Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of song and lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman singing … His Strength Is Perfect … poignantly singing of our yielding to God’s strength to cover our weakness.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Chronicles 20:2-3 [NLT] … 2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom[a] is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea…. 3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.
… By yielding to God’s strength in surrendered obedience, the Lord gave His people His strength to cover their weakness.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Chronicles 20:2-3, 14-22 [NLT]… USE THIS LINK …
… Jehoshaphat acknowledged the weakness of God’s people against the invaders; and in their surrender to God, He gave them the strength
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Reference Passage : … Isaiah 41:10 [NLT] … 10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with y victorious right hand.
… TRUTH! … But do we believe it when we’re confronted with the trials of our lives.
Reference Passage : … 1 Corinthians 10:13 [NLT] … 13 The temptations [also translated “tests, trials, tribulations, or troubles”] in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.
… God will always be there for us when we’re tried in the fires of life.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 [NLT] … 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away [a painful “thorn” from Satan]. 9 Each time He [Jesus] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
… Paul realized, when confronted with a painful thorn and his weakness that the Lord’s empowering grace was always available to cover his weaknesses.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Kirsten Holmberg, shows how body builders prepare for competitions, doing all they can to hide their weaknesses. The ODB author writes … Competitive bodybuilders put themselves through a rigorous training cycle [see photo]. During the initial months, they emphasize gaining size and strength. As the competition nears, the focus shifts to losing any fat that hides the muscle. In the final days before the competition, they consume less water than normal so their muscle tissue is easily visible. Because of the reduced consumption of nourishment, the competitors are actually at their weakest on the day of competition, despite appearing strong.
But when we, as Christians, prepare for the competition we call “LIFE,” we find, as did Jehoshaphat in the highlight passage, that it’s best to acknowledge our weaknesses before God and rely on His strength to cover our weaknesses (see also the reference passages).
I think that Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, linked above, explains it better than I could; and if readers take in the song, along with meditating seriously on the scriptures above, we’ll all realize that it’s best not to try to hide our weakness, as body builders do; … but rather, as Paul learned when he was confronted with that painful thorn from Satan, we must allow God’s empowering grace to give us the strength to walk in our own weaknesses (see 1Cor.10:13).
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for Your enabling/empowering grace to give me Your strength when I am weak.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that You pour out Your enabling grace today as I deal with some chronic weakness which holds me back from witnessing for Your as I desire to do. … 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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