This same Good News
that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit
everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the
day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful
grace.
The truth changes lives.
It changes us, and then it begins to change the lives of the people we
come in contact with. I have seen it in
vivid, living color. One of the things I live for, have passion for and
am doing ministry for, is to see Jesus change lives of people who have no hope
until they connect with Him.
Yet even many of us who
know Jesus chose not to live in truth. When we chose not to live in
truth, we become weak. There is faith in us. The God of power,
faith and love is in us, but His ways and character and strength can't been
seen coming out of our lives.
The last part of Ecclesiastes
9 shares about a man who is poor but wise. I think of him as a guy with few
muscles but lots of brains. Because this
guy was wise when an army came to take over his city, he was able to help his
community defeat that army.
When we know God's truth
and stand in His strength, we are going to have power, wisdom and strength like
few other people. We will see God work. Lives will be changes in
big ways. Even those lives of people who we think can never change.
I want that kind of strength. Do you?
If you think you are
standing strong, be careful not to fall.
Be on guard. Stand
firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.
A final word: Be strong
in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Be on guard. Don't
stand in your own strength. Be careful not to forget God or leave Him on
the outside of your situation. He continues to have the power to change
your life and mine. He can and will change our situation, infuse us with
His strength and resources all because we rely on His truth.
Are we allowing God to
change our lives? When we are, we are standing in His strength, not our
own.
That's
why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships,
persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak,
then I am strong.
Much
of this post was originally shared in September of 2010.
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