Our trust is in the Lord. He is our Solid Rock. Read David’s words in Psalm 18:1-2. It says, “I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

David also wrote Psalm 27. Verse 1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Notice that David’s trust was in Who the Lord is at all times. He never changes.

Our circumstances change constantly. We can be stopped in our tracks in a moment of time. We live in fear because our focus is on ourselves. I froze in fear when I looked down and saw the snake. The Lord was not in my thoughts because I was focused on myself. In truth, we are weak and inert.

Once Paul realized that truth, he was able to rejoice in the Lord’s strength. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “…most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I want you to picture one strand of long human hair. It can easily be broken. Now see yourself interweaving that hair through the links in a chain. Now let’s go to the first part of the verse. The Lord said, “…My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

We are only able to trust when we recognize and acknowledge that we are weak ~ without Him we can do nothing.

When I think of the word encourage, I see it as inserting courage. When Barnabas brought Saul to the disciples, he inserted courage into their spirits which changed their perspective. They were afraid. When he inserted courage through his words their fear left.

Fear robs us of courage. It paralyzes us. Case in point. Years ago I walked out to the chicken pen to feed them. They were all crowded by the gate. I walked up talking to them but they paid me no mind. I looked down as I put my hand on the latch. There was a snake and I froze in fear.

When God commanded Joshua to be of good courage, He brought strength and courage together. The root to being courageous is knowing that we have God’s strength to face whatever He allows. 

I have read that there are 365 verses in the Bible that say ‘fear not.’ That is one verse per day. I have not looked for them, but it would be a worthy pursuit. Here is one that I have embedded in my heart. Psalm 56:3 says, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”

Trust, strength, and courage work together. They are activated when we set our focus on the Lord. Verse 4 says, “In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”

Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trust in Him!”

Discouragement causes us to lose strength. It is a cousin to depression. We see this played out with Elijah. He ran for his life. In 1 Kings 19:4 he asked the Lord to take his life. Verse 5-8 was God’s answer for His discouraged prophet.

It says that Elijah laid down and slept. An angel brought him food. He ate that and lay down again. The angel came the second time. Verse 7 says, “…Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

Verse 8 says, “So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights….” When he reached his destination, the Lord revealed Himself through a still small voice. Then He gave Elijah new orders.

We have the power of life in our tongues. When we speak God’s word, we strengthen ourselves and others. Countless verses release life-giving power. Here is one. God redeems our time in the fiery crucible, as we share the rich insights He gave us with others. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says, “…that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Here is another one we can share from our own experiences. Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” Sharing how He empowered us, our living testimony strengthens those who are discouraged.

Saul of Tarsus had just accepted the Lord, but was rejected by the disciples. Who did the Lord bring on the scene? Barnabas, whose name means, Son of Encouragement (verse 36). Can you just imagine that scene?

Acts 9:26 says that Saul tried to join the disciples; but they were afraid of him…” Verse 27 says, “But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles…” Authentic followers of
Christ are encouragers. We carry His words of life into every situation we enter.

Paul wrote to the Colossians about the struggle in his heart for them. Colossians 2:2 says, “That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding…”

The temptation when we are discouraged is to withdraw. When we do that we lose that sense of connection. Today I replied to a mentee in another country. She had withdrawn from her family because she was discouraged. This is the enemy’s plan ~ isolation with negative fiery dart bombardment.

God’s word fills us with light and life. God spoke to Joshua three times in Joshua 1. Verse 6 says, “Be strong and of good courage…” Verse 7 says, “Only be strong and very courageous…do not turn from it…that you may prosper wherever you go.” 

In verse 9 we read that it was not just a suggestion. It says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” This is true for us as well. We must guard our heart to resist any temptation to give into discouragement.

I finished reading through the book of Numbers. One last thought from that book. In Numbers 32:9 it says that the ten spies who gave the bad report, “…discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them.”

Discouragement is another key weapon that the enemy of our soul uses against us. He is determined that we will not fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. If you will remember, the children of Israel heard two reports.  

Numbers 13:30 says, “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” The ten spies immediately refuted his words.

