Friday, May 10, 2024

Daily Devotional: BE! Day 31: Be Strong

Daily Devotional: BE! 

Day 31: Be Strong



There are times in our life experiences when seasons change. Children graduate from school, people change jobs, or move to a new dwelling place. All these life events can bring a level of uncertainty and sometimes even fear. But God doesn’t want us to be afraid. God wants us to be strong, and very courageous.


Let’s look at some examples of how God helped others during their life-changing times.


Moses Passes the Baton to Joshua


In Deuteronomy 28, God declares the blessings that would come to the Ancient nation of Israel, when they obeyed Him, and the curses that would come, if they didn’t obey Him.


Let’s skip ahead to chapter 30 for now.


Deuteronomy 30 [NIV]

1 “When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, 

2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 

3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 

4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 

5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 

6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 

7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 

8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 

9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 

10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Offer of Life or Death

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 

12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 

13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 

14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 

16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 

18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 

20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Deuteronomy 31:1-8

1 “Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 

2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ 

3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 

4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 

5 The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 

6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 

8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Joshua 1

1 “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 

3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 

4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 

5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 

6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 

8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 

11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 

13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this land.’ 

14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them 

15 until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 

17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 

18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!” 

David Passes on the Kingdom to Solomon


1 Kings 2:1-4

1 “When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.

2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 

3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 

4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’”

The lineage of Jesus Christ includes Rahab, the mother of Boaz.

Boaz married Ruth, the Moabitess, and they had a child named Obed. Obed and his wife had a child named Jesse. And Jesse  became the father of King David. 

[See Matthew 1 — Genealogy of Jesus Christ]


Psalm 27:13-14

13 “I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.”


Luke 1:80 [regarding John the Baptist, Luke writes]

“And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”


Luke 2:40 [regarding Jesus Christ, Luke writes]

“And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”


Jesus Passes on the Anointing to Us


Matthew 28:18

18 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Paul Passes the Baton to Timothy

2 Timothy 2:1-3

1 “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Encouragement 

Each generation experiences the passing of the baton in one way or another. God provides a way to make the transition from one leader to another easier to bear especially when grief, due to death, is involved, as we have seen in the lives of Moses and Joshua, David and Solomon, Jesus and His Disciples, Paul and Timothy, and the Apostle John and his congregation.

1 John 2:14

“I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”


We can be strong in times of difficulty, even in times of mourning, because God gives us His strength. He fills us with His good plans, so that we can keep moving forward into that which is to come.