Day 30 -The Courage of a Stronghold - Daily Inspirational Verses from Real Life

Psalm 27:1 - (ESV): "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Many times in the daily and weekly life of someone with TBI, as I am, thoughts of leaving it all behind enter your life.  Frequently, if you pay attention to the sports news, that ends end death at your own hand, one of the charming outcomes of living or not living with TBI.  More often, the idea of just getting into a car and driving off to nowhere often seems appealing.  A Mountain Stronghold would be awesome.

I have actually gotten into a car and driven off, not knowing where I was going, and since I have no ability to read a map or follow written directions, my intention was to get lost and never come back.  A few times it took days to find my way back.

Today was one of those days.  Once again, an agency that should know better has decided once again to see if I really have TBI.  For 3 hours, I could not breath, or think, or stop shaking.  My wife tells me I have been here before; many times, nearly all the time, but since short term memory and long term memory are also issues with TBI, I have to take her word for it.

Then it dawned on me.  Of who should I be afraid.  It does not matter what someone else says or thinks, my God knows the truth and has always taken care of me.  He will here too.  I began to calm down, and spent some time in prayer.  At fist asking for rescue, then for peace.

As I started to relax, my wife told me she talked to them, and this was just a routine exam; one they had not done in 20 years.  Ok, that was fast.  God answered that prayer.

Yet, if you know TBI, you know there is the rest of tomorrows to worry about what others think. Today, I remind myself that courage means doing the right thing, and knowing my God will always take care of me.  Doing the right thing is all I have had to look forward to for 20 plus years, and I am still there.  God has always been there for me.

He will be for you to.

Pull back the curtain of fear, and let the light of our Lord into your life.  He is for you, so what does it really matter who is against you.  You have already won, you just don't know what form the victory will take.

Get ready to stand with your God in the stronghold he has built around you.

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For information on be certain of your Status with God, overcoming your actions that keep you from God, and allowing you to accept his free gift of eternal life, Click Here.

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Remember, David was a Sinner Too!

There are 2 things you have to remember about David.

1) David was a Sinner too.

What sin means to you, however, might not be the same that Sin means to God. The way I keep it straight in my mind, to keep me humble but also to keep me under the protection that David enjoyed, is that if you break a Law of God, you have sinned. To keep in simple, when Jesus was asked what the most important law to follow, instead of saying, ALL of them, which I would expect, he said something else altogether.

In Luke 10:27. "He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

So keeping it simple, your first thought should be about God, then right after that you should be worried about other people. If your first thought is about how anything impacts your life, your emotions, your finances, your anything, you are sinning. Self Centered actions are the center of Jesus' answers.

That is a tad scary for me. I most definatly sin.

So did David, yet in Psalm 27: (NLT) David says with confidence and faith, "The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?"

He does not say, Please Be My Fortress, he says the Lord is his fortress, and yet he was a sinner. When I read this psalm today, I saw hope.

Normally, I don't like reading the psalms. They are either too difficult for me to integrate into my life, or they are to simplistic. Today I was reading "Good News for Those Trying Harder," by Alan Kraft,  I discovered this biblical explanation for sin.(I will review this book when I finish it.) When I read it, a crisis in my daily life prevented me from continuting in my reading, so all got, until I read Psalm 27, was that I was a far worse sinner than I had thought.

But then I read what David counted on from the Lord, and hope surrounded my being. He too was a sinner, and yet he continued Psalm 27 with: "When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident."

I want some of that.  I am a sinner who loves the Lord, but today I feel attacked, beat down and nearly hopeless.  So What is the secret.  What did David had that I do not?


First, you have Jesus.  So you are ahead.  Way ahead.  But yet, David has this scary weird confidence. Verse 4 clears it up, and it is the second thing that you have to remember about David.

Pslam 27:4 "The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple."

2) David had  as his first and only request  the desire to live with the Lord all the days of his life.  That is goal 1 for him.  

Does your prayer life always start with the absolute feeling and expression of gratitude that you do get to spend the rest of forever with the Lord?  Do you love the fact that you are saved, or has that become a secondary part of your Christian Life?

I know my gratitude frequently comes after the situation.  I need to reach into my life and express my gratitude for the forever I have already be given, then I too can share David's confidence.