Rejoice in the Lord Always and Again I Say, Rejoice

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:  

~Habakkuk 3:17

In verse 17 things seem to be rather bleak. The prophet's subject is famine -- referring to a widespread scarcity of food. After reading that verse I thought about another famine -- a famine of the worst kind. Listen to this verse found in Amos 8:11-12: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.” Doesn’t this, in some ways, seem to apply to the world today?

While trying to get the Word of the Lord out through this blog and Facebook it seems a famine of "true" Christianity plagues our land. People would much rather see a joke or funny video than hear and read God’s Word. They may see a verse that makes them feel good and pass it on while not even realizing the true power in it, causing its impact on their life to be short-lived. Even people who call themselves “Christian” or religious would rather talk about ballgames, shopping, and what award their child received this week than getting the Word of Life out to a lost and dying world. People are searching and seeking for significance and meaning to this life, but are looking in the wrong places, to the wrong things, and the wrong people. It is up to us – to those who love God -- to show them the way.

It gets discouraging when there seems to be a lack of love for the One who died for us even among those who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. And as I try to minister to others it seems that satan will give me no rest in his whispers of, “Why don’t you give up? No one cares about what you are doing.” BUT, what satan hates is just after he has enticed me to look at bleak circumstances and get discouraged then my Deliverer comes along beside me and shouts, “Don’t give up! I am with you and I care!” Just when I’m about to give up God shows me what to do to overcome the enemy.  And this is what He showed me: 

Verse 18 of the same chapter reveals what the prophet Habakkuk did during this time of famine. He found joy!

3:18  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.  

Though satan seems to be getting the upper hand, everything seems to be gone, and there is a famine in our realm of existence, we CAN rejoice in God. Though circumstances reach their lowest point, and things seem to be so out of kilter to the way we think they should go, we can have joy because He has promised to deliver His children—and HE WILL. He has assured us many times, "Child just endure this period of trial. Trust in Me. I love you and I am with you. I am working all for your good. Joy WILL come in the morning!" 

When Habakkuk rejoiced in God, even in this difficult time, something happened – he found strength.

3:19  The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.

And when he found strength in the Lord he was given the ability to overcome his circumstance. The last part of verse 19 gives us an imagery of the herald, the runner (an official messenger and representative of a king in former times) running to get the word out to whomever the king demanded -- and of the deer -- a deer is known for its fleetness of foot and its ability to bound over any obstacle in its way. For us, while running the race set before us, God is our strength. (Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. ~Hebrews 12:1)

He enables us to overcome. He helps us to climb the high hills, an image of our reward in the Kingdom of God. He is the One that will bring us our reward. He is the One who enables us to run and to leap over our obstacles. God is our strength! Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

And in that...

Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. ~Philippians 4:4

These scriptures and this word from the Lord sure blessed me. I truly hope they will do the same for you and be a help to you in your daily walk with the Lord.  May He bless you today over and above what you are able to receive! 

With Much Love, 

The Princess Warrior

P.S. This was written on a Sunday morning the day it was posted while going through a bought of food poisoning. The Lord is with us always...even with our head hung over a toilet...again I say, Rejoice!  =)

Copyright Information

Copyright © 2009 The Princess Warrior Ministries. All articles are copyrighted on the date they are posted, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in exact form including copyright and web address. Other uses require written permission. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible.

Strengthen Yourself in the Lord

What I am sharing with you below was written in response to a loved one who asked for prayer and just needed someone to talk to. God prompted me to share this with you as well, but I am keeping it confidential and by no means demeaning my love and concern for who it was shared with first. It came from my heart to that person and is now being passed on as a help to someone else who may need to hear this as well. 

Dear Friend,

I'm sorry to hear that you are stressed. I hope you know that you can call me any time, day or night, to talk. I know how it is to need someone to talk to, but sometimes it just isn't possible. It is in those situations we can ALWAYS talk to the Lord. Jesus is our dearest friend and IS there for us every second of every hour of every day. Since He is the best friend any of us can have we can talk to Him just like we would a best friend. Through faith, we know He is listening.

King David knew stress -- he ran from king Saul for years, fearing for his life. He had to leave family and friends. He had to live in caves and rely on people he encountered to feed him. He had to fight battles against enemies that tried to defeat Israel. His child died. One of his older children tried to dethrone and kill him. Some of us can only imagine what his life was like, but even imagining, we could not begin to understand. When I think of how life has been hard on me...I think of David. 

God called David a man after His own heart. When considering the psalms we see David's heart. He talked to God like He was his best friend. He was so truthful with his thoughts before God because he knew God was aware of them anyway. So, he wasn't afraid to ask God why He had forsaken him (of course, God hadn't, but that was the way he felt at the time). He wasn't afraid to tell God his most intimate feelings whether they were good or bad.

David wrote the majority of the psalms and in most of them you can see his fear, sorrow, or shame at the beginning of each one and as he cried out to God you then see a change of tone. His whole thought process would change from complaining to praising. I can relate to that. When I am under great distress and pray and cry out to God there comes an inner calming of my spirit that I can't explain. When I choose to handle things on my own I continue to be in distress. 

In surfing the web the other day I came across this verse -- "Then David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God." (1 Samuel 30:6) I wondered to myself...how did David strengthen himself in the Lord? What did he do? Then, God brought a thought and the following verses to my mind: 

Like I mentioned above, David was honest before God about his feelings and sought His comfort, but also David remembered how God was there for him in the past. While David watched his father's flock of sheep, lions and bears would try to attack, but David slew them and protected the flock. He had victory over these ferocious predators. He knew God had helped him. So, when David went up against Goliath, he had courage because he trusted God and remembered how the Lord had been with him before. Here are his words to king Saul, "Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee." (1 Samuel 17:36-37)  

We will do well to always let David be our example and do as he did in times of stress -- cry out to God and admit our inability to handle a situation and remember that God has been there for us before. With Jesus as our best friend and God as our loving Father we will get through anything satan throws at us! Greater is He (God) who is in us than he (satan) who is in the world. (Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. ~1 John 4:4) 

Goliath is a perfect picture of satan and satan was no match for David's God -- the same God we serve. God is no respecter of persons, so we are just as special to God as David was.

I will be praying that you will seek comfort in the Lord and you will feel His presence. And again, please know you can call me any time.

May God bless you today over and above what you are able to receive! 

With Much Love, 

The Princess Warrior

Copyright Information

Copyright © 2009 The Princess Warrior Ministries. All articles are copyrighted on the date they are posted, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in exact form including copyright and web address. Other uses require written permission. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible.