Category: Strength for Today

Acts 17:8
“And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.”

If you are going to be faithful in serving the LORD your entire life, you are going to have to come to grips with the fact that you will have to deal with divisions and attacks. Jesus warned us in Matthew 10 that people would hate us. It doesn’t matter how pure your motive is; there are going to be times when you have to deal with divisions among friends and attacks from without.

Paul experienced divisions and attacks in his ministry more than any other apostle. Whether or not it was because of his personality or because of his life before he got saved we do not know, one thing we do know is that he regularly dealt with divisions and attacks. When you analyze why he went through these divisions and attacks, you will find there were three causes. These same three causes still cause divisions and attacks on God’s servants today.

The first cause of divisions and attacks is opinions. Paul and Barnabas had an opinion about John Mark’s profitability to their team. The opinion caused the strife to be so sharp that they felt it was best to each go their own way. Be careful about allowing opinion to cause division. Opinions are not Scriptures, and we must treat them as what they are: opinions.

The second cause of divisions and attacks is jealousy. In Acts 16:19, a man was jealous of Paul’s ministry because “the hope of their gains was gone.” You will find that many will attack you because they feel that you are taking the dynasty they held on a group of people. When this happens, you cannot let it deter you from what the LORD wants you to do. The attacks will be personal, and these people will say bad things about you and try to do bad things to you, but you must continue to do right and let the LORD deal with them.

The third cause of divisions and attacks is envy. The story from the verse above is where the people attacked them and tried to destroy their influence because they “turned the world upside down.” These people wanted the same influence that the apostles had, and because they didn’t have that influence, they tried to destroy them. As your influence grows, people will attack you in an attempt to take your influence because they want it. You must not be concerned with their attacks. Just keep doing what built your influence, and let the LORD deal with their attacks.

When divisions and attacks happen, there are three things you must do. First, you must ask yourself if they are right in any area. There may always be some little truth in an attack. If it is something you need to change, change it. Second, ask yourself if you need to change something. Don’t change the truth, but maybe changing an opinion can keep the division from happening in the future. You need to look at what you are doing and see if there is something you have needlessly done that could have caused the division. Third, just keep doing right. Don’t let the attacks and divisions sidetrack you from what you are supposed to do. If you are not careful, the battle can become your focus instead of reaching the lost for Christ. Just staying focused on truth will take care of the attacks without you having to change one thing. Let me encourage you to stay focused and keep doing right.

Acts 13:22
“And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.”

One of the most amazing statements that God could say about a man is said about David. The verse above says, “…I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart…” This should be the desire of every Christian to be a person after God’s own heart. There is no doubt in my mind that any Christian who is doing anything for God has this great desire. But, what does it mean to be a man after God’s own heart? What was it that made David a man after God’s own heart? I believe this statement has a couple of meanings.

First, it means that David was a man who had the same likes and dislikes as God. You will find that any time a person has God’s heart, they will have His desires in their heart. That is what Psalm 37:4 teaches when it says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” God will give you the right desires if you spend your life delighting in Him. When you have God’s desires as David did, you will have the same likes and dislikes as God. What you have to understand about this is that this is a total sacrifice of your will. You will never become a Christian after God’s own heart until you totally sacrifice your will for His.

Second, being a man after God’s own heart means that David pursued the heart of God. Just like a man tries to win over the heart of a young lady whom he likes, so David daily pursued winning over God’s heart. You will never become a Christian after God’s own heart until your daily pursuit is the pursuit of fulling the desires of God’s heart. What breeds a happy relationship is when one person’s only desire is to please the other. Pursing the heart of God will happen when your only desire is to please Him.

The question that arises is how do we become this Christian after God’s own heart? The answer is found in the verse above when it says, “…which shall fulfil all my will.” Simply put, you will only become a Christian after God’s own heart by fulfilling all of God’s will. David’s life was about doing whatever God told him to do. He didn’t just perform part of God’s will, but all of it. You can become a Christian after God’s own heart, but you will only succeed at doing this by obeying everything that God tells you to do.

