Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- January 29, 2012
“David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.” 1Samuel 30:6
God is your source of strength. Other sources will run dry, or lose their effectiveness. Strength outside of God is temporary at best, and cannot be depended upon. You may find strength for a while through your sheer determination and will power, but eventually, your own efforts will dissipate in power. A life striving in self-directed strength will expire without an ongoing infusion of the Lord’s strength. He is our life, yet we sometimes neglect our built-in energy source.
Sheer busyness or fear may have caused you to unplug from your eternal source of strength. Your faith doesn’t need to remain impotent. Indeed, by faith you can plug into the socket of your Savior Jesus. He has been there all the time. Though your life may have been on an excursion away from eternal interests, now is the time to reconnect with God.
Do not allow the cares of this world to choke out the hope you have in Christ. You can find strength in Him, without having to look far at all. Sometimes we search for strength in all the wrong places and then sheepishly come back to God. There is no need to circumvent Christ. You can’t improve on Jesus. Fall at His feet, and He will pick you up and fill you with His power.
The power of God is unparalleled in conquering fear and discouragement. You may have lost a loved one through death. Their influence in your life was immense. You will miss them sorely. Their faith was a rock of reassurance for you. But, now is the time to tap into the same strength that caused the faith of your friend to flourish. When you dig down deep with the Lord, you do not come away empty. He fills you to the brim, even to overflowing!
God is your burden-bearer and your strength-giver. Do not neglect to allow His Spirit to ignite your strength to love. Ask Him to enlarge your heart of love, so that He can love more through you. God takes your almost empty heart and fills it fully with His strength. This is the paradox of His power: Your weakness and emptiness mean that you have depleted self and are now in a position to be fully filled by Him. Ironically, now you are in a position of strength.
This is how God works. He empties us of ourselves, so that He can fill us with Himself. So, your tentative and weak state is really to your advantage. Humility and even fear position you to be strengthened in the Lord. Therefore, stay in the Lord. Moreover, He gives you strength so that you can do the same for others. Your newfound strength in Him is not meant to remain sterile—rather, it’s meant to be viral.
Your strength in the Lord is for the sake of others. God’s strength is meant to be unleashed. It is designed to serve the destiny of others. There are weak people all around you who are vulnerable to preying imposters of the faith. It is your authentic strength of character, residing in Christ, that is attractive to them. They discern this in you and desire to be strengthened by the Lord. So, allow them to lean on you for a time. Your being there for them is like a blood transfusion of God’s strength. Their faith has become anemic through adversity, and God is using you to build up their eternal immunities. Strength in the Lord provides energy into eternity. Tap into it daily, for your sake and for the sake of others!
Taken from Dose 82 in the 90-day devotional book, “Infusion”… http://bit.ly/bQHNIE
Post/Tweet this today: We empty ourselves, so that He can fill us with Himself. #strength
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Thank you for such a great reminder and confirmation from the Lord to me! “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” 2Cor12:9