DEVOTIONAL INSIGHTS & REFLECTIONS

Be courageous; God is with you - March 5

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." ~Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38

In the book of Exodus, when the Lord was testing Pharaoh using the hand of Moses, the first thing Pharaoh did in response was to increase the labor of the Israelites----refusing to give them straw for bricks and yet requiring the same amount of bricks be cast.

Pharaoh didn't know God and sought to overcome the Israelites' desire to worship their God by increasing their labor, further breaking their spirit.

Though Pharaoh's approach to the problem might scare the people, it did not scare or thwart God. The people began to murmur against Moses even, but God's hand and plan remained steady.

---------------------------------------

Maybe your circumstance is precarious, even dire; yet God remains unhesitant and unwavering and He wants us to remain the same as we put our trust in him rather than in the circumstance in which we find ourselves.

When your feelings and what you see begin to take over your mind, nerve and stamina, seek His face. This is not a time to be discouraged, but a time to press in all the more. Let His Word saturate your mind and being. Sing Psalms and hymns to yourself.

Remember Paul and Silas when beaten and put in jail for preaching the gospel. Of course the church was praying on their behalf, and they themselves were praying and singing God's praises... when a great earthquake occurred and the prison doors flew open and their chains were loosed. God is no respecter of persons. If He did it for Paul and Silas, He will do it for you. (See Acts 16:24-26.)

"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." ~Deuteronomy 31:6

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." ~Proverbs 3:5&6

Be encouraged today. Hear ye the Word of the Lord and listen to His voice.