Category Archives: Strength

Jan11

God’s Help When You’re In Over Your Head

Posted on by
Standard

Bottomless sea

A personal message from your Heavenly Father:

“But now, God’s Message,
    the God who made you in the first place…
    the One who got you started…:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
    I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you…:
That’s how much you mean to me!
    That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
    trade the creation just for you.”

Isaiah 43:2 – 3 (MSG)

So today if you are experiencing deep waters of difficulty, and you feel like you’re in way over your head, don’t be afraid and don’t lose hope. God knows you by name, and He knows every messy detail of your life. He’s right beside you in the rough waters, and He will bring you safely through them ~ You will not go down. This feeling you have, like you’re between a rock and a hard place, is only temporary. God has big plans for your future, and He can use everything you’re experiencing for your good. Your Savior paid a huge price just for you ~ That’s how much you mean to Him! That’s how much He loves you! Trust that He is capable of bringing you through this tumultuous period. Nothing is impossible for Him, and there is no limit to the boundless strength He can provide for you. With Him by your side, you can endure anything.

“Try to remember that the ‘bottomless sea’ can’t hurt us as long as we keep on swimming”…with God!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” Isaiah 43: 1 – 3 (NLT)
  • “When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 118:5-6 (NIV)
  • “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11(NLT)
  • “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28(NLT)
     
Sep6

Strength that Endures the Unendurable

Posted on by
Standard
good morning suwanee
 
“We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—
not the grim strength of gritting your teeth
but the glory-strength God gives.
It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy…”
Colossians 1:11 (MSG)
 

Are you enduring something today that seems “unendurable?”  Perhaps you are suffering through pain or heartbreak that feels unbearable, like you don’t have the stamina to take another step. Or maybe you are living through oppressive circumstances that seem impossible to tolerate, and you are completely depleted of your own energy.

The great news is that God gives “glory-strength” to His children, which allows us to endure the seemingly unendurable. The strength of the Lord will support you and carry you through your time of suffering. His divine power source gives you the inner fortitude to stick it out over the long haul, and it’s a source of energy that is readily available and constantly renewable.  Each one of God’s children has a direct pipeline to this heavenly power supply, so there will never be an energy crisis with God’s children!

The truly beautiful thing about the uplifting strength that God’ provides is that it spills over into joy. Once you tap into the glory-strength of God, you realize that with Him, you can endure anything! And that wonderful realization brings about a pure joy which bubbles up from inside and spills into all areas of your life. Your circumstances might not have changed one bit, but you have been infused with a glorious strength to endure the unendurable!

“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. ”
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
Sep5

Get Up and Go!

Posted on by
Standard
 
 
Get up and go
 
“While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you.  
So get up and go downstairs.
Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.'”
Acts 10:19 – 20 (NIV)

Has God given you a vision or dream for your life? Has He gently whispered His plans for your future? What are you doing about it right now?

Like Peter, God may be telling you to stop thinking about the vision and start doing something about it.  The Holy Spirit instructed Peter to “get up and go” without any hesitation, fear, doubt or second-guessing. Do you feel God nudging you into action today? Is it time to take the first step ~ or leap ~ toward making the dream a reality?

You can be confident that if God has given you the vision, He will give you the provision and wisdom to successfully bring it to fruition. If you feel inadequate to accomplish His plans, you can rest in God’s promise that where you have weaknesses, you are strong in the grace of Jesus. So take that first step and pray for supplies of divine strength and grace to fulfill His vision for your life.

Stop thinking…start doing….get up and go!

“Each time He said, ‘No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.’
Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am;
I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 (TLB)
Jul9

Inexpressible Joy

Posted on by
Standard

IMG_3950

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him;
and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him
and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
2 Peter 1:8 (NIV)
 

Imagine the feeling of inexpressible joy! There are many joyous moments in life that bring about such a feeling:  the birth of a precious baby, finding the love of your life, landing your dream job, …even good news from an oncology report.  Of course all of these wonderful events would naturally elicit the feeling of indescribable joy, but for the child of God, joy can be experienced even in the darkest moments of life.

Here’s the astonishing truth:  Joy is not the absence of sorrow, disappointments, struggles, or suffering.  Joy is God’s presence in all things.

