Category: Strength for Today

Proverbs 28:1
“The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

Two pictures are painted in the verse above. The first picture is of one running after they have committed an act and the other picture is of one standing during the act. One reveals cowardice while the other reveals boldness. What makes the difference is what they have done or are doing. The wicked flee, but the righteous stand in their boldness.

Your subsequent reactions always reveal whether you are right or wrong. Parents can oftentimes discern whether their children are right by their reaction to being caught. When a child is doing right, they don’t care if their parent catches them because they have nothing to hide. On the other hand, when a child is caught doing wrong, the frightened look tells the parent everything they need to know. The goal of the Christian life is to be as bold as a lion. You must decide whether you are going to live a life of wickedness or a life of righteousness. Each life produces different results. Let me show you four different results of each life.

First, doing right gives one a good conscience, whereas wickedness causes one’s conscience to be worried they will be caught. If you want to live a stress free life, then you need to avoid living a life of wickedness. Sinful living always produces a guilty conscience whereas righteous living never gives regrets. If you are going to be as bold as a lion when you are older, then you must live the life of righteousness which result in no regrets. When you do right, you will never be ashamed of any question because there is no question that you can readily explain your actions.

Second, doing right makes you proud of what you have done, whereas wickedness cause you to live a life of shame. The difference between the two are obvious. When you are doing right, you have nothing to hide. You can always tell who is doing wrong by who is hiding something. If someone doesn’t want to show you something, then they are hiding their sin. The righteous have nothing to hide, and that is what makes them proud of living right.

Third, doing right breeds confidence whereas doing wrong results in cowardice. The lion is confident in what it can do because it knows its own strength. If you want to live a life of confidence, then let me encourage you to do right. When you work hard on the job, you will have the confidence to look your boss in the eyes. When you do right concerning the Scriptures, then you will be confident in your lifestyle. Righteous living takes the research away because you know what you are doing right. My friend, follow what the Scriptures teach and you will always have the confidence that you are doing right.

Fourth, doing right gives boldness to stand against the enemy, but wickedness always causes one to hide or run after the act. You are going to fight battles in the Christian life, and the only thing that will keep you standing is living right. When you allow sin in your life, you will run in the day of battle. It is so important to live right, because living right gives you the boldness to stand no matter what.

Are you as bold as a lion? Let me encourage you to live right. Living right will give you the boldness you need as a Christian to always stand and never retreat.

2 Timothy 1:16
“The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:”

One of the marks of Christ’s ministry was that He was never afraid to be with those who were the rejected of society. Jesus was the only One Who would help the woman caught in adultery. Jesus was not afraid to walk with the publicans or the outcasts of His society. Even when you look at the His disciples, they were not the higher echelon of society. They were often looked down upon by the religious leaders of their day, but Jesus was never afraid to be a friend of sinners. You could easily say that Jesus refreshed the rejected.

The Apostle Paul found himself in the crowd of the rejected. He sat in prison, and I’m sure it crossed his mind if anyone would visit him. Yet, we find Onesiphorus often visited Paul and encouraged him. When others were ashamed to be seen with Paul because of his prison chains, Onesiphorus understood that the time Paul needed others the most was when he sat alone in the prison cell.

There will always be people who will not be in the “in” crowd. These people need someone who will encourage them. One area where you can always be a help in the Christian life is to be someone who refreshes those who are the rejected of society. There is no doubt in my mind that if you want to be a good Christian, then you should not be afraid to identify and refresh those who are the rejected of society.

Let me encourage you to be a refresher of those who are rejected because they have fallen in sin. Sadly, there are many who have made bad choices as a Christian and have fallen in sin, but they still need someone who is not afraid to identify with them and refresh them. I would much rather be a friend to the sinner and refresh them than to carry the sword that destroys one of God’s children. It doesn’t matter how much someone has sinned, God still loves them and has a place where they can serve Him. It is absolutely wrong to make these who have fallen an outcast to the degree that we shun and reject them when they come into our congregations. Instead of shunning and rejecting them, be the person who refreshes the rejected.

Moreover, strive to be the type of Christian who breathes energy into those who seem to have lost their spiritual energy. Don’t be the Christian who is constantly negative, but be the Christian who truly tries to energize and motivate those who have been dispirited because of heartaches or struggles. Everyone is going to need someone at some point in their lives to cross their paths and encourage them. Make it your daily goal to be that Christian who is the encourager of Christians. Be one who people feel refreshed having been in your presence.

