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Friday, April 24, 2026

HE DOESN’T GROW WEARY!

 

Friday, April 24, 2026

 

HE DOESN’T GROW WEARY!

 

Isa 40:28

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

 

The office worker trudges home in a rumpled suit and dragging a stuffed briefcase. He wonders if anyone can even comprehend how wearying it is to spend a day in endless and futile negotiations with obstinate people. The construction worker returns home scorched by the sun and beaten by the blows that he himself has delivered. Covered by grime and emptied of energy he reflects on how little was accomplished.

 

The Hebrew word for “weary” is yaw-gah and means “to gasp” or to become exhausted. The everlasting God does not yaw-gah! He does not grow weary. He is the battery back-up in our every power failure.

 

The disciples found themselves ministering, listening, counseling, and healing. They listened to unresolved human conflict and then gave advice. They healed and felt the pain of others. Virtue went out of them! Each human problem, though none were theirs, drained them. They worked through lunch!

 

Mark 6:31-32

31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

 

The desert place was not a place in the desert because they reached it by ship! No, the desert place was a place without people! It was a place without demands and duties although the duties remained and the demands cried out. They withdrew for renewal.

 

Our “quiet time” is that desert place whether it is in the morning before others rise or at night after others have retired; it is a place where we get alone with the everlasting God. Every believer needs this time to reflect, to worship and acknowledge God and to be refreshed. What a tremendous resource we have in the everlasting God.

 

Dear Lord, many of us begin this day still weary from yesterday’s labor. Renew our strength. Some have worked until their physical strength is nearly gone. Renew their strength. Some have cared for others until their spirits are numb. Let them mount up with wings. Let them run and not be weary. We trust in Thee, everlasting God. AMEN

 

Thursday, April 23, 2026

THE ANATOMY OF COURAGE!

 

Thursday, April 23, 2026

 

THE ANATOMY OF COURAGE!

 

Judg 6:11-12

11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

 

          The root of courage is fear, but courage is only activated when fear is mixed with desperation. Such was the mixture on the floor of the winepress of Joash. One might have heard Gideon mumbling angrily to himself while the Angel of the Lord sat by and listened. Complaints and angry grumbling surely are the companions of courage.

 

          The ferocity of deadly resolve springs from deep desperation. It prompts acts of passion and intensity. It is the explosive breath of one who has held his breath too long. It is the timid child exploding in the face of the bully while other timid children cheer on. When the bully cannot be placated by surrender then the only course of action is action. A bitter fight to the death ensues and it favors the angry timid soul rather than the sporting bully. One is engaged in sport while the other has already contemplated death. This is the stuff of courage.

 

          When evil discards his cloak of hypocrisy and dares the timid to restrain his wicked agenda, the peaceful must decide how long he will endure naked abuse before he explodes in wild retaliation. Such was the case at the founding of our nation. “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them …” So, the colonists chose to throw off the bands of tyranny.

 

          Gideon thought himself to be anything but courageous, but he was angry, and he was frustrated. He had a keen grasp of right and wrong, and he was ready to throw off the bands of tyranny.

 

1 Kings 18:21

21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

 

Lord, Satan is a bully and has engaged us in sport. Let us find the resolve needed to fight him. AMEN

 

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

GENTLE PRESSURE

 

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

 

GENTLE PRESSURE

 

Jer 18:4

4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

 

          The Lord told Jeremiah to go down and observe the potter and his work. He watched as the raw clay was scooped up and pounded into a moldable consistency. The lump was slapped upon the center of the wheel, and he began to spin it with his foot while his wet hands smoothed out a usable shape. The Lord then explained that making a lovely and useful vessel sometimes required some pounding and finally some gentle pressure.

 

          A few years ago, a graduate gave a single rose to my wife to indicate that she had been impacted by my wife’s gentle pressure upon her life. My wife was surprised but I wasn’t. No, I did not know about the rose beforehand, but I was not surprised. Gentle pressure is not always appreciated while being applied but it transforms.

 

          Do you feel the Potter’s gentle pressure upon your life today? Maybe it is more like pounding! Either way, God is trying to make something beautiful and useful of you. Even “mess ups” are not a total loss in the masterful hands of the potter. He simply starts over and makes it into another vessel. Yield to His gentle pressure and wait for the transformation. It’s going to be wonderful!

 

Dear Lord, let me yield to your gentle pressure upon my life today. AMEN