He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלוהים) says:
What makes you strong? Knowing you are. No one who thinks he is not strong has ever been strong. The Israelites I redeemed out of the slavery of Egypt and brought through the wilderness to the promised land refused to go in. Why? They saw themselves as weak grasshoppers and assumed that is how all their enemies were looking at them, but in reality, they were not, but that became their reality and they played the part of cowards and that is what they became.
So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:32-33.
That is what they said, and they is what they became, but I want you to listen to how the inhabitants of the land really regarded them.
“I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” Joshua 2:9-11.
Caleb and Joshua, however, were strong to go in and win. They spoke of themselves as well able to do so. They were strong and very courageous. In fact, that is what I told Joshua to be.
Moses at first told Me he was not strong enough to go and do what I told him. So did Gideon. But they both became strong and very courageous and accomplished the mighty works I gave them to do.
What made the difference in Moses and Gideon? In Caleb and Joshua? In David? David was very different from the rest of the Israelite army that fled in fear from Goliath while David was strong before him and very courageous.
I can tell you in one word and without it you cannot please Me. Faith. Faith makes you strong, it makes you a new man, it makes you a hero with the strength of an army.
Faith is a wonderful thing; it turns your life around. It fills your days with beauty and takes away your frown. It turns you into a prophet telling the good news, that God is here among us, making all things new.
But faith in what? Me. Only faith in Me makes you a hero with the strength of an army. Why? In Me, you have the Most High and there is no one and nothing higher. In Me, you have the advantage. And in Me, you have a magnificent army behind you. My Heavenly Host. The captain, the prince, of My angelic army showed up to strengthen Joshua when he first entered the promised land to take possession of it. And I told Moses and My people ever since they left Egypt that I was sending angels to guard them along the way and battle for them to win the victory.
But there is more. To be strong you must have faith in tomorrow, faith in today, and faith in yesterday. That is, faith that I take care of your past and rewrite it as into a beautiful story without sin, that your sins and offenses, I remember NO MORE. Faith that I am with you today to fill your day with wisdom and good things and that each morning My mercies are new. Faith for tomorrow—that all will be well for you, and you will fulfill your call and complete the work I gave you today in a way pleasing to Me. And finally, faith that you have a place in My eternal Kingdom.
This makes you strong.
How can you have this faith? Most do not. They are fearful about today and tomorrow and anxious about their past as well.
There is only one way you can have this kind of confident faith where you are not at all fearful about anything: Fellowship with Me. You must know Me and be confident of My good will towards you. Peace on earth, good will towards men. My Son has united you and Me. That is what makes you strong and courageous about the past, the present and the future. You must know Me or you will not know what to expect. Without fellowship with Me, you will not generally be expecting everything to turn out well, rather quite to the contrary, especially if you are in the midst of a trial.
Jesus had faith that I was always with Him and for Him and that made Him strong and bold. How did He know this? He said it was because He always did what pleased Me.
“And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” John 8:29.
Many people think I am displeased with them and that makes them weak. But if you are concerned about pleasing Me, then your heart is towards Me, and to begin with, that is pleasing to Me. But really it is not hard to know what pleases Me, for I am very clear about it in My Word. Gather the treasures and learn what pleases Me so you can abide in My good pleasure, which is divine favor. Noah had that and look what it did for him. He lived Psalm 91 before it was written down, but My Word is forever. It always was and it always will be.
I AM the One who is, who was, and who is to come. LORD (יהוה) is My memorial Name for all generations of My Covenant people. The Name you see translated as LORD is made up of three tenses of the verb “to be” in Hebrew, haya, hoveh, and yiyeh.
Let Me show you what pleases Me and it is all things about you.
It is impossible to please Me without faith. Hebrews 11:6. So you know that faith pleases Me. In fact, Jesus said that is what He is looking for and I am too. People of faith bear much fruit. They are always looking for ways to produce at higher levels.
I tell you I take pleasure in the prosperity of My servants, My children, and that I teach you to profit and the way your should go. I raised Jesus from the dead as the great Shepherd of the sheep. And with Him as your Shepherd, you shall not want. It follows then, I am not pleased with those who profess and teach that I am pleased by poverty. I am not. I call it a curse.
It pleases Me when you are saved and come to know the truth.
It pleases Me when you forgive others as I have forgiven you, which is by the Blood of Jesus.
It pleases Me when you pray.
It does not please Me if you draw back and quit before you have received the answer that is there for you in My Word.
It pleases Me when you tithe and give offerings, I open for you the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing you cannot contain.
I love a cheerful giver.
I hate lies and evil among people, those who slander and those who cause discord among brethren.
I bless the peacemakers.
I bless the pure of heart.
I resist the proud but give grace to the humble.
I am not pleased with angry behavior, for the anger of men does not work My righteousness. Vindication is from Me.
It pleases Me when your conversation is filled with edification and gives grace to those who hear you.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8.
I am looking for those who will walk with Me. I am looking for fellowship. And that is what pleases Me the most. Fellowship. I made you to be My family with whom I would dwell and who would dwell with Me where all would know Me from the least to the greatest.
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may now that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. John 17: 20-23.
One with Me and with one another.
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. 1 John 1:1-4.
I love you. Come walk with Me in the light of My love. But remember, two can only walk together if they agree. Agree with Me that all My magnificent promises are “yes” to you in Jesus.