Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Steven Curtis Chapman singing His Strength Is Perfect… declaring the reality of God’s strength being always there for weakened believers
Highlight Passage: Isaiah 46:4 [NKJV] …
41 Even in your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! …
… God is there to sustain us … yes, even when we’re gray and worn out.
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Highlight Context – Isaiah 46: 4-13 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s encouragement for any who feel weakened in themselves
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Reference Passage #1 - Psalm 90:12 [NKJV] …
12 So teach us to number our days, … that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
… God’s says “patiently!”
Reference Passage #2 - Proverbs 3:5-6 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Avoiding the weakened self and relying on the perfect strength of the Savior.
Reference Passage #3 - 2nd Corinthians 12:9 [NKJV] …
9 And He [Jesus] said to me, … “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in [your] weakness.” …
… When we’re at our weakest, He is there with His strongest.
Reference Passage #4 - Philippians 4:13 [NKJV] …
13 I can do all things through Christ Who gives me the strength.
… No matter when I feel weak, He is my strength.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Lawrence Darmani, wrote about Billy Graham dealing with the challenges of old age. He wrote: “Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life,” says Billy Graham in his book Nearing Home. "I am an old man now, and believe me, it's not easy." However, Graham notes, "While the Bible doesn't gloss over the problems we face as we grow older, neither does it paint old age as a time to be despised or a burden to be endured with gritted teeth.”
And when I read that, from somewhere in my own old brain, I remembered an oft-quoted phrase that I often dredge up and use when I’m feeling a bit down-and-out with the aches and pains of old age: … Old age ain’t for sissies!! … And in my quiet time with God this morning, I did a little googling and found out that that quote was attributed to the sassy actress, Bette Davis, in her later years (see attached photo).
So, for any of my readers here that are in their later years, like yours truly, perhaps you’d agree with Bette … that old age produces challenges of weakness which are burdensome at best and at times almost overwhelming.
But long ago, when I was younger, my mentor, who was then about as old as I am now, told me to store up in my heart God’s truth about His strength when I was feeling weakened by life … whether by my own weaknesses or by the circumstances of the moment. Most of those memorized Scriptures are found above; and as I grow older, now well into my 70s, I find myself rehearsing these verses and relying on the strength of my Lord to do what Steven Curtis Chapman sings (linked above) … and that is to give me His perfect strength to cover my aging weakness.
I pray that you also have God’s strong truth to help you shore up your weakness … whether it’s aging or inability dealing with burdensome circumstances.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Oh, today and everyday I need Your strength to cover my weakness. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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