My Daily Dose of Courage

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)   The Kingdom of Heaven is not a matter of things around us, but the things God is doing within us. The work we are given to do is to focus on the kingdom within and heaven above. That is what this passage reveals.   Jesus kept a spiritual mindset, and His heart was set on His Father’s will, so He walked humbly and gave Himself to a life of obedience. An obedient life may be difficult at times, but it is the only life that produces the fruits of the Spirit that please God. Jesus pleased God, and so should we.   So, be encouraged and strengthened, ev...

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)    There is no duplicity in God, and there should be none in us. If we say we are saved, we must walk in the light of truth as expressed in the scriptures, or else we are unworthy of Christ.   Those who are truly saved practice the Word of God in every area life, and if we are His, He will not relent until He has made us holy. Unrighteousness is a sign that we are distant from God, not truly members of His body, for Jesus is returning for a church without spot or wrinkle. This is a difficult and fearful truth for a worldly and compromising church, and a worldly and compromising Christian.   There are those who teach that sin is an illusion and not a fact. These teachers deny the necessity of the Cross and the atonement which appeases the anger of God, washes us clean, and justifies us in His sight. This lie is an affront to the ...

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.  (1 John 4:17-19)   John the Beloved teaches us that God is love. When we love as He loves, we are manifesting the true and living God in the world. God’s love is undeniable and unmistakable, as it is of a higher order, and no other love compares to it. God’s love is without manipulation or agenda, it gives its all and expects nothing in return — it is not exhausted nor frustrated, because God is neither exhausted nor frustrated.   Therefore, when we abide in Him and He abides in us, we enjoy the perfect union that casts out the fear and uncertainty that hinder every other relationship. We are fearless lovers of God and men, because of the love Go...

I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the LORD answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.  (Habakkuk 2:1-3)   If we allow, God will pepper our lives with blank spaces, seasons of stillness and quiet, times where we feel passed by and forgotten, overlooked and excluded, and left out. But for God’s man or woman, these are precious and opportune seasons where we learn to be small and humble in His sight, knowing He never leaves or forgets us or His promises.   What spirit will you harken to in those times? Will you serve Him, seek Him, wait on Him with patience and perseverance? Or will you take things in your own hands and make ...

Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.  (1 John 2:7-11)   The Christian life is the progressive life, and we are to grow from faith to faith. In other words, God intends that we never stop growing in grace and love. John is not contradicting himself as he writes of the “old” and “new” commandments being both the same and different. God’s commandment ha...

“ And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."  (Luke 2:12)   What a strange place to stash a priceless, extravagant Gift — a barn, an animal stall in the dark of night! I am sure it was not heated or air conditioned, it did not smell so good, and there   were no beds, linens, or even a bathroom. And how do you think Mary and Joseph felt when the promises of God led them on a long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in the ninth month of her strange and inexplicable pregnancy? Yet the fulfillment of all God’s promises could not be found in the palaces, treasuries, or museums of the world -- but in a manger. Look to the manger.      If God wanted the world to receive the Gift of Jesus Christ, why would He hide Him where most of us were sure not to find Him? And how do we find our way there? The manger can only be found by students of the Word following the ways of God, and when we seek Him w...

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."  (Matthew 1:20)   Joseph and Mary were not "special" people; just righteous, simple, and willing to be obedient. We must be the same in our day. Simplicity of heart allows us to hear, obey, and finally see God in ways we never dreamed possible. Who knew that their simplicity would allow Joseph and Mary to see God face-to-face? Who knows what your obedience will allow you to see? The Spirit of God will "conceive" things in us that are beyond what we have ever expected if we will simply believe. Things will occur in the life of faith that will astound our common-sense limitations, and we must be childlike enough to receive and rejoice in those things. That is what it means for the Kingdom of God to come on earth as it is ...

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus . . . (Philippians 2:5) If we are not mindful, we will become obstacle to those our Savior wants to reach. We can become a hindrance and grief to the Holy Spirit with our religious agenda and proclamations, and we will make demands that sinners cannot meet — that we ourselves cannot meet. Jesus never had this attitude. He never expected anyone to please God, but He prayed that we would see God in Him and believe.  Once we see God in Christ and believe in Him, we are on the path to heaven; and as we continue to look to Jesus and trust Him, we are changed into His image. Then, God gives us a heavenly perspective, and we can worship God in spirit and in truth. That is the mindset that pleases God. That is the mindset we need. Let’s Pray  —  Precious Lord, thank You for the Mind of Jesus Christ. May my reality be based on the knowledge of Christ and nothing else. Jesus is enough. Amen.

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:1-3a)   Every believer has a desire to know the will of God for his or her life. The Holy Spirit places the longing to know and be close to the Father deep within us, and as we grow in Christ, that longing only increases. God has made His will for us plain and simple; that we love and obey Him and receive His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Then, the will of God becomes clearer to us as we walk in the simplicity of childlike faith. As we realize that God wants us to know Him as He knows us, we will find the clear path to understanding He offers us in Jesus. Things only become complicated as we lean to our own understanding; but the moment we t...

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39) God can trust a faithful saint with less, with little, or with nothing. He can trust him or her with disappointment, disillusionment, and failure. He can expose the overcomer to impossible situations and challenges, because nothing is impossible with God, and with God, impossible is nothing.    The only true enemy for the saint is that which separates us from Christ. So, we put on the full armor of God and do pitched battle against anyone or anything that might move us from the holy ground on which we stand — and Lord is able to make us stand.   This is our confidence. We have all we need in Him, and we give Him ...

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mark 12:41-44) God calculates, measures, and evaluates differently than we do. He weighs things on another scale — a spiritual scale. He searches the heart, not external things. He is not impressed by many or much, and His power is not limited by little or few. He prefers emptiness and humility above success and riches. He is pleased by faith and disappointed by doubt. Those who trusts in God are wise and successful. Jesus is the center of our focus and our thoughts. We see things through a spiritual lens, and we...

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  (Luke 10:21-23)   Coming into the knowledge of God is not an intellectual achievement, nor is it a matter of merit, but one of privilege — the sovereign choice of God to reveal Himself as He sees fit and to whom He wills. No amount of effort or study can prepare you for this gift, no ...

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”  (Matthew 26:6-13)   The Church is not a community organization, a cultural awareness club, a relief organization, or a group of activists doing good. The true Church has no agenda but worship and obedience to God through Jesu...

And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. (Luke 15:13)   But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." And he arose and came to his father. (Luke 15:17-20a)   The prodigal (wasteful) lifestyle is an unfortunate choice driven by many false notions about life. The son in Jesus’ story reminds us of many young lives we witness today — a false sense of immortality, entitlement, carelessness, and a disdain for any type of rule or authority. These traits are often passed off as youthful indiscretion or “sowing wild oats." But some do not realize we reap what we sow!   There...