Friend, this must be your daily mission if you are going to become a Christian after God’s own heart. You must make your daily goal to find out what God’s will is for you that day and do it. You will never become a Christian after God’s own heart by doing part of what God tells you to do. You need to do all of it. Complete obedience to God’s Word and will is the only way you will accomplish being a person after God’s own heart.

Let me ask you, does God call you a Christian after His own heart? You know the answer if you answer honestly. Let me encourage you to surrender your will to His will. If you are going to be a Christian after God’s own heart, you will have to die to yourself daily. Your prayer every day should be, “Lord, I surrender my will completely to You today. Holy Spirit, fill me with your power and help me to fulfill God’s will today.” This must be your daily prayer if you are going to be a Christian after God’s own heart.

Acts 2:14
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:”

The story of Peter and the disciples preaching on the day of Pentecost truly seems to be much different from a few days earlier when they were on the lake fishing. Just a few days prior they had given up on Christianity, and for good reason; they thought that Christ was dead. The verse above shows an obvious difference in the disciples as they boldly proclaimed the Gospel and thousands responded by accepting Christ as Saviour. Something had changed!

What changed was that Jesus knew there had to come a time when He trusted what He taught them would take effect when He left them. He had sent them out before, but this time He totally trusted that they would carry on what they learned. He knew His trust in them would result in growth.

I believe that many people do not grow because they are never given the chance to grow. Anyone who has followed me for a short time knows that I love dogs, and I train my dogs. One of my dogs that I was training seemed to respond rapidly to the training. One morning while I was taking my morning walk with my dogs, I decided to trust this dog and take her off the leash. Mind you, I was on a busy city street, and I was trusting my dog to listen to me. Though I was a bit nervous, I knew she would respond because I had trained her well and had done this before. It is always amazing how once the dog sees that I trust her enough to take off leash that she rewards me by doing what I trained her to do.

I believe many Christians have never been taken off the leash by their pastor or a spiritual leader only to see them become frustrated and eventually quit. There has to come a time as a leader when you trust what you have trained your people to do enough to take them off leash and let them train others. Pastor, if you never learn to trust people, they will never reward you for putting your trust in them. They need to see that you have enough confidence in them that they will respond right, just like Jesus did with His disciples.

The common response I get when I tell pastors this is that this person is not ready. Pastor, they will never be ready. The pressure of you putting your trust in them has an amazing result in causing them to grow. If you can’t fully trust them, at least trust them in a controlled atmosphere. Put them in a situation where they teach under your guidance. Any little bit of trust you put in them will always result in growth. Just like my dogs responded right when I had enough trust to take them off leash, so Christians will grow when you trust them enough to follow what you have taught them.

Let me take this one step further and address parents. Your children will do right if you have trained them right. I totally understand the fear of gradually letting go, but if you want your child to do right you are going to have to trust them under the controlled atmosphere of living under your roof and gradually take them off leash. There is going to come a day when they move out. The trust you put in them while they are under your controlled atmosphere will prove you right when they move out on their own. Simply put, people grow when their leader shows trust in them. Yes, you will be disappointed at times, but you will find more growth than disappointment if you take them off leash.

John 18:16
“But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.”

You know the story very well, the story of Peter denying the Saviour. You have heard how Peter declared that he was willing to follow Jesus to the grave just a few hours before he denied knowing the Saviour. You have heard how Peter warmed himself at the heathen’s fire and eventually came to the point where he denied the church, his faith and his God. This is truly a sad chapter in Peter’s life.

