Category: Strength for Today

Leviticus 20:22
“Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.”

Once a summer, my family would go to the cucumber field to pick cucumbers so that my mom could make pickles for the year. Once we got home, my mother began the process of making pickles. The process of preserving those pickles was arduous, but it kept them fresh for the family throughout the year. We had to follow a recipe and process to make sure those pickles didn’t spoil. We wanted the taste of those pickles to be what we originally made them to be.

God wants the Christian to have a certain taste. This taste is not measured by the world’s taste, but they are measured according to God’s taste. The verse above shows us what it takes keep the taste right. Just like my family would go through a process to keep the taste of those pickles right, God has a recipe and process for the Christian to keep the right taste that He desires.

First, keeping God’s commandments will help in preserving His desired taste. It says, “Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments…” In other words, we are not to change God’s laws to fit our desires, but we are to keep them to fit His desires. Too many times we are trying to conform what God wants into the taste and desires of the world. You must realize that God is not interested in the world’s taste, He is only interested in His taste. We are not to live to be accepted by the world, but we are to live to be acceptable to God. Christian, you don’t have a right to pick and choose which commandment to keep. You are to keep the commandments for they produce a taste that God wants.

Second, performing God’s commandments will help you preserve the taste God desires. Notice in the verse above that you are not only to keep God’s commandments, but you are also to “do them.” We can tell people what the Scriptures teach concerning God’s desired lifestyle for the Christian, but He wants us to do them as well. Have you ever seen a school that had rules they didn’t keep? Rules are worthless if not enforced. Likewise, God expects His children to keep and do His commandments. Talking about them is not enough to produce the taste God desires. It is also in their performance that gives the proper taste.

Third, keeping God as the measuring stick for righteousness will help you preserve the taste God desires. Verse 23 says, “And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation…” Notice, God’s commandments and rules don’t change according to the manners of the world. It is not the world’s manner of living by which we are to live, but we are to live according to God’s commandments. God expects us to live according to His holiness.

Friend, you are to produce a taste that God desires. If our life doesn’t produce a taste that God desires, then we will lose that sweet fellowship with Him that we desire. When you follow the process it takes to produce the taste God desires, then that taste will influence a world.

Leviticus 15:31
“Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.”

After a long day of playing, I used to run into the house with my face and hands dirty only to hear my mother say, “Son, go get yourself cleaned up.” As a young boy, I didn’t think I was that dirty. I would go into the bathroom and wash what I thought was dirty, then go into the dining room to eat supper. My mother would look at me and say, “Son, I told you to clean up.” She then took me back into the bathroom and grabbed the washrag and cleaned the back of my neck and behind my ears. She wanted me to be clean before I ate my supper.

A Christian may not have a mother who is making sure they are clean, but they have a Holy Spirit Who indwells them to let them know when they are dirty. If you don’t listen to the Holy Spirit, then you will never know when sin has soiled your life. It is vitally important for the Christian to listen to the Holy Spirit as He tells you to go back to the spiritual bathroom and get yourself clean.

In the verse above, God is showing the Israelites that they needed to clean themselves up from their uncleanness. He shows throughout the chapter some things that cause them to become unclean and what they needed to do to clean up. Those steps they needed to take to clean up are the same steps you must take to clean up from your sin. Let me show you these steps.

First, identify and acknowledge your uncleanness. Don’t try to compare your life to man’s standard; rather, compare it to God’s standard. Man’s standard of living is soiled by sin, and that is why you must not look at man to see if you are clean. Once you identify your sin, you must acknowledge you have a problem. Identifying and acknowledging you have a sin problem is the first step in cleaning yourself up from sin.

Second, separate from those things that caused you to become unclean. You can’t get clean while you are in the mud, you have to get out of the mud to be cleaned. Likewise, you can’t clean yourself up while you continue to run with those with whom you got dirty and with a world that is filled with sin. You must separate from the friends and worldly lifestyles that pulled you into the filth of sin.

Third, wash yourself through the water of God’s Word. God told them in verse 13 to wash themselves with water. God’s Word is the cleansing agent for your sin. You can’t get clean unless you use soap, and God’s Word is the soap that cleans the Christian. If you don’t spend time reading, studying and memorizing God’s Word, you will continually struggle with sin in your life.

Fourth, you must be accountable to someone to be clean from sin. In verse 15, they were to go to the priest for help in being cleansed from their uncleanness. You need to be accountable to someone about your sin. Accountability will put pressure on you to overcome the uncleanness of sin in your life.

Friend, what is the uncleanness in your life? What sin have you struggled with for years? Take these scriptural steps to cleaning up and you will find that God’s method of cleaning up will help you overcome that which has soiled you for so many years

Proverbs 21:5
“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.”

