WISDOM FOR LIVING DEVOTIONAL
OCTOBER 16, 2020
TOPIC:Â MAKE THE LORD YOUR STRENGTH
BY T. O. BANSO
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion” (Psalm 84:5-7 New King James Version).
What people consider as their strengths vary. Strengths could be physical, financial, intellectual, and numerical, and so on. Don’t be carried away by whatever you consider as your strengths. Don’t let your strengths go to your head because your strengths can fail you. You can fail in the areas of your strengths, not only in the areas of your weaknesses.
The LORD may bless you with people that make you or your organization strong but don’t make such people your strength. The same people can withdraw their support or membership or leave you. What happens after then? If you have made human beings your strength, you will be devastated.
Appreciate people; value their contribution and support, but don’t make anyone your strength. Make the LORD your strength. If your strength is in the LORD, if anyone leaves you or withdraws his support, you can trust the LORD who brought him to bring another person to you or your organization. Don’t make the mistake of replacing God with people in your life.
I know a pastor that someone appreciated his online ministry and told him he wanted to support him by paying for the airtime he uses for the ministry every month. This pastor didn’t beg for it. The person voluntarily offered to do it. He asked the pastor for the amount he spends on airtime every month but he didn’t tell him. God had already taken care of that.
Since the person persisted, he told him to give any amount he wanted as financial support. He started giving what he wanted to give, which the pastor appreciated. However, the pastor never took his eyes off the LORD. He continued to depend on the LORD for provision. Thank God he did because the promise of the gift of airtime was not fulfilled beyond four or five months. The person who made the unsolicited promise stopped and didn’t communicate with the pastor any longer. But the pastor’s online ministry continued without any hitch. The LORD is his strength.
Human beings are human beings! If anyone has promised to help you, thank him but don’t let his promise make you disconnect from the LORD as your strength. I recall the story of a pastor that a relation living abroad promised to buy and send to him a public address to support his ministry. This pastor didn’t solicit for it.
It is now over ten years after the promise. This relation has not fulfilled his promise. He does not even talk about it and the pastor has never asked him because he has learnt never to make man his strength. The pastor’s ministry has continued without having to beg him for any support.
In all your endeavours, including marriage, ministry, business, academics, and politics, appreciate people for their support but make the LORD your strength. The apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 New King James Version). The Bible in Basic English puts it this way: “I am able to do all things through him who gives me strength.”
The Bible says this concerning Sarah: “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11 New King James Version). Sarah’s conception was not ordinary. The LORD was the source of her strength for conception. Prior to that, Sarah and Abraham had waited on Him for years for the fulfillment of His promise without any result.
David regarded the LORD as his strength. Therefore, he made exploits despite all the problems that he faced. The secret of his exploits was the LORD, his strength. He said, “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? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident” (Psalm 27:1-3 New King James Version).
It takes more than ordinary strength to have victory in such circumstances that David found himself but the LORD, his strength, gave him victory. David says in Psalm 28:7: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him” (New King James Version). He also calls the LORD the rock of his strength (Psalm 62:7).
When Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him, David expressed his faith in the LORD, his strength. He said, “You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my place of safety” (Psalm 59:9 New Living Translation).
David was a man who depended on the LORD as his strength rather than trust in his own strength. In Psalm 54:1, he asked Him to vindicate him by His strength. According to him, the LORD will give strength to His people (Psalm 29:11a).
Where is your strength? Who do you trust for strength? Psalm 84:5-7 says, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion” (New King James Version).
A wise person will depend on the strength of God rather than his own strength or the strength of other people. He will wait on the LORD for strength. “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength” (Psalm 33:16-17 New King James Version).
Make the LORD your strength and wait upon Him to renew your strength. Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
There is no weariness or fainting for those who wait for the LORD or upon the LORD. “They will fly high on wings like eagles” (New Living Translation). In the place of waiting, those who wait for the LORD exchange their weaknesses for His strength. If you wait for the LORD, you will go from strength to strength.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, I make You my strength; I will not put my trust in my strength or any the strength of anyone else. LORD, I exchange my weakness for Your strength. I am able to do all things through You who gives me strength in Jesus’ name. I am blessed because my strength is in You.
(For over 300 in-depth and powerful messages by T.O. Banso, visit: www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
  
  
  
  