Let me warn you, be prepared to live a lonely life if you choose to become a refresher of the rejected. People will criticize you for being friendly to those who have fallen, but you are in the company of Christ when you live the life of a refresher. Don’t let the criticisms of the Pharisee stop you from be a refresher of the rejected. There is great fulfillment in knowing that God used you to help someone who needed encouragement. Make it a daily practice to find that one person who you can encourage to continue on. It will make your days much more pleasant and fulfilling.

2 Thessalonians 3:11
“For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.”

We live in times when it seems there are many troubled people. From their youth, many have found their lives to be troublesome to the point that they are constantly in trouble with the law. There is no mistake as to why so many people live these troubled lives.

The verse above says, “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly…” The word “disorderly” means, “irregular, tumultuous, lawless, inclined to break lose from restraint.” These words seem to describe many of the modern day troubled youth. The verse above goes further saying that these who walk disorderly don’t work and become “busybodies.” In other words, they wander the streets getting into trouble.

There is no mistake as to how to keep youth from getting to the point where they live a disorderly life. When I look at my younger years, I was no different from many of the teens of my day, but I stayed out of trouble. The reason I stayed out of trouble was because my parents made sure that my life had no resemblance of being disorderly. There are some simple things you can do to avoid living a disorderly life.

First, bring order to your life through schedule. The whole reason someone is disorderly is because there is an irregular schedule in their life. It is good to live by schedule. Having a set time to get up everyday, eat your meals and perform your daily tasks gives life order. Without schedule, many find their lives becoming disorderly.

Second, bring order to your life through discipline. The disciplined life is an ordered life. There needs to be things in your life that you don’t allow yourself to do. A person with no restraint is a person who becomes disorderly. A balanced person understands there are some things they can do and other things they cannot do. You need guidelines in life that discipline your actions. Parents who want their children to live a life of order need to set guidelines for their children. Christians who want to live an orderly Christian life need to have guidelines or standards which dictate how they will live their life. A workplace or society that is going to have order must have clear rules or guidelines for people to live by. You will have no order without discipline, and discipline is established by rules.

Third, bring order to your life by working. Everybody needs to work. The verse above shows us that one of the results of a disorderly life is not working. Everybody needs to accomplish something through work everyday. When you work, it will keep you out of trouble. Parents, if you want your children to stay out of trouble, then you need to set some chores in the house that they must accomplish daily. No matter what area of life you look at, order is brought to life through work. Working has a way of releasing energy that will get someone into trouble if it is not otherwise used. When you work all day, you will be too tired to get yourself into trouble.

There is no secret to avoiding the disorderly life. Applying these three areas to your child’s life will keep them out of trouble. Applying these three areas to your own life will keep you living a life of order. A balanced life is a life of order. These three areas will bring order to your life, and will help you daily live a fulfilled and balanced life.

Ecclesiastes 9:18
“Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.”

Humans are oftentimes blinded to the power of one. We look at all the good that is being done but ignore the destruction that one bad thing does. The verse above says, “…but one sinner destroyeth much good.” It didn’t say that a congregation of sinners destroys good, but one. All it takes is one sinner to destroy all the good one has done. There are many areas I could touch on to show the power that one can do to destroy, but let me focus on a few of the areas where the power of one can totally turn your life around.

All it takes is one bad friend to destroy your life. Amnon didn’t run with a bunch of bad friends, but he simply had one bad friend. It was one bad friend who destroyed Amnon’s life. I would think that most of his friends were good, but he had one bad friend who influenced him and that destroyed all the good he did in his life. It is not how many good friends you have that will determine what becomes of your life, but it is the one bad friend who will destroy your life. You can’t ignore the fact that the one bad friend is destroying you. It is one bad friend who will influence you to do one bad action. It is one bad friend who will change your thinking about truth. It is one bad friend who can destroy all the good in your life. All it takes is one bad friend to destroy all the good that people have put into your life.

