Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
We humans are so prone to fear. We have such an innate proclivity toward worry and anxiety, such a natural bent to be afraid. Most of this, to be sure, comes from our desire to control our conditions but we are always powerless to the scenarios and circumstances of life. But in Joshua, God speaks quite plainly, commanding us to trust fully in the Lord and rely upon Him for our strength, for our relief, and for our courage. Ask yourself today: how well are you obeying this commandment? Are you strong and courageous in the Lord? If not, let us seek after Him for our courage and for our strength!
Showing posts with label Courage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Courage. Show all posts
Monday, March 4, 2013
Monday, November 5, 2012
Courage is from the Lord
Fear, anxiety, worry are all parts of this human experience. They can keep us up at nights, ringing our hearts and drenching our cheeks in floods of tears, and the stress of fear can be stifling like walking fully-clothed into a steam room and gasping for just one, good breath. It is at these moments, when we feel crippled by the strain of this life, when courage becomes real.
Courage does not mean the absence of fear and worry, far from it. Instead, courage is putting on strength amidst the suppressive suffocation and strain of anxiety and fear. This is important to remember: one cannot be courageous until there is a pall-like force attempting to overpower. It is this struggle against an adversarial force that is the call for courage.
These times, when fear clenches our throats and anxiety grips our hearts, courage requires that we find a source of strength that is even more powerful than our greatest fears. For this, God is. He is our present help in times of struggle, our rock, our fortress, our strong tower, our mighty deliverer, our Savior.
Thus, when we feel overwhelmed or overcome by the dark shroud of evil terror, whatever the immediate source may be, our source of courage is to be the Lord Himself. Praise be to God who is our strength and our shield when all else seems bleak and fearsome.
Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths to righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days fo my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Courage does not mean the absence of fear and worry, far from it. Instead, courage is putting on strength amidst the suppressive suffocation and strain of anxiety and fear. This is important to remember: one cannot be courageous until there is a pall-like force attempting to overpower. It is this struggle against an adversarial force that is the call for courage.
These times, when fear clenches our throats and anxiety grips our hearts, courage requires that we find a source of strength that is even more powerful than our greatest fears. For this, God is. He is our present help in times of struggle, our rock, our fortress, our strong tower, our mighty deliverer, our Savior.
Thus, when we feel overwhelmed or overcome by the dark shroud of evil terror, whatever the immediate source may be, our source of courage is to be the Lord Himself. Praise be to God who is our strength and our shield when all else seems bleak and fearsome.
Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths to righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days fo my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The Sting of Death
Death is a mirror that reveals our mortality. To gaze into its depths we would truly see that we are but mists of a storm, here today but swept away like the lightest of feathers that is lifted abroad by the gusts of the western wind. We can choose to ignore the mirror and thus disregard how we like blades of grass will whither, but inevitably the prevalence of death will pervade through the shells of all our haughtiness and cut like the iciest of winter storms to the bones of man disclosing the facade of our pride and removing the masks we wear to prevent us from remembering the stark truth that death will come.
It is a sad but honest truth that some barely consider their mortality until a death strikes. Yet at that moment the same questions that have perplexed mankind for all the centuries enter their minds just as they do our own: why? what is this life for? is this the end or is there more? These questions are sincere and important but should be understood for their roots. Truly, the mortal coil is as tender and breakable as the slightest of threads. Death reminds us of this fact. Evenmore so, death presents us with a reality that many would just as soon never have to know: that ultimately, in the end, we are not in control.
As Christians, death has no victory over us, no fatal sting to destroy. For Christians, death is but a transition from this imperfect perishable world to an imperishable perfect one in the presence of the Holy Lord Almighty. For Christians, whose hope is firmly fixed and made secure in Christ, death is but a departure to be with the Lord, a far better state than any this world could offer (Phil. 1:23). Yet, because of the ever-present fear of death in a world that would rather go on without it, many people think of death as a bee that is lurking around, waiting for its opportune moment to sting.
There's a classic story to this regard: a father and son are driving through the countryside on a summer's day. It's warm and the air conditioning isn't doing its job, so the pair has the windows down. At some point a bee flies into the cab of the truck and buzzes around. The young boy, who is deathly allergic to bee stings, starts to panic. The father watches the bee, pauses, and with the swiftness of a cheetah he grabs the bee and clenches it in his fist. After some time, the boy again sees the bee and clams up in fright. The father noticing his son's fear, holds out his palm for the son to see the stinger and says, "don't worry, I took the stinger. It can't hurt you now."
In a similar way, our Heavenly Father has taken the sting out of death through the victory won by Christ Jesus on the cross (1 Cor. 15:54-57). Therefore, we who believe on Him shall not perish in death but have an immovable and perfect eternity with our Holy Lord by the blood of Christ Jesus. Therefore, death should be thought of a the sweet nectar of departure from this sinful world to an arrival into the holy throne room.
And while this should excite us who believe upon the Lord for our salvation and entry in God's presence for all eternity, it should also be taken with a bit of sobriety at the responsibility we have to preach the Good News to those who are perishing and whose departure from this world is an entrance into eternal damnation.
