Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Bat On With the Baton of Faith

UV 2029/10000 Bat On With The Baton of Faith
And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD
I Chronicles 28 v 20

David did not ask Solomon, his young son and heir to just do it but to be filled with strength and courage from above. David knew from his personal experience that the Lord has a special calling for each one. He knew that the Lord enables us to do the impossible. For he had been enabled to slay the mighty Goliath as a young lad. Strength and courage is an expression that means faith. Courage never denies hope for the basis of courage is hope and hope cannot be carried to fulfilment except through courage. Faith is the belief that the Lord God has given us all that we need for the task He has set for us and whatever we may lack as we progress with the task, He will bring it our way. Faith implies that we first marshal all our inner resources and then do the task. This uni-verse exhorts every believer in Jesus to be filled with His strength and power and courage by the working of the Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit fills us with hope, joy, peace and patience. He reminds us of the specific and unique promises of the Lord to us. We should not behave like a victim but as a victor. The exhortation comes with a promise that the Lord would never fail or leave us, that His presence would go with us and ahead of us and around us. Stone walls cannot protect us like the presence of the Lord as stone walls can be scaled or brought down like the Berlin wall. He will help us fulfil His purpose for our lives. He will be with us and enable us until we have done every thing that the Lord has purposed in us, with us and for us.
The perspective that this uni-verse gives us is that each of us are part of a mission to build the temple or church to worship Christ. Every day we are laying bricks or carving a new beautiful feature of the edifice. As we do so, our morale should be high, our motivation should be intense, our physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual strength should be renewed day after day by spending time in His presence. The Lord will add days to our lives and lives to our days. We will be filled with enthusiasm or the energy of God. He will supply all the resources, the skills, the opportunities, the gifts, the helpers to fulfil our commitment.
We need to have the courage of a soldier, the discipline of an athlete and the patience and hope of a farmer. Our faith will be tested with temporary setbacks and failures. But we need to persist beyond failure for God cannot fail and He will help us learn to overcome. We need to set aside our own doubts and apprehensions. We need not fear the consequences of our actions in building the body of Christ. We should not be discouraged or depressed when we run into temporary hurdles. The Lord has set the time and the manner for completion of each task in our lives. It only calls for dedication, determination, discipline, diligence and devotion on our part as workers of the Lord. We need to put in all of our heart, strength and energy into the task the Lord has assigned to us. No one can stop us, no force can hinder us until we have accomplished our goals for the Lord. His unstoppable power and grace is with us, powering us until the finishing point. Like David did to Solomon, we should pass on the baton of faith to the next generation.
Prateep V Philip

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