‘Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.’ 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV)

 How can one be a man of courage in the midst of challenges? The scriptures provide the answer to this question, it says ‘stand firm in the faith’. So to live courageously through life in spite of financial, family, societal and national troubles we are to stand firm in the faith. What does this mean really? I like the message version – ‘hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute’. In order to be strong in trying times, we must be established in your faith, and hold tight to it. Don’t be discouraged by what you see, feel or hear. Maintain your confession and convictions, no matter what! Keep declaring what you have received from the Lord in His word.

A courageous man does not allow his financial situation, or the troubles around him to destabilize him or her, but simply depends on the Word and the faithfulness of God to His word as he takes necessary steps. Courage is being strong in the face of pain or grief. It is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. As you face your day today, stand firm in the faith on the word of God and live courageously. I assure you, it works. May this be your attitude every single day of this year, and you will experience your victory. God bless you real good.

‘Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ Joshua 1:9

God is speaking to your heart saying be strong and of good courage. In day to day living when faced with challenges and problems, courage is the ability to keep on going forward in the midst of difficult situations, not allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by the challenges that you are confronted with. Learn to live your life courageously, learn to fight through life’s difficulties in faith.

Courage is only possible when you have taken time to build your faith by the words the Lord has spoken about your situation. God spoke to Joshua (verse 8) ‘this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night’. These words where the preface to what God was going to tell Joshua next, and that was to ‘be strong and of a good courage’. 

Do not allow fear to dominate you but rather give attention to the word of promise and you will live through life courageously. May God grant you grace as you face today courageously. God bless you, and have a great day. Amen.

⁸ This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. ⁹ Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Josh. 1:8-9

Putting this scripture in context – the Lord was speaking to Joshua right after Moses had died (Joshua 1:1), ‘Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua…’ God told Joshua to ‘be strong and of a good courage’. Joshua was a servant to Moses and had seen the mighty works of Moses. God recognized Moses as a mighty man of valour. Considering Moses’ records, Joshua was going to crumble at the enormity of the assignment in front of him. So the Lord told him to be strong and of good courage.

So, sometimes when you consider the assignment ahead of you, it could be overwhelming, but just as God spoke to Joshua, you should be strong and of good courage. Irrespective of the work in front of you this morning God is saying be strong, God is saying be courageous. As you go today may the grace and the strength of God go with you, in Jesus name. God bless you.

²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” John 11:21 (NKJV)

Whatever your situation is today, even if you are experiencing situations that can be described as being dead, the same words that were said to Martha “your brother will rise again” applies to you. For example; your career and business will blossom again, the joy in your home will be restored again, your health will spring forth again, and your children will be all well and serving the Lord again. You can fill in your own situation and I believe along with you that all will be well, in Jesus’ name.

Jesus is never late. Martha said “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” she thought that Jesus was too late, but Jesus said “your brother will rise again”. Perhaps you think this morning that God has been late in responding to your cries. Be rest assured that it is never too late for the Lord to turn around any negative situation for good. There is hope for every hopelessness. This week, I believe with you that everything that has gone down and dead in your life will be revived and restored back to life in Jesus’ name. The darkness in your path will turn to light, the breakdown you have experienced will turn out to be a stepping stone for you.

I love what Martha said ‘…whatever you ask God, God will give you’. Ask again NOW; there is yet hope for you. Amen.

¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” John 11:14-15 (NKJV)

‘…Nevertheless let us go to him.’ In spite of the news of the death of Lazarus, Jesus was going to see him, to bring him back to life. Earlier in John 11:4 He had said ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God’. Death was not to take glory in Lazarus’ situation. I hear the Lord saying the same thing about you today. God will take glory in your situation.

Beloved, if the situations around you look bleak or your circumstances look negative, the Lord is saying that “nevertheless” there is hope for you. In spite of the sickness, in spite of the gravity of the problems, in spite of the duration of the troubles you are in, the Lord is saying there is hope for you. “Nevertheless” give it a try again, “Nevertheless” believe God for that child again, “Nevertheless” be hopeful about your marriage situations, notwithstanding the failure you have experienced, pursue that career again… Your situation is not a hopeless one!

As you face your day the Lord is bringing a fresh hope to you today; in spite of the deadness in your situation, life will spring forth. It does not matter how much disappointment you have experienced in recent times, “Nevertheless” let us go and face the day with a fresh hope. The Lord will send you help where you need it today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

⁴ When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” Luke 5:4-5 (NKJV)

It does not matter how much you have toiled, or how much effort you have put into a venture that does not seem to produce any profit. If the Lord is giving you a word to go once more into it, or giving you a direction to go at any particular point in your life, do as Simon did, respond. No matter how your night was, or how your yesterday was like, today is a new day! Let a fresh hope arise in your spirit. Jesus is appearing today and saying to you: ‘I will give you a fresh start’. Do not start looking for, or replaying in your mind, all your past negative experiences. Just believe Him!