Joy is an aspect of God’s nature and character, and so to draw near to God is to draw near to joy.  As a child of God, you can tap into inexpressible and glorious joy continually.  When waves of difficulty crash over your life, the burden is greatest if you feel a sense of isolation in the midst of your suffering.  Yet when God is there, all your difficulties are infused with His mysterious and glorious joy. Spend time in His presence and be filled you with His inexpressible joy, no matter what you are facing in life.

    • “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5b (AMP)
    • “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10b (NIV)
    • “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8a (NKJV)
    • “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11 (NIV)
Nov7

Prisoner of Hope

Posted on by
Standard

fortressReturn to your fortress,

O prisoners of hope;

even now I announce

that I will restore twice as much to you.

Zechariah 9:12

Usually the thought of being a prisoner of anything is extremely undesirable.  It conjures up negative images of a place of confinement, such as a jail cell, where freedoms are completely relinquished.  Aside from being held in a prison, there are many other prison-like strongholds in life ~ without locks and bars ~ that can hold us captive.  Some are prisoners of fear, overwhelming debt, difficult life circumstances, a troubled past, controlling relationships, or shameful addictions.  The encouraging message here is that you can break free of anything in life that holds you captive by completely surrendering your life to Jesus Christ.  The key to your freedom lies in His nail-pierced hands.

If you are a Child of God who is completely surrendered to Him, you are essentially a prisoner of Hope.  You are eternally tethered to His divine Hope and captivated by His grace and mercy.  In Colossians 1:27, Christ is referred to as the “Hope of Glory,” and Hebrews 6:19 calls this glorious Hope an “anchor for our soul” that is firm and secure. So you are a prisoner of hope, if you are totally committed to the Hope of Glory, Jesus Christ.  All control of your life has been freely relinquished to your Heavenly Father, and your soul is securely anchored in His limitless love forever.  It’s not just a “life sentence”…it’s eternal!

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin…So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8: 34, 35

God is your fortress, your strength, and your refuge in times of trouble and distress.  He is a high tower for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of desperation, and a shelter from the storms of life.   So as a prisoner of hope, there’s no better place to be than in the safety of your fortress, the Almighty God.  You will always be under His loving and watchful care.  “Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope”…

 But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.  You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

Psalm 59: 16 – 17

The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation). 

Psalm 9:9 (AMP)

Oct26

Soul Fuel

Posted on by
Standard

photo (37)

“You may never know that Jesus is all you need, until Jesus is all you have.”

~Corrie ten Boom

Do you ever feel like your life is running on empty?  It’s as though you don’t have the strength to face the next responsibility, or the next crisis, or even the next moment.  This is especially true in certain seasons of life where the overwhelming trials and difficulties seem to be rolling in as constant as waves in the ocean.  Your strength is zapped, and you feel so weak that you can’t imagine moving forward on your own power.

The great news is that God’s children have a constant and limitless power source.  We can refuel our lives each moment of each day with God’s divine power.  When we are totally empty of our own strength, we can become wholly filled and flooded full with God Himself!!  He wants to fill your life to the brim with His grace and love.  When we are strengthened with His Spirit in our inner being, we can do anything!  (“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:13)  So if you feel empty and weak, pull into God’s “refueling station” and ask Him to fill you full of His heavenly “soul fuel.”  There’s never a shortage, and it’s always free!

“But the Lord said, ‘My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.'”  2 Corinthians 12:9a (ERV)

“For this reason I kneel before the Father…I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  Ephesians 3:14 – 19 (NIV)

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”   John 3:30 (KJV)

Feb19

Yet I will Rejoice

Posted on by
Standard

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty…
yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17 – 19 NIV


When you feel overwhelmed by the weight of problems bearing down on you from all sides or if your troubles seem to be more that you can handle, remember that you can still find joy in our LORD, and that joy is actually your source of strength.

“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 NIV

We are not controlled by the circumstances swirling around our lives. As children of God, we have a source of unlimited strength within us to endure any trial we face. He will give us surefooted confidence to place one foot in front of the other as we tread through the deepest valleys. You will run like a swift deer through dangerous and rough terrain.

Instead of focusing on your difficulties, look to God and rejoice in Him. Your troubles will pale in comparison to the light of His glory. Trust Him with any situation in life, and you will find confidence and hope in the darkest of days.