my walk with Christ. I fully expect that IF I walk in the Word and stay faithful that I will NOT experience any trials or tribulations. Even though the WORD clearly….I mean CLEARLY, tells me that I WILL. James 1:2- Consider it all joy,” James said, “when you encounter various trials…” Notice James said when and not if. Regardless of the absoluteness of this scripture, it STILL catches me off guard when an issue comes up in my life! I immediately begin asking God, “What did I do wrong?” “Did I not read the Bible enough?” “Are you mad at me for not praying every day?” “HELP!” Just like a devotional I read today stated, “When we encounter difficulties, it is easy to jump to conclusions. We may think God is mad at us or He is punishing us. We wonder if God is not blessing us because we’ve disappointed Him in some way. But all through the Bible we see that some of God’s closest friends experienced the darkest nights.” Think about it, JESUS suffered!!!!!! He did NO wrong!!! Nothing!!! The Bible also tells us in John 16:33- “….In this world you will have trouble, But take heart! I have overcome the world!” Don’t get me wrong, just because the Bible tells us that we will have trials, doesn’t mean we have to like the trial. Jesus didn’t even like it! “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will,” (Matthew 26:39). BUT we can take joy and heart in the fact that God is right there with us, feeling pain as well. I recently learned that just as easily as God can love, He can hurt. We can hurt God’s feelings and he feels pain, just like us. Thankfully, His Holy Spirit is right there to comfort us all! We just have to trust that God’s will is perfect. Simple as that.

So don’t worry, be happy. God is with you and will never leave or forsake you! He’s loving and He’s your best friend!

Prayer: God, thank you for the reality check your Word constantly brings me! You are so perfect and so great and I thank you for holding my hand every step of the way through my life. God, help me understand and remember that your will is perfect and will always lead me to an expected and great end. I love love love love love you! You are amazing! You are great! You are perfect! I trust you! You love me! Thank you so much for everything. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

THAT ULTIMATE KINGDOM SERIOUS FOCUS!

     Another glorious testament to the great life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; but this is one of characteristics that people hardly point out and honestly it’s tough to swallow. In this devotional I will point out how Jesus was so focused on the Kingdom of God and His purpose from God that He didn’t let anyone or anything stop Him!

The first scripture Luke 9:60

“Jesus said unto him, ‘Let the dead bury their dead; but go thou and preach the kingdom of God’”

     A little context/background. At this point of His life, Jesus was teaching the disciples and then a man said he wanted to join in to the movement. At any point of Christianity a new follower is always good. Jesus wanted to educate the people on what they’d really be signing up for, Jesus had no set comfortable area to lay His head and there was a lot of hard times ahead of Him, but then another man still persisted that he’d follow…until he almost blew it all in his next phrase(lol). The man told Jesus that he wanted to go bury his father first. Seemingly a reasonable request, he wanted to properly send off the man who had nurtured him through life and had a part in making him into the man he was at that moment. Yet Jesus told him basically to forget all that because it was over and instead pursue spreading the kingdom.

     Now my intention is not quite to get into the revelation of what exactly Jesus meant to let the dead bury the dead because surely there is a lot there to be dealt with and understood; but instead I want to draw our attention to that fact that Jesus would not let an emotionally driven situation stop Him (or the people that intend to be around Him) from proclaiming the gospel. Yet another example, Matthew 16:23

“But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men”

     Background/context. A few versus before Peter declared Jesus to be the son of God the very messiah and Jesus says He will build His church upon this revelation and said that Peter was hearing straight from God what other people weren’t hearing. Peter had to be feeling good…emotional actually…so shortly thereafter when Jesus begins to talk about the death and resurrection that He MUST endure. Peter told Him essentially “Nah bro I love you too much you can’t go through something like that” and thus we arrive at the verse we I pointed out. It seems harsh for Jesus to call Peter satan, ESPECIALLY since He gave Him so much praise a few verses earlier. However if Jesus fed into the emotional appeal that Peter offered Him, it would be a tougher assignment for Him to complete.

     In conclusion, I assert unto you to be focused on God! There will be all kind of distractions and reasons not to do what God has called you to do RIGHT NOW! Be careful of the emotional appeals that people offer you, whether it be that you’re assignment is hard, or they offer you a sad story these are also distractions. Don’t get me wrong, sad things happen, and the people around you that love you will tell you what they think is best for you and will keep you safe and doing well. But you must trust God above all others. You must focus on His will more than ANYTHING ELSE…over everything!

Over and Out J

"I Know I'm a Christian But I wanna "DO IT".... By Jackie Hill

This video popped up on my YouTube today, figure it could bless some folks!


She's just keeping it real.

Click here to watch video

By: Jackie Hill

Hold to God's Unchanging Hand

By: Donovan Parker

Song in my spirit - wanted to share. So it's an old hymn I remember from my youth.

I have been repeatedly singing it these last couple days. 

The most memorable lines in the chorus are "Build your hopes on things eternal; hold to God's Unchanging Hand. 

So I took a second to think about the message that the song provides. 