God has given me the privilege of being able to spend time with men who are wealthy. I have noticed as I spent time with them that though they all earned their money in different fields, they all seemed to have the same financial habits. They didn’t earn their money because they won it in a lottery or because they inherited it, but they earned it by hard work and good financial habits.

One of the tools liberals use to get people to vote for them is to wage a war on the wealthy. They make it sound like people with wealth are evil people who prey on the poor. From my experience, most people who have wealth don’t act that way. In fact, the opposite is true with most of them. They are very charitable with their finances, but they are very wise and hard working as well. There is nothing sinful about making money and becoming wealthy. If most people would develop good financial habits like those who are wealthy, they would find their financial situation improve. The verse above shows us the successful financial habits of most wealthy people. If you would integrate those habits into your thinking and lifestyle, you will see your financial picture improve.

The first habit of those who are financially successful is they are diligent. In other words, they don’t wait for something to happen for them; rather, they pursue financial endeavors on their own. No one has to motivate them to work because they are self-motivated to work. If you want to change your financial situation, then you need to become self-motivated to work.

The second habit of those who are financially successful is their thoughts towards business and financial matters look at how much profit there is to make. When you get around those who are financially successful, you continually will find they usually will not involve themselves in anything that isn’t profitable. You can get involved in many projects, but you would be wise to only put your efforts towards that which will profit. Anything that does not profit is usually a waste of time. Don’t waste your time on things that don’t profit; rather, spend time on that which is profitable.

The third habit of those who are financially successful is they are not quick to put their finances towards projects. You would be wise to give yourself time to thoroughly study financial investments before investing in them. Stop throwing your money at the next get rich quick scheme. If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true. Be careful and knowledgeable with your money and where you decide to spend and invest it.

The fourth habit of those who are financially successful is they are honest in their dealings. Verse 6 talks about lying to get treasures. Friend, it is better to be honest in your dealings and stay poor than it is to get wealth through dishonesty. Dishonesty eventually catches up to you. Being honest will help you to be trusted by those with whom you do business, which results in you making more money.

There is truly no secret to being financially successful. These habits that God shows us in these verses must be a part of your life if you want to see your financial picture improve. I encourage you to make these habits a part of your financial life. Whether or not you get rich is not the issue, you will be earning your money in a scriptural and honest way, and most likely you will find your financial situation improve.

Exodus 16:33
“And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.”

After the children of Israel left Elim, they came to the wilderness of Sin. In this wilderness they had no food to eat. There were no animals to kill for food, and if there were animals, they would not be sufficient enough to feed this large congregation.

When the children of Israel saw they had no food, they murmured to Moses about bringing them into the wilderness so they would die. Moses brought this problem to God, and He told him that He would send bread from Heaven. When the people woke up in the morning and saw the bread lying upon the dew, they called it manna.

God told Israel to only gather enough for the day, for it would not be good for the next day. Israel, not trusting God, tried to save some for the following day and found that it turned to worms. Here is the truth I want you to see. God told Moses to have Aaron take a pot and put manna in it and “lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generation.” This same manna that spoiled was miraculously kept as a memorial for generations to come.

Manna is a type of the Word of God. In this story, you find that this manna from Heaven is like the Word of God to the Christian. There are four very valuable truths we learn from this manna as it compares to the Word of God.

First, God’s Word is an inspired and preserved Word. The manna that was laid up before the Testimony never spoiled. God has preserved His Word for you in the King James Bible. His Word will continue to be preserved for every generation. This is important because His Word must be inspired and preserved if we are going to get the spiritual nutrition we need on a daily basis.

Second, God’s Word is needed in your life on a daily basis. Just like the manna gathered by the people was only good for one day, what God feeds you today from His Word is not good for tomorrows needs. Yes, the truths will be good, but God has something special for you everyday in His Word if you will read It.

Third, God’s Word is valuable to your life. Hebrews 9:4 shows us that Aaron put the manna in a “golden pot.” Friend, God’s Word is very valuable to your life. In God’s Word are the instructions and wisdom you need to live. When you don’t read His Word, you are missing out on some of the most valuable truths that can help your marriage, life, ministry and career. Don’t miss the value of God’s Word because you are too busy. Read It every day to find the gold you need for that day.

Fourth, God’s Word will keep you close to God. Aaron laid the golden pot of manna before the Testimony in the tabernacle. Friend, you will never stay close to God without staying close to His Word. A person who only opens the pages of God’s Word on Sunday will never realize the sweet presence of God in their life on a daily basis.

Don’t miss the benefits that God has for you in His Word. Set time aside on a daily basis to read It. If you must start by reading a chapter a day, that is a start to a very priceless relationship. When you go to read God’s Word, yield yourself to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to show you the gold you need for that day. You will find that once you start finding the gold from God’s Word on a daily basis that you will have no problem continually mining those truths.

