April 10, 2023 … God’s Strength, … Not Mine!

Berry Patch Devotions in 2023 - Day 100 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from Jeremy and Adrienne Camp singing … Whatever May Come … poignantly singing of how we Christians can rely on our God whatever may come in life.. 

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Highlight Passage: … Judges 7:2 [NLT] … 

2 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.…  

… God shows Gideon that He, The LORD, only needs a few loyal soldiers to defeat thousands of Midianite soldiers.  

Highlight Passage (Context): …  Judges 7:1-9 [NLT] …  USE THIS LINK …  

… God shows His enemies that Gideon only needed 300 soldiers to defeat the Midianite thousands.                           .                     

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Reference Passage: … Isaiah 40:29, 41:10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… God’s promise to His people in exile that He, The LORD, will provide the strength to set them  free from their captors in Babylon.     

Reference Passage: … Psalm 73:26 [NLT] … 

26 My flesh and my heart fail;  .But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. … 

… God’s promise thru the Psalmist, Asaph, that God will be our strength when we are weak.    

Reference Passage: … Matthew 11:28-30 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus promises to born-again Christians when they (we) feel weak.         

Reference Passage: … 2Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] … 

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

… Paul shows fellow Christians of Jesus’ promise to provide them (and us) with His strength to cover for our weaknesses. 

Reference Passage: … Philippians 4:13 [NLT] … 

13 … I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.  

… Paul shares his confidence in Christ to provide fellow Christians with His strength when we feel weak in life circumstances.      

                                                                                                                     

My Devotional Journal: Today's Our Daily Bread author, Jennifer Benson Schuldt … AT THIS LINK …   tells about a time when she was a mother of a three year old and feeling fearful about an upcoming surgery which would weaken her ability - during recovery from surgery - to take care of her toddler.  . 

But like Gideon learned (see highlight passage), as well as other authors of God’s word (see Scriptures above), that our God promises HIS strength to cover our times of weakness.  The question from today’s ODB entry is … DO WE REALLY BELIEVE GOD’S STRENGTH IS THERE FOR US IN OUR TIMES OF WEAKNESS?  

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for the many times You, Lord, have shown me Your strength when I was too weak to deal with my circumstances. .      

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray that all reading here will join me, … to rest in Your strength, Lord, when we are weak.     …  Amen               . 

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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.