Strength For Our Journey

(Numb. 13:28) "Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great:" These were the last words that God wanted to hear after leading the nation Israel out of Egypt and to the edge of the Promised Land. The problem with Israel was that they looked on the impossibility of God's will, instead of on the capability of God to keep His Word. Unbelief is a terrible sin. It removes all the possibilities that faith can achieve, and replaces them with the certainty of fear and failure. Trials and tests are God's ways of strengthening us for our journey in life. Life is one battle after another, and unless we learn that our true strength is not found in our own abilities but rather in God, we will never see the many blessings and victories that God can give to us. This first generation of Israel wanted God, His blessings, and His help, but they missed it because they couldn't quite believe God for the impossible. It's not enough to just read about God's promises, by faith we must learn to trust them. The difference between the Israel of failure, and the Israel of victory 40 years later, was in their faith. The later Israel was strengthened by experience, and by learning that their strength came from God, and not themselves. Faith can only be matured as we obey and trust in trials

Why A Generation Forgets God

As we come to another memorial day it is important once again to remember those that have fought and died to ensure our freedom here in America, lest we forget and lose our respect as did Israel of old. In Judges (1:10) God said, "… and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." This statement was made after Joshua and the elders died that that fought to win the promised land. You might ask, why did the next generation fall away? 1) The Godly men died. If Godly men fail to pass on their godliness and their heritage, then it will die with them. 2) Freedom comes with a price. Things that are not earned are not always appreciated by those that inherit them. The elders fought the wars, and were witnesses of God's power and faithfulness, but their children failed to honor God and remember the victories of the past. That's why God is big on memorials, and days of honor and remembrance. God forgive us when our battlefields become just playgrounds and shopping malls, and the graves of our brave are allowed to be grown over & forgotten. 3) Israel forgot that God was her strength. Let us never forget our true strength. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

Motherhood

One of the greatest stories in all the Bible concerning motherhood is the story of Hannah (1 Sam. Chp.1). Hannah was one of the two wives of an Ephrathite man called Elkanah. Now, as the story goes Hannah was barren and the other wife blessed with children, and so Hannah prayed to the Lord for a man child, promising God that she would give him back to him once he was weaned. Well, God heard her prayer and answered it by the birth of Samuel the prophet, and as she promised she gave him back to the Lord at the young age of 3 or 4yrs. Hannah was a perfect example of a godly mother, in that: 1) She saw her child as a gift from God. The Bible says,"Children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb his reward." 2) She was obedient herself. She was a demonstration of faithfulness. The only Bible that a young child can know before they can read, is mom. 3) She devoted the raising of Samuel to the Lord. One of the purposes of God giving us the ability to procreate, is to train up a "heritage for Him." Having children is good thing, but training them to serve the Lord isa great privelage.