Exodus 11:1
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.”

Coming out of Egypt was no coincidence, but it was the mighty hand of God that delivered Israel. For four hundred years they were in bondage, and within a few days God was able to deliver them from Egypt. When you look at this story, you can see nothing else but the mighty hand of God.

It was God who protected Israel for forty years while they lived in the land of Egypt. It was God’s will for Israel to be in the land, as God took Jacob and his household to meet Joseph. The hand of God fed them through the great famine in the land of Egypt. The hand of God protected them when Pharaoh tried to annihilate them by killing the male babies. The hand of God protected them from the whip of the taskmasters. It was truly the hand of God that was their protection during these trying years.

Moreover, it was nothing short of a miracle for Israel to be able to leave the land of Egypt. Israel had several obstacles that kept them from being able to leave, but God helped them overcome each obstacle. They had to overcome Pharaoh whose heart was hardened. They had to overcome the taskmasters who didn’t want them to leave. They had to overcome the poverty they would encounter if they left. They had to overcome an army that would try to kill them if they left.

Yet, God took all these obstacles away and delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh. It was God Who moved Pharaoh to tell Moses to let Israel go. It was God Who moved the hearts of the people of Egypt to force Pharaoh to let them go. It was God Who would move the hearts of the people to give their gold and silver to Israel just so they would leave. It was nothing short of the hand of God that caused great miracle happened for these people.

However, let me remind you that it was a miracle of God that you were delivered from Egypt. What I mean by this is that you were lost in sins, and God miraculously allowed someone to cross your path wherever you were to show you the great news of the Gospel. Don’t ever forget the miracle of salvation that saved you from Hell. Don’t ever forget the powerful hand of God that delivered you from the grips of this world. Don’t ever forget the true miracle of God turning your destination from Hell to Heaven at the moment you received Jesus Christ as your Saviour.

I remind you of this to compel you not to return to Egypt. No, you cannot lose your salvation, but you can go back to the worldly lifestyle only to see its heartache once again. Friend, why would you want to go back to that from which you came out? If it was bad enough to come out, then it should be good enough to stay out. Don’t let the lure of the world cause you to go back into the world. Never forget the miracle it took to come out. Always keep your eyes on God and keep serving Him. The Christian life is truly the best life. If you will remember the heartache of the world and the miracle it took to come out, then you will find yourself cherishing the Christian life.

Genesis 39:21
“But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

The first thirty years of Joseph’s life were certainly unpleasant years. It didn’t matter what Joseph did, he always found himself in unpleasant circumstances that were beyond his control. When he did right, it seemed as if circumstances got worse. No doubt he could have easily become discouraged with all that he faced.

There is something very encouraging in this story that we find in the verse above. It says, “But the LORD was with Joseph…” Joseph was in the pit, but the LORD was still with him. Joseph was enslaved in a far land, but the LORD was with him. Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt, but the LORD was with him. God’s presence was not limited to the church or his homeland, but His presence was found in every place Joseph went.

Friend, in spite of whatever circumstances you face in life, you can be assured that the LORD’s presence is right there with you. It is comforting and assuring to know that the LORD’s presence is not limited to a building or a location. His presence is not limited to where you go to church. His presence is not limited to where you read the Scriptures. His presence is not limited to wherever your pastor may be at this precise time. God presence is wherever you are. No matter what you face, you can know that the LORD is with you.

When life throws you into a pit, you can be assured that the LORD is with you. When you’re in the pit of financial stress, rest assured that the LORD is with you. When your vehicle breaks down at the most inopportune time, you can be assured that the LORD is with you. No matter what pit life puts you in, you are not alone for the LORD is in that pit with you.

When you’re enslaved by man’s wickedness, let me assure you that the LORD is with you. You certainly can’t control what man does to you, but you can always be assured that the LORD is with you. Man may enslave your body, but he can’t enslave your spirit. Man may attack you with jealousy, lies and hatred, but the LORD is there to take the blows of man’s wickedness. What situation is it that you face on a daily basis over which you have no control? Let me assure you that the LORD is with you as you face it. Man may try to enslave you and be successful at it, but you can always count on the LORD being with you.

Furthermore, when you’re imprisoned with life’s uncontrollable circumstances, let me assure you that the LORD is with you. You may be imprisoned with cancer,  but the LORD is with you. When death takes a loved one, the LORD is with you. When your body is imprisoned with paralysis, sickness and disease, you don’t have to go through it alone for the LORD is with you.

Christian, whatever you face today, you are not alone. Just like the LORD was with Joseph every step of the way, He is also with you as you journey through each step of life. You don’t have to be in despair for the LORD is with you. When everything in life seems to be against you, God is there for you and with you to help you overcome your situation.

Genesis 24:7
“The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.”

One of the things that made Abraham so great was that he did not live for the present, but he lived to be sure he prepared the way for the next generation. He not only served his own generation, but he also served the next generation. He understood that if truth was going to continue on, then he had to be sure he prepared the way for the next generation to live right.

You see in the verse above that Abraham was concerned with whom his son married. When he sent his servant to find a wife for his son, he made it clear that he was not to bring back a woman who would cause his son to go back from where he came. This servant was to bring back a woman who would follow Isaac as he went forward in God’s will. This action was an example of preparing the way for the next generation to serve God.

What truly separates greatness from average is that greatness lives their life in such a manner so that the next generation has no excuse to compromise. Greatness will not only serve their own generation, but they will serve the next generation. When you look at the forefathers of America, you see men who served their own generation and generations to come. When you look at great men of God, you see men who served their own generation and generations to come. Greatness prepares the way for the next generation to continue to do right.

If you are going to prepare the way for the next generation, then you must not point them to the world, but to God’s will. Abraham did not want Isaac to go back to where they came from; instead, he wanted him to go forward in God’s will. You must live your life so that the next generation will not want to go back to the world.

Moreover, if you are going to prepare the way, then you must be sure your associations are right. Abraham didn’t want his son to be yoked up with anyone who would cause him to go back to the world. Friend, you may be able to handle your weak associations, but the next generation will think the weak associations are good ones. If you are going to prepare the way, then you must be sure your associations are such that they will not pull them down but will push them up.

Furthermore, if you are going to prepare the way for next generation, you must remind them of the old paths. In the verse above, Abraham reminded the servant of God’s commands to him. Friend, you must not change how you live to match the current culture. You must live your life to match God’s lifestyle. Preparing the way only comes by continually conforming your life into the will and image of God.

Are you preparing the way for the next generation to serve the LORD? It doesn’t matter if you lead one person or a thousand people, your responsibility is to be sure the next generation clearly sees the right way to live. Look at your life and see if you are making the life of Christ clear to them. Be sure your associations are such that they will not cast confusion on future generations. Make it clear with your direction, associations and life the right manner of life the LORD would have them live.

Genesis 12:1
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:”

We often look at the life of Abraham and see the blessings upon his life, but we overlook the actions he had to take to get those blessings. We want the results of Abraham’s blessings without having to implement the recipe it takes to get them. You never get the result without the recipe. The Abraham principle must be applied if we want God to bless us in a great way. Let me show you the Abraham principle and what it means.

First, the Abraham principle is total obedience to God by faith. God told Abraham to leave his country and family to go to a land where he would be made a great country. You will never have the blessings of the Abraham principle without stepping out by faith. Faith in God through obedience and trusting in His promises is the catalyst to implementing the Abraham principle. If you are not willing to obey God by faith, then you will never see the blessing this principle brings. Obeying God always requires faith. Without faith you will never be able to experience the blessings of God.

Second, the Abraham principle requires separation. This is one of the hard things with which many people struggle. You will notice that Abraham had to leave his kindred and father’s house. He was leaving his family for forever. You will never be able to see God’s richest blessings on your life until you are willing to leave the security of home. For instance, many college students won’t leave the church where they went to college because of the security of its blessings. Friend, if you are not willing to leave where you grew up or where you attended college to go where God wants you to serve, then you will never see the blessings the Abraham principle gives. It only comes by separation from your securities.

Third, the Abraham principle requires total focus upon God. Abraham had no one to focus upon other than God. God was the only One Whom he could follow. If you must follow man to serve God, then you will never experience the blessings of the Abraham principle. There is nothing wrong with admiring men whom God used in a great way, but you must put your total focus upon God if you want Him to use you. People today seem to struggle with having their eyes solely upon the LORD. It seems they must have a man whom they can see and touch in order to serve God. This is not serving God but man. It takes total faith in God to keep your eyes solely upon Him. Anything less than this will keep you from experiencing the blessings of the Abraham principle.

What is the result of following the Abraham principle? The results are God will bless you greatly. God made of Abraham a great nation. God blessed his name. God made him the source of blessings for others. God promised protection from the enemy. All this came from Abraham obeying God by faith and being willing to sacrifice all for God’s sake.

If you will follow the Abraham principle, then you will see God’s blessings upon your ministry so that you can help others. The whole purpose of the blessings from this principle is so that you can be a greater help to others. All the Earth was blessed because of Abraham, and God will not bless your world until you follow the Abraham principle.

Friend, there are people depending upon you to follow the Abraham principle so they can receive from God what they need. Are you willing to follow that principle? It is only when you are willing to lose yourself for God’s sake that His blessings will be experienced in your life so you can help others. Anyone who has been used greatly by God has had to follow this principle.