Courageous; is His way for us

 

 

“Have I not command you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

          Life is tough, at times I am scared and somewhat uncertain what way I need to go. And there are times when I don’t go to my Father in prayer as I should. The storms clouds appear on the horizon and my life feels the wind start to pick up. It is at these times that I feel unworthy to serve Him. I am fearful of something. Something that many time I cannot put my finger on. At other times I am aware of my sinful nature and it acts like the curtain did in the temple separating my spirit from the Spirit of God. It is our freewill that many times is our downfall, our sinful nature creates the storm clouds in our lives, causing us to fear our Heavenly Father. That is why daily prayer is so essential. Being able to speak with Jesus numerous times during the day, will chase away our doubts and fears that lead us to half-heartedly follow His paths made for us. Only in Christ Jesus can we obtain our power to combat our fears and un-certainty. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10.

          By my daily study of his word I gain the power, through those words, to follow Him. To follow Him even when the winds of fear and pain swirl around me. To disregard what I may have read earlier in the day is to slap Jesus in the face. Knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is continually walking with me, gives my heart His power to continue to walk on this path that He has now set my feet ON. To fear only brings on the inability to walk on stable legs, it keeps diverting our eyes off of Him and onto the one that we have set as our idol. We must be renewed daily by His word, if not, fear, doubt and pain comes in. Fear, in this case, means that our focus dims, the power form His word begins to fade in our hearts. His word needs to be taken into our hearts on a daily basis to nourish our spirits. To bring our hearts eye back into focus on our Lord and Savior. Our sinful nature also brings about fear; it begins to close the door in our hearts so that the voice of the Lord becomes harder to hear. By not being able to clearly hear Christ, we begin to walk our own paths eventually failing to follow His commands, if we stay on that path. “Be alert and on your guard; stand firm in your faith (your conviction respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, keeping the trust and holy fervor born of faith and a part of it). Act like men and be courageous; grow in strength!” 1 Corinthians 16:10 (AB).

        Fear also brings with it despair. If we are facing an uncertain future or circumstances beyond our control, the power of His word brings light into our beings, the light of His glory and grace. So that we can face whatever it is, with the courage and strength that only comes through our understanding of His word and the power of His mighty right hand on our shoulders. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 Here we read not to be dismayed, because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in our fearful and darkest times, if we believe what we have studied, we will know in our hearts that our Father is walking with us. His powerful right hand is holding us firm. I felt this many times while I was incarcerated. During my dark times, the Holy Spirit assured me that It was still there and the whispers that It spoke encouraged my heart. Even in my freedom, now, I am encouraged daily by the love that Jesus has for me. My desire is to stay obedient to Him, to take in what he says. Then to put His words into action, to move out of my comfort zone and go out to where He has directed me to go.

          So I come here and write, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide my words. I have a desire to share with others of how Jesus came and changed me. By writing these papers, I have come into a media of my own. My hope is that many will read these papers and come to know Him as their Savior, Redeemer, and Friend! Being filled with the power that comes from knowing the Creator of the world, and the Creator of them!

Bringing All to The Feast

 

Luke 14: 12-14; 12) “Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friend, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13) But when you give a banquet, incite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14) and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Let’s look at these verses and add a twist to them, if you will. Let’s look at them through the eyes of a believer, who filled with the Holy Spirit, has burning desire to tell others about Jesus and His love for the ones He has created, which are ALL of us.

          Now if he/she goes to their friends, family, co-workers or neighbors who already believe in Jesus, and walk in His ways, what are they accomplishing for the kingdom? They are speaking to those who already believe. Now they may encourage some of those they speak to, which helps those who may be struggling, but the love of Christ is not truly being spread. There is a repair job being done, nothing is being changed, in respect to the advancing of the gospel. In essence the dented fender is being repaired but the car is the same. There is an inner feeling of something good being done, between the believers, but is there really heavenly reward?

          But if the believer truly listens to the voice of Christ and steps out in faith to minister to the poor, of inner courage, or the crippled, of unbelief, or the blind, who do now know the word, or the lame, whose walk is hand in hand with the world, Christ will store up treasures for the believer in heaven, if the believer shows those people Christ first hand by the way they live their lives and by the actions that they show in their lives. And they can express to this world that the Creator of ALL the world is storing up treasures for them also, and they can claim those treasures if they only accept Christ as their Savior.

          Through the life of the believer, they share the love God has for His people. They display the actions Jesus Christ displayed towards the same kind of people He came in contact with. Through the words that God lays on the believer’s heart, they share with those who Satan has lied to or distorted the truth to.

          The believer then becomes somewhat of a healer. He opens the eyes of the blind. He helps the lame and the cripple to walk in Christ. They share with them their past, of how Christ came in and healed them, how He restored them to spiritual health. And through the gifts He has bestowed on the believer, they use those gifts to further God’s kingdom. How He gave Himself as a sacrifice for their sins. And the non-believer may now become a believer and start his own collection of heavenly treasures.

          So the obedience of the believer opens their hearts in order for the Holy Spirit to enter in an even greater way. So through that indwelling, the believer’s desire to share the gospel, and live an even stronger life for Christ prevails. It over flows out from them flooding their lives and so washes over those around them too. Christ’s love flow to those whose lives need the living water making the believer, in essence, an oasis in the desert of this world.

          And so the believer, through their understanding of His word, are filled with the knowledge that treasures for them, are in heaven. They are filled with patience no longer wanting to live for the here and now, but live to share God’s word with all they can. When they give away they know they will receive more. Their faith in the truth they know, is the force behind their sharing, Jesus has demonstrated, in their lives, His truths! He has done what He said He would do! And the believer, filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit, goes to the poor, crippled, lame and the blind using the words of Jesus to bring them into the banquet hall so they may ALL SHARE the feast Jesus has for them to eat.