Thus sayeth the Lord, ‘Be strong!’ (4 times directly and repeated 25 times in the Bible.) God never said ‘Be weak!’ (See devotional below)
BE STRONG!
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
Being strong is a commandment of God to His believers-followers. It’s not a helpful hint or a suggestion. There’s no option. Sometimes, giving up and running seems to be the logical choice. (Happens to us a lot down here. Either spiritually, mentally, medically, physically, lack of confidence or just plain scary). But we have to believe that we are called by God directly to do this or not. Winnie and I are sure of our calling to help these children, so we have to be strong. Strong people tend to judge too much.
Many Christians judge Israel for not entering the promised land. But would we have? It’s a struggle just doing what we’re doing. The Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land, Canaan, due to a combination of factors, primarily stemming from lack of faith and trust in God’s power and guidance. After seeing the reconnaissance reports and learning about the strength of the inhabitants, they lost confidence in God’s promise and ability to deliver them. They became fearful and weak. Staying strong is a mental commitment to trust God and not doubting Him. This resulted in a period of wilderness wandering for 40 years, according to the Book of Numbers. That weakness made God angry.
Deuteronomy 1:26 Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God
The above is about the weak spies, who looked at common sense instead of believing in God (who cannot lie). Two of the spies were strong though and pleased God — Joshua and Caleb — did not go along with the majority and tried to convince the Israelites that they could conquer the land: This is a perfect example of how to be strong in the Lord. Without faith it’s impossible to please the Lord. Shut out the worldly ‘advice.’ God would not tell you to do something that can’t be done. Don’t listen to your own self-talk either. Caleb and Joshua had more faith in God than the other spies. Oh, BTW, JOSHUA AND CALEB DID MAKE IT INTO THE PROMISED LAND, THE REST DIDN’T. Check out the strength of Caleb! Strong! Life and death, strength and weakness are in the tongue.
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said ‘We should go up and take possession of the land for we can certainly do it!’
STRONG IS BELIEVING WITH ALL YOUR HEART THAT JESUS IS RESURRECTED AND ALIVE RIGHT NOW, AFTER DYING FOR ALL OF OUR SINS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE AND BOLDLY CONFESS HIM BEFORE MEN! Happy Resurrection Sunday!