STRENGTH FOR THE WEAK HANDS 

“Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” Isaiah 35:3-5 NKJV

There are times when we just get run down. Our hands get tired from working, our joints start to ache from the journey, and our hearts lose hope that it is going to get better. When we get to that point we have to remember the words of Isaiah: “Be strong, do not fear!” The journey of life is difficult and fraught with challenges. We have to get our strength from the source that never runs out, Jesus. There will be battles in life and if we try to fight them on our own it will end badly. Instead we need to seek the Lord, keep walking, and wait for His work to be accomplished. When we are down He will come and save us.

Source: DAILY WALK DEVOTION

Richard needed a push, and he got one. He was rock climbing with his friend Kevin who was the belayer (the one who secures the rope). Exhausted and ready to quit, Richard asked Kevin to lower him to the ground. But Kevin urged him on, saying he had come too far to quit. Dangling in midair, Richard decided to keep trying. Amazingly, he was able to reconnect with the rock and complete the climb because of his friend’s encouragement.

In the early church, followers of Jesus encouraged one another to continue to follow their Lord and to show compassion. In a culture riddled with immorality, they passionately appealed to one another to live pure lives (Rom. 12:1; 1 Thess. 4:1). Believers encouraged one another daily, as God prompted them to do so (Acts 13:15). They urged each other to intercede for the body (Rom. 15:30), to help people stay connected to the church (Heb. 10:25), and to love more and more (1 Thess. 4:10).

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has connected us to one another. Therefore, we have the responsibility and privilege with God’s enablement to encourage fellow believers to finish the climb of trusting and obeying Him.

When was the last time you needed to urge someone to keep following Jesus? Who has encouraged you or stirred you to pursue holiness, to keep praying, or to enlarge your love for Jesus and others?

Source: OUR DAILY BREAD

The clock tower at Westminster, which contains the bell known as Big Ben, is an iconic landmark in London, England. It is traditionally thought that the melody of the tower chimes was taken from the tune of “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” from Handel’s Messiah. Words were eventually added and put on display in the clock room:

Lord, through this hour be Thou our guide;

So by Thy power no foot shall slide.

These words allude to Psalm 37: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (vv. 23-24 nlt). Notice how intimately involved God is in His children’s experience: “He delights in every detail of their lives” (v. 23 nlt). Verse 31 adds, “The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip.”

How extraordinary! The Creator of the universe not only upholds us and helps us but He also cares deeply about every moment we live. No wonder the apostle Peter was able to confidently invite us to “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). As the assurance of His care rings in our hearts, we find courage to face whatever comes our way.

Loving Father, thank You that every part of my life matters to You. Encourage me in my struggles so that I might walk in a way that reflects Your great love and honors Your great name.

No one is more secure than the one who is held in God’s hand.

Source: Our Daily Bread

Insecurity. Just the word sends shivers up my spine. Ugh. I hate it. The little bugger doesn’t come up often, but when he does, I want to run away and hide. Lies flood my mind:

Who are you kidding? You can’t do this. You’re nobody. You’re not like them. Nobody sees you. Nobody cares. You’re not good enough. FAIL. See, you’re not as great as you thought. You should just give up. This isn’t going to work.

Deep breathe.

LORD, FLOOD MY HEART WITH YOUR TRUTH! It’s true, I can’t do this—on my own. I don’t really know what I’m doing. But I want to trust you. You have called me to this. You have a purpose for me that you are not going to abandon. This is your adventure for me. And it’s thrilling, exciting—and hard. I am brought to my knees today. I’m just little ol’ me. But I’m YOUR little ol’ me. I belong to you. I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me. You will lead me through. You will help me. You are my refuge. You are my strength. I need you Lord.

I think the problem with insecurity is that it causes our eyes to be on us.

What do they think of me? I can’t do this. I’m a failure.

But when our focus is on Jesus, insecurity flees.

No longer do we care about what they think of us, but rather we’re fixed on what God thinks of us. The impossible becomes possible because God is with us, he is for us, He fights for us and works in and through us. And the reality is, yes we will fail. But that doesn’t mean we give up. It means we keep going. Every world changer, inventor, creator, artist has failed at some point in their life. But the key is that they kept going. They used their failure as a learning opportunity and were better because of it.

No, insecurity I will not run away and hide. I will look to Jesus and be covered by the shadow of His wings. You can run away. Run far away. I am HIS. And He’s got this. I will keep running, keep obeying, keep trusting. My God reigns and He’s got this.


Source: Alyssajoy.me
Written by: Alyssa Joy

       I woke up late and realized I have so many things to do today. I bath and dress myself. My pop was in the living room and asked him if it is okay for him to accompany me in the Municipal Hall. I badly need to fill all the requirements for enrollment because Time is approaching so fast -- I'm going to COLLEGE SOON !!~ 

      My pop does loves me VERY much. He always kept on reminding me how much he loves me every single day and how much he loves my siblings, mom and our family. He is indeed a great man. He worked day and night in order to provide the basic needs of our family. He was helping mom at household chores and He even cooked us for our breakfast every morning. He was the best Dad I could ever had! I am so proud of my Dad. He is wonderful, brave and fearless. He's an angel truly given by God to us. My mom and Dad, I consider them as my Angels -- they always look out for our safety; the family.

        Together, we went immediately to the Police Station, where we intended to get my Police Clearance for enrollment. But unfortunately, we weren't able to. I have to go get my Barangay Clearance and Cedula first. He was still the Dad that I know, when things went unclear, he won't leave me till He finally knows I'm okay and that I can take care of the things, myself. 

      We went to the Barangay Hall of Naawan and then asked the form for CEDULA and Barangay Clearance. I was happy because they entertained me immediately and the staffs working there were friendly and approachable. When I was waiting for the papers, I kind of captivated to the QUOTE the staff displayed on her table. The QUOTE was written:

"TREAT EVERYONE WITH LOVE EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT NICE TO YOU. NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE BAD, BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE GOOD"

      My eyes went from big to small, I mean I'm SPEECHLESS, this quote is UNFATHOMABLE! It's a great impact to my life. I was so amazed and thought of giving the writer of this quote an proper acknowledgement for having a WISDOM so great! for sure, he is the kind of man who knows God and is following God's will completely! -- because I believe God is the source of Wisdom and behind every Wisdom is a GREAT GOD! :D :D I paused for a moment then reflected about what the author of this quote truly wants to say to the readers. After moments of silence, I conclude that In everything we do, we should always love another like what the Bible tells us: 

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" 

- Matthew 5:44

       Isn't it amazing how God wants us to be? To become his children, to become more like HIM? To love & forgive one another, to have a better place, a peaceful world! We should always keep in mind how awful is the generation today. The technologies are advancing every second,and the pattern of the world is no longer reliable. Drug Addiction everywhere, early teenage pregnancy and even the promotion of GAYS & Lesbians are going viral. The World is not normal, so do people. That is why we should always Thank GOD day by day for being the guiding light that had secured us from darkness.

        To the people who mistreats you, mocks you, stabs you, defames you, hates you, and even the people who persecutes you, BLESS THEM and Don't repay their evilness with evil but repay evil with good - I Peter 3:9 only then you would realize you are in the right side and that's the most important thing you must do. It's your character that is important, your character and how you deal with things. Let them curse you! Let them insult you but never ever reciprocate what they have done to you. Let God, Himself do the judgement alone. The best thing you can do as God's child is to put them on your prayer list & treat them with love, not because they are bad, but because you are good! :)

xoxo,

Zee~