1.22.11

Matthew 14:27 But Jesus spoke to them (the disciples), "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage, I am here."

My Thoughts
Jesus died and and was risen from the dead so that he could be with us all the time... he sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us so that we don't have to be afraid... Jesus told the disciples "Take courage, I am here." .. Jesus is here with us all the time...and it is important for us to take courage... Maya Angelou said, "One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest." 

So often we do ask God to be with us in really scary times...sometime that is the only time we remember to ask God to help us... but we need courage to face each and every day... we need courage to be true to who we are, and what we believe in...  we need courage to be kind... yes we need courage to be kind, when the whole world is being unkind it take courage to step out and be kind... we have seen examples of this in school hallways when a crowd of kids are all picking on one child... most the people don't really want to be picking they want to be kind. But they don't want to stand out...if just one person used courage to be kind it would be amazing to see what the other kids did!!! To see what other adults did. It does take courage to be kind. 

We need courage to be merciful...Mercy has been defined as " compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary... well I can tell you it takes courage to be kind to somebody that has hurt you, or been hateful to you.  It takes courage to go up and be really nice to somebody that may respond by being hateful...it is so much easier to avoid them... or even be hateful back. So we need courage to be merciful.

We need courage to generous. To be generous? Yes to be generous, it takes courage to be generous because sometimes being generous means giving up something you have wanted or needed, something you think you can't live without... it takes courage to give what we have worked hard for and to believe that God will provide.

It takes courage to be honest... I know some of you are thinking "I am always honest!" ... but sometimes we stand in a group of people talking, knowing that we strongly disagree with what they are saying... looking like we agree because we don't have the courage to say "I just don't believe what you are saying, I take a different view."  Sometimes, and we have all done it, we stand back when it is really important to speak up...when speaking up defends somebody's honor.  When speaking up could truly change at lease one person's skewed view of an important truth. When speaking up is more honest than standing there looking like we agree.

We don't just need to do as Jesus said and "take courage" in big, scary situations. We need to "take courage"  in our everyday life so we can be kind and merciful, generous and honest...we need to "take courage" so that in all times and in all situations we can be the person that God called us to be. I know that I, me, myself needs to be more courageous, I need not to be afraid.  I need to know that God will give me the words, the provision, the mercy I need when I do what he ask me to do.  I need to know it in my spirit, in my heart not just in my head. I need to act and react with courage.