"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "Be Strong!"

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

(Isaiah 41:10)

We serve the Lion of Judah, and He is the arm wrestling champion of the world! Our strength comes from the Lord, "Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually." (I Chronicles 16:11) The Lord wants an infantry of might, a force that marches in steady powerful cadence, and the whisper in the winds of 2019 is saying to the army of God: "Be Strong!"

"The God who equipped me with strength and made my way

blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me

secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that

my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

(Psalm 18:32-34)

"Strength" literally means: Physical power, resistance, defensive ability, potency, emotional toughness. It is not a weak thing; it doesn't quit; it never lags behind, but leads the way; it looks the devil in the eye and says "Beat it, Loser!" ... Or, words similar to that effect ... You get the picture! Being strong is not just physical ability ... an eighty-five year old woman can be a fierce, strong, mighty vessel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It starts in the mind ... "Can't" never did do nothin' and we know that we can, because we're not fighting this thing alone; we have the ONE, who holds the world in the palms of His nail-scarred hands, within us, so we send the HOLY GHOST to answer the door ...

The Lord proved His strength to Gideon. "Gideon's army of 32,000 was reduced in size. Already sorely outnumbered (the enemy numbered over 120,000 swordsmen), most would see this as a time to go out and recruit more warriors. But it might be that after the victory the Lord would give them, the people might think it had been by their own strength and ability that they had won the victory. So, the Lord commanded Gideon to further reduce the number under his command ...lest Israel claim victory for itself ...saying, 'My own hand hath saved me.' (Judges 7:2) Any who were 'afraid and trembling' were told they could go home. Some 22,000 departed leaving 10,000 to fight the Midianites*... (Next is when the Lord told Gideon to take them to the water for "testing." )

"Then the LORD said to Gideon, 'The people are still

too many; bring them down to the water and I will

test them for you there."

(Judges 7:4)

The army stopped to drink and 9,700 knelt down on their knees so they might drink directly from the stream. The other 300 cupped their hands and took water into them, drinking it from their hands as a dog would lap water from his bowl. The LORD said to Gideon, 'I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home." (Judges 7:7) *{From The Expository Files by John W. Quinn, Bible.ca/}

It just takes A Few Good Men ... and Women, and teens, and even children, who are "lappers," drinking from the rivers of water that never run dry, the springs of living water from the Lord Jesus Christ!

D. L. Moody once said, "If you partner with God, make your plans big!" His plans are as big as the world ... It is, after all, HIS world, and He's coming back to take possession. His eye is ever upon planet earth, and WE, Christians, must be strong for the Plan, strong for the hour, strong for the fire, strong to reach the goal ... "What is the goal?" you ask. "Operation Souls." There is nothing more important to God, than His souls, His beloved creation; He weeps for the souls of men ...

Be encouraged, all ye warriors of the King, for the battle is the Lord's. We are His footmen, but He makes the calls; He sets up and tears down; He lights our path and gives us the victory. Even George Washington knew what it took to be strong in the Lord.

We are never stronger than when we are on our knees; we never climb higher than when we bow lower. We are never closer to Almighty God than when we acknowledge the "dust" ... The mandate to "Be Strong!" has an eternal purpose!