All it takes is one bad decision to destroy what all the good decisions have done in your life. I’m reminded of Balaam who made one bad decision to go after Balak. He was a good man before this time, but one bad decision changed his life forever. One bad decision destroyed Naomi’s life. It didn’t matter how many good decisions these people made, but it was the one bad decision they made that destroyed them. You can make good decisions for years and then make one bad decision and it will destroy your life. All it takes is one bad financial decision to destroy all the good financial decisions made in your finances. All it takes is one bad decision on the job that can cause you to lose all the good will you’ve established in the workplace. All it takes is one bad decision to destroy all the good that good decisions have made in your life.

All it takes is one sin to destroy a life of righteousness. It was one sin that marred David’s life. It was one sin that follows Abraham’s seed to this day. It was one sin that Adam and Eve committed that caused sin to be passed unto all men. Friend, you can do good your entire life and choose to commit a sin one time and destroy all the good you have done. It may not be fair, but sin is not fair. One sin “destroyeth much good.” One night of immorality will destroy a life of purity. One look at immoral pictures will destroy a good mind. One lie will destroy all the good that truth has accomplished. All it takes is one sin to destroy all the good.

Never underestimate the power that one can have in your life. You can spend your life doing good and make one wrong move and it will destroy a life of good. Let this devotional be a reminder of how careful you need to be with all that you say, do and think. It would be sad to have all the good you have done in life destroyed because of one bad action. Always beware of the impact that every decision makes and continually yield to the Holy Spirit; this is the only way you will avoid destroying much good.

1 Thessalonians 4:9
“But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.”

One of the key elements of the Christian life is love. It was love that caused Jesus to leave Heaven to come to Earth to die for the sins of mankind. It was God’s love that allowed His Son to become the sacrificial lamb for the world. Love is no doubt the banner of the Christian.

Sadly, one of the areas where we tend to struggle is in the area of loving one another. It should be our love for one another that the world sees, but I’m afraid what the world often sees is fighting and squabbling between the brethren. I’m not condoning compromise, but you don’t have to compromise to love one another. In 1 Thessalonians 4, God shows us the traits of brotherly love. These traits should be found in every Christian.

The first trait of brotherly love is that it’s not selfish. Notice in the verse above that you are to “love one another.” Love is not about what I can get out of it, but what I can put into it. Oftentimes we say we love someone, but we only “love” them when they can do something for us. That is not love! Love is totally unselfish. Love is more interested in how it can help another instead of what another can do for you. Brotherly love is a spouse doing what they can to meet the other’s needs. Brotherly love is the sibling trying to help the needs of the other siblings. Brotherly love is Christians trying to meet each other’s needs. The very core of brotherly love has nothing to do with what you get out of a relationship but how much you can put into it.

The second trait of brotherly love is minding your own business. Verse 11 says, “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business…” If you truly love someone, then you are not going to be the spiritual policeman who constantly preaches at them every time you see them do wrong. Let the Holy Spirit do the convicting. If you truly want to be one who loves the brethren, then mind your own business and love them for who they are.

The third trait of brotherly love is being honest. Verse 12 says, “That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without…” Honesty is the best example of love. There is no love in dishonesty. If you truly love someone, then you will be honest all the time. In other words, you need to live a transparent life that is the same all the time. Being honest isn’t always easy, but it is brotherly love. You can’t help people when they are dishonest. It takes honesty to love.

The fourth trait of brotherly love is not being expecting of others. Verse 12 continues to say, “…that ye may have lack of nothing.” In other words, brotherly love is not having your hand out expecting everyone else to meet your needs, but it is you finding a way to make sure your needs are met. Too many Christians live with their hand out expecting everyone else to do something for them when brotherly love will do what they can to take care of their own needs.

Do you have the traits of brotherly love? The greatest testimony a Christian can have is to love one another. Brotherly love is not laying down truth to get along, but it is living truth 24/7. You will help more people when you start exhibiting the traits of brotherly love.

Ecclesiastes 7:16
“Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?”

Certainly, every generation has their problems, but when you look at what this world calls “The greatest generation,” you see a generation which seemed to be much happier than this present generation that tends to have everything at their fingertips. My grandparents were part of that generation. When looking at what they had, you see a couple who lived very simple lives but were happy and stayed married for seventy-two years. I believe one of the reasons their generation was comparatively happy is because they did not overcomplicate life.

This present generation in which we live seems to be a generation that is angry and unhappy. With the nicer homes, fancier cars and electronic blessings, this generation would be happy if these things brought happiness. Yet, I believe this generation has lost the simplicity of my grandparent’s generation. Overcomplicating life is what has destroyed many marriages and lives.

