Be Strong and Courageous

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Zechariah 8:9  Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

Joshua 1:6    Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

1 Chronicles 22:13    Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed

1 Chronicles 28:20    Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

Isaiah 35:4    Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Haggai 2:4   Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts,  according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

Ephesians 6:10    Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Being strong in the Lord requires us to have faith.  To not have Fear requires us to have faith. To be courageous requires us to have faith. Doing what the Lord would have us do requires us to rely in, cling to and trust in Him.  No matter what our circumstance is God is bigger.  No matter how big the problem is God is bigger.  No matter how tough the situation is God is mightier.  Our God reigns.  Think about what is in this verse from Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD,

Planted in God’s word 1

“Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.”

Psalms 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Jeremiah 17:8
He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Ezekiel 17:8
It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine.

Ezekiel 47:12
And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

Psalms 128:2
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

Genesis 39:3
His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

Joshua 1:7-8
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

A tree once it is planted does not move. It produces the fruit it was intended to produce.  With deep roots it weathers storms and drought.  We are to produce fruit in line with God’s grace, mercy and love.  What does this fruit look like in the life of those who call Him Lord their God? In 2 Peter it says: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  In Galatians 5:22 Paul said this: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”  In 1 Corinthians 13:4 speaking of love Paul said: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.”  Be a tree planted firmly in God’s promises humbly producing fruit that that honors and glorifies Him alone.