DON’T BE DISCOURAGED

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.  1 Corinthians 15:58

Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58                                                                                   

OUR FINAL VICTORY                                                                                                50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

COMMENTS:  This year has been a dangerous and trying year for everyone in every country.  Impact of Covid 19 has affected everyone but some far more adversely than others.   We all know someone and a family who experienced a death due to this epidemic and nearly everyone has a family member and/or friend who has contracted this illness.   Most families have either direct experience of loss of business and income due to this epidemic too.

The frustration and anxiety from mandated isolation along with disregard for some common sense precautions of some has polarized many who then allowed anger to blind and prevent doing voluntarily those things that should and would have opened doors for God’s wisdom and even common sense to prevail.   Past generations have rallied together when fighting common enemies and been able to defeat that enemy.

So what should we do?

  1. First and most important is to recognize and admit that the reason such disasters as Covid 19 and vast fires and earthquakes and hurricanes and floods all are touching us with increasing furrier because our sinfulness has resulted in God removing His protective Hand from us and the ancient prophesy Solomon gave to his people at the Temple’s dedication, recorded in 1 Kings 8:1-66.  His address not only identified the reason for Israel’s suffering but what is needed to regain and sustain God’s protection and blessing.   Solomon also gave a warning to future generation of consequences of forgetting God and sinning against Him, which is recorded in 2 Chronicles 7 after his prayer was completed.  Then 2 Chronicles 7:12-16 gives us the solution “And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

So, the most important and most effective thing we must do is recognize our sins, repent from them, and turn to God seeking forgiveness and let Him change us and heal us from the habit and passion for and involvement in sin.  The impact of one repenting is significant but the impact of a large group of Christians is greater but the impact of a nation repenting with its leader is course changing for that country.   If we personally repent, God’s wrath will escape us but you and I may still suffer from nation’s judgment.  If we are faithful in conduct and in prayer and worship, the ripple effect and God’s involvement will influence and move necessary changes in other’s lives.  Escape from God’s judgment demands our immediate repentance before it is too late.  His judgment is imminent but still waiting until every opportunity to repent has been exhausted.

  • We need to rally people to return to their church and worship and pray with other believers.  We need to change our conduct, our spending habits, our attitudes towards family and friends and neighbors and contacts so we become more compassionate and kind towards each other.  We need to seek and keep our minds and thoughts and wills and spiritual eyes on Christ – flooding our minds and souls with His Word and instruction.
  • We need to be a good example for others:  Yes, a responsible example practicing common sense measures to protect against Covid 19 but not at sacrifice of using any opportunity and means to share and help and encourage and witness.

John Calvin and Charles Spurgeon battled depression and deep discouragement all their lives.  Christ didn’t free them of that depression but enabled them to use discouragement and depression to stop their ministry.  In fact, their depression drew them to deeper relationships   with Christ, empowering them to do greater things because of their struggles and battles.

Joh Calvin said “I am entangled in so many troublesome affairs that I am almost beside myself.” On another occasion he said “Today hardly one in a hundred considers how difficult and arduous it is to faithfully discharge the office of pastor.” Again on another occasion he said “In addition to immense troubles by which I am sorely consumed, there is almost no day on which some new pain or anxiety does not come.”

Charles Spurgeon suffered severe enough depression to be bed fast for many days at a time, but his sermons and life transformed and led thousands at a time to Christ and still due from his recorded writings.

However, the Bible repeatedly tells us to not give in to discouragement, to treat it like a sin, to resist and refuse it. “Do not fear or be discouraged,” Deuteronomy 1:21. The Lord face discouraged but never gave in to it, and in His service there is victory. Our life, love, and labor in the Lord is never in vain. Today take God’s promise in 1 Corinthians 15:58 and use it like a broom to sweep discouragement out of your heart.

“God would never discourage me. He would always point me to Himself to trust Him. “                  Charles Stanley

Published by donsdevotions

Don McDaniel - Who am I? Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 69-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever. Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me. I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private. However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool. Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US 4 years ago to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry. He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 and have just updated December 28, 2019 for republishing. Thus far I have published 530 posts automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me during past 7 years I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward. Don & Arlene McDaniel In His Service, Email: dmcdaniel12@zoominternet.net Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951 If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ ) You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials.

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