“I must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.”

— John 9:4

Have you ever noticed how sometimes, just on the eve of victory, someone will sabotage his own success by doing something foolish, even if it took him a while to get to that point? He subconsciously gave in to what some psychologists call “the will to failure.”

In her 1936 classic book, Wake Up & Live!, Dorothea Brande devotes a chapter to the “Will to Fail.” She talks about people who are “unconsciously…trying to fail.” She says that the people who essentially waste their lives, either explicitly or subtly, are given over to the Will to Fail. For example, she writes, “Easiest of all to recognize as lovers of failure are the heavy drinkers.”

She lists other examples of this “will to fail.” “There are the takers of eternal post-graduate courses, turning up on the campus year after year like so many Flying Dutchman.” Pursuits that basically cause us to waste our lives manifest the Will to Fail, and so she concludes: “…[If] we are not doing what we are best equipped to do, or doing well what we have undertaken as our personal contribution to the world’s work, at least by way of an earnestly followed avocation, there will be a core of unhappiness in our lives which will be more and more difficult to ignore as the years pass.”

God has given us the privilege to walk in the good works that He has prepared for us to do. Just ask Him to show what those are and then do them.

Heavenly Father, give us the strength today to do the work You have called us to do. Guide us and help us to obey You in all things…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ARE NOT
CAPTIVES OF THE WILL TO FAIL.

“As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.”

— Jeremiah 36:23

In the days of Jeremiah the prophet, Jehoiakim, an evil king, did not like hearing the Word of God. So he burned it. No other writings in history have been so intensely and consistently vilified over such a period of time as have the Scriptures. Even during the Old Testament period, the evil Jewish king Manasseh attempted to destroy all of the writings of the Scriptures. Yet, twenty years later, his grandson, Josiah, found a copy of the Scriptures hidden in the temple, and with that discovery began a great spiritual revival.

In 303 A.D., the Roman emperor Diocletian instituted another of the long line of terrible persecutions against the Christians and ordered all copies of the Scriptures to be burned. Ten years later, the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Toleration. Twenty-five years after Diocletian’s order to destroy the Scriptures, Constantine officially ordered the historian Eusebius to produce numerous copies of the Bible for the Roman Empire.

Voltaire, who died in 1778, said that within 100 years of his death Christianity would have become extinct. One hundred years after Voltaire died, an original copy of the writings of Voltaire sold for $0.11 while that same year a manuscript of the Bible sold for $500,000. The Word of God will stand forever.

Almighty God, it could only be by Your power that the Bible has escaped destruction. It is still under attack. Thank You for Your watching over Your Word as You watch over Your people…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH,
HIS WORD STANDS.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He spoken, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

— Numbers 23:19

First there is an idea, which the author develops into an outline he can take to a publisher. When one is found, they usually work jointly to complete the manuscript, taking it through various stages of editing until the final version is ready to be printed.

However, with the Scripture there was no outline, no topic assigned, no editorial committee on this earth, no plan for production, no completion or publication dates. Indeed, some 40 different writers—over a period of 60 generations and some 1,500 years, writing in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), on a number of different continents, in numerous countries (including Palestine, Rome, Greece, Turkey, Patmos, Babylon, and Persia)—produced this incredible book. Writers who came from totally divergent backgrounds—kings and peasants, shepherds and fishermen, philosophers, and what have you—all conspired to produce a book that has the most incredible unity.

The book begins in a garden in Paradise and ends in a garden in Paradise. It begins with Paradise lost and ends with Paradise regained. There has never been another book so produced with such incredible unity as this wondrous book.

God of the Bible, make us truly “people of the Book.” Thank You that we live in a time where we have complete copies, in multiple versions and languages, with innumerable aids to help us understand Your Word better. Help us to be diligent in our studies of the Bible that we may apply it to our lives…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE KNOW
HIS WORD AND LIVE BY IT.

“…for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”

— Proverbs 8:11

God’s wisdom is personified in Proverbs 8, calling out to the people to follow her ways. We see in this passage various excellencies of wisdom—how it is able to touch the locks and open the latches of all of the doors of wisdom and knowledge and inventions. All things open in the face of wisdom. By wisdom kings reign and princes rule, and judges judge the earth. Wisdom says, “I love those who love me, and those that seek me early will find me” (Proverbs 8:16).

