WE NEED COURAGE FOR OUTRAGEOUS OBEDIENCE?

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Courage is the mental or moral strength to venture forward, persevere, and withstand danger or difficulty. Courageous faith rarely feels safe. It’s what Ed McCully, a classmate of Jim Elliot, described as living “a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.” Truly, it’s a risk. I want to encourage you to have the courage that’s born out of a Spirit-filled life. Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers so it is imperative we allow Him to be our counsellor, our teacher, and our comforter and to use all of the nine ministry gifts He provides.

Listen to what Rachelle Starr, author of the new book, Outrageous Obedience says, What does courage that’s guided by faith involve? I’ll tell you that when you head into the clubs, you must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Yes, I need the Spirit every second of every day. But in the clubs, I am constantly praying, Jesus, give me words to speak to this dancer. Give me the wisdom to interact with this club manager. Help the awkwardness our team feels to not show on our faces. Help us to show your love instead.

1. The Spirit is consistent with his messaging. The Holy Spirit’s voice never says anything contrary to God’s revealed Word. In fact, the Bible teaches us that one of the Spirit’s jobs is to remind us of the things we’ve learned from God’s Word (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is never going to tell you to hurt or gossip about someone. No, he’s going to prompt you to confess your sins, obey him, show love to someone who is difficult, or stop talking and listen to a friend who’s in pain. What he tells you will always agree with what God has already told you in the Bible.

2. The Spirit often speaks most clearly in the dark. We want to experience intimacy with God and clearly hear his voice, and I’ve found that we typically feel closest to him and hear him the loudest when we are in the darkest of places, in times of desperation. In those moments when I’m ministering in a dingy dressing room, I am intensely aware of how desperate I am for God’s help. The Spirit gives us words when we need them to bear witness (Mark 13:11). He is the Helper and Comforter who goes with us when it seems like everything is against us.

3. We must walk with the Spirit to know his voice. To hear the voice and promptings of the Spirit, you’ve got to know Him. You won’t hear His voice if you don’t recognize it from spending time with His Word. For me, this involves learning to quiet my soul; I can’t hear the Spirit if my life is too loud. The amazing thing is God wants to have a vibrant relationship with you, and the more you read God’s Word, the more he’ll speak to you. Yes, he speaks through the Bible, but having heard his voice in the Word will help you identify the Holy Spirit’s quiet promptings in your heart as well.

4. The Spirit moves us to action. The Holy Spirit brings you to a place where you need to express your faith. The Spirit leads you to active obedience to God’s commission, which requires making real adjustments in your life (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 13:2, 15:28; 2 Corinthians 3:17–18). The adjustment may be small—like choosing to call a hurting friend—or it may be big—like moving your family across an ocean. But Spirit-empowered obedience almost always involves a courageous adjustment.

GOD IS WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO

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Think about how Joshua felt when God told him to lead the Israelites into Canaan, drive out the pagan inhabitants, and secure the land as a homeland for His people.

In the natural, this would seem to be an impossible task but the key of course is revealed in the following Scripture:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 

God does not commission us without the promise of His presence and provision. We only have to be “strong and of good courage.”

How would you like to be Noah, being told to build an enormous boat as God was going to destroy every living creature on the earth save those on this boat Noah was to build. We are simply told that “Noah did this; he did all that God had commanded him” Genesis 6:22

How Long Was the Ark?

At approximately 510 feet long, it would take nearly one and a half football fields to equal the Ark’s length. That’s big enough that NASA could lay three space shuttles—nose to tail—on the Ark’s roof! 

How Long Was the Ark?

How Tall Was the Ark?

The roof of Noah’s Ark was more than 50 feet from the ground—higher than a modern four-story house. That’s plenty of space for three extra-tall inner decks as the Bible describes.

How Tall Was the Ark?
Truckloads of Cargo Space

The Ark had the same storage capacity as about 450 standard semi-trailers. A standard livestock trailer holds about 250 sheep, so the Ark had the capacity to hold at least 120,000 sheep.

“And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” Genesis 6:13-22

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Are you confident that God is with you wherever you go? He will be if you are obedient to His commands. Moreover, you will know if you are not being obedient because you will experince His discipline. What form that takes varies widely but repentance is required to get you back on track. This is a word usually not spoken of in apostate churches.

Do you want times of refreshing from the Lord? If you do then repent.

LITTLE DISCIPLINE, LITTLE COURAGE – COURAGE IS CAUGHT MORE THAN TAUGHT

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The situation in 2 Chronicles 15:5-7 seems eerily similar to our situation today: “In those times there was no peace … but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. King Jehoshaphat was King of Judah at the time.

One key principle we learn from King Jehoshaphat is that he prepared his heart to seek God (2 Chronicles 19:3). Build courage by strengthening yourself in the Lord … by spending time reading and obeying His Word, as well as praying, fasting, and worshiping.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving – Enter His courts with praise – Enter His presence with worship

We play like we practice. Or said another way, we fight like we prepare. Courage is the outflow of inner disciplines — little discipline, little courage. 

If we take our focus off of Christ, we can easily become discouraged. Jehoshaphat said, “But our eyes are upon You” (2 Chronicles 20:12). He knew that focused attention is critical in battle.

“Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to You.“ 2 Chronicles 20:12

Why would you walk willingly into the enemy’s camp? Why would you feed wrong desires and thoughts when they do nothing but war against the soul? If you’re losing the battle and becoming discouraged, look at your media diet. Is it instilling courage? If not, refocus your sights on Christ.

 God’s battle plan always involves courage: “Act courageous and the Lord will be with you” (2 Chronicles 19:11). Courage is important because it’s undergirded by trust and faith. In essence, we are saying, “Lord, I trust You so I’m going to step out in faith. I’m not going to fear. What can man do to me?” Courage meets fear with faith.

A Christian Call For Courage
Spiritual warfare requires spiritual weapons

We see an incredible event happen in 2 Chronicles 20:22:

“When they began to sing and praise the Lord,” God defeated the enemy. Spiritual warfare requires spiritual weapons.“

Exchange social media binges with worship marathons. Turn to prayer, worship, and the Word, rather than Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. We cannot fill our minds with the world and expect to develop courage. We cannot fill our minds with darkness and expect the light of Christ to shine in our lives.   

The Lord tells us to stand firm — don’t go backward and don’t run ahead in your own strength — but hold the line through obedience, trust, faith, and courage: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today” (Exodus 14:13).

When difficulties come, let your children see you praying and seeking God rather than being upset or frightened. Our children are watching. If we are angry or scared, we’re subtly telling them, “God can’t get us through this; we can’t really trust Him.” Courage is caught more than taught. 

When we worship and walk in obedience, God fights for us, but when we stray, we become easy prey. Repentance and obedience reposition you back in the centre of God’s will … back to victory. Cowardliness and disobedience cost us far more than we realize.

Seeking God with our hearts must be a price we are willing to pay. Are you? It all begins here.

What made these O.T. prophets so bold? How was God’s Word burning in their hearts? It was because the Holy Spirit came upon them and filled them with boldness as they surrendered their entire life to God. You have the Holy Spirit but full surrender is the key ingredient that most Christians are missing. Are rivers of living water flowing out of you  — are you spiritually alive? The more you seek Him the more you find Him: “He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:16).

Extracted from an article by Shane Idleman, The Battle for Courage – A Hill to Die On. The Christian Post.