If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.
There are so many places to put our trust, and God usually isn't the first choice. But, when we don't stand in faith or go out in faith, we are so likely to fail. Granted we aren't kings who are waging war against enemies. But when we try and face our enemies alone, we will always loose. Despite what non-believers say, there really is only one enemy in this world and that is Satan. He is trying to make us fail at being "good enough". We are sinful people who like to do bad things. Sure we can justify these things by saying, "Well, I'm mostly a good person." But at the end of the day, none of us are - myself included. I am not a very good person at all. However, thanks to Jesus and what He has done for me, I can be in a relationship with my Father again. Not because I work really hard. Not because I've checked all the boxes of what a Christian is supposed to do, but because I know Him and love Him.
It's easy to get turned away from this. It's easy to want to work hard or make something happen. However, I have found in most of these passages a common thread: faith. Usually God doesn't want much from us besides faith. If we trust that He is going to do what He says He is going to do, usually things work out the way He said. It's when we start wasting our time with doubt or hesitations that we run into trouble.
Lord, give us faith to trust You at Your word. Let there be no doubt in our hearts that what You have spoken can and will come to pass if we just let it. Give us courage to respond to Your voice and give us ears to hear it. Grab our attention and give us discernment. Speak, for we long to hear. Strengthen our faith to follow You. We long for You!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
09 July 2012
08 July 2012
He waits for me there
Many will come
all will see
Your Reign established
eternally
As You judge
You bring peace
You bring peace
to the nations
O house of Jacob
come, let us walk
in the light
of the Lord
He waits for me there
He waits for me there
My Father is waiting on the mountain
In the midst of judgment on His people, God is still calling to us. His judgement is never wrong or unfair. We are evil, messed up people who only need one thing: the saving love of Christ. It's hard to fathom that God would take us so easily especially in light of what He did to His so-called chosen people. However, He judged Israel in love. Never once did He let them go forever. He always was calling them back.
Come to me my children, and I will take you back.
He waits for us. On His mountain, in His house. My Father is waiting on the mountain. Will you run to Him?
Lord, speed my step as I run toward You. Let my heart be open to receive what You have. Let me always be humble in Your presence. Let Your Kingdom come! Let Your will be done! On earth as it is in heaven.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Pride and punishment
And his fame spread far, for he was helped, till he was strong. But when he grew strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God.
How often does this happen to people? Things start going our way, and we get prideful, as if we had something to do with it. I know I have this problem. I've had it recently. There are things that I dream of being good at. 2 main ones: running and singing/guitar playing. I'm mediocre at both. I hope and pray that my pride doesn't prevent me from developing these talents because I truly believe I can use them to honor the Lord. I want to be able to lead worship, but I don't want to do it just to bring attention to me. I want to bring people to the Lord. I want my voice to give the courage to lift their voices. I want my guitar playing to allow them to unify in one song. I have no desire to be famous as myself, but rather famous for the Lord. However, I do sometimes want to attract people to myself through these abilities. I want people to think I'm awesome.
Then there's running. A source of pride and vanity. The more I run the more I become that kind of person. Also, it's a weight control thing. More and more I see myself developing anorexic tendencies. Worrisome. However, right now I can't run. I firmly believe God is giving me knee pain to humble me. I agree that I don't need to be running. Maybe someday.
I don't need to be strong. I want to stay weak. I want God to be seen, not me. I still want God to bless me with these skills but on His terms. If people know my name, I want it to be because they know what God has done in me. If people know what I can do, I want it to be because of what God has done in me. Less of me. Less of me always.
Lord, more of You and less of me. Grant me these desires. Grant me skills to glorify You. Let me not continue with pride, but with humility. Let me not seek attention for myself, but let me share my talents to share the Gospel. I give it all to You God trusting that You'll make something beautiful out of me. It's not about impressing men. It's not about gaining favor. Please let me let go of wanting to be someone different in order to impress a man. Let my desire be for my First Love. Give me confidence to seek hard after You, forsaking all others.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
How often does this happen to people? Things start going our way, and we get prideful, as if we had something to do with it. I know I have this problem. I've had it recently. There are things that I dream of being good at. 2 main ones: running and singing/guitar playing. I'm mediocre at both. I hope and pray that my pride doesn't prevent me from developing these talents because I truly believe I can use them to honor the Lord. I want to be able to lead worship, but I don't want to do it just to bring attention to me. I want to bring people to the Lord. I want my voice to give the courage to lift their voices. I want my guitar playing to allow them to unify in one song. I have no desire to be famous as myself, but rather famous for the Lord. However, I do sometimes want to attract people to myself through these abilities. I want people to think I'm awesome.
