Picking apart a verse: New Year's Commitments

“Then David said to his son Solomon: Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.” 1 Chronicles 28:19-20

Well, this verse is found toward the end of David's life, and He is commissioning his son, Solomon. I think it is a great way to begin the New Year, to pick apart this verse as a commission to us!

1. Be Strong: "having the power" --> Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you."

Ask for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit on your life. Maybe you've let a struggle with sin become a wall between you & the Spirit's power; ask God to remove it. Ask God to reveal to you what areas of your heart & your life need this refreshing from the Spirit. "Ask and it will be given to you," Jesus says.

2. Courageous: "not deterred by anger or pain; brave"

Be what the Holy Spirit has given you-->the power to be courageous. Let that power be made manifest by Christ in your life! It is not going to be easy, but that is where being courageous comes in: you cannot be deterred by anger, neither your own nor anyone else's perhaps toward you, nor by pain. The breaking down of walls is definitely going to hurt. But the Holy Spirit, when you have asked & received, gives you the power to overcome the pain.

3. Act: "take action; do something"

Do something. And that something isn't just being courageous & strong. It is taking the power to do that (via the Holy Spirit) to a new, deeper level; don't just be strong and courageous, LIVE IT! Do what Christ would want you to do; without being afraid of what others might think or even do to you. Love God; love people. GO to all nations & make disciples. Be HIS witness.

After the commission to his son, David adds some promises:

"Do not fear or be dismayed"

a) Fear: "an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something is likely to cause pain"

This is another call to be courageous. Something coming in Solomon's life was going to cause him pain, and he needed this encouragement. However, we know from history that Solomon gave over to his fear, and went chasing after his own desires. In our lives, God may have called us to something that could cause pain. Maybe you need to give up a relationship. Maybe it's just a sinful habit that we've let become routine and our hearts are hardened to. But we are called not to fear--365 times in the Word, and it is always a command of "Do not fear". Let's live that command out in our lives, and be not afraid of anything that may come our way.

b) Dismayed: "to feel distressed"

Stress causes a lot of problems. Stress needs to be relieved. Stress can only be relieved by CHRIST'S power within us. In this commission, we are being called NOT to let stress mount up in our lives; soon it will control us both emotionally & physically. Instead we are called to let CHRIST be the controller, the ruler of heart. So let's commit to that this new year. That CHRIST will be throne in our hearts, not Stress, which is only a tool of Satan against us, to keep Christ from the throne of our hearts.

"My God is with you"

~This was really big for David to say. The God of David had:

*Defeated a giant

*Appointed a shepherd boy as the King of Israel

*Saved David's life countless times against the wrath of King Saul

*Forgiven him....a adulterer, a murderer

"He will not fail or forsake you until the all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished."

i. Fail: "be unsuccessful in one's goal"

~Make you're goals, God's goals this New Year. And they will not fail, for He cannot fail.

ii. Forsake: "abandon; renounce; give up"

~God will never leave you. He desires to be in constant communion with you. WE are the ones who forsake Him when things look bleak or dark. Make the commitment this New Year to be constantly reminded of His presence. Ask Him to do this, and soon it will be second nature to run to Him and not away from Him when things get tough for His sake.

iii. "Until...it is finished"

These same words were spoken:

a) At the foot of the Cross, when Jesus breathed His last. In this, His took our sins upon Himself, and made the journey into Death's veil to defeat death, Hell, and the grave for us.

b) When the New Heaven & the New Earth are here, the old earth & the old Heaven gone. When Christ is reigning over all. When: "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4)

**That New Heaven & New Earth will come after the end, after the Judgement has taken place. But that comes when: "this gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14)

~So, that should be our last commitment this new year. To be apart of that "Proclaiming throughout the whole world." To follow Christ's command in Matthew 28, to GO and make disciples. The whole world includes our backyard, our college campuses, our high schools, our workplaces, our families, our friends. So let's go.

This New Year, let's not make resolutions for ourselves, but COMMITMENTS for our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ.