Praise day 7

Today, on our seventh day of praise, let's thank Him for His work in strengthening us.

Ever feel like you can't go on? Like even one more step is impossible?

Have you ever felt that you couldn't possibly face tomorrow? Or you couldn't get up out of your bed or your chair?

Have you ever felt so stressed, so fatigued, so depressed, that you couldn't imagine what was keeping your heart beating?

I feel like many of us have been there. Maybe some of us are there now. Did you know that claiming God's promises and praising Him can help?

Let's dive in!

Our thoughts about strength to meet the day, to conquer a task, must start and end with God. It is the power and strength that comes from Him that allows us to move forward. As Christians, we need to surrender to the thought that God provides our strength -- and that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. He willingly supplies it, and we can rest in His strength and in the comfort that He provides to us.

Did you know that He is constantly looking to see if we need His help? Check this out:

                 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
                to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.
               (II Chronicles 16:9)

Look here in Psalm 18:32-33:
 
               ....the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
               He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.

And here, too, in Deuteronomy 31:6:
         
                Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is
                the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake
                you.

Wow! Those are awesome promises, no? Yes! What does it take to claim these promises?
Just one thing.
Trust.
Listen to what Paul says, as he talks about what happened when he trusted God:

                 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me
                 the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might
                 hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.  (I Timothy 4:17)

Are there lions in our lives today? Are there people and situations that may devour us? Are there sins and guilt that could destroy us? If we trust Him to strengthen us, we can claim this familiar passage as our own:

                  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the ever-
                  lasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint
                  or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power
                 to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength.
                 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall ex-
                 hausted, but they who wait for 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: 28-31)

Praise the Lord for the strength He supplies!