However, we often miss what led Peter to deny the church, his faith and his God. The verse above shows us the beginning of how this all happened when it says, “But Peter stood at the door without.” The other disciple walking with Peter didn’t stand at the door without, but he walked through the door and never denied the church, his faith or his God. That door is what separated Peter from the other disciple. That door was a door of hesitation. It was that moment of hesitation that led to the heathen’s fire. It was that moment of hesitation that led to denying the church, his faith and his God. If Peter had walked through the door instead of hesitating at the door, this chapter in his life would have never been written. It all started with his hesitation.

Hesitation is the door to temptation. Many Christians have spiritually died because they hesitated when they should have gone forward. If a person never hesitates, they will never have the opportunity to think about temptation. Temptation only needs a moment of hesitation to start working on the mind of the Christian. It is when a person hesitates to look at an immoral picture that opens the door of lust. It is when a person hesitates to witness to a lost person that opens the door to quench the Spirit. It is when a person hesitates to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit that leads them to rebellion and living their own life. It is when you hesitate that temptation has the opportunity to start working on your mind.

There is only one reason as to why you would hesitate and that reason is that you are concerned how something is going to affect you. Peter was concerned with what the crowd inside that door would do to him, and that is why he hesitated. Christian, the life of faith will never be accomplished if you always wonder how you are going to be affected. When your Christian life is determined by how you are going to be affected by every decision, your Christian life will be lived in the flesh and not by faith. Faith never wonders how it will be affected, it only steps out and obeys the LORD’s command. You will never have victory over hesitation as long as you are concerned with how you will be affected at every door.

What is the key to avoiding hesitation? The key is to stay close to the Saviour. The Book of Matthew tells us that Peter followed “afar off.” If he had stayed close to the Saviour, he wouldn’t have had a chance to hesitate when walking through the door. Friend, the only way you will avoid hesitating at the door of temptation is to stay close to the Saviour. You must walk with the Saviour daily in His Word and prayer. You must yield yourself to the Holy Spirit every minute of the day if you are going to avoid hesitating. Don’t let hesitation be a part of your life. Stay close to the Saviour and you will avoid the door of hesitation.

John 10:38
“But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”

In a world where many voices claim validity in the Christian realm, how do you know which one is real and which one is not? Jesus answered this question by saying, “…though ye believe not me, believe the works…” Jesus encountered many people who questioned whether or not He was the Son of God. They constantly challenged His validity, but He countered their challenges by telling people not only to look at Who He said He was, but also to look at what He had done. I believe in this brief statement you will find the test you can use to validate whether or not a person is real.

First, who are they? Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. When He made this proclamation, He was declaring Who He was by telling the people from whence He came. You can learn a lot about a person by learning from where they came. Be wary of people who don’t like to be branded with a group. Jesus wasn’t afraid of a branding, and you shouldn’t be either. If someone wants others to listen to them and follow them, they need to tell who they are by telling whom they identify with.

Second, validate a person by what they say. Every word that Jesus spoke agreed with Scripture. One of the best ways to validate whether you should listen or follow someone is by what they say. Does everything they say agree with the Scriptures? Do they explain the Scriptures away to prop up their opinions? Watch out for anyone who downplays the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures.

Third, validate a person by what they do. Jesus told the people that if they didn’t believe who He said He was, they were to believe Him because of His works. What a person produces says a lot about them. First, do their works agree with the Scriptures? Second, do their works show they have the power of God? Works are the fruit of an individual. When a person claims they can do something, they have just put the test out to show whether or not God’s hand is upon them. This is one reason I always caution men of God about saying they are going to do something because if they don’t get it done, they are declaring their lack of God’s power. An individual validates God’s hand on them by their works. Moses validated God’s hand on him with the rod that became a serpent. Joshua validated God’s hand on him with the parting of the Jordan River. Elisha also showed God’s hand on his life when he was able to part the Jordan River. A person who has God’s hand on them will have works that validate them.

Finally, a person validates God’s hand on their life by their fruit. What a person produces will tell you if they have God’s hand on their life. Don’t just look at the immediate fruit, but look at the fruit of the lives in which they have invested. You probably shouldn’t follow the leadership of a person when their fruit is always going the way of the world. If they are walking the right way and have the power of God upon them, you will clearly see their fruit walking in the old paths.

