Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube version with song and lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman singing … His Strength Is Perfect … poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, can rely on the strength of the Lord to cover us in times we need His uplifting hands.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 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 my victorious right hand.
… What a wondrous promise when we’re trying to climb the stairs of life like a toddler (see photo).
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Highlight Passage [context]: Isaiah 41:8-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Isaiah, to His children, promising us His strength when we need His uplifting Spirit in times of our weakness.
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Reference Passage : … John 16:33 [NLT] … 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
… No less than Jesus promises to help us be overcomers just as He has overcome the world.
Reference Passage : … 1Corinthians 10:12-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, promises that He will always be there - in times of trial or confusion - to lead us through and lift us up.
Reference Passage : … 2Corinthians 12:9-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … … Paul exhorts Christians to rely on the strength of God in our times of weakness.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Arthur Jackson, [edited slightly] uses a parental word picture of a mother helping and protecting her toddler go upstairs to illustrate how God lifts us up when we need His help. The ODB author writes … The little girl who navigated the stairway one Sunday at church was cute, spunky, and independent. One by one the child—who appeared to be not much older than two years—took the steps [up] to the [higher] level. [Ascending] the stairs was her mission and she accomplished it. I smiled to myself as I pondered the daring independence of this courageous toddler. The child wasn’t afraid because she knew her caring mother’s watchful eye was always on her and her loving hands were extended to help her [see photo].
This aptly pictures the Lord’s readiness to help His children as they make their way through life with its varied uncertainties.
I would expect that all of us here today have experienced situations in life which were a bit too daunting for us; and when we got to the top of the stairs, we Christians realized that God gave us the uplifting grace/strength to make it to the top [again, see photo]. That’s what Steven Curtis Chapman is singing about in the linked song, isn’t he? And it’s what all of today’s Scriptures tell us, don’t they?
The question is not whether God’s strength is enough to cover our weaknesses; but rather, the issue is whether we believe that our loving Father, … our Lord and Savior, … will be there to lift us up when we need Him to help us. I believe He is, … how about you?
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for giving us your strength to cover us in times of weakness.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to rely on God’s uplifting Hands when we need His strength in times of 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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