Courage

Good Morning,

Paul writes, “…be strong in the Lord…” (Ephesians 6:10) and “…quit you like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). Isaiah writes about renewing your strength, while David wrote of God being his strength and shield. Hebrews 12:3 says not to “…faint in your minds.”

Why all of this admonition about strength and courage? Because the devil wants to defeat us, often with mental fatigue. Some fall due to booze, morals, drugs or crime, but most Christians step down from service because they are weary. Paul writes to, “not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)

Mental pressure is nothing new, and it has been the tool of the wicked one forever.

Ezra 4:4 "Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,”

vs. 5 “And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

Ezra 4:6 “And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.”

Notice the things that occurred:

• Hands weakened

• Frustrated them

• Troubled them from building

• Hired counselors to frustrate them

• Kept pushing until the next king was crowned (this went on and on)

• They began writing letters of accusation

The outside pressure that weakens you could come from:

• your peers

• Or your parents or children

• Or your partner

Discouragement may come from enemies as well.

Satan does not need anything new, for the same methods discourage the believer today. Satan seeks to discourage and wear down the believer to stop them from doing the work of God. The job of Christians is to keep doing the work, discouraged or not. As David, when his own men talked of stoning him, “encouraged himself in the Lord.”

Courage, my Christian friend, is not needed in the amusement park but in the battle field. No crowns were ever won riding a merry-go-round. No one changes the world or saves a soul by staying safe and comfortable.

Pastor