strength

This week. 

It has taken me so long to get back to this.  I find that blogging always makes me feel a little bit better.  It renews my spirits.

This week was filled with school, work, teaching, and sickness.  All physical "battles."  It was also filled with spiritual battles.  I feel as if I am sitting beside the frontlines of a battle, watching God fight for me. 

God has asked me to hold up my arms to Him.  As long as I do so, He can provide the victory.  As soon as I let go of Christ, however, I will plunge back into darkness and sin.

Exodus 17:9-12-And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 
But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Just as Moses held up his hands to the Lord and was given victory, so shall I be given victory over my flesh and sin if I hold my hands up to the Lord.

I have been struggling with finalizing my word of the year.  Why?  Fear.

I keep fearing that I will choose the "wrong" word.  That I will choose something that God did not intend for me to focus on. 

However, God made it pretty obvious to me what my word should be.

"Voices from the Past" and "Morning and Evening-Daily Readings by C.H. Spurgeon" both meshed so perfectly on January 14th, that I knew it was God leading me to my word.

Strength.

Ephesians 6:10-Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

"The strength of every saint lies in the Lord of hosts.  God can overcome His enemies without our hands, but we cannot so much as defend ourselves without His arm...

To be strong in the power of the Lord's might implies two acts of faith.

First, a settled firm persuasion that the Lord is almighty in power; and second, it implies a further act of faith that God is engaged for their defence to bear them up in the midst of all their trials and temptations.

This is the apostle's purpose; to beat us off from leaning on our own strength, and to encourage the Christian to make use of God's almighty power as freely as if it were his own whenever assaulted by Satan."-Voices from the Past

Psalm 46:1-God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

James 4:7-Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

This does not mean that I will never have trouble...in fact, it indicates that I WILL face troubles and temptations. 

What matters is how I prepare and react to those temptations.

God will make His strength known in my weaknesses.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10-And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Christ also promises that He is mighty to save.

"Christ's might doth not lie in making a believer and then leaving him to shift for himself; but He who begins the good work carries it on;

He who imparts the first germ of life in the dead soul, prolongs the divine existence, and strengthens it until it bursts asunder every bond of sin, and the soul leaps from earth, perfected in glory.

Does your own case trouble you?  Fear not, for His strength is sufficient for you.  Whether to begin with others, or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is 'mighty to save'; the best proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you."-Morning and Evening

Philippians 1:6-Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Strength.

What does this word mean for my life?

•  I am weak.  At the first opportunity to "get away with" something sinful, I will choose wrong.
• God's strength is made perfect in my weakness.
• Instead of relying on my own strength to flee temptation, God is waiting for me to rely on HIS strength.
• God knows that my strength will fail me.  His strength will provide victory over my flesh and victory over my sins.

His strength.

This also means that I must continually ask Him for strength.  Strength for what?

Strength to say no.
Strength to flee sin.  Strength to flee temptation.

Strength to follow after Christ.

The strength to reject all worldly thought and cling to the iridescent truth that God loves me and will fight for me.

Exodus 14:14-The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Deuteronomy 20:4-For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

This year, I believe that God wants to show me His strength and His victory.  In order for that to happen, I must remove my sense of pride and reliance on my own strength.  I must lay all at the foot of the cross and ask Christ to carry me to victory.  I will surely face many foes and many temptations.  Therefore, I must rely on God's strength and He alone shall be my staying power.

Strength.

Strength in Christ.

"On every hand the foe we find
Drawn up in dread array.
Let tents of ease be left behind,
And onward to the fray.

Salvation's helmet on each head,
With truth all girt about,
The earth shall tremble 'neath our tread,
And echo with our shout.

Faith is the victory,
Faith is the victory,
O, glorious victory that overcomes the world!"