The crippled man at the pool of Bethsaida was waiting for a man to help him – he had waited for thirty eight disappointing year! He knew no man to help him – until Jesus came by! Don’t start wondering if you have enough human connection to bail you out of your current situation; believe the word of the Lord to you and respond to Him in faith.

Where you have failed before, God’s word to you right now is ‘launch out unto the deep and let down your net for a catch’. Act in faith and obedience, and you will see the manifestation of the Lord. Today will bring you outstanding success. Amen.

²⁵Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. ²⁶For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Proverbs 3:25-26

 ‘…attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings… for they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.’ Proverbs 4:20-22

Everything that has to do with life and all you need to successfully deal with life’s challenges is found in the word of God. You might wonder what is meant in the scripture by ‘Be not afraid of sudden fear’. When this scripture gains ground in your heart, becomes part of you, and your mind-set is ordered according to this scripture; when you meet a sudden fear in life the first thing that will come to mind is that as a child of God you should not be afraid. This is what is meant by the statement ‘they that find the word of God find life.’ Because you have discovered this passage and imbibed it into your heart, when the calamities come fear will not grip you.

The same thing goes for Psalms 56:9 (and in fact all scripture!) When you sense an attack of the enemy, “when I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me” comes to mind. With this scripture, you approach the throne of God confident of a solution. This is how to live by the word of God. Living above fear even in the midst of life’s battles. May God bless you, may you find understanding as you study the word of God and apply in into your life. Amen.

 ²⁰My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. ²¹Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. ²²For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22

If you want to live a life of faith you have to invest time in the study, meditation, and the practice of the word of God. The word of God is all you need. You and I need to give priority to its study and meditation, and agree completely with what it says; our stands point being the standpoint of the word of God. ‘For they are life unto those that find them…’ Those that find the word of God are those that get the understanding of the word of God; those that have discovered the truth about life in the word of God.

These people will find the way to the best of all of life’s issues. , ‘…and health to all their flesh’; they will find healing and health. All the good things in life and solutions to troubles in life are in God’s word. ‘Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.’ Keep the word in your heart don’t let go of it.

Getting understanding and revelation that will help you to get the best out of life does not just happen. Determine to invest as much time as is required in the study of the word. Take the word of God and deliberately plant it into your spirit on a daily basis, and you will receive the light you need for your next flight. May God bless you as you walk in the wisdom.

¹Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, ²Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Hebrews 12:1-3

Let us not be weary or faint in our minds. Let nothing be so discouraging to you such that your mind will fail. In Luke 22:32 Jesus says onto Simon “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” I pray this prayer for you too that your faith will not fail.

There are many examples in the scriptures of people who lived by faith. Joseph made plans for his bones when he died being so sure that God will visit the people of Israel; the harlot Rahab decided to follow Jesus and join the Israelites as opposed to the enemy because she believed the spies.

It does not matter what state you are in right now, do not consider the situations around you, consider only Jesus who gave His life for you, Do not let your commitment to Jesus fail. Let your faith be strong, expect your miracle, no matter how long it takes before it come to pass. Keep your eyes on His promises. God is forever faithful.

‘By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.’ Hebrews 11:31

Rahab the harlot was saved; but not only that, her family was saved too. If you have missed the mark, perhaps there is a certain sin in your life and you seem not to know where you belong; if you would rekindle and declare again your faith in God, not only will you see the manifestation of Gods faithfulness to save sinners and to forgive sins, you will also receive manifestation of your faith in the promises of God. God’s faithfulness will cause you to turn to him out of your sinful habits.

If you want to accept Jesus Christ into your life today as your personal Lord and saviour, or if you would like to rededicate your life to Him, it is never too late. Your faith in the saving power of the Lord through the blood of Jesus Christ will make you receive salvation even though you think you are so bad. If God can save the harlot, God can save you. Dedicate your life anew to the Lord and be a new person from today. Forsake your sins and turn to the Lord. God is faithful to forgive.

This might not be your situation, but you might know someone that needs to be restored in fellowship to God, let’s be of help to such a person, trusting for complete restoration of fellowship back to God. No matter how far he or she has gone away, don’t give up; pray and go talk to him or her again. God’s arms are wide open to welcome back every sinner. God bless your days, in Jesus’ name. Amen.