Looking at a person’s works will help you to determine if they are real. Don’t be caught up in the crowd or smooth words, but let their works validate God’s hand upon them.

John 5:20
“For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.”

I certainly did not have perfect parents, but I was privileged to have parents who loved me. Both my father and my mother expressed their love in words and action. It was their love that caused me not to expect them to be perfect parents. It was their love that motivated me not to want to disappoint them by living an immoral life. It is amazing what a parent’s love will motivate a child to do.

How do we know that a parent loves their child? The verse above plainly shows us the proof of a parent’s love. Jesus said, “For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth…” You will notice that the proof that the Father loved Jesus was that the Father showed Jesus how to do all things. It says in verse 19, “…The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” In other words, Jesus was a replica of the Father. Jesus copied everything that the Father showed Him to do. Every act that Jesus performed on Earth He learned from the Father. The love of the Father caused Him to teach Jesus by example how to do the things He did on Earth.

The greatest thing a parent can do for their child is to show them how to live life. Parenting is not just producing babies. Anybody can do this. Parenting is loving the child enough to show them how to do things in life, and correcting them when they do those things the wrong way. You cannot be a correspondent parent and expect your children to know how to live life. If you love your child, take the time to show them how to live life.

Moreover, if a child learns what to do in life by their parents’ example, that they will learn both good and bad from them. You can’t expect your child not to do something if you are doing it. Your children are going to copy what you say whether it is good or bad. Your children are going to copy the good and the bad of what you watch and where you go. You are teaching your children their habits of life by your example. If you don’t want your children to have the same bad habits that you have, it is time to conquer your bad habits. Parents often bemoan the fact of how hard it is to teach their children good habits and easy for them to learn the bad habits; however, your children didn’t learn your bad habits overnight, they learned them by watching you over time. Always keep in mind that your children learn by example.

Parent, if you truly love your child, you are going to have to take the time to teach them how to serve the LORD, care for finances and live life all by example. Every mother should slow down and teach their daughters how to cook, clean house, do laundry and follow her husband’s leadership by example. Every father should show his son how to mow the lawn, keep the garage in order, change the oil in the car, fix things in the home that are in disrepair, and how to treat a lady properly by loving his wife all by example. Yes, you may be able to do things around the house more quickly without taking the time to show your children, but a loving parent is willing to be inconvenienced by taking the time to show their children how to live life and perform their responsibilities. The proof of your love is simply taking time to show your children how to live life.

Luke 23:33
“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.”

If you are successfully going to serve Christ for your entire life, you are going to have to carry a cross. Luke 9:23 says, “…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” There is no getting around the fact that you are going to have a cross that you must bear. Your cross will bring out a response in you that will either cause you to quit serving the LORD, or it will bring out a response that will magnify Christ through you.

When we think of the cross, we often think of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind. Certainly, Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, but when you look at what transpired on that day, you will see that there were others who responded to the cross. There were four responses to the cross that every person will have to deal with when it comes to their cross.

The first response to the cross is found in verse 36 when the soldiers mocked Jesus. Verse 47 shows us that these soldiers knew who Jesus was. The cross caused these soldiers to mock. I have watched many Christians allow their cross to drive them to mock the very life they once lived. No, a Christian never loses their salvation, but they can lose their testimony for Christ. You must be careful that you don’t allow the hardships of life to drive you to mock the lifestyle of Christianity. The Devil would love nothing more than to see you become a person who denigrates the Christian life. You must never let the hardness of the Christian life drive you to be so hardened that you mock the life you once embraced.

The second response to the cross is anger. In verse 39, one thief was angry, not only at those who crucified him, but also at Christ for supposedly not saving him. Many people have allowed their cross to turn them into an angry person. A man once told me that one thing I would have to watch for in my life is that I don’t allow the battles of life to make me a bitter and angry person. If you are not careful, your cross will make you bitter and angry to the point where you can’t help anyone.

