2020-02-21
2 Chronicles 20:17 NIV
Fifth, stand firm. Notice what God told Jehoshaphat: “Stand firm.” What does it mean to “stand firm” when you’re in a crisis? It’s a mental attitude of quiet confidence that says, “I’m going to trust God.” One pastor writes: “This is something I’m slowly learning; it’s never God’s will for me to run from a difficult situation. If I do, the situation will only follow and catch up with me a little further down the line. It may not look the same, but it will be the same. Why? Because God wants to teach me that He is sufficient for any problem. If we don’t learn this today, we may learn it next week. If we don’t learn it next week, we may learn it next year. But eventually we’ll learn it – and the sooner the better. We can save ourselves problems by standing firm and waiting on God in quiet confidence.” So what do we stand firm on? “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful” (v. 20 NIV). First, we need to stand firm on the character of God. God is faithful, and we can depend on Him. Second, we need to stand firm on the writings that He has given us through His prophets – in other words, the truth of the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word, and we need only rely in quiet confidence on His written promises. So the word for you today is: Stand firm on the unchanging character of God and the unchanging promises of His Word.
Soul food: Ecc 5-8; Matt 16:1-12; Ps 33:13-22; Prov 5:15-20
2 Chronicles 20:17 NIV
Another thing we need to do in order to win our battles is to stand firm. God told Jehoshaphat: ‘Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.’ What does it mean for us to ‘stand firm’ when we’re in a crisis? It’s having an attitude of quiet confidence that says, ‘I’m going to trust God.’ Moses also told the people to stand firm. They were being chased by the Egyptians, and were starting to regret leaving their life in Egypt and coming into the desert. He said: ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still’ (Exodus 14:13-14 NIV). It can be hard to stand our ground while the battle seems to be raging around us. We want to take matters into our own hands. But we need to be still and let God fight for us. This doesn’t mean we do nothing about our situations, but it does mean we trust in God to bring the victory. So what do we stand firm on? Jehoshaphat went on to tell the people: ‘Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful’ (v.20 NIV). We need to stand firm on the character of God. God’s faithful, and we can depend on Him. We also need to stand firm on the truth of His Word, the Bible. Every promise written in there will be fulfilled. So, in the battles we’re facing, let’s stand firm on the unchanging character of God and the unchanging promises of His Word.
Ecc 5-8; Matt 16:1-12; Ps 33:13-22; Prov 5:15-20
2020-02-20
2 Chronicles 20:15 NIV
Fourth, learn to relax in faith. Notice how God responded to Jehoshaphat’s prayer: “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” Many of us wear ourselves out trying to fight God’s battles in our own strength. In the initial flush of becoming Christians, we’re eager to win the world to Jesus, and want to go out and singlehandedly bring about His kingdom. That’s because we don’t realize what’s involved. Then after we’ve worked hard under our own steam, reality sets in. We end up crawling back on our hands and knees, disappointed, because we think we’ve let God down. But He reassures us, “You didn’t let Me down, because you weren’t holding Me up.” The truth is, we don’t hold God up – He holds us up! We don’t have Him in our hands, He has us in His hands! And He’s telling us to relax in faith and let Him do the work through us. Paul wrote, “As you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him” (Colossians 2:6 NIV). In other words, remember how you first became a believer – by simple faith in the finished work of Christ – and continue to live by simple faith. You didn’t become a Christian by striving for perfection and doing good works. Good works have nothing to do with it! Salvation is a free gift. God doesn’t need us to micromanage things; He has everything under control, and He wants us to relax and let Him live through us. Bottom line: Victory in life is a gift from God! “Thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14 GWT).
Soul food: Ecc 1-4; Matt 15:29-39; Ps 33:1-12; Prov 5:7-14
2 Chronicles 20:15 NIV
Another thing we need to do to win our battles is to trust in God and persevere when it gets tough. God responded to Jehoshaphat’s prayer by saying: ‘The battle is not yours, but God’s.’ We can often wear ourselves out trying to fight God’s battles in our own strength. But God says: ‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength’ (Isaiah 40:29-31 NIV). If we’re feeling weak from fighting in our own strength, we can go to Him and ask Him to restore and refresh us. If we’re going to rely on His strength, we need to trust Him. But trusting in God can be easier said than done, especially when we’re facing a really tough battle. We can wonder whether God has left us to deal with it on our own, or whether He wanted us to suffer. Sometimes our battles can seem to be intensifying rather than getting better. How are we supposed to trust Him when things are getting worse? But God can see the bigger picture, and we might not always understand it. The Bible says: ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight’ (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV). It’s in the times when nothing seems to be changing that we need to persistently bring our battles to God. We need to wait expectantly for Him to move. We need to trust Him to bring victory. God doesn’t need us to micromanage things; He has everything under control. He wants us to relax and trust in Him.
Ecc 1-4; Matt 15:29-39; Ps 33:1-12; Prov 5:7-14
2020-01-18
Ephesians 2:8 NIV
We can feel insecure when we’re not sure who we are and we not sure that we’re good enough to be loved. It can affect all of our relationships, including our relationship with God. If they’re not dealt with, our insecurities can damage our relationships and we can end up trying to earn love and approval. But in Jesus we have a secure identity. Through Him we can be: 1) Secure in our appearance. God created us in His image, and He doesn’t make mistakes. We might not look like the people we see in magazines, but that doesn’t mean we’re not beautiful. The Bible says: ‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14 NIV). 2) Secure in our purpose. God created us with a purpose in mind. He’s given us gifts and skills for us to use to advance the kingdom and glorify Him. Sometimes we can feel like we’re not good enough to be used by God, but that’s not true. We each have our part to play, and we can know that God has things for us to do, even if we’ve messed up in the past. 3) Secure in our future. Once we’ve accepted Jesus and surrendered our lives to Him, we can be secure in our eternal future. We don’t need to earn our salvation. It’s a gift from Him. The Bible says: ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.’ We need to believe the truth that we’re loved, chosen, and accepted. When we know exactly who we are in Christ, we’ll be secure in our identity and able to focus on the things God’s called us to do.
Exo 28-29; Matt 8:10-17; Ps 84; Prov 2:16-19
