NEVER SURRENDER!

📖Scripture: "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small."

-Proverbs 24:10

🔎Reflection: The call to Christian courage is not conditional. The Hebrew word for "faint" (ḥārap) implies letting go, ceasing, or relaxing. Proverbs teaches that if we shrink back when the battle is upon us, it reveals the true measure of our strength. The Spirit-led Apostle Paul reinforces this truth in Ephesians 6:10-11: "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God." Jesus told His disciples in Luke 9:62, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." The day of adversity isn’t a theoretical future moment—it is today. The church's passive embrace of silence and fear in evangelism reflects a fatal weakness, revealing we trust more in our reputation than in God's power. Like the fig tree in Mark 11, bearing leaves with no fruit invites cursing. There is no "off season" for the Saints!

🤺Action: Examine your response in the face of gospel adversity. Where have you chosen silence over obedience? Confess it as sin. Write down the names of three people in your life who need to hear the gospel. Pray for boldness, and plan a conversation with one or more of them this week.

🙏Prayer: Lord of Hosts, I confess my need for your Spirit’s boldness and strength! Forgive me for my cowardice and apathy regarding the ministry of the GOSPEL. I have feared man more than You. I have rationalized disobedience as “strategy” and called silence wisdom. Forgive me. Strengthen my heart for the day of adversity. Let me not wither like that fig tree. Make me steadfast, immovable, always abounding in Your work. May I speak Your truth with love, urgency, and clarity. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Click the following YouTube link for a short video version:

https://youtube.com/shorts/21dy4Kstu1g?feature=shared

Blessings & love,

Kevin M. Kelley

Pastor

BigIslandChristian.Church