The third response to the cross is self-examination and repentance. The other thief looked at his condition and realized that he deserved the cross. Instead of getting angry, he asked Jesus to save him. You can let your cross drive you to anger, or you can let it show you things in your life that you need to change. Instead of letting your cross make you angry, let it be a time of self-examination to see what you need to change.

The fourth response to the cross is forgiveness and concern for others. This is the response to where the cross should bring you. Jesus didn’t let the cross make him angry, but he realized that those hurting him were broken people who needed forgiveness and help. When your cross brings you to forgive others, it will then cause you to want to help others out of their broken condition.

What is your response to your cross? Don’t let your cross drive you to hatred and criticism. Let your cross be the tool you use to help others out of their broken condition. The cross will only be that tool if you learn to forgive.

Luke 17:15
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,”

An amazing result happened in the story of the ten lepers. Jesus was going to Jerusalem when He passed through Samaria and Galilee. When He entered one of the villages, there were ten lepers who saw Him at a distance and cried out to Him to have mercy on them. Jesus responded by telling them to show themselves to the priest. When these ten men turned and started to go to the priest, their leprosy was healed.

The amazing part of this story is that one of the ten turned back to give glory to God and to thank Jesus for what He had done. This is sad because ninety percent of that crowd never once showed gratitude for their healing. These men were dying, yet they didn’t have the decency to turn around and give thanks. These men had no hope when Jesus gave them hope, and yet they wouldn’t take the time to turn back to be thankful. Only one of them, the ten percenter, took the time to be thankful and to give glory to God.

What is just as sad is that this is very much the same situation today. There are so many Christians today who have had so much given to them by God, and they don’t show any gratitude for what He has done. God blesses them with finances, homes, vehicles, health, and family and in return they skip church, never go soul winning and won’t get involved in the church ministries. Only the ten percenter seems to have enough character to be grateful to God for what He has done and to show their gratitude by getting involved in His work. Very few seem to have the character to take time on a daily basis to thank God for all that He has done for them.

Let me ask you, are you a ten percenter? Do you take time daily to thank God for what He did for you the day before? It doesn’t take much time or effort to thank God for food to eat, a roof over your head, clothes on your back and health to live a normal life. God is not asking for much; He is just asking that you show gratitude for His blessings. You can be a part of the ninety percent, or you can be a ten percenter.

Let me carry this over to being grateful to others for what they do for you. Let me encourage you not to be too proud or so ungrateful that you don’t thank others for what they do for you. It is so easy to overlook the small things people do that we forget to say, “Thank you.” Certainly, when someone does something big for us we will show our gratitude, but do you show your gratitude for the small things? Being grateful for what others do for you should not be a difficult thing to do. Saying, “Thank you” is the least you can do.

Let me encourage you to raise your awareness of the little things that others do for you. Let me challenge you to become a ten percenter. Let the words, “Thank you,” commonly come from your lips. Don’t become known as a person who is ungrateful for the goodness of others. If you take on the mentality that you don’t deserve anything then everything others do for you will cause you to be grateful. Every Christian should be a ten percenter. It is a command of God to be grateful, and it is simply the decent thing to say, “Thank you” when others do something for you. Take the challenge today to be a ten percenter for the rest of your life.

Luke 12:15
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

When my daughter was younger, she struggled a lot with strep throat. I remember my wife taking her to the doctor to have them swab her throat to see if she actually had strep throat. That test helped us to determine if she had the infection and how to treat it if she did. That test was important because infection could lead to heart damage if she didn’t get proper treatment.

Many Christians don’t realize how much covetousness can affect their heart. Just like strep throat, if covetousness is not quickly diagnosed, it will affect the heart of the Christian. Jesus used the parable about a rich fool to give the covetousness test. In this parable, you can find out of you have the symptoms of covetousness. Let’s go through the test to diagnose if you have been infected with covetousness.