How true it is with even the knowledge of this world that those who love knowledge find that they are loved by it. And yet often they merely heap up to themselves empty facts, which have little eternal significance. But if we truly love wisdom, we will find that we will be loved by it and blessed by it. Not only riches, but “riches and honor are with me” (Proverbs 8:18). Honor comes from the wisdom of God and His word. It is durable riches which shall last.

Verse 21 says “… I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, and I will fill their treasuries.” Now this is an amazing promise—those who seek God’s word will be blessed with substance and their treasuries will be filled. This is the promise of wisdom. Above all, seek not the gifts of life but the Giver of life.

Almighty God, wisdom and strength are with You. Make me wise, God, so that I can discern right from wrong. Give me strength for today that I can see the right path and take it and impart wisdom to others…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND WISDOM,
WE TOO MAY BE WISE.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

— Romans 12:2

Don’t let the world hypnotize you into inaction for the Lord. Why don’t we all do something of significance with our lives? I recall seeing a magician at a stage performance ask for a volunteer. A man came forward and was asked to sit down on a stool. The magician began to hypnotize him. Finally the man apparently fell into a deep hypnotic sleep. But before he was brought out of that sleep, the magician told him and the entire audience that could hear, “When you wake up, you will not be able to move your right arm. You will not be able to even lift your right arm. Now, you wake up at the count of three—one, two, three.”

This was a man about 40 years old, quite physically capable. When he woke up, the magician said to him, “Now, sir, would you raise your left arm?” and he did. He then said, “Now, will you raise your right arm?” the man said, “I can’t.” He didn’t know what had happened to him. No matter how hard he tried, he could not raise his right arm.

I am absolutely confident that there are many of us who can’t do many things simply because we don’t believe that we can. May God help us to not be hypnotized by the world, so that we are conformed more and more into its image. I’m reminded of how the J. B. Phillips version paraphrases Romans 12:2: “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.”

Dear Father, give me strength for today that I might conform myself to You and to no longer be hypnotized by this world’s negative and evil influences. Help us, Lord, to be conformed to Your image and not that of this sinful world…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE MARCH TO HIS
BEAT AND NOT THAT OF THE WORLD.

“Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

— 1 Corinthians 1:31

I think if you asked the average person where you would find the letter of Judas in the Bible they would be somewhat taken aback, and yet that is what we find in the second to last book of the Bible. We know it as the Epistle of Jude. His full name was actually Judas.

As many of you probably know, this man was the half-brother of our Christ. You recall that the Pharisees in Nazareth said, “Is He not the carpenter’s son… And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matthew 13:55-56a). So we know that Jesus had four half-brothers, and at least two sisters who, in good first century Palestinian form, were not named.

As an unbeliever, Jude (along with his brothers) mocked Christ (John 7:3-5). So did James his brother, who was converted after the resurrection. James became the leader of the early church in Jerusalem. “Old camel knees,” he was known as from much praying.

While little is known about Jude, other than this epistle, which we shall consider over the next few days, we should notice how he identifies himself. He writes, “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” You notice he doesn’t say the brother of Jesus Christ, but the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. Today, we have too many people trying to boast about who they are or who they know. We can learn a lesson in humility just from this one statement of Jude.

Father, with a humble heart I come before You. I praise You for the great examples in Scripture and ask that I may acquire some true humility. Lord, give us strength for today to walk humbly before You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH,
WE CAN BE TRULY HUMBLE.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…”

— 1 John 4:18

How many people are prevented from ever succeeding because they allow past failures to short-circuit their faith in the Lord? They forget what God can do with us when we let Him.

Questions put to me sometimes are very amusing. One young man recently said to me, “Oh Dr. Kennedy, I so admire your intellect. You graduated from graduate school summa cum laude.” That’s not the way it was always. Before I was a Christian, I went to college for two and a half years before I quit. In the last course I took, I received an F—F for failure.

“Oh, you speak so easily. You are so articulate.” I remember when I stood up and could not get out three sentences in a row. I sat down in great humiliation.

“Oh, you are such a good teacher.” I can still feel the pressure on my back when the first time I taught a class. Someone had to physically push me into the room to teach my first students. I was paralyzed with fear.

But I learned something. I learned that God can use me when I concentrate on the power He gives me. His perfect love casts out our fear. Instead of focusing on your fears and your past failures, realize that God can use even those failures for His glory. He can make you a new person and remove those doubts and fears.

