Words of Faith

The phrase “The joy of the Lord is your strength” has been going over and over in my mind lately.  It’s a beautiful verse — but what does it really mean when you’re overwhelmed, facing difficulties at work, or struggling in relationships? What does the strength of the joy of the Lord look like in the middle of a trial?

I would have never put drunkenness and worry in the same category, and yet Jesus seemed to suggest that they should be. Why? What could He mean? The phrase “weighed down” in the original text is a translation of the word bareo. It means “to burden, weigh down, depress.” This single verb also pinpoints the cause of this stress: “oppressed with external evils and calamities.”  What was happening to bring such a word of warning?

In Scripture, when God calls you beloved, what do you think He actually means? Did you know that beloved is how your heavenly Father describes you? If we were to put this concept of being beloved into everyday English, it would be something like this: 
“You are the one I love deeply with all my heart. I have chosen and claimed you. You are worth more to me than you can possibly imagine or comprehend. You belong in my love.”

Have you ever lost heart from the exhausting difficulties before you that seem to stretch on forever? The hardships that seem impossible to overcome? Or maybe you have had victory over something, but then the next day it seems like there is a whole new mountain to climb, and you’re not sure you have the strength. We hear the gospel preached and we believe it! Christ died for our sins, and we have salvation in Him which means a future in heaven; hooray! But where is the salvat

Because of Jesus, we are beloved. Because of Jesus, we are dear to God’s heart. Because of Jesus, we have been made worthy. Because of Jesus, we are beloved.