Be Strong, Be Strengthened

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear in any form. It emphasizes the importance of faith and trust in God. Angels are discussed as messengers and support workers for God, with examples of their roles in the Old and New Testaments. They can bring strength and support to believers. The authority and dominion given to believers in Jesus are mentioned, as well as the need to align with God's will. The love and mercy of God are highlighted, along with the idea that we have worth and are precious to Him. The message concludes by emphasizing God's unconditional love for us. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of His word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to His perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Daniel 10.19 He said, Greatly beloved man, don't be afraid. Peace be to you. Be strong, yes, be strong. And when he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Let my Lord speak for you have strengthened me. We are not alone in our fight. We are the prime frontline troops of our fight. But we have support. The Lord God Almighty supports us. He has more than one way to do this. And one of the ways He does is with angels. They are His messengers and His support workers. They aren't how we get things done, because we operate by and in the authority of the name of Jesus, something the angels can't do. But they are a valuable resource that the Lord has and uses. In the old covenant, prior to the Holy Spirit being sent down to mankind, they were the primary messengers of the Word of God. In the new covenant, we have Holy Spirit who speaks to us constantly. That didn't end our interactions with angels, however. In the new covenant, angels still operate and are often ministers of grace to the believers. They broke Peter out of prison, Acts 12, 1-11. They were guides through visions to John, Revelation. They delivered messages to unbelievers, Acts 10, 3. And they announced Jesus' resurrection, John 20, 11-13. They came and served Jesus when He needed ministering to, Matthew 4-11. Those aren't all the places they've done things. Not only did they appear as bright, shining, and glorious beings of light, they also appeared without outward glory, without the trappings of their office, indistinguishable in the natural appearance from regular human beings, Hebrews 13-2. Each and every one of us is never far from one, Acts 12-15 and Matthew 18-10. The Lord still uses angels to interact with our world. Now, they were all over the Old Testament because they were the primary way that the Lord interacted with us. Remember, the Holy Spirit wasn't with us yet, and Jesus' time hadn't come. Now, in Hebrews 13-8, it tells us that Jesus is the same at all times. He hasn't changed His nature, which means He has no need to change His tools. What else do we know about God? Things that He says are good and work will remain good and working. Everything God created had value and assignment, and as long as they don't reject their assignment, think the fall of man and the fall of the enemy, then their job continues, the assignment continues. We are all of us eternal spirit beings. Anything the angels did in the Old Testament, they can do in the New. I mean, why not? And they're all over this world, giving messages, fighting battles with other spiritual forces, working to minister to us and support us, and anything else God wants them to do. That's an important fact. They do what God wants, as it is God who gives them their orders. Angels are not our superiors, 1 Corinthians 6-3. And we are told not to worship them, Colossians 2, 18-19. But they are instruments of the Most High God, and they have power that He has given them to do His work. Aren't they, angels, all-serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1-14. One of those services is to minister to us. A minister is a diplomatic representative accredited to the court or seat of government of a foreign state. Angels are representatives of the kingdom of heaven. They are ministers in and to the kingdom of God. They can bring us strength. They can bring us what we need to strengthen us, whether that's a word or a physical thing, 1 Kings 19, 5-8. Now, I don't expect them to bring me physical things, but it is possible if for no other reason than nothing is impossible for God. Luke 1-37 and Mark 10-27. Basically, we don't look to angels to satisfy our needs. We look to the Father to satisfy our needs. Matthew 6, 31-34. If He chooses to use angels as part of that, great. I mean, you got to admit, seeing an angel is pretty cool. Angels have also been tasked for specific jobs. Now, sometimes those jobs need our approval. Why? Because God does nothing on this earth that has to do with man without the permission of man, Amos 3-5. That is not God asking our permission to do things. That is God, eternal spirit being, sovereign Lord, in dealing with man about man saying, will you let me do this? It is God offering and us accepting. In things not dealing with man, God can and does whatever He wants. We were given dominion here on earth to protect us from the spirit world. There are evil spirits out there. We were given dominion to be given authority. And then we lost it. We fell. Now Jesus got it back again. And in Him, we again have authority and dominion here on this earth. Angels on task may come to us waiting for the word to proceed, to be released to their given task. Why? Because we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us. And in Him, we have dominion and authority here on earth. Luke 10-19. Angels operate on the word of God. They listen to it and only it. We cannot command them. But we can. In Jesus and by Jesus, release them to the tasks of Jesus where our role as authority wielders mandates it. Psalm 86. Sound complex? It isn't. But remember, we follow Jesus. Jesus follows the Father and only the Father can command an angel. We don't have them at our disposal. Luke 10-20. But they will respond to our words because words are seeds, each and every one. Now we of the new covenant are strengthened by the Spirit of the Lord Himself. 2 Timothy 1-7. In fact, the joy of the Lord is our strength. And we can rejoice in His name and what we can do in and through Him. Luke 10-17. Angels can give us what we need to get by. Matthew 4-11. The Father can send them to our aid. Matthew 26-53. They are our fellow servants of the Father. Revelation 19-10. They can bring us the word of the Lord. Acts 1-11. They can interact with our world. Acts 5-19. They escort us into the presence of the Lord. Luke 16-22. They can, by the command of the Father, reveal mysteries to us. Revelation 22-6. They praise the Lord God Almighty alongside us. Luke 2-13 and Hebrews 1-6. And they help gather in the harvest of souls. Matthew 13-49. These are the beings that the Father uses to minister to us. They are tools in heaven's toolbox. Psalm 91 is very clear about that. The Most High God will put His angels in charge of you to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands so you won't dash your foot against the stone. There are many angels. They can ring right around us. They can go before us and behind us. They can be beside us like a heavenly secret service, guarding us wherever we go and taking their orders from our Father in heaven. What father, concerned about their child and having the means, wouldn't love to pay guards to keep near by them, not interfering with their lives, but ready to step in and protect them? The rich and influential of this world have bodyguards following their kids and family members around. How much more will our Heavenly Father do the same for us? Why would He need to? Didn't I just say that we've been given authority to act, that we have dominion here on earth? Oh, yes and no. We have access to it. But it is only in Jesus. He has and is that authority. He gives it to us to use, but He only does what His Father shows Him to do. He only says what His Father tells Him to say. That means we have dominion and authority in Jesus, but we can only use it in accordance with the Word of the Lord, the will of the Father. But tell me, do we always stay faithful and under the wings of the Lord? Do we always remember that we have been given it to use, and that we are to use it, not run to the Father and beg Him to? 2 Corinthians 12, 8-9. No, we don't. We do not always use the authority He has given us as believers. We are not always faithful. But God is always faithful. His love is steadfast, and His mercy is eternal. Lamentations 3, 20-23. So thank the Lord He has ministers to come and minister to us. So why fear? Because He has us. The Lord provides for us. Where He doesn't personally do it, He sends His angels as messengers with it. Sometimes He does both. When ministers come to refresh you, don't reject them. When God offers you strength, accept it. We often need it, don't we? Our daily affirmation of God's love is Psalm 31. When we are in trouble, we often cry out. But in the Lord, we can take refuge. Why? He never, ever disappoints. The God of truth redeems us. We can trust in Him because His loving kindness sees everything that afflicts us, everything that comes against us, everything that tries to torment us, and He can deliver us. He gives us mercy. We walk in His authority. And nothing can stand against the Lord our God. Nothing. As we close, remember that you have worth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love, and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent His only-born Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin, and it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. He can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.