Verse 31 says, “But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” Notice the two different focuses. Caleb was looking to God’s promise. The ten spies were looking to their own strength.

We are never a solo match against satan. John 15:5 is a constant reminder to me. It says, “…for without Me you can do nothing.” Yet there is another verse that should undergird our faith in every circumstance. Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

When we take our eyes off the Lord, we fall prey to the temptation to be overwhelmed and discouraged. David wrote Psalm 61. Read his words in verse 2, “…when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

The wheels of a train are designed to groove into the train track. Our hearts are designed to groove into God’s word. I have discovered, with these injuries to my brain, that it takes a little time to learn something new. The new patterns need time to groove in. 

How do we first get derailed? Keith Green wrote a song and a book entitled, “No Compromise.” I like to put an exclamation point after those two words when I think about them. Compromise creates gaps, which the enemy specifically widens, through strategic temptations designed to entice and entangle us.

Song of Solomon 2:15 says, “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” The little foxes are seemingly insignificant compromises. The Holy Spirit will check us, but if we ignore Him, we will become derailed. 

The little foxes get inside a vineyard through a gap. At my former house I had chickens. Little did we know that there was a gap being formed. The chickens would go near the fenceline and bathe in the dirt. They made indents. A fox then was able to dig through from the outside, using the indent to gain entrance. 

One morning several were missing and many dead. The chickens unknowingly set themselves up. That is exactly what happens when we compromise. Proverbs 2:9 says that discretion will preserve us.

Proverbs 7:21-23 was about the young man who was enticed by the harlot. Verse 22-23 says, “Immediately he went after her…he did not know it would cost his life.” Beware of the little foxes of compromise.

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Guarding Our Heart

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” James 1:14 is the template that reveals the inner workings of a gap. It says, “But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

Our freedom was bought by Jesus’ shed blood. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” In Romans 6:1 Paul asked his readers, “…Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?”

Verse 2 says, “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Ask yourself: Do I live like I am encapsulated in true grace? When a ‘live’ tempting thought flits into our mind, we must instantly fight it through the truth of verse 11. It says, “…reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We can only effectively guard our heart when God’s word is hidden in it. His truth within is like a sentinel on duty 24/7. The moment the temptation comes, the sentinel alerts us through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Galatians 5:16 says, “…Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” That is why James said that we are enticed through the sin hidden in our hearts. It is illegal for an authentic follower of Christ to flirt with fleshly temptations. Flirting is synonymous with entanglement.

1 Peter 2:16 says, “As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.” Galatians 5:1 says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

How do we become entangled again? Paul wrote to Timothy about this very subject. In 2 Timothy 2:3 he told Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Verse 4 says, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life…” We are satan’s target. He seeks ways to entangle us. He sets up ‘gaps’ through his fiery darts. 

Though this is speaking about warfare against Judah, we can apply this to our lives. Isaiah 7:5-7 says, “…Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves…”

A gap, in our freedom in Christ, is made by a seemingly innocuous suggestion ~ a fiery dart. If we do not block it with truth from God’s word, the gap will widen. Remember that we are bondservants, our will is to do the will of the Father.

When we lose sight of that, our derailment is set in place. Romans 6:13 says, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

I recently read about F. B. Meyer. I am going to paraphrase what he said. He was a young pastor at the time. The Lord had laid it on his heart to minister to those recently released from jail.

The pattern was for those men to go right back to what held them in bondage. F. B. Meyer’s zeal was aroused. He knew they could be free. He hadn’t learned at that time what is was to be a slave of Christ.

His definition penetrated deeply. It is a condition of our mind in which we are oblivious to what others might say or think. Our desire would be that the light of God’s approval was warm and fresh upon our heart.

Ephesians 6:5-7 says for the bondservant to be obedient, “…with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.”

According to Ephesians 1:5 we are already accepted in the Beloved. There is nothing that we can do or should do to be accepted. When we look for man’s approval, we become a man pleaser, and cease to serve the Lord from our heart.

When seeking to please others, we fall into the trap of not being able to say ‘no’ when asked to do something. We must stay in the groove that the Lord has called us to walk in. If we follow after others, or we seek others approval, we have ceased to follow in the Lord’s footsteps.