God Is My Strength and Power - Part 2 — Joshua Daniel

Welcome to the Lord's Challenge with Joshua Daniel. The Layman's Evangelical Fellowship International is a ministry reaching people from all walks of life since 1935. After a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ at the age of 16, Joshua Daniel has been declaring the marvellous deliverance from sin, which is freely given to all those who turn to the loving Saviour.

Wherever this message has gone out, broken relationships have been restored, sickness healed, ill-gotten money returned, and thieves turned into givers. We now invite you to watch and receive the invaluable blessing that God has for you.

Fearing the Lord and Walking in His Ways

If you would please turn to Deuteronomy 10, and verse 12. And of Israel, what doth the LORD your God require of you? But to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

So there is something which God requires of us. You will notice that God wants a walk. What does the Lord want? What does the Lord require of you but to fear the Lord, to walk in all his ways? You know, sometimes I think back.

My dad died when I was 35 years, and there were many responsibilities which suddenly came upon me. And, you know, I never claimed to be a very wise or thoughtful person. I always knew that I was foolish.

And looking back, when I look at all those trials that I had to face without my father's support, he was such a mighty man of prayer. Without his support, I say, God had to take me through those difficult paths to teach me faith, to teach me that strength comes from him, and make me to let go and let God.

Surrendering Control to God

You know, we feel we are at the helm. We find it very difficult to give up our own will. We are at the helm. I have the steering. You know, years ago, there was a great world champion driving, a racing driver called Mike Hawthorne.

As I sat at tea in England, I heard over the radio that Mike Hawthorne was killed when his Jaguar slid or skidded on a wet road and hit a tree. He was an expert driver, a world champion, but he was dead.

He had the steering, but he couldn't steer himself out of trouble. We find it very hard to let go of the steering. Say, I'm boss here, and so I'll bully everybody. You know, some people are just natural bullies.

They like to bully people. I don't know what that is. You and I are to lift people, not to bully people. I noticed that when people get a little power in their hands, all their background comes out. Say, I was deprived of this.

I was deprived of this. I was treated this way. I was called by some funny name. Well, people are so conscious of the color, as though color defines everything. What a tragedy. As a matter of fact, in the upbringing of the president, while his grandparents tried to protect him, yet color is one of the things which proved to be very prominent in his thinking.

Christ's Love Beyond Color and Status

Oh, that's sad. That's sad. See, to act on that, to think on the basis of anything but character and love. You know, you will go wrong if you think in terms of anything else, in terms of nationality, in terms of your accomplishments, in terms of your status or whatever.

But when you begin to act on the terms of love, you will never go wrong. Love is colorblind. Love defies all circumstances. That is Christ's love. Human love, of course, appeals to the divorce courts in a matter of a week or two after marriage.

That's not the love at all that we need. We need the love of Jesus. Now, my friends, we see in the 12th verse, Deuteronomy 10 and 12, what does God require of you but to fear the Lord, to walk in all his ways?

A Faithful Walk That Becomes Love

Walking. You know, friends, we may not be big talkers, but our walk is a wonderful speech. You will never deliver a speech which is greater than your walk. You know, I have a book of great speeches, and of course, some of them are such noble speeches, historic speeches.

As a matter of fact, I did not know that even Jack Kennedy, President John Kennedy, said that if, you know, morality, thou know, true liberty and the rights of man do not come from the generosity of the state.

What? We'd better tell Washington this. The rights of man do not come from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. I never knew that he had uttered such a great statement. And that's the kind of philosophy that really built this nation.

The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. You see, my dear friends, your walk. Think of all the people. There are a lot of people in churches today in the nation.

If all of them walk according to the word of God, what a mark will be made on Monday morning. Can anybody forget that? You can't forget the actions of somebody. You can forget the words of somebody, but you can't forget the actions of somebody.

You can't forget the actions of your mother. So what does God say? I want your walk. I want your walk and to love him and to serve the Lord your God. You see, this is the progression. I will obey God.

I will fear the laws of God. Then your walk shows Christ-likeness. Then comes love. You see, out of your walk. You know, if a man's walk is selfish and has no love content in it, what's the good of that?

Loving Enemies and Blessing Persecutors

And if you love them that love you, what thank have you, said Jesus. If you greet them that just greet you, what thank have you, but to love them and bless them that curse you. That's it. Love. Oh, some of the people who were under severe persecution, they found that their natural impulse was, if I ever get out of this position of being a war prisoner, see what I will do to these captors.