There is an old and appropriate adage that goes like this: for some, this world is as close as they get to heaven. For others, this world is as close as they get to hell. Let us pray to be of the latter. Praise be to God who has taken the power of the grave upon His own flesh to save us and bring us into His holy presence!
It is a sad but honest truth that some barely consider their mortality until a death strikes. Yet at that moment the same questions that have perplexed mankind for all the centuries enter their minds just as they do our own: why? what is this life for? is this the end or is there more? These questions are sincere and important but should be understood for their roots. Truly, the mortal coil is as tender and breakable as the slightest of threads. Death reminds us of this fact. Evenmore so, death presents us with a reality that many would just as soon never have to know: that ultimately, in the end, we are not in control.
As Christians, death has no victory over us, no fatal sting to destroy. For Christians, death is but a transition from this imperfect perishable world to an imperishable perfect one in the presence of the Holy Lord Almighty. For Christians, whose hope is firmly fixed and made secure in Christ, death is but a departure to be with the Lord, a far better state than any this world could offer (Phil. 1:23). Yet, because of the ever-present fear of death in a world that would rather go on without it, many people think of death as a bee that is lurking around, waiting for its opportune moment to sting.
There's a classic story to this regard: a father and son are driving through the countryside on a summer's day. It's warm and the air conditioning isn't doing its job, so the pair has the windows down. At some point a bee flies into the cab of the truck and buzzes around. The young boy, who is deathly allergic to bee stings, starts to panic. The father watches the bee, pauses, and with the swiftness of a cheetah he grabs the bee and clenches it in his fist. After some time, the boy again sees the bee and clams up in fright. The father noticing his son's fear, holds out his palm for the son to see the stinger and says, "don't worry, I took the stinger. It can't hurt you now."
In a similar way, our Heavenly Father has taken the sting out of death through the victory won by Christ Jesus on the cross (1 Cor. 15:54-57). Therefore, we who believe on Him shall not perish in death but have an immovable and perfect eternity with our Holy Lord by the blood of Christ Jesus. Therefore, death should be thought of a the sweet nectar of departure from this sinful world to an arrival into the holy throne room.
And while this should excite us who believe upon the Lord for our salvation and entry in God's presence for all eternity, it should also be taken with a bit of sobriety at the responsibility we have to preach the Good News to those who are perishing and whose departure from this world is an entrance into eternal damnation.
There is an old and appropriate adage that goes like this: for some, this world is as close as they get to heaven. For others, this world is as close as they get to hell. Let us pray to be of the latter. Praise be to God who has taken the power of the grave upon His own flesh to save us and bring us into His holy presence!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Courage in Christ
On a cold early spring day, April 19th, a relatively small band of poorly outfitted militiamen stood behind their worn muskets, facing nearly 1000 well-armed, well-trained Red Coats. This moment in 1775 would mark the beginning of a war revolutionary for its struggle for freedom from the imposed tyranny taxation without representation and over personal human rights so refused by a detached aristocracy. Even though the scraggly militia was nearly untrained and badly armed, they stood strong with courage.
The militia men were victorious with their worn muskets and ample courage. But their victory fades in comparison with the victory we have have through Christ. This victory is perfect and eternal. We have merely to come to Christ in faith to draw from His courage stores in order that we may be perfectly courageous in any circumstance.
The biblical model of courage relies on the Lord alone as our source. For instance, the book of Psalms says that we are to be strong and take heart when we are afraid and to place our strength in the Lord (Psa. 27:1, 31:24, 56:3-4). It is then clear that a christian's courage is derived, not in and of something from within ourselves, but is to be taken from the infinite and eternal well which is our Holy Lord.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians reminds us that we are like the militiamen at Concord and Lexington facing down our enemy. But unlike the poorly armed and poorly trained militiamen, we have perfectly formed armor and weapons to fight a battle which is not of the flesh but is if the Spirit. Therefore, our courage is made sure and secure by Jesus who through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling in our hearts arms us for every ploy of the evil one. Let us then draw closer to Him so as to be equipped and courageous for any attack through faith in Christ Jesus!
The militia men were victorious with their worn muskets and ample courage. But their victory fades in comparison with the victory we have have through Christ. This victory is perfect and eternal. We have merely to come to Christ in faith to draw from His courage stores in order that we may be perfectly courageous in any circumstance.
The biblical model of courage relies on the Lord alone as our source. For instance, the book of Psalms says that we are to be strong and take heart when we are afraid and to place our strength in the Lord (Psa. 27:1, 31:24, 56:3-4). It is then clear that a christian's courage is derived, not in and of something from within ourselves, but is to be taken from the infinite and eternal well which is our Holy Lord.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians reminds us that we are like the militiamen at Concord and Lexington facing down our enemy. But unlike the poorly armed and poorly trained militiamen, we have perfectly formed armor and weapons to fight a battle which is not of the flesh but is if the Spirit. Therefore, our courage is made sure and secure by Jesus who through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling in our hearts arms us for every ploy of the evil one. Let us then draw closer to Him so as to be equipped and courageous for any attack through faith in Christ Jesus!
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