God of love, cast out my fears today, and give me strength for today to go forth in Your power and do the things You have set before me. Let Your love so fill my heart, mind, and soul that there is no room for fear…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND IN HIS LOVE,
OUR FEARS ARE CONQUERED.

“So you also, when you have done everything commanded you, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done our duty.’”

— Luke 17:10

We need to forget our successes sometimes. Some of us are wonderful laurelsitters. We have been sitting on our laurels for years. We reach a certain level of accomplishment and are satisfied. That should not be.

I recall reading that one of Napoleon’s generals came to him and described a magnificent victory he had won in one of the campaigns. He described how they had brought the artillery up to just the right point and smashed the enemy. Having concluded a detailed narrative, he waited for Napoleon to commend him. There was a brief silence, and then Napoleon said to him, “Yes, and what did you do the next day?”

I think we need to hear those words because God is no doubt going to be asking us, “What did you do the next day?” What are you doing now for God? Are you resting on your laurels? We need to forget our successes. We need to have a holy discontent.

Sometimes we may be quite content and unconcerned about the advancement of the kingdom of God, but very discontented about the state we are in. We do not like the car we drive, the house we live in, the clothes we wear. We are envious of others—what they have, what jobs they hold, and what cars they drive. But we have it all backwards. There is a need for a holy discontent in the progress we have made in the kingdom of God.

Lord, give me strength for today to realize I do not need to be great in Your kingdom. I only wish to be Your servant. Neither do I wish to miss opportunities to serve and to grow and do great things for You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE PRESS ON
IN THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM.

“I will give You thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever.”

— Psalm 86:12

Life has purpose. The handle of an ax has only one purpose. The weighty end of the head has no other purpose than to bring the whole momentum created by the handle and the weight created by the head to bear on that small, sharp, knifelike edge. When that hits the wood, the purpose is fulfilled. So it is with a bow and arrow. The head of the arrow, the shaft, the feathers, the bow, the string, the arm and the eye are all designed for just one purpose: the front end of the arrow to hit the target.

Everything that accomplishes anything great has an integration toward a single purpose, whether it be a football team or a 747. Can you imagine a football team which is not integrated toward a single play?

Our lives are so unlike that. There are many who build huge engines but have little stubby wings and so they will not fly. Others have wings that are a block and half long but have no power to get off the ground. There is not that integration where every part moves toward the same goal.

Everything a triathlon athlete does is designed to complete that one single event. His eating, his sleeping, his exercise, what work he does to make money just to continue toward that goal, his thinking, and his study, are designed toward that one end.

Godly goals are the best type. It’s good to be goal-oriented, especially if that goal is for God’s glory and our good and that of others.

Lord, give me strength for today to fulfill the purpose for which You have made me. Thank You for Your promise to give Your wisdom to those who need it. Help us to live on purpose and let that purpose be to glorify Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH,
ALL MY WORK IS PRAISE.

“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were illiterate and uneducated men, they marveled. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

— Acts 4:13

Many people are rendered failures because they remember what they ought to forget and forget what they ought to remember. This is a tragic thing. We ought to forget those things that debilitate and keep us from reaching our greatest potential. The first among those is that we ought to forget our failures. I believe that the remembrance of our failures is Satan’s chain that he uses to bind us to the ground like some chained bird. We may desire at times to spread our wings and fly up into the sky and that chain jerks us back down to the ground.

“I’ve tried it before, and I failed.” “I tried to one time, and it did not work.” “I stood up to speak and forgot my lines.” “I can still remember them laughing.” “I didn’t do well in school. I failed the course.” “I failed in business.” “I failed in life.” “I can’t do it.” “I can’t.” “I can’t.”

The apostles had their own failings. Three times Peter had denied that he knew Jesus. John and his brother James sought to be so honored that they would sit on both sides of the Lord up in heaven. The Gospels record the failings of the apostles repeatedly. But after His resurrection and the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, now the apostles were bold changed men, so they forgot their failures and remembered God’s blessing. Be careful what you choose to remember and what you choose to forget.

Dear Lord Jesus, give me strength for today to remember Your blessings, the victories You have given me, however small or great, and to remember what is good. Help me to forget my failures and hurts. I lay these at the foot of the cross. Help me to leave them there…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
LEAVE OUR FAILURES BEHIND.