'"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”' Joshua 1:9
I love this verse. LOVE it. This is my motto for my children. This also goes along with my word of the year-'more courageous' and 'more strength'. I want that for my life this year. I want to stand up for what I believe. I want others to know that I am not afraid to speak about my Jesus.
But (of course there'd be that) the question is do I have the courage to actually do it? Do I have what it takes to say what I believe about a situation (be it homosexuality, a person's beliefs about some aspect of the Word, etc.) when I am confronted?
No...I don't. I am a chicken with a capital C. I hate confrontation. In fact, I'll usually agree with you just so we don't disagree about something. When it comes to the bible, I'm always afraid that the person I may not agree with knows more than I do or has studied something more than I have.
'Have I not COMMANDED you?'--is it just me or does He command us to be strong and courageous? Not just when we feel like it or think that we know the answer. You know I looked it up:
Command: an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
Since He is my authority I guess I need to take heed when He commands me to do something. I also know that if He commands it of me then He will be my Source to give me the ability to 'be strong and courageous'. According to the verse itself 'for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.'
So, no, in my own power I am not courageous or strong. But in His power, I am and I can stand up against anything or anyone who comes my way!
It's Jam with me Thursday again over at Faith Barista so don't forget to hop over and see what everyone else has to say about today's topic.
7 comments:
I am so like you! :) I will agree with you just to not disagree. Crazy, huh?
On my own I am not strong, I am not courageous. But with God I can be. Great post!
So glad we don't have to be strong in our own strength. God is always with us and His strength will guide us. I want to be strong and courageous!
I'm so glad that God saw fit to remind us many, many times in the bible to be strong and courageous. I'm a big chicken too and the good thing about that is we don't go off trying to do things on our own. If we're doing it, it's only because God gave us the courage to step out and the strength to keep going!
Allison, I think we've all taken the path of least resistance with people when confronted with disagreements. May we all use a little more of God's incredible Strength when dealing with uncertainty!
Have a Blessed Day!
Hi Allison, It totally helps me to share with others while I'm practicing courage, because I am capital C (chicken) too. I think we all are, in the our humanity. Who wants to be rejected? :) But, when we're feeling loved and accepted, we can venture out. There's a pride of lions behind you! :) So happy to jam together!
"So, no, in my own power I am not courageous or strong. But in His power, I am and I can stand up against anything or anyone who comes my way!" This is very encouraging! Now you can change your captial "C" from the word chicken to the word courageous!
I'm cheering in prayer for your courageous words on this page. You go girl - writing boldly about your faith and about Jesus. Woohoo!!!
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