Using our strength to tell others

Isaiah 40: 28-31: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 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. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and be faint.”

At one time we heard, but did not listen. We knew, but did not bother to act on what we knew. We were content to live in the world, and of the world. We walked in denial. We lived in partial ignorance of the word, taking only what we wanted to, so that we felt good about ourselves and the lives we were living. In Jeremiah 4:22 God says this, “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.” Here God is speaking about the Jewish people, but today He is speaking about all of us, believers and non-believers alike. See we have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, but as believers we have the Holy Spirit in us, so that our hearts burn when we sin, drawing us to God in order to be forgiven through His mercy and grace that He freely gave to us when He died on the cross. That Holy Spirit is what gives us the power and strength and courage to carry on. It is what gives us the desire to tell others about what He has done for us and what He has done for them, even if they don’t want to hear it. Now I believe that since God created All things, everyone is a child of God. This is what we need to get across to others, telling them that their lives do matter to Christ. Jesus Christ has given us the power to overcome the trials of this world. Why, because He loves us and died for us, in order that the power of the Holy Spirit, that lives in us, can carry us through our trials and storms. Our words, and lives, need to reflect the power in us, it needs to radiate from us, to encompass those around us. That indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what others need to hear about, so that they too may come to know the Jesus we know and love. But, as believers we are also entitled to a heavenly inheritance, being co-heirs with Christ, enabling us to boldly speak of a place being made for us in heaven.

At our conversion, we dusted off our bibles, opened them up, and began to be nourished by the word. We dove into His word and began to understand how our Lord knew us before we were born! We read of His eternal, everlasting love for us. How He constantly walks with us, and talks with us. His Holy Spirit guides our walk. “Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your renown, O Lord, through all generations.” Psalm 135:13. We learned that He creates all people for His purpose. Unfortunately, many do not heed His calling, walking a dark path of their own making, living in content pain and internal suffering. We need to show them that, being honest with them to fully evaluate their lives. Showing them that their trials may well be God telling them that they need to repent and come to Him. As believers we walk a path made by God for us specifically, through our understanding of His word we use that word to encourage others, to show them that is where the power and strength and courage, in us, comes from. That Christ Jesus wants the same for them, that their lives do matter to Him. Many feel a separation from God because of sins in their lives, we must show them that we too had past sins, that our lives we not perfect. They need to hear how we grew tired and weary, how we stumbled and fell, but that did not matter to Christ because His love for us never wavered, He never gave up His relentless calling out to us to return to Him. They need to understand that that is the same for them, they need to know that Jesus wants on one to perish. Through Christ we are better able to pick up the weak, help the weary, encourage the struggling. We understand that Jesus Christ made all things so to bring Him glory and honor. By telling others that they are loved by Jesus no matter their past, present, or future sins, we hopefully, encourage them to accept Him as their Savior, in order that He may receive even more honor and glory through their lives.

In our lives now, we are able to run the race without faltering, to walk without fainting, to soar like eagles. It comes from the power of the Holy Spirit that is manifested in our hearts and minds through the study of His word. Through that study, we are better equipped to bring that power to others, possibly changing their lives forever. I say probably because those we tell have the free will, given to each of by God Himself, to make the choice to accept or reject. So, if we are rejected, that same Holy Spirit power in us must propel us forward in searching out others that need to hear the word, but not forgetting to pray for those who care not to listen. In our lives we must rest in the knowledge of the word and know that we honor our Lord and Savior by our actions, words and lives. He must be constantly on our minds and in our hearts as we strive to further His kingdom here on earth. The Holy Spirit will lead us daily through the rejections, the negative responses, the turning away of family and friends. The hurt from those things will be tough, but the love of Christ for us, as we endure, is tougher yet. Through the lies Satan heaps upon us, we know that Christ reigns supreme, and that in itself needs to direct us to move forward, to put one foot in front of the other and continue to walk on His path, guided by His Glorious light.

Just remember we have the Light, the Truth, and the Love of Christ as we maneuver through our lives. Nothing will snatch us from the hand of God. And even though we don’t always understand where God is leading us or why, He walks with us. He has His arm around us. And through the knowledge of His word we are girded with the armor of the Creator of this universe. Who cares nothing about our pasts, or the pasts of others, but wants to cultivate a relationship with Him in order that everyone that accepts Him will have a secure inheritance in heaven waiting for our arrival.