Tag: strength

Be The Strong One

“Be The Strong One” By Kirk Hunt

 

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Romans 15:1 NKJV

 

Now is the time to be strong.  Be strong enough to survive injustice.  Be strong enough to overcome fear.  Most of all, be strong enough to help others.

 

Often, our best ministry comes when we are most under pressure.  We are God’s best ambassadors when we stand after hurt and loss, then reach out to those who oppose us the most.  It is not enough to turn the other cheek.  You must also carry the burden (Matthew 5:38-42).

 

My heart has been torn by recent events.  Anguish and fear are not a help.  I have turned to God’s strength and grace.  They are the tools that bring reconciliation and restoration.

 

Strength is not a clenched fist.  Strength is found in skillful hands that bind wounds and uphold the weak.  An avenging spirit is not strength.  Strength is found in hearts and minds that pierce the chaos with wisdom and justice.

 

All Christians should be eager to respond with the strength they get from God.  Strength that refuses to hate.  Power that acts through wisdom and justice.  Might that overcomes fear and injury.

 

The solutions to today’s problems are neither quick nor easy.  The solutions to the issues we face require strength and fortitude to work through the chaos to God’s peace.  God calls you to take His strength, then serve others with wisdom and justice.

 

Think:                Strength is not a fist of vengeance.  Real strength chooses wisdom and justice.

 

Pray:                   “Lord, help me to minister to others with Your strength.”

 

Copyright © July 2016, Kirk Hunt

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Alone With Your Limits

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“Alone With Your Limits” By Kirk Hunt

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

1 Kings 19:4 NKJV
(Please also read 1 Kings 19:1–4.)

 

Queen Jezebel’s single messenger did what scores of pagan priests could not.  Elijah, fresh from winning an entire nation back to God, was intimidated.  He fled alone into the wilderness.  There his prayers were unworthy of Jehovah-Sabaoth or even of the (still) faithful man who prayed them.

 

Everyone, even the strongest or smartest of us, has a limit.  And as you approach your limit, you become vulnerable to injury and pressure.  Despite his close connection to God, and the miraculous events of his ministry, Elijah proved to have mere human limitations.

 

Yes, you are a daughter or son of God.  He chooses to focus His limitless power through (very) limited vessels.  Be grateful for the privilege, but know that he has not done away with your humanity.  Especially your human limits.

 

Elijah proves that even the best of us must constantly refer back to our source of strength.  God provides His power for His purposes.  Know your limits even as you operate in His power.

 

Think:                I must rely on God’s power to build His Kingdom, despite my human limits.

 

Pray:                   “Lord, use me in your Kingdom, despite my limits.”

 

 

Copyright © April 2016, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is a ministry of https://devotionals.cadremenpress.com.

Strengthen Your Folk

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“Strengthen Your Folk” by Kirk Hunt

 

But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Luke 22:32 KJV

Simon Peter, in the hours following this statement, would show his flaws.  Peter would hack off someone’s ear in rage.  He would then turn in the same moment and flee in panic.  Later he would deny he even knew Jesus.

 

Jesus saw all of this coming, in advance.  He took this moment, when perhaps he should have been preparing Himself for crucifixion, to prepare Peter.  He told his strongest man to strengthen those around him.

 

Peter would cry later, in remorse and guilt.  He would discover just how little he knew about Jesus.  Or Peter.  When this tough-guy fisherman “wept bitterly,” he had hit rock bottom.

 

For all of his demonstrated flaws and shortcomings, Peter remained the strongest of the Disciples.  At least he made the (misguided) effort to defend Jesus.  None of the other Disciples were close enough to be accused.

 

With his face rubbed in the worst of his failing, Peter clung to his faith.  With his soul tattered and battered, Peter refused to let go of his knowledge of Jesus.  When Peter got up, the others looked to him for strength and leadership.

 

If you are holding onto your faith, you have strength enough to share.  No matter what has happen in your past, you have what others need.  The kith and kin in your circle need what you have.  Strengthen your folk.

 

Think:                        Despite my flaws and shortcomings, I have strength to give.

 

Pray:              “Lord, help me to strengthen the folk around me.”

 

 

Copyright © January 2012, Kirk Hunt