They were so cruel, but some of these Christian prisoners in Japanese prisons in the war, they said, no, this is only my natural reaction. No, I am going to show something else to my captors. I'm going to show the love of Jesus, which they did.

They overcame. So out of your walk and your love, there comes service. You begin to serve. You know, we feel all our strength is drained and we're finished by the time we have gone through the day. And there are some people today who are holding three, four jobs.

You know, even 20, 25 years ago, I found people in Indiana who were holding three jobs. Just to make ends meet and pay for their children to put food on the table. Yes. So there are the people who are struggling around us.

Love Expressed Through Practical Service

And love without service is a kind of legless love. You know, if you ask a man who has never walked, hey, why don't you kill that cobra or that rattlesnake? It's approaching that poor blind man. Why don't you kill it?

What's the poor man going to tell you? Hey, I can hardly rise. I have no feet. You know, we can have a feetless Christianity, a legless, feetless Christianity, a Christianity in which all my burdens are too much.

My bills are too much. There's nothing I can do. No, my dear friends. I remember we were the guests of a pastor many years ago, 40, over 45 years ago. And this man was a most earnest, godly man who wanted blessing in his church.

And when I preached in his church, he said this message was tailor made, custom made for my church. I didn't know that. It was a strange new place to me. But the Lord was there. And he said to me, this church has tried to stop me from saying the things which I should by presenting me with a new car.

That's what he told me. And one day there were, the pastor had three little ones. And we had a baby. At that time, John was a baby. We needed milk in the house. There was no milk. And the lady of the house did not tell me that.

We went to the evening's meeting, which I addressed. And she said to us on her way back, someone slipped a $10 bill into my hands. And I want to stop at a grocery and get some milk because there's no milk in the house.

Yes, I have lived with some very ordinary, poor people. And yet they would not tell me. Yes, folks. What does the Lord require of you? But to fear him, to walk in his ways, to love him, and to serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul.

Giving Heart, Soul, and Strength to God

My dear friends, I can't help feeling that I'm not serving God with all my heart and soul. I can't help feeling because when I played my games, I used to give myself so fully to my games. I believe that there are powers of spirit, soul, and body, which if completely given to God, will make you a man or a woman who will bring great blessing.

Soul. Look at our soul. Our soul is a very tormented part of us. All kinds of thoughts. You know, there's a television commentator. There is a radio talk show. There is something else bounced off upon you.

There are all your struggles, official struggles, or whatever. There are your financial commitments. Your mind is tied up. And when your mind is tied up, you're not able to focus. God is in control. God has the steering.

Trusting God for Strength and Direction

He maketh my way perfect. He makes my feet like hind's feet. He will not forget me. He will not abandon me. You see, that kind of faith, oh, I don't see it in operation. You know, people come to me with great alarms and in big crisis, and they pour out their hearts.

But oh, we must learn first to pour our heart before God. We must first learn that. Lord, you have promised to make my feet like hind's feet. Do it. You know, when Peter and John raised up that lame man who was a beggar at the temple, the Bible says he received strength in his ankles, and he rose up and walked and leaped.

He received strength. So, my dear friends, let's be careful. Sunday must be carefully preserved as the day of Jesus, day of God, to renew ourselves. That's the Lord's day. And then our feet will be like hind's feet.

I feel very sad when I see any preacher or somebody who is not able to get around. I remember after one of my heart operations, I could not even push back my footrest. You know, in any of these lounge chairs, you have the footrest, you have got to knock it back.

I have no strength in my feet to do it. It was alarming to me. I had to bend and push it back with my hands because my feet couldn't do it. No strength in your feet. He received strength in his ankles.

Prayer for a Sufficient Savior

I feel very sad when anybody is incapacitated in that manner. I say, oh no, Lord, this man must be able to rise and walk. The Lord will help you. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, while all around us there is so much stress and sorrow, and people are facing difficulties of so many sorts, and little children don't know what to make of it, and people imagine when will this nightmare pass.

At such a time, Lord Jesus, we cry to you. Help us to show a Savior who is sufficient, who makes our feet like hind's feet, supplies us with grace, supplies us with the right words, and puts feet to our love.

Hear our prayer. In Jesus' almighty name. Amen.

Walk this road to glory, children. Walk this road to glory, children. My Lord can tell the story, children. Come to the river wide. The blessed Lord is going to calm the tides. Walk this road to glory.

Out of the way. Spirit guides me as I travel day by day. I just pull into the station and I get a full stop. Walk this road to glory, children. Walk this road to glory, children. My Lord can tell the story, children.

This program is brought to you by the Layman's Evangelical Fellowship International,.

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