This is what's exciting to me ..

The songwriter uses the term "build" which is interesting for a number of reasons.  There are a couple things to note about building. We will go over as we go along.  

Before building, most people put together a detailed and scripted plan or blueprint of what they want the completed work to look like.  That's interesting because the mere fact that you have an expectation of completion is testament to the dominion and power you have in God to it coming to pass!

These next few things are crucial to your BUILD.

1. Foundation. Your BUILD has to have structure. It has to be able to withstand some weight.

In other words, the foundation or the base/basis for what you invest in must be structural because its necessary for support of the weight of the BUILD.  

2. Supplies. You'll need resources to complete your BUILD.  Don't worry, this is already covered.  Ever went shopping on the company budget? It feels a little different doesn't it? You have already been approved for ALL the resources you'll need - at no cost to you!

When I think of building something, I don't automatically think of building my "hopes, dreams, visions, etc."  However, to suggest that your hopes, aspirations, goals be rooted in eternal things is really powerful! 

Here's why..

God and His Word (John 1:1) ARE ETERNAL! Haha

When you BUILD (root, anchor, rest, meditate) on His promises ... myGod  - the results are sure. They can withstand. They sustain; they encourage; they motivate..

Anything that I can hope, think, or even imagine .. if I BUILD on the eternal (God and His Word) is decreed prosperous. Psalm 1:3 - planted, prosperous, un-withering.  

This brings me to the next point, when you have success in building you want to BUILD more!

Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God is able to do exceeding and abundantly more that we are able to ask or think! Why wouldn't you want to BUILD with assurance like that!? Your confidence should maxxxx! 

God desires relationship with us , so much so that He gives us the power to make such powerful things happen if we just lock in with Him.  He has even left us with the resources we need for our BUILD. His Word -> Salvation -> Access to the same eternal extension of grace! These are all in His hand! And there's nothing we could do to change that! His Hand is UNCHANGING ! The same blessings, promises, grace, and resources are ALWAYS available to us when we BUILD in Him.

I'll leave you with this thought..

BUILDING IS A CONSTRUCTIVE PROCESS!  

Continue to cultivate your methods of BUILDING by learning to trust Him more, talk to Him more, and LISTEN to Him more. Put your Faith in action by utilizing the resources He's already given you access to! 

For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. -Hebrews 3:4

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

We thank You that one of Your creations was soooo valuable to You that You granted access to the Eternal.  We can't even understand forever, but thank You for loving us that long!  Help us to operate in boldness with the resources You've given us access to AND BUILD with confidence those things You have already set aside for us. We love You, thank You, and praise You for an unchanging, unshakeable foundation to BUILD on. You are AMAZING!

In Jesus' Name,

AMEN.

It Aint For Everybody

By: Fred Reid

Short Version: Whatever gift, testimony, and knowledge you have won’ t work for/reach everybody! There are several people you will reach for Christ but don’t get so down on yourself if there are people that you just can’t affect (seemingly)

      So you love the Lord! You’re zealous for the kingdom and often you experience His presence and have an increased heart for people...bbuuttt somehow you can’t seem to introduce certain people to this new lifestyle that you are enjoying. You can see how they need Christ, the benefits that will come to their life if they just apply the knowledge that you have gained…but its just not clicking. So now you are at the point where you are questioning your methods….maybe you’re just not that good at witnessing, maybe you don’t know the right scriptures to use, maybe you aren’t being transparent enough.

      Well this devo is just in time for you! There are specific people that you CAN reach and instead of spending so much time getting frustrated with who you can’t reach you should focus on who you can reach and impact. Don’t get too caught up in tryna change EVERYBODY’s life..that’s not going to happen! Even Jesus couldn’t reach everybody and neither can you. So what are we to do when our testimony, and ministering falls on deaf ears?

Matt 10:14

“And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words when ye depart out of that house or city shake the dust from your feet”

     Essentially charge it to the game lol ok but seriously, if people aren’t trying to receive don’t get angry with them, frustrated with yourself (or God) just keep it moving! Too often Christians tend to get condescending when people aren’t receptive of the gospel. Or guilt trippy on the whole “well you’re on your way to hell” approach.  I really wish we’d stop that so I’m taking a stand lol But by no means am I saying just give up on people that don’t listen or receive this good news of Christ Jesus, because no matter how long you’ve been saved that’s out of your jurisdiction, you have no say in whether someone’s a lost cause or not. But I am a firm believer that the Father is not one to waste time. There is something that you should be learning at this point of rejected witness, something that is being developed in you so pay attention!

     A (seemingly) failed witness or missed opportunity really bothers me from time to time as well so as my brother in Christ Cliff Jones reminded me YEARS ago: one man plants another waters but God gives the increase! Maybe you are the planter that toils the soil and digs into it instead of the waterer that simply nurtures what’s already there. Either way it is the holy spirit that will bring about a spiritual increase and a changed life.  No matter how you slice it, your witness just aint for everybody.

Over and Out J

Why the Cross: What the cross has to do with past sexual sin