“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
I’ve since thought a lot about how tiny a mustard seed is. If that’s all the faith it takes to move mountains, then surely I can come up with enough to move the obstacles in my life.
God takes the tiniest bit of faith we have and makes it grow into something big when we act on it. The Bible says that “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3) We already have some faith to start with. When we step out in that faith, God increase our faith. In other words, acting in faith begets more faith.
Whether you realize is or not, you are living by faith everyday. Each time you go to a doctor, you trust he will do the right thing. When you buy medicine from the pharmacist, you believe he will fill you prescription correctly. When you go to a restaurant, you have faith they will not poison you. (Some restaurants require more faith than others.) How much easier and more certain is it to trust God?
We have no idea the great things God wants to do through us if we would just step out in faith when He asks us to. That’s why He lets us go through some difficult times. Times when we feel weak and vulnerable. He allows certain things to happen so that we will turn to Him and give Him our full attention. It’s in those times, when we are forced to pray in greater faith, that our faith grows stronger.
Jesus said “According to your faith let it be to you” (Mt 9:29) This could be a frightening thought, depending on the kind of faith you have. But there are things we can do to increase our faith, such as read the Word of God. Faith comes by simply hearing it (Romans 10:17). When you take the promises and truths in His Word and declare them out loud, you’ll sense your faith increasing.
Praying increases our faith as well because it’s how we reach out and touch God. At one point a woman reached out to the Lord believing that if she just “touched the hem of His garments” she could e healed. Jesus told her that her faith had made her well, and she was healed at that very time. Every time we reach out and touch Him in prayer, our lives are healed in some way and our faith is increased.
Every day it becomes more and more crucial that we have faith. There will be times in each of our lives when we will need the kind of faith that makes the difference between success or failure, winning or losing, life or death. That’s why asking for more faith must be an ongoing prayer. No matter how much faith you have, God can increase it.
Even when your faith seems small, you can still speak in faith to the mountains in your life and tell them to move, and God will do the impossible. You can pray for the crippled parts of your life to be healed and God will restore them. You can ask God to increase your faith and give you boldness to act on it, and He will do it.
What promise of God would you like to claim in faith as your own right now? What prayer would you like to boldly pray in faith and see answered? What would you like to see accomplished in your life, or in the life of someone you know, that would take a prayer of great faith? Ask God to take that seed you have and grow it into a giant tree of faith so you can see these things come to pass..
Lord,
Increase my faith. Teach me how to walk by faith and not by sight. Give me strength to stand strong on Your promises and believe Your every word. I know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Make my faith increase every time I hear or read Your Word. Help me to believe for Your promises to be fulfilled in me. I pray that my faith, will be glorifying to you, Lord. I know faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1) I know I have been “saved through faith”, and it is a gift from You. Increase my faith so that I can pray in power. Give me faith to believe for healing every time I pray for the sick. I don’t want to see a need and then not have faith strong enough to pray and believe for the situation to change.
Help me to ask in faith with no doubting. For I know that he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. I know that a doubter is double minded and unstable and will not receive anything from You. I know that whatever is not from faith is sin. I confess any doubt I have as sin before You, and I ask You to forgive me. I don’t want to hinder what You want to do in me and through me because of doubt. Increase my faith daily so that I can move mountains in Your name.
God’s Promises To Me
Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him
Hebrews 11:6
All things are possible to him who believes.
Mark 9:23
If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you
Matthew 17:20
Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 5:1
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, through it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:6-7
Friday, April 18, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Purpose Prayer
Lord,
I thank You that You have called me with a holy calling, not according to my works, but according to Your purpose and grace which was given to me in Christ Jesus. I know that Your plan for me existed before I knew You, and You will bring it to pass. Help me to “walk worthy of the calling with which I was called” I know there is an appointed plan for me, and I have a destiny that will now be fulfilled.
Help me to live my life with a sense of purpose and understanding of the calling You have given me. I lay down all pride, selfishness, and anything else that would keep me from moving into all You have for me. I don’t want to miss out on Your full purpose for my life because I did not walk the way You wanted me to. I repent of every day I haven’t fully lived for You. Help me to live the way You want me to from now on.
Lord, help me to understand the call You have on my life. Take away any discouragement I may feel and replace it with joyful anticipation of what You are going to do through me. Use me as Your instrument to make a positive difference in the lives of those whom You put in my path. Help me to rest in the confidence of knowing that Your timing is perfect. I know that whatever You have called me to do, You will enable me to do it.
I pray that nothing will draw me away from fulfilling the plan You have for me. May I never stray from what You have called me to be and do. Give me a vision for my life and a strong sense of purpose. I put my identity in You and my destiny in Your hands. Show me if what I am doing now is what I am supposed to be doing. I want what You are building in my life to last for eternity. I don’t want to waste time going after things that are not what You have for me. Help me to be content where I am, knowing You won’t leave me there forever.
Lord, I know that “all things work together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose.” I don’t want to presume that I know what that purpose it. Nor do I want to spend a lifetime trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing and miss the mark.
