Christian Living
Fear and weakness continually keep believers bound by their present circumstances and held captive by their hostile environments.
It takes courage and strength to obey God's word in the face of opposition, adversity, impossibility, and tremendous odds. You should know that adherence and obedience to the word brings forth God's blessings in your life.
Unfortunately, most believers tend to react and make decisions based on what the circumstance looks like; what the odds are at coming ahead by using our own devices; and what resources we have available to us. Sometimes, the decisions we make and actions we carry out can be contrary to God's holy word - especially if a way out cannot be fathomed.
In the book of Joshua, chapter 1, God encourages Joshua in his succession to Moses. In doing so, God exhorts Joshua, tells him that He will be with Joshua, and that He will bless Joshua. But in verses 6 through 9, God stresses that in order to be blessed and have God on his side in everything that he does, he must be strong and of good courage.
You see, as a child of God there will always be some kind of opposition from Satan and evil spirits in your life. The enemy's aim is to get you to become weak and afraid -- he does this by causing situations and circumstances of life to become more than you can possibly handle. Satan knows that we are fleshly beings and that the first instinct of ours is self-preservation. And if he can cause things around you to be turned upside down, then he knows that you will rush to appease the flesh in order to preserve 'self' by any means -- many of which, violate God's word.
In times like these, the believer must be careful to exercise strength and courage. For it takes strength to deny your own devices, your own feelings, and your own ideas on how to preserve yourself amidst adversity. Equally so, it takes courage to obey God's word in the face of conflict no matter how large it may appear. It is only when we submit to God by being not afraid of what the situation looks like and being strong to obey His words regardless of the circumstances that His blessings follow.
Maybe the reason we're not receiving more of God's blessings and experiencing more of His victories is because in the face of adversity we bow down to fear, give in to the circumstance, and end up trusting in what we can see and comprehend with our limited mentality. Your blessing lies in your obedience to the word of God by having strength and courage -- the resolve to your matter does not depend on your abilities, resources, or 'know-how', but on the living God instead.
Written By: Bishop Lloyd R. Ocampo
Taken from IGF's "Renewed" Newsletter
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Good article. It's the type of reminder that we all need. I look forward to seeing you write a follow-up article that tells us how to be strong and courageous in the Lord.
Thanks Pastor, excellent word! rick
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