"And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint."
Galatians 6:9
In recent months the topic of persevering, pressing through, and not quitting has been on my mind. Have you been feeling pressure so strong that you have been tempted to quit? Have you found yourself weary and without strength to go on?
May I encourage you today that God has given us His Spirit and His word to strengthen and uphold you. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Phil 4:13). The key is to do all things through Christ not in our own strength. Gos has given to us His Spirit as our helper, continually guiding and strengthening us. As we keep our eyes focused on God and not our circumstances, we will be enabled to press on and not lose courage.
Lift your eyes up to the hills from whence comes your help, my fellow pilgrim. Don't lose heart, take courage and press on - you will rep in due time!
Showing posts with label courage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label courage. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Encouragement
Have you ever pondered the vastness of God's sovereignty over your life, my life, your child's life, our state, our country, our world, the universe? It is absolutely mind boggling!
It is a daily discipline to keep my mind stayed on that reality as life changes and times shift in ways I cannot predict. How often lately I have had to keep reminding myself of Who God is and how able He is to handle anything that comes my way. Not only is He able to handle it, He is never surprised by anything... He is not controlled by time or space constraints, He is completely aware of everything, all the time, everywhere AND He controls it all.
God's word tells us:
"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." Ps. 24:1-2
"The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever." Ps. 29:10
"The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations... The Lord looks from heaven; He sees the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works."
Ps. 33:10-11,13-15
My dear sisters, lets walk in the light of truth, God is sovereign and our God reigns. He is more than able - Hallelujah!
It is a daily discipline to keep my mind stayed on that reality as life changes and times shift in ways I cannot predict. How often lately I have had to keep reminding myself of Who God is and how able He is to handle anything that comes my way. Not only is He able to handle it, He is never surprised by anything... He is not controlled by time or space constraints, He is completely aware of everything, all the time, everywhere AND He controls it all.
God's word tells us:
"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." Ps. 24:1-2
"The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever." Ps. 29:10
"The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations... The Lord looks from heaven; He sees the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works."
Ps. 33:10-11,13-15
My dear sisters, lets walk in the light of truth, God is sovereign and our God reigns. He is more than able - Hallelujah!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Noble Thinking
I thought it might be fun to work through each of the virtues we looked over in Philippians 4:8 one at a time.
Last time we talked about "whatever things are true". Today we'll turn our attention to "whatever things are noble".
In Greek noble looks like this: venerable, worthy of reverence.
Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines noble this way:
NO'BLE, a.
1. Great; elevated; dignified; being above every thing that can dishonor reputation; as a noble mind; a noble courage; noble deeds of valor; 8. Ingenuous; candid; of an excellent disposition; ready to receive truth.
I don't know about you but the word noble reminds me of knights and fair maidens... almost like a fairytale word... you know the knight rides up on his noble steed and saves the day! Let's have some fun with that word picture. Noble thoughts will be the knight, the damsel in distress will be our minds, and our ignoble thoughts will be the villain.
In a small village outside of a great kingdom, a villain (ignoble thoughts) takes a fair maiden
(mind) captive and hides her away in a lonely castle tower. The maiden cannot see how she will ever get free as she ponders the wickedness of the villain. These thoughts begin to cause her great distress draining her of any hope. In the distance there is the faint sound of hoof beats. At first she does not give thought to the sound, she continues to wrestle with her fearful thoughts. But soon the sound is much closer and coming very rapidly so she looks out the window to see what it might be. Lo and behold it is a knight on a beautiful horse coming to rescue her! Oh how her thoughts turn from hopelessness to hope, from fear to courage, from a focus on captivity to a focus on freedom. As she is rescued from her prison, the damsel (mind) is overcome with thankfulness and awe at the unexpected change in her situation that she could not dream of yet has experienced. The knight (noble thoughts) takes her to safety within the walls of the great kingdom.
The knight's appearing changed the maiden's perspective and chased away the fear, distress, and hopelessness she was drowning in. As we turn our thoughts to noble things, things worthy of reverence and worship, we will begin to have victory over thoughts that are fearful, hopeless, defeating, and distressing. Noble thoughts are those that are focused on our Redeemer, the One Who rescued us from our captivity and transferred us into His kingdom. Ride on to victory fair maidens!
Last time we talked about "whatever things are true". Today we'll turn our attention to "whatever things are noble".
In Greek noble looks like this: venerable, worthy of reverence.
Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines noble this way:
NO'BLE, a.
1. Great; elevated; dignified; being above every thing that can dishonor reputation; as a noble mind; a noble courage; noble deeds of valor; 8. Ingenuous; candid; of an excellent disposition; ready to receive truth.
I don't know about you but the word noble reminds me of knights and fair maidens... almost like a fairytale word... you know the knight rides up on his noble steed and saves the day! Let's have some fun with that word picture. Noble thoughts will be the knight, the damsel in distress will be our minds, and our ignoble thoughts will be the villain.
In a small village outside of a great kingdom, a villain (ignoble thoughts) takes a fair maiden
(mind) captive and hides her away in a lonely castle tower. The maiden cannot see how she will ever get free as she ponders the wickedness of the villain. These thoughts begin to cause her great distress draining her of any hope. In the distance there is the faint sound of hoof beats. At first she does not give thought to the sound, she continues to wrestle with her fearful thoughts. But soon the sound is much closer and coming very rapidly so she looks out the window to see what it might be. Lo and behold it is a knight on a beautiful horse coming to rescue her! Oh how her thoughts turn from hopelessness to hope, from fear to courage, from a focus on captivity to a focus on freedom. As she is rescued from her prison, the damsel (mind) is overcome with thankfulness and awe at the unexpected change in her situation that she could not dream of yet has experienced. The knight (noble thoughts) takes her to safety within the walls of the great kingdom.
The knight's appearing changed the maiden's perspective and chased away the fear, distress, and hopelessness she was drowning in. As we turn our thoughts to noble things, things worthy of reverence and worship, we will begin to have victory over thoughts that are fearful, hopeless, defeating, and distressing. Noble thoughts are those that are focused on our Redeemer, the One Who rescued us from our captivity and transferred us into His kingdom. Ride on to victory fair maidens!
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