Leaping Over Walls by God's Help

Leap Day - By God's Help We Leap Over Walls

2/29/2024

“By my God I can leap over a wall.”

Psalm 18:29

A Leap Day Devotion

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Great Feats Accomplished by God’s Grace

God’s empowerment supersedes our human limitations. What normally would be impossible for us becomes achievable because of the Spirit’s enabling.

David testified of this in Psalm 18. As he mounted his attack, he was able to rush upon the enemy and overtake the city. Defended positions typically have the advantage in battles (especially when they have large, fortified embankments), but David took the objective with a tremendous amount of ease.

“By God’s help I leapt over a wall” is the way he describes it. Due to God’s presence the city’s bulwark posed no problem. David scaled it with the effortlessness of one who jumped over a few bricks.

This is not merely an Old Testament oddity. Miracles occurred in the past ages, but this is not something we should relegate to the bygone eras of antiquity.

The New Testament echoes David’s words when it says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The Son of David voiced much the same when he said, “what is impossible with man is possible with God.”

This is what the gospel is really all about. In Christ we have the power to overcome the most insurmountable of barriers. Death is a blockade that looms as an ominous tower before all humanity. No one has the power to scale such an obstacle in and of themselves.

But by God’s help we are able to leap over this wall. Christ died and rose again. As a result, those who trust in him receive the ability to soar over the high walls of the grave. The Spirit empowers us to hurdle the bulwark of sin and death and enter into eternal Paradise.

What’s more, we are called to live daily in power of God’s imminent help. We are to take on the challenges that seem insurmountable. We are to meet them with the assurance that his ever present omnipotence is at our disposal.

Many Christians live timid, reluctant lives. They do not take advantage of the grace that is afforded them or realize the herculean feats that they really could achieve.

They often live in fear of confrontations. They avoid seeking the peace and purity of the church because they lack the courage to work out the problems and talk amiably through them. They need to know that God’s grace affords leaping boldness. After all, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim. 1:7

Some people excuse sinful patters of behavior or wallow in them. They seem like deep trenches that they do not have the will power to climb out of. But the gospel declares that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” He provides the means and the power to achieve the kind of life that the Lord desires.

Each day we meet with different challenges. There are risks, trials, and impossibilities that will seem like insurmountable walls. These are ordained of God, to lead us to the end of ourselves.

Yet we do not cry, “Abandon all hope!” and admit defeat. We must trust in God and charge forward. The victory comes, not by might, but by means of dependence, trust, and hope in God alone. His power is made perfect in weakness and by his help we may leap over the wall.

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Special Speaker at Hopewell
Israel Wayne is an apologist and family advocate. As a homeschool father and speaker, Wayne aims to bring families to the center of the stage when it comes to cultivating faith and a Christian worldview. Join us as we host this opportunity to learn and grow Sunday March 17th at 10:30 am

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