GOD IS FIGHTING OUR BATTLES

2 Chronicles 32:7-8 NLT  “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side! He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” Hezekiah’s words greatly encouraged the people.

We all have battles of one kind or another. Some are bigger than others but whatever size they are God doesn’t want us to fight them on our own! He goes as far as to say we can be strong and courageous even when we’re not very brave in our own selves, because we have the Greater One inside us to call on.

The Holy Spirit is with us around the clock and He reminds us that God is our strong tower, God is helping us and fighting our battles, and God is for us not against us! The trouble is we tend to forget!

So what battles are you fighting today? Are you battling fear or lack of finances, battling health issues or family troubles? Maybe you’re battling with doubts? Whatever it is, God wants us to know we don’t have to face those battles in our own strength because we have the Creator of the universe living on the inside of us and He does the impossible, He brings our enemies to their knees and wipes them out, He delivers us and sets us on high.

If we focus on the battle, on our enemy, we become discouraged because we know in ourselves we can’t win, but when we focus on who our God is and how He is helping us fight our battles the whole ball game changes! We are on the winning side, we are coming from a place of victory, so we’re going out to win! That’s the mindset God wants us to have.😊

Let’s be like King Hezekiah who encouraged his people, and encourage one another to remember we have the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, living inside us! Remember He is our Helper, our Counsellor, our Comforter, our Standby. We’re not alone in it all, we have a Champion on our side and His name is Jesus and He always wins! Praise His name. Amen.😊

Photo: Nghia Le on Unsplash

THE POWER OF ONE

John 1: 40-42 NLT Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus….

The power of one. One what you may ask? The power of one person who can tell someone else about Jesus.😊

When Andrew heard Jesus, he realised he had found the Messiah and he immediately went to find his brother Simon Peter to bring him to hear Jesus for himself. We don’t hear a lot about Andrew but he did a wonderful thing in that one act because Peter then went on to speak and literally thousands were saved  - because of one person, Andrew, doing his part first.

So often we think, “I’m only one person, what can I do?” The truth is we can be used by the Holy Spirit to speak a word about Jesus, a word about what He has done for us, and that word can help another person come to know Jesus for themselves.

One word from God can change a person’s life for eternity. One touch from God can put them on a new path that leads to life and we can be the one person who gives them that word from God. It may only take one smile, one kind act that opens someone’s heart, and we can make ourselves available to God for Him to use us at any moment.

It only takes one person to plant a seed so faith can grow. One person to speak a word of encouragement when people are low. One person to tell someone they can have a new beginning, a new hope, a way forward out of the mess, because of Jesus.

At some point some ‘one’ spoke to us about Jesus, about His love and forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit gave us the opportunity to come to know God as our Father, to have our sins washed away, and our future was changed forever. 

Lord, give us the courage to be available to be the ‘one’ who does the same thing for someone else. Amen.😊

Photo by Miguel Ángel Padriñán Alba on Unsplash