Daily Devotions

I Need More…STRENGTH

I Need More

After several attempts of twisting and tapping, the lid just wouldn’t budge. “Honey, can you open this for me?” Her teenage son is eager to flex his muscles. He opens the jar and hands it back to his mother.

Life is sometimes like that jar, isn’t it? Sometimes we just don’t have the strength we need to tackle what’s in front of us. Not the strength it takes to move a piano or change a flat tire, but the strength we need to raise our children or stay married to someone who is difficult to live with. We need the strength it takes to go to work and deal with people who are rude, inconsiderate, and lazy, or to walk to the mailbox that contains bills we’ll have difficulty paying.

I need more strength!

“Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth… He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak… Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31).

What should we do when we need more strength? Hand that jar over to the LORD. He has all the strength we need and so much more. After all, he is the One who created the earth and everything in it. More than that, this strong, wise, loving God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. The all-powerful God came in human weakness to rescue us from sin and death. He was condemned and crucified. Weakness, right? No! Strength! Jesus used his strength to remain on that cross until every last sin of ours had been paid for. His empty tomb proves it. “Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). Death has been defeated! The guilt of sin before God has been removed! By trusting in Jesus, life in heaven is waiting for us.

Need more strength? The One who created the earth has it. The One who died and rose for you has it. He is the One who gives us the strength to face each day with fresh confidence. Find that strength in his Word. And then be ready to soar. Be ready to soar on eagles’ wings with renewed strength and through every challenge of life! Be ready to soar on eagles’ wings to the home that Jesus has prepared for you in heaven!


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Theme for Sunday (March 31st)

There will be times of sadness in the life of every Christian.  Some will be caused by the difficulties the church and its individual members face.  Nonetheless, we will have a source and basis for joy in who our God is and what he does.  Laetare (lie-tar-e) “rejoice” – the Fourth Sunday in Lent, focuses our attention on that truth with the words of Isaiah, “Rejoice with Jerusalem (that is, the church) and be glad for her, all you who love her.”  Even in our times of sorrow, our God remains our strength, our song, our salvation.   It is in him that we gather today and rejoice. 


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Themes for Sunday (March 24th)

Sunday, March 24  Worship Services

We all do it so naturally and easily.  We excuse what we should confess.  We blame others or our circumstances for our choices and actions.  But Jesus helps.   He gives me strength to face the truth about my sin instead of running from it.  He gives me strength to admit my sin instead of rationalizing it.  Join us this Sunday as we all find strength to repent from the kindness, mercy, and forgiveness of a gracious Savior.

 

Sunday, March 24, Bible Class

We all do it.  A lot.  We complain about how difficult life is, about the life we have, about how we deserve better.  The root of that complaining is self-righteous bitterness, and it corrodes and can even destroy faith.  As we consider the complaining of the Israelites, we’ll have the chance to diagnose our own, and return to the solution for it:  The certainty that God is kind and merciful, and that we are richly blessed, when we stay focused on the cross of Christ.


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