First, covetousness blinds you from seeing God’s blessings. This rich ruler couldn’t see that he had “brought forth plentifully.” Instead of thanking God for what he had, he was complaining because he wanted more. Do you find yourself constantly complaining about God not giving you enough? Be careful that you don’t let covetousness affect you. Covetousness has a way of blinding you from seeing the blessings of God in your life.

Second, covetousness makes you ungrateful for what you already have. This rich man said, “I have no room.” Really? He had enough to hold what God had blessed him with, but that wasn’t enough. Be careful about complaining about what you already have. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that what you have is not enough. What you have is probably more than what most have. What you have is probably more than what you used to have. Covetousness will cause you to be ungrateful for what you have. If you are constantly complaining about not having enough or about thinking that what you have is not good enough, you have been infected with covetousness.

Third, covetousness creates an appetite for things that will never satisfy. This man decided to pull down his barns and build greater barns, but what he didn’t understand is that once they were bigger he still wouldn’t be happy. When you get infected with covetousness, you will find that when you get what you want you still won’t be happy. A covetous person will always want more than they have.

Fourth, covetousness gives you an inward focus. This man made himself the focus and not others. Covetousness will cause you to make everything in life about you. You will see what others have and what you don’t have. It will cause you to see how others are treated better than you. Covetousness will make you a very unhappy person.

The cure for covetousness is to take your eyes off things. The verse above warns us that “life consisteth not in the abundance of the things.” If you will become content with what you do have, you will never see what you don’t have. The richest person in the world is the person who wants what they have. If you will get your wanter to want what you have, you will never fall into the sin of covetousness.

Luke 8:25
“And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.”

When going through the storms of life, we often misplace our faith only to make the storm worse. The disciples did this when Jesus commanded them to go to the other side. While they were in the midst of the storm, they thought they were going to die even though Jesus was in the boat with them. How ridiculous to think the storm was going to overcome them when they had the Master of the storms with them. Jesus revealed their misplaced faith when He asked them where their faith was.

Misplaced faith will always be revealed in the midst of the storm. Storms have a way of revealing to you and others that your faith is not placed in the right place. The storms will either show you the weakness or the strength of where you have placed your faith. When Jesus asked, “Where is your faith?”, there are three different things that can be implied by this question.

First, He was asking where they put their faith. In other words, had they put their faith in something else to save them during troubles? It is vitally important that you never place your faith in anyone else or something else because in the storms those other people or things that you placed your faith in will fail. Don’t put your faith in man, because in the storm man will fail you. Don’t put your faith in money, because money cannot deliver you from the storms. Jesus should be the only One in Whom you place your faith, not just for salvation but also for deliverance in life’s storms.

Second, He was asking where their faith had gone. They had faith before for other things, but it seemed to have disappeared. Never forget how God delivered you in times past. One of the mistakes Christians often make is that they allow the severity of storms to cause them to lose their faith. If God delivered you in times past, He will deliver you today. He has never failed! He promises in Hebrew 13:5 that He will never leave or forsake you. Friend, the promises of God are as powerful in the storms as they are out of the storms. Be careful not to let the storms cause you to lose your faith.

Third, He was telling them that their faith had gone nowhere. Why were they looking at the troubles instead of realizing their faith, who was Jesus, was with them and that He would care for them? Be very careful that you don’t allow the storms to cause you to take your eyes off Jesus. The disciples got their eyes on the storm instead of the Master Who was sailing with them through the storms. Jesus is with you no matter how severe the storm may be. Stay focused on Him!

Have you misplaced your faith? You had better keep your faith in Jesus Christ because the day will come when you are going to need to see your faith in the storms. Just like putting your faith in Jesus to save you from your sins is secure; likewise, putting your faith in Him in the storms is secure. He will always be there, and He will deliver you to the other side.