Then there's running. A source of pride and vanity. The more I run the more I become that kind of person. Also, it's a weight control thing. More and more I see myself developing anorexic tendencies. Worrisome. However, right now I can't run. I firmly believe God is giving me knee pain to humble me. I agree that I don't need to be running. Maybe someday.
I don't need to be strong. I want to stay weak. I want God to be seen, not me. I still want God to bless me with these skills but on His terms. If people know my name, I want it to be because they know what God has done in me. If people know what I can do, I want it to be because of what God has done in me. Less of me. Less of me always.
Lord, more of You and less of me. Grant me these desires. Grant me skills to glorify You. Let me not continue with pride, but with humility. Let me not seek attention for myself, but let me share my talents to share the Gospel. I give it all to You God trusting that You'll make something beautiful out of me. It's not about impressing men. It's not about gaining favor. Please let me let go of wanting to be someone different in order to impress a man. Let my desire be for my First Love. Give me confidence to seek hard after You, forsaking all others.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
05 July 2012
But go
But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has the power to help or cast down.
It speaks for itself. Context: Judah is going out to battle with Edom. However, their king paid some soldiers from Israel to come help him out. A man of God came to him and was like "what are you doing? God can totally win; why did you buy help?"
When faced with an enemy or even the enemy, it's easy to track down things of this world to help us win. It's difficult to trust in God's power. Not because His power isn't enough but because our faith is wanting. For example, men. I want to get married as much as the next girl. I struuggggle with this sometimes. It is tempting to try and win this battle by being less selective and more aggressive (for lack of better words) but it is hard for me to believe I will do any better. God can defeat the enemy - which in ths case is loneliness - and help me go on.
Maybe it was a strange example, but there are better ones. The point is God is waaaaayyyy more powerful than we often give Him credit for. We tend to forget just how much He can do.
Lord, let me never forget Your power or what You can do. I want to trust that You will solve my problems.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
It speaks for itself. Context: Judah is going out to battle with Edom. However, their king paid some soldiers from Israel to come help him out. A man of God came to him and was like "what are you doing? God can totally win; why did you buy help?"
When faced with an enemy or even the enemy, it's easy to track down things of this world to help us win. It's difficult to trust in God's power. Not because His power isn't enough but because our faith is wanting. For example, men. I want to get married as much as the next girl. I struuggggle with this sometimes. It is tempting to try and win this battle by being less selective and more aggressive (for lack of better words) but it is hard for me to believe I will do any better. God can defeat the enemy - which in ths case is loneliness - and help me go on.
Maybe it was a strange example, but there are better ones. The point is God is waaaaayyyy more powerful than we often give Him credit for. We tend to forget just how much He can do.
Lord, let me never forget Your power or what You can do. I want to trust that You will solve my problems.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
04 July 2012
Pro fet
Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. They testified against them, but they would not pay attention.
I think being a prophet has to be a tough life. Nobody really pays you any attention because you mostly sound crazy...I love the use of the word "he". No real question in my mind who they are talking about. God has to make Himself known. Joash was so faithful but when his mentor died, he fell away. God sent warning after warning, but nothing changed.
Have you ever been like that? I know I have. I lose a good influence and despite repeated attempts to get me back on track, I just ignore everything He says. And then one day'll come along where I screw things up sooooooooooooo bad that I can't deny God anymore and have to turn back. Praise God for grace and understanding in spite of my self.
