Mar 30 2022

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.

In this verse from Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Israelites that the Lord will never leave nor forsake them. Moses is about to leave them because of his impending death, but the Lord will be with them forever. Because of this, the Israelites do not need to be afraid. God is with them so they can be courageous. Today, Moses's words apply to our lives in the same way.

How does knowing that God is always with us and will never fail us encourage you? It makes me feel relieved that I am not solely responsible for myself. The Lord will help me and fight for me when I'm not able to do anything. He will be with me even when I make mistakes, and He will guide me in every circumstance. We know that we are not facing life alone. An almighty and powerful God is on our side.

Moses says that because God is with us, we are able to be strong, courageous, and unafraid. This is because our hope is not in ourselves, but in the Lord. If we had to be responsible for every victory in our lives, fighting our way to the top, we would probably struggle just to survive. It would be difficult to summon up courage and be fearless. However, our hope is not in ourselves, but in God. Indeed, Moses does not say that we won't fail—He says that God will not fail us. Our hope is in the Lord, who is faithful, not in ourselves.

If you looked at your life, would you say that it is characterized by strength and courage? In my own life, there are parts where I can say yes, and other parts where I'd have to say no. In each of the areas where I respond with no, I can see a lack of surrender in my heart. I feel like I have to be in control of those areas. Instead of truly letting God fight for me, I'm fighting for myself, and that isn't good. I have to pay attention when these situations crop up, and intentionally surrender them to the Lord again and again. We can all do that, and He will receive us and help us.

Dear Lord, thank you for caring about every detail of my life. I want to surrender everything to you. Please help me do that by giving me strength and courage. I love you, Lord. In Jesus's name, amen.

Mar 29 2022

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.:

In this verse from Psalm 37, we have a tender reminder that we should commit our ways unto the Lord. We should trust in Him, and He will bring His will to pass. Today, we'll break down the three parts of this verse to understand how they work together.

The first instruction we have in this verse is to commit our ways to the Lord. What does a commitment like that look like? I believe it is two-fold: it involves a surrender of our will by replacing it with God's will, and then active obedience. Committing our ways to the Lord does not mean that we come up with a plan and then ask the Lord to bless it. Instead, it means that we come before the Lord and ask, "What do you want me to do?" We must be willing to surrender our ideas and plans for the future and then do as He has instructed us.

Surrendering to the Lord is an expression of trusting Him. It shows that we know, in the end, the Lord has better plans for our lives that we could devise for ourselves. These plans might not look how we envisioned or even hoped, but, in the end they will bring the Lord more glory than those we made ourselves. Giving our lives to the Lord shows that we trust Him in all things and with all of our being.

Finally, this verse promises that the Lord will bring His plans to pass. The ways that we have committed to Him, He will use for His glory. We don't have to be uncertain about anything when we are striving to be in line with God's will. Even if we don't know exactly what the right decision is in a circumstance, we can be confident that we are resting in the Lord and He will direct us if we take a wrong turn.

Look at your life and ask yourself if you have committed to His ways. If you're like me, you'll find some areas where you are committed and others where you are not. Make the decision to give those ways back to Him, believing that He knows how to use them better than we do.

Dear Lord, I am so grateful that I can trust you implicitly. You have directed my paths in more ways than I will ever know. Help me to trust in you more and more. I want to automatically turn to You instead of trying to figure out everything for myself. In Jesus's name, amen.


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