Strong – Boldly For Him

The car engine blew up and everything went into slow motion. With angry flames shooting from under the car’s hood reaching for the sky, I glanced over at my friend riding with me, the look of surprise, shock, and horror on her face told the whole story. Suddenly a white pick-up truck appeared on my left and the driver started motioning for me to pull over to the side of the road.

We were in the middle of a miracle and didn’t even know it!

Psalm 91:11 (TPT) says it this way: “God sends Angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm”.

To this day I can’t tell you how the flames stopped, the name of the guy, the (Angel), who I really believe helped us, or how I was able to calmly park my car on the side of the road. What I do remember is a young guy around my age walking over to the car, he asked us where we were going and I told him, he then said that he was going to that exact same area which was a good four hours drive from where we were at that moment! He then asked us if we wanted to get in the truck and that he would take us to wherever we needed to be, and that my car would be okay where we left it.

In a daze, my friend and I followed his instructions and got in the pick-up truck, the rest of the ride was a blur. However, I do remember him offering some insight and feedback on the car. He said that the car engine probably blew up from a lack of proper oil changes….I don’t remember EVER taking that car in for an oil change! I SHOULD have known better!

The moral of this true story? My car needed to have had regular, “oil changes” in order for the engine not to blow up and put me and my friend’s life in danger. So it is with our walk with The Lord, without “His Anointing”, “His Fresh Oil”, The “Holy Spirit” CONTINUALLY empowering us, our lives can explode into an angry blaze of, “self-effort” and “self-preservation”. Only to end in the smoldering ruins of “dead works” and “lifeless idols”.

How do we avoid this spiritual crash and burn? The answer can be found in,

Psalm 92:10 (TPT): “Your Anointing has made me strong and mighty. You’ve empowered my life for triumph by pouring fresh oil over me.”

There are several important points that God provides for us in this scripture that will keep our lives well oiled and running smoothly here on earth.

First of all, it is the recognition that it is “His Anointing” not our own human efforts that provide us with the strength and might that we need in order to run our race well.

Secondly, our lives are empowered for triumph by a continuous flow of “Fresh Oil”, a conscious continual yielding of our live’s to The Holy Spirit’s guidance on a daily basis. This permits Him to cleanse us, heal us, correct us, strengthen us and as I learned the hard way, protect us in our life’s journey as we abide in His Presence.

Thirdly notice that the Psalmist says that “fresh oil” is poured OVER us. My friend we are not just sprinkled with His Anointing we are Drenched and Saturated with Him as we yield to the ongoing leadership of The Holy Spirit in our lives! King David gives us a beautiful illustration of this truth in,

Psalm 23:5-6 (AMP), “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.” “Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days The House of The Lord [and His Presence} shall be my dwelling place.”

This Mighty Child of The Most-High God is how we can, “Be Strong and Live Free….Boldly For Him”!

Is It Time For “FRESH OIL”? Let’s do a systems check and find out.

1. Do you have the motivation and strength to carry on?
2. Are you easily provoked to anger and impatient with those around you, even total strangers?
3. When was the last time that you really enjoyed “The Presence of The Lord”, and sensed “His Pleasure” in you as His beloved son or daughter?
4. Are you allowing, “The Joy of The Lord to be your Strength and Stronghold”? Ref. Nehemiah 8:10.

Inside every one of us is the innate desire to, “Be Strong and Live Free”! Why is this true? The answer may surprise you, especially if you haven’t made Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior…It’s true because God Himself created every one of us to, “Be Strong and Live Free”!

You see long before I decided to have a personal relationship with The Lord, ALL I wanted to do was to have a relationship with, “A father”. Frequently locking myself up in a bathroom crying out with tears streaming down my face as a teenager for a “father” that was not present, was all-consuming to me. Amidst the atmosphere of abusive home life, there was little room for freedom, let alone peace or individuality of any kind. I grew distant from my mother, I also developed an intense aversion to, “going to church” on Sunday’s; primarily because of the everyday hypocrisy that I lived in. Therefore, the only type of strength and freedom that I developed growing up was not based on Who God is, because I did not know God, I only knew religion. What was constantly modeled to me was that strength equals control and freedom equals running, as in running away from being controlled and anyone or anything that I could not control.

To this day, that is why, as a Christian and an ordained Minister of The Gospel of Jesus Christ, I have such an intense desire and passion to see people, “Be Strong and Live Free” “Boldly For Him”! The One True God! The God of Genuine Everlasting Relationship. The God of True Strength and True Freedom! Sadly, there are many people full of misconceptions and ideas about the Strength and Freedom we enjoy as a Friend of God. I personally came to realize that by serving in His Kingdom, I found the True Strength and Freedom that I was so desperately crying out for years ago. I know God as my personal Savior through His son Jesus Christ, I also know Him as a “Loving Father” and a “True Loyal Friend”. The Friend that the Bible says in Proverbs 18:24 (b), “Sticks closer than a brother.”

So it is with Great Excitement, Anticipation, Joy, and Expectancy that I offer to you Dear Reader, the opportunity and “The Invitation” to join me on this journey as we together learn how to,
“BE STRONG…..AND LIVE FREE”
“BOLDLY FOR HIM”!