Lord, You see my need for You and I praise You that You always come. Thank You for the grace You give me. Please continue to call out to me and never let me forget Your sweet voice.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
03 July 2012
Leprosy
Faith can do amazing things to heal us. It really is just a mustard seed of faith to be healed. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't just faith but rather responding in obedience. If we don't do what we are supposed to do, what God has told us to do, are we really having faith. Of course not! Faith is an action verb. So much we treat it passively, like you can just sit back and believe. Pray from a distance. Think happy God thoughts. See how well that works. It won't last long.
Naaman had this problem. He was a leper and he didn't think God would heal him in the way Elisha prophosized. He want to see a big show full of miraculous wonders but God said go wash in the Jordan. Then he was like "really the Jordan? I can think of much cleaner waters." But at the end of the day, he saw he had nothing to loose but his leporsy so in he went and surprise! He was healed.
It's easy to question God. Since He is above this world He sometimes (quite frequently) doesn't make sense. But we are called to respond with action not words. Not "Oh, I'll pray about it." "But yes I'm going."
Lord, I wanna trust in where You are going and follow You every step. I never want to be unsure of Your message so speak LOUD so I can hear. If even a small amount of faith can move mountains then let the mountains move. I wait for You, knowing You're up to something. Do what You will!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
01 July 2012
Elisha
Some of the stories in the Bible do seem absurd. For example Elijah and Elisha. They went around doing these crazy miracles. Elijah didn't die. Elisha cursed some boys and 2 bears jumped out to attack them. The Spirit was on these guys in a real way.
But isn't it all just a nice story? How do we know this all really happened? Well, honestly, aside from faith we don't. But it's no greater faith to believe this stuff than to believe the history books. The Bible is just as reliable if not more reliable that much of the history we learn in school.
That's one thing that always blew my mind. The Bible is a highly accurate text. You can research it. There's statistics related to how reliable the Bible is versus the authenticity of things like the Iliad. We know that it's consistent across many copies and thousands of rewrites. History is the story of the winners, but the Bible is the story of God. It paints a slightly different picture. When someone sins, it's recorded. Most of the OT books are records of Israel's history.
This isn't a series of myths that were recorded to teach moral lessons. It's also not written to explain the world to a culture with a primitive world view. No, the Bible is about real people and the things that really happened to them. We know this because this kind of stuff still happens. It's not like God doesn't perform miracles anymore. It's not like crazy God-stuff doesn't happen. Oh it does.
God is in everything, and He's still performing miracles. Then just like now, it's up to us to say "Yeah, that's God." or "Quelle coincidence!"
Personally, I don't believe in coincidence.
Lord, let the Bible be real to anyone who reads it. Let Your Spirit jump of every page and move our hearts. Let the stories speak to us no matter how strange, ridiculous, or awkward. Let are hearts be strengthened with You Word. Let it be our shield and our sword. When we see a miracle, let us know who it's from. The One True God, Jehovah. He is.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
But isn't it all just a nice story? How do we know this all really happened? Well, honestly, aside from faith we don't. But it's no greater faith to believe this stuff than to believe the history books. The Bible is just as reliable if not more reliable that much of the history we learn in school.
That's one thing that always blew my mind. The Bible is a highly accurate text. You can research it. There's statistics related to how reliable the Bible is versus the authenticity of things like the Iliad. We know that it's consistent across many copies and thousands of rewrites. History is the story of the winners, but the Bible is the story of God. It paints a slightly different picture. When someone sins, it's recorded. Most of the OT books are records of Israel's history.
This isn't a series of myths that were recorded to teach moral lessons. It's also not written to explain the world to a culture with a primitive world view. No, the Bible is about real people and the things that really happened to them. We know this because this kind of stuff still happens. It's not like God doesn't perform miracles anymore. It's not like crazy God-stuff doesn't happen. Oh it does.
God is in everything, and He's still performing miracles. Then just like now, it's up to us to say "Yeah, that's God." or "Quelle coincidence!"
Personally, I don't believe in coincidence.
Lord, let the Bible be real to anyone who reads it. Let Your Spirit jump of every page and move our hearts. Let the stories speak to us no matter how strange, ridiculous, or awkward. Let are hearts be strengthened with You Word. Let it be our shield and our sword. When we see a miracle, let us know who it's from. The One True God, Jehovah. He is.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
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