February 27
Father we are grateful unto You for Your mercies endureth forever, You are Alpha and Omega. You are the Ageless One, Changeless, Glorious and Almighty God is Your Name! We thank You for Your love bestows on us. Thank You for being our God indeed.
In the hour of temptation, what make a child of God to stand is either the Word stored up in his/her memory or the past deliverance experienced. Prov 24:10 says if you give way in the day of trouble, your strength is small (BBE). The (ESV) put it this way, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small”, while (NLT) says “If you fall under pressure, your strength is too small”. The emphasis lies on the day of trouble, adversity, pressure, these three you will agree with me is no child’s play. It is not a desirable situation neither is it a fun day.
However, what will keep you on, is the strength you have acquired through studying and meditating on the Word of God. His grace, He bestowed upon you as His child or the deliverance He has done in your life, child, parent, siblings or in the lives of friends or neighbors.
In first Samuel, chapter seventeen, (I Sam. 17), the devil used goliath to intimidate and confuse the armies of Israel for forty days. His outlandish. Arrogant, boastful and proud declarations of the demise were so effective, that not one of the solider from the Hebrew camp was willing to stand up to this aggressor! You can see how the devil used lying allegations to intimidate the armies of Israel – until David came along with the power of God to challenge those lying allegations!
Therefore, to behold the future, beloved, let us consider the past deliverance the hand of God has done for us, then will we position ourselves for the great deliverance ahead. So when you are faced with challenges, you rely on three things to affirm your deliverance. Has God done it in the past? What does the Word says about this situation? What is God saying to me concerning it? This is what our brother David did when he faced Goliath.
“David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” 1Sam. 17:37
This is not a promise if we consider only the words, but it is truly so as to its sense; for David spoke a word which the Lord endorsed by making it true. He argued from past deliverances that he should receive help in a new danger. In Jesus all the promises are Yea and Amen to the glory of God by us, and so the Lord’s former dealings with His believing people will be repeated.
Come, then, let us recall the Lord’s former lovingkindnesses. We could not have hoped to be delivered aforetime by our own strength; yet the Lord delivered us. Will He not again save us? We are sure He will. As David ran to meet his foe, so will we. The Lord has been with us, He is with us, and He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Why do we tremble? Was the past a dream? Think of the dead bear and lion. Who is this Philistine? True, he is not quite the same, and is neither bear nor lion; but then God is the same, and His honor is as much concerned in the one case as in the other. He did not save us from the beasts of the forest to let a giant kill us. Let us be of good courage.
For the God of comfort will comfort us on the day of diversity, He will not let you suffer shame neither will He let affiliation overcome us:
“God, that comforteth those that are cast down.” 2Corinthians 7:6
And who comforteth like Him? Go to some poor, melancholy, distressed child of God; tell him sweet promises, and whisper in his ear choice words of comfort; he is like the deaf adder, he listens not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. He is drinking gall and wormwood, and comfort him as you may, it will be only a note or two of mournful resignation that you will get from him; you will bring forth no psalms of praise, no hallelujahs, no joyful sonnets. But let God come to His child, let Him lift up his countenance, and the mourner’s eyes glisten with hope. Do you not hear him sing—
“‘Tis paradise, if thou art here;
If thou depart, ’tis hell?”
You could not have cheered him: but the Lord has done it; “He is the God of all comfort.” There is no balm in Gilead, but there is balm in God. There is no physician among the creatures, but the Creator is Jehovah-rophi. It is marvellous how one sweet word of God will make whole songs for Christians. One word of God is like a piece of gold, and the Christian is the goldbeater, and can hammer that promise out for whole weeks.
So, then, poor Christian, thou needest not sit down in despair. Go to the Comforter, and ask Him to give thee consolation. Thou art a poor dry well. You have heard it said, that when a pump is dry, you must pour water down it first of all, and then you will get water, and so, Christian, when thou art dry, go to God, ask Him to shed abroad His joy in thy heart, and then thy joy shall be full.
Do not go to earthly acquaintances, for you will find them Job’s comforters after all; but go first and foremost to thy “God, that comforteth those that are cast down,” and you will soon say, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.
Is that your confession child of God? Whatsoever God has said concerning you He must be careful to do even beyond your expectation. So don’t ever give up on God; for He will never give up on you. Whatever greatness you are believing God for, check off the beast of doubting, hatred, murmuring,, unforgiveness and it will be delivered unto you.
Finally brethren, let us conclude with 1 Tim 4:10 – … we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe (KJV).
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Evang. Ifeoma Ohondu
