Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 18 Dec 2007

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 18 Dec 2007

2 Chronicles 15:7-8 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. 8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD's temple. Today’s word of encouragement is simply, “Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” To those of you who have lost that faith, the drive, and zeal for God, may this be an encouragement. To be honest, sometimes the hardest thing in life isn’t the obstacles and trials, but it is stagnating. Life gets comfortable, we aren’t challenged, and life just becomes life. On the other hand it is also, everything we try to do, we don’t succeed, we aren’t climbing the corporate ladder, and so we just camp out. The pity party starts, “I’m not good enough”, “oh well, and I guess this is all God has planned.” I wonder how many of us really would read this verse and hold on to it with all our lives. You see King Asa wasn’t the perfect King, he wasn’t as great as King David in the eyes of man, but what did he do that stood out? Firstly, he took courage. He removed what was detestable in the eyes of God, and he repaired what was holy and pleasing to God. How many of us are doing this on a daily basis? Look deep into your life, are you taking courage, how great is your faith? Have you removed all that is detestable in the eyes of God? All the junk, garbage, trash inside you? And finally have you repaired what is holy and pleasing to God? All that is pleasing in our lives that God loves, are you building that? Your family, your children, and your future, are you spending time to repair what is pleasing in God’s eyes? Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. © Dec 2007 Shaun Lee