ARE YOU WEAK?

*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*

*ARE YOU WEAK?*

*Scripture Treasure.*

Isaiah 42:3 *A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.*

*Insight and Highlight.*

You may be weak but do not break or give in to life's pressure or challenges. Be encouraged.

*Scripture Commentaries.*

God made provisions in times of weakness because He knew tiredness, weakness and falling away, etc, are possible.

God is available to us when you encourage yourself, 1 Sam 30:6, encourage others, Lk 22:32, encourage one another, Prov 27:17

or have others encourage you, Heb 10:24-25.

Since He had made provisions, it becomes inexcusable for any one of us to cite weakness as a reason for not serving Him.

If you are weak, broken, disappointed, emotionally hurt, in danger, endangered, open to attack, crushed, you are or may be down but not out.

Isaiah used the description 'bruised reed' to illustrate people who are suffering or are troubled and they struggle to survive spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

Since bruises are damage to the original surface of the skin and are visible to the ordinary eye, so are people who have been bruised known by their challenges.

Bruised Christians are obvious to the people around them.

God does not want our weaknesses to overcome us.

He does not want your faith or hope to dim or fade away.

He does not want you to struggle in His service.

This is why He speaks so much about perseverance, and only those who perseve to the end shall be saved.

2 Tim 2:12 *lf we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;*

Persistence is doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

You must rise up and ask God to save and heal your bruises.

Challenges did not start from you, 1 Cor 10:13, or did not choose you and leave others.

One often asks oneself, "Why me?" One may as well ask oneself 'Why not me'?

Challenges have been around since the fall and have been made worse, Matt 11:12.

From the days of the early church.

The early church faced its challenges. The disciples, Paul, etc, all recorded them in their epistles.

Today, Christians are not only killed. They are slaughtered, burnt, dismembered, stoned, imprisoned etc ref Acts 8; 9:1; 16: 16-40; 21-23.

You can not be a true child of God without challenges, and they arise not because you are sinning. They arise because of your faith in Jesus.

If you are a child of God and you are not in sin as expected, 1 John 3:9, your challenges are suffering associated with your faith in Jesus, Matt 10:18.

2 Tim 3:12 says *Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution*

Matt 5:10:  *Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven*

Jesus says the devil and the world will hate you because they first hated Him, John 15:18-20

Paul had challenges and suffered, not because God was punishing him for the sins he committed against the Church but because he surrendered to Jesus.

Paul says that when we face trial and temptation, we are partakers of His divine nature and suffering, disappointment, and persecution are some of them.

He says in Rom 8:17-18 *And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him......."*

Matt 24:13 says *"....he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.*

1 Peter 4:13 says experiencing trials and tribulations for one's faith is a shared experience with Christ, leading to joy in His glory.

Are you bruised and weak?

You can be made able and strong!

*Remorse corner.*

The elders have a saying which goes that 'he who starts an assignment will not get the praise of a hard worker but he who completes it to the end is more esteemed as the one who worked and is accomplished', ref Matt 24:13.

*Call to Word action.*

Do not do yourself a disservice by allowing your weakness as an excuse. Pray and fix your eyes on Jesus!

Heb 12:2-3.

*Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.*

*For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.*

*The Christian clarion duty.*

Do not run away from your challenges. Do not allow them to keep you away from God's service. Face them and resist them with prayers. God can give you strength, Matt 11:28-30.

*Prayer.*

Lord heal my bruises. Heal my wounds, in Jesus name.

Good morning all, and have a blessed day.

God bless you.