God says in the verse above, “Be not righteous over much…” God is warning that overcomplicating life will destroy you. At the end of the verse God asks, “…why shouldest thou destroy thyself?” God is showing that being over too much is what complicates life. Being over too much is a self-destructive action. The more things you add to your life the more complicated your life becomes. It is the overcomplicating of one’s life that adds to the frustration and causes one to eventually destroy themselves.

Moreover, overcomplicating life has nothing to do with how righteous you live. Notice that God says, “Be not righteous over much…” It’s the overcomplicating of life that causes one to become self-destructive. Certainly, a righteous life benefits a person, but living a righteous life and then adding too many things to it is still self-destructive. It is learning to live a simple life that helps one to discover happiness.

Let this verse be a wake-up call in your life and relationships. Be careful that you don’t overcomplicate your personal life by adding too many responsibilities. There are times in life when you have to say, “No.” You can only do so many things in life without becoming overwhelmed. Once you become overwhelmed with responsibilities, then you become edgy and lash out at people. People who are normally easy-going people become touchy and angry when they are overwhelmed due to overcomplicating life.

Furthermore, be careful about overcomplicating relationships. Possessions don’t bring happiness to relationships. Many people have destroyed a marriage or parent/child relationship by trying to buy ones love. The only thing you are doing when you add things to a relationship is that you adding to what complicates that relationship. You will find that the happiest relationships are the relationships that have not overcomplicated them with things.

Friend, let me warn you about overcomplicating your life and relationships. Learn to be content with what you have. Realize that possessions and things don’t bring happiness to relationships and life. Simply put, the more simple your life is, the easier it will be to manage.

Philippians 1:22
“But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.”

Paul pondered how much better it would be to go to Heaven. He said, “…to die is gain.” He truly understood that Heaven is a real place where he would soon live. He also understood that when he died, he would receive his glorified body which would no longer have desires for this world.

However, he completely understood that he still lived in the flesh. The verse above shows us that Paul completely accepted the fact that living in the flesh is reality. He then shows four choices he needed to make if he was going to make the most of his life. Those four choices that Paul had to make are the same choices you need to make if you are going to make the most of life. Whether or not you like it, you still live in the flesh. As much as you would like to have your glorified body it is not going to happen at this moment; therefore, you need to make the same four choices Paul made if you are going to make the most of living in the flesh.

If you are going to make the most of living in the flesh, then you need to make the right life choices. Verses 23-24 show that you must make the choice to live for Christ. That is what Paul said in verse 22, “For to me to live is Christ…” This flesh will certainly lead you to a life of heartache if you don’t choose to live for Christ. You have the choice to live in the world, but true living is only found in Christ. The world may try to get you to believe that you are not truly living until you experience its lifestyle, but the Scriptures make it clear that true living is only found in Christ. Living for Christ will give you the biggest “rush” you have ever had.

Second, you need to make the right living choices. Verse 27 talks about matching your conversation with the “gospel of Christ.” Once you choose the life of Christ, then also choose the morality of that life. You will never overcome the flesh by yielding to the world’s morals. You need to let your manner of life be one that you don’t hinder what you are trying to do for Christ. Living in the flesh is hard enough without having to overcome your lifestyle choices. Let all your lifestyle choices be ones which will help you to further the Gospel of Christ.

Third, you need to make the right yoking choices. Be careful with whom you choose to strive together with. If you make the wrong yoking choices, then you will never overcome the temptations of the flesh. Whomever you choose to associate with will dictate what you become down the road. Friend, just because someone is a Christian doesn’t mean you should join up with them in life’s endeavors. Always remember that you don’t always choose with whom you yoke up, but your service for God reveals with whom you are yoked up. You don’t have to make the yoking choice, if you will serve God you will discover who is serving God alongside you.

Fourth, you need to make the right depending choices. The only way you are going to be successful in this flesh is to be dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit. You may live in the flesh, but the only way to overcome the flesh is through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let me encourage you to daily yield to the Holy Spirit as this will help you to make the most of living in the flesh.

Job 37:24
“Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.”

What is it that causes someone to fear God? The verse above says, “Men do therefore fear him…” Something happened before the “therefore.” What happened is that when Elihu talked about God when he said that He was “excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.” These actions cause men to fear God. If these actions cause men to fear God, then the opposite actions would cause men to disregard Him.

