We all look for ways in which we may overcome life’s trials and challenges.  The bigger they are, the more earnestly we fight to overcome them.  In our hearts, we are not quitters.  We will fight for our very lives with everything that is in us.  And yet, there are times when we become so overwhelmed by all that we have to face.  That’s when helplessness and hopelessness enter into our lives bringing their discouragement, and their efforts to frustrate us.  We reach the point of disappointment because we see our enemies seeming to prevail over us.  We see the world and its unjust events unfold before our eyes and all of our efforts seem futile.  Left without a human recourse, we turn to the only source of power we know of.  We turn to our God.  And it’s in our turning that we rediscover our God who has always been there with us and for us.  It’s in our seasons of our greatest weakness we realize what we’ve known all along.  God Is our strength.  When we realize that God is our strength, it begins a cycle of remembering and praise.  We remember that our God is all powerful and that none can stand before Him.  Our enemies disappear before our God like a dream that is soon forgotten.  We remember that God has always been our provider, caring for us when we found it difficult — if not impossible — to care for ourselves.  We remember how our God has blessed us abundantly.  That’s when we give praise to our God.  Even our enemies who have been defeated by our God are called to recognize their weakness against the strength of our God.  So, we praise God because God is our strength.  God’s strength has helped us fight and win many battles against our enemies and so, God is worthy of our praise.  Were it not for God’s strength — for the Lord being on our side — all hope would have been lost.  But because God is our strength, we need not fear being overcome by evil.  God’s strength and goodness will overcome evil with God’s blessings.  And we will sing songs of praise to our God because God has been and always is our strength.

• What challenges have you faced in life where you recognized that God was your strength in your time of weakness?
• What was your reaction when God’s strength save you in your time of weakness and danger?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, lead me to remember Your strength and accept my songs of praise and thanksgiving as my gratitude for all the times Your strength brought me through life’s challenges.

         In a world of skepticism, eyewitness accounts are no longer fully accepted as valid proof detailing the truth of an incident.  We no longer trust what some say their eyes have seen, their ears have heard, or their minds can remember.  Over the years, we’ve lost the art of oral communication skills.  And yet, we hear words of faith and truth from those who didn’t have the many distractions, false reports, and miscommunication of our day.  And because they were communicating things of faith, they were less likely to take liberties with the telling of their story.  The work they did transmitting the stories about the truth of God and the reality of their faith, demanded that their words be accurate.  They told their stories, not to confuse the truth, but to clarify centuries old stories about the reality of God and God’s plan of reconciliation and salvation for the world.  I guess the question is, “Why would anyone reject God’s offer of amnesty, when their eternal lives were at stake?”

         That question still looms above us today as people refuse to accept the truth and the proof of God’s reality in Jesus Christ.  And it doesn’t matter that there are contemporary witnesses telling the same story that was told a couple of millennia ago.  We’ve shared the same reality of Jesus Christ as those from the first century.  Not everyone has seen Christ, but we have believed the witness of those who have come before.  We’ve also had our own undeniable experiences to point to the reality and the presence of the living God.  And it’s those personal experiences that point to and give proof of the reality of the God of yesterday, today, and forever.  God is real and Jesus Christ is proof of that truth.

• How do we break through the skepticism of the world to communicate the reality and truth of God and Christ proving their reality?
• Does simply testifying or giving our testimony about the truth of God and Jesus Christ carry the same weight as it used to carry.

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, continue to reveal Yourself to me as confirmation and proof that You are real. Help me continue to share my testimony with those who live in doubt of Your reality.

         Christian theologian, C. S. Lewis, once noted:

“Creatures are not born  with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists.  A baby feels hunger: well, there’s food.  A duckling desires to swim: well, there’s water.  If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is … no earthly pleasure was meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it — to suggest the real thing.[1]

         Philosopher Albert Camus confessed to a Methodist preacher, Howard Mumma, in a conversation one time:

“The reason I’ve been coming to church is that I’m seeking.  I’m almost on a pilgrimage — seeking something to fill the void that I am experiencing — and no one else knows.  I’m searching for something the world is not giving me.  There is something that can that can bring meaning to my life.  On Sunday mornings, I hear that the answer is God.”[2]

         We live in a world where people are seeking.  The amount of time people of all ages spend on their electronic devices is evidence of that.  We search Google, Safari, and Wikipedia.  Many spend time on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and other social media platforms trying to connect in a meaningful way with other people.  And yet, perhaps what we’re really searching for — because we’re missing it in our lives — is not a what but a who — God.  Could it be that the emptiness we feel and the desires we have that can’t be satisfied is our inner desire to find God, who is real, and desires that we be engaged in that Spiritual relationship?  Are you satisfied with your computer, your television, your handheld device that keeps us distracted and searching endlessly for that which does not and cannot satisfy?  Or can we release ourselves from our distractions just long enough to search for the One who is real and can satisfy our every needs?  I believe the answer is obvious.  We should seek the Lord while He may be found.  He will satisfy us in ways nothing else can.

[1] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Harper Collins, 1952)

[2] Christian Century, ( June 7, 2000), p. 644

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, keep me from endless searches for things that neither satisfy nor fill me. Open my heart that I may daily search to build my relationship with you, the only real thing that satisfies completely.