So I pray that You would show me clearly what the gifts and talents are that You have placed in me. Lead me in the way I should go as I grow in them. Enable me to use them according to Your will and for Your glory.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
I thank You that You have called me with a holy calling, not according to my works, but according to Your purpose and grace which was given to me in Christ Jesus. I know that Your plan for me existed before I knew You, and You will bring it to pass. Help me to “walk worthy of the calling with which I was called” I know there is an appointed plan for me, and I have a destiny that will now be fulfilled.
Help me to live my life with a sense of purpose and understanding of the calling You have given me. I lay down all pride, selfishness, and anything else that would keep me from moving into all You have for me. I don’t want to miss out on Your full purpose for my life because I did not walk the way You wanted me to. I repent of every day I haven’t fully lived for You. Help me to live the way You want me to from now on.
Lord, help me to understand the call You have on my life. Take away any discouragement I may feel and replace it with joyful anticipation of what You are going to do through me. Use me as Your instrument to make a positive difference in the lives of those whom You put in my path. Help me to rest in the confidence of knowing that Your timing is perfect. I know that whatever You have called me to do, You will enable me to do it.
I pray that nothing will draw me away from fulfilling the plan You have for me. May I never stray from what You have called me to be and do. Give me a vision for my life and a strong sense of purpose. I put my identity in You and my destiny in Your hands. Show me if what I am doing now is what I am supposed to be doing. I want what You are building in my life to last for eternity. I don’t want to waste time going after things that are not what You have for me. Help me to be content where I am, knowing You won’t leave me there forever.
Lord, I know that “all things work together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose.” I don’t want to presume that I know what that purpose it. Nor do I want to spend a lifetime trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing and miss the mark.
So I pray that You would show me clearly what the gifts and talents are that You have placed in me. Lead me in the way I should go as I grow in them. Enable me to use them according to Your will and for Your glory.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
New Years Resolution – To Be Spiritually Fit
So the number one American New Years Resolution is to loose weight. And I’m sure most people are like me and this has been on the list for a few years now. Last year I came really close to accomplishing my goal but I didn’t quite make it. I ate better and I exercised but I didn’t truly train myself to make it through the rough times. And sure enough I fell off the wagon short of accomplishing my goal. Now, some people try the quick fix, the pills or the juice diets or some people even go to the extreme of going under the knife. But would that be truly accomplishing your goals? And would you be able to face those things that made you fall in the first place when they come around again? And you bet they will!! If you don’t train yourself to get through those tough times you’ll never make it through them. To truly accomplish something and to make it worth while, we need to sweat and we need endurance and we need to preserver through the rough times. It is only then that we will accomplish our goals! This goes hand in hand with what the Christian life is like as well.
Some people think that being a Christians means an exciting adventure 24/7. But lets face it, a lot of days you wake up feeling down, or you feel depressed or things just aren’t going your way. It is in those times when a Christian needs to push through and persevere! So just like we have to train to become physically fit we need to train to become spiritually fit. We’ve got to train so that when we get down or depressed we know how to preserve and push though. We need to use the Bible and Church as our training tools. That way, when you get through it, you’ve truly accomplished something.
So once again this year one of my Resolutions is to get Physically Fit. But it isn’t number one. This year my number one Resolution is to become Spiritually Fit!
“A true race requires sweat and endurance and perseverance.”
Some people think that being a Christians means an exciting adventure 24/7. But lets face it, a lot of days you wake up feeling down, or you feel depressed or things just aren’t going your way. It is in those times when a Christian needs to push through and persevere! So just like we have to train to become physically fit we need to train to become spiritually fit. We’ve got to train so that when we get down or depressed we know how to preserve and push though. We need to use the Bible and Church as our training tools. That way, when you get through it, you’ve truly accomplished something.
So once again this year one of my Resolutions is to get Physically Fit. But it isn’t number one. This year my number one Resolution is to become Spiritually Fit!
“A true race requires sweat and endurance and perseverance.”
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Most Wonderful Love
No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me alone - with giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me, to having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me that I have planed for you. You will never be truly united with another until you are united with Me, exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any desires or longings.
I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing, one you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, accepting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I Am. Keep listening and learning the things I tell you, in your heart and in My Word, and just be willing to wait. That's all.
Don't be anxious; don't worry; don't look around at the things that you think you want. Just keep looking off and away up to Me or you'll miss what I want to show you.
Then, when you're ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would dream of or imagine possible. You see, until you are ready and until the one I have for you is ready. I am working even this moment to have both or you ready at the same time. Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life that I have prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me and is, thus, perfect love.
And, Dear One, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you to see, in the flesh, a picture of your relationship with me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. Believe it, and be satisfied.
Unknown
I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing, one you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, accepting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I Am. Keep listening and learning the things I tell you, in your heart and in My Word, and just be willing to wait. That's all.
Don't be anxious; don't worry; don't look around at the things that you think you want. Just keep looking off and away up to Me or you'll miss what I want to show you.
Then, when you're ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would dream of or imagine possible. You see, until you are ready and until the one I have for you is ready. I am working even this moment to have both or you ready at the same time. Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life that I have prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me and is, thus, perfect love.
And, Dear One, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you to see, in the flesh, a picture of your relationship with me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. Believe it, and be satisfied.
Unknown
Monday, June 4, 2007
God's