Many Christian parents are unknowingly training their children to disregard God. As much as parents would like for their children to serve the LORD the remainder of their lives, their actions have done the opposite of rearing good godly children who fear God and want to serve Him their entire lives. According to the verse above, there are three actions that can cause parents to rear their children to disregard God.

The first action is giving credit to human achievement and not God. If you want your children to fear God, then they need to see that He is “excellent in power.” Far too many parents get more excited over the things of the world than they do the things of God. You will never train children to fear God when they see the world is of greater value to their parents than God. Your children need to see you give more effort in serving the LORD than you do with the things of the world. When they see you give flimsy excuses for missing church or not serving the LORD but see you overcome those same excuses to do the things of the world, then they will surmise that the world is better than God. Let your children see you give more effort in performing God’s work because He is “excellent in power.”

The second action is being dishonest in your dealings. You will notice that being excellent in “judgment” helps one to fear God. Your children need to see that you are honest with all you do. When children see parents who are not afraid to be unjust in their dealings, then they conclude that you don’t fear God because if you did you would be afraid to be dishonest. You may not think your children see your dishonesty, but they do. Children do understand when you think they don’t. There is no dishonest gain worth losing your children to the world. Always be honest so they will learn that you fear the LORD.

The third action is treating people differently. Living a life of “justice” will show your children that you fear God. In other words, don’t have two sets of punishment for your children. Always be consistent with punishment. If you are a leader, then let them see that you don’t treat them differently than others because they are your children. Being just in your dealings regarding right and wrong always sends the strong message to your children that you fear God.

Let me ask you, is your life training your children to disregard God? When you truly fear God, then you will be just in your punishment, honest in your dealings and will give a full effort to showing the excellency of God’s work. Certainly you should teach your children these things in word, but always remember that your actions make the greatest impact and are what reveal how much you truly fear God.

Galatians 5:1
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Liberty in Christ is often taken and misused. Liberty in Christ is not a license to go live the life you want to live, but it is a choice you have to get to serve the LORD. Paul commands the Christian to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” Liberty in Christ lasts as long as you serve the LORD, but the very moment you get “entangled” with sin, you will then become a servant to the “yoke of bondage.” There are four things that God shows us that liberty in Christ is.

First, liberty in Christ is getting saved without works. When you add works to salvation, then salvation is no longer free. God warns us not to take the liberty of salvation away by adding works to salvation. Many times people get saved, but after salvation they foolishly try to add works which only brings bondage to the Christian life. Always remember that if you are saved by grace then you are kept by grace. You cannot be saved by grace and kept by works otherwise grace will no longer be grace. God is powerful enough to save and keep us by His grace. Be careful that you don’t adopt the mentality that you have to do something to keep your salvation for that will only add bondage to a free salvation.

Second, liberty in Christ is the freedom to obey truth. Liberty in Christ is not the freedom to do what you want to do and disobey God’s Word. Verse 7 says, “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” God doesn’t make you serve Him, but He gives you the choice to serve Him. What you must watch out for are for those who would hinder you from making the choice to serve Him. Wrong influences will destroy your liberty in Christ.

Third, liberty in Christ is the freedom to serve others. Verse 13 says, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” Liberty in Christ gives you the privilege to serve others and not yourself. Only those who want to abuse their liberty in Christ will use their liberty to do what they want to do instead of using it to help others. The greatest way to use your liberty is to serve others. It is when you serve others that you will experience the joy of the liberty in Christ.

Fourth, liberty in Christ is the freedom to yield to the Spirit of God. In verse 16, God tells us to “walk in the Spirit.” God doesn’t force you to yield to His Holy Spirit, but He gives you the choice to yield to Him. Friend, you can attempt to serve God under your own strength, but that will only create bondage. Your liberty in Christ is fully achieved when you yield to the Spirit of God and follow His leading in your life. It is then when you will experience the power to use that liberty to its fullest.

Are you fully standing in the liberty of Christ? The best way to fully enjoy your liberty in Christ is to follow these four steps. Anything short of these four areas will only cause the Christian life to be burdensome. It is when you choose to do right in these four areas that you will truly understand the liberty you have in Christ and the joy and satisfaction that serving Christ brings. Don’t live another day without experiencing this liberty in Christ to its fullest.