Life is full of encounters with obstacles and challenges. To be sure, challenges can frustrate you, but you have good reason to be encouraged by your difficulties. Jesus is the reason we should “be of good cheer,” because He overcame every challenge, temptation, and trial. Because He overcame, we are over-comers.
The Christian Life Is Faith in Motion
Are you faced with a severe challenge today? Well right now I am faced with many challenges. Money is short and bills are due. My family just buried our father on Wednesday 05/15/2013. My mother-in-law is very ill. My wife and I are in between jobs. But despite all these challenges, God’s presence abides within us and in our home. Putting faith into practice is where the rubber meets the road. I refuse to be discouraged.
My trials remind me that the purpose of this blog is not to just share my testimony, but to speak peace to my soul and yours. The advice and strategies presented here are actually what the Lord has given me to direct and calm the shaking in my spirit . If your life is being shaken, be encouraged. You are not alone. You are not alone because the Lord is with you, and sooner or later you will see His hand.
Know This: The Lord Shows Up
I Samuel chapter 5 verses 1-5 gives us one of many examples of how the Lord shows up:
1. And The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 2. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3. And when they of Ashdod arose early on the marrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 5. Therefore neither the priest of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. (King James Version)
The presence of God makes a difference in every situation. The presence of God makes a way out of no way. No god can stand before our GOD. When the Philistines took the ark of the Lord and placed it next to their god Dagon, they discovered that an inanimate object was bowed down to the living God. The word of God states that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Be Encouraged Because Our God Is Alive
The Philistines found out the hard way. They stood their fallen idol back up. But, while they slept, and on the following morning, their idol god was demolished. Only the stump remained, because the hand of God was against the Philistines. In the following verses the ark was moved to different regions in the Philistine domain, and each region was smitten with emerods (hemorrhoids). In verse 11, we see how the Philistines were so vexed, they sent the ark away, and it returned to the Israelites.
While we sleep God is working for our good. Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV) says: “Behold I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future.” 2 Chronicles 16:9King James Version (KJV) says:
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”
When God is working, we should never murmur or complain. Instead we should PRAISE Him. God operates in all places: Even in places claimed by demons, God is Sovereign. There is no territory you can wander into where He is not Lord of all.
My daily prayer is this: I praise you Lord, and I thank you Lord, for all the things that you allow me to see. I Praise you for the things unseen also. The hand of the Lord is upon my life and my household. The presence of the Lord goes before me. Lord, I delight in your prosperity, and I will not frustrate your grace by complaining. In Your presence I have joy and peace forever more.
The choice is yours to make. When you enter the presence of the Lord, what will you offer: your heart or an idol of stone? Read 1 Samuel Chapter 5 in its entirety. Learn of God, live with the mind of Christ, and praise the true and only living God.
Praise the Lord!
Dance in victory,
Joyner Lights
© 2013 Joyner Scriven Lights. All rights reserved.
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