He Is Our STRENGTH

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Devotional of the Week:
Psalm 105:4 - Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!

NFL coach Tony Dungy has seen much adversity throughout his career. In his book "Quiet Strength" he discusses what relying on God's strength has done for him in his life. In January of 2007, he along with Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith not only became the first two African American head coaches to coach in a Super Bowl, they were also two Christian coaches whose organizations give glory to God for their success. That night belonged to Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts, but in his words from the platform that night, along with the words of the president of the Colts organization, that night belonged to God. In the video clip that follows, let's hear from Tony Dungy about what God's strength can mean to us:



May we always seek our strength from God's presence in our lives. He is faithful to be with us. He is faithful to lift us up! All Praises to Our Lord, for He IS GOD!!!

Prayer: Father God, thank you that in You we have all the strength we will ever need. Surround us Lord, dwell in us through the power of Your Spirit, strengthen us to do Your will in all things. We love You and we trust You all the days of our life. In Jesus name, Amen!

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Mini-Study of the Week: Read 1 Samuel Chapter 4

As chapter 4 of our book opens, we find that the Philistines have come against Israel. Not only had the sins of Eli's sons causes the Levitical priesthood to become corrupt, but Israel as a nation had turned from God and had begun to worship idols. It does not take more than 2 verses to see that God has withdrawn his hedge of protection from His people. We see in verse 2 that 4,000 of the men of Israel are killed in the first skirmish with the Philistines.

Rather than repent and turn back to God, the Israelites do something that has through the ages become something we are prone to do ourselves when in a time of crisis. They begin by asking the right question. "Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines?" They were right to recognize that it was God who had brought defeat to their camp. And yet in a moment that would have been brilliant had they heeded their own words, they committed and even worse act. They decided to try to move the hands of God.

The elders of Israel decided to bring the ark of the covenant into the camp. On face value it seems like a good idea. God's presence in our lives is what is needed when people or circumstances come against us. The leaders intent however was to have the camp gain confidence from the ark's presence rather than calling on the Lord to deliver them. The Israelites indeed rejoiced greatly when they saw the ark, and the Philistines feared greatly because they knew the reputation of Jehovah. But they encouraged themselves and drew near to the battle once more. To their amazement, Israel fled, thirty thousand foot soldiers were slain, the priests Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and the ark itself was captured!

We do not take strength from "things" associated with God. Instead we are to draw strength because God's strength is in us. In the case of the Israelites, their devotion to God had all but disappeared and they were more focused on the "idea" of God rather than the reality of Him. God's punishment was swift. He defended His honor on the battlefield. He no doubt allowed the Philistines to take possession of the ark, a symbol of incredible victory to a pagan people. (Don't worry, we will see the fate of this circumstance in the next chapter.) What He did not allow was for the Israelites to gain the idea that they could gain anything apart from Him, and apart from His strength. No amount of ceremony or tradition is enough to give us the victory. Only God's will and plan in our lives can do that. Our obedience is the channel by which God will give us His strength.

Not only are the Israelites defeated, they flee in cowardly fashion, they lose the ark, and Eli, upon receiving the news of the death of his sons and the capture of God's ark fell backward and died. In a very telling side story we see also the fate of Eli's daughter-in-law. The news of her husband and father-in-laws death, while devastating, was nothing compared to the news that the Ark of God had been captured. Upon hearing this news, she goes into labor. After an extremely difficult birth, she names her son Ichabod (inglorious) for as she states in her last breaths "the glory has departed from Israel."

When we try to do things in our own strength we fail. God is our defender , our redeemer, our strength. His will is what our lives will bear out. When we try to achieve in our own efforts, we fail. His glory departs from our lives. Our directive is to seek Him in all things, that His glory may shine through us, His beloved children.

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Video of the Week:

His is the only strength we need! The Lord HE is GOD!

"You Are My Strength" - Hillsong



Love each other, share His love and share His gospel...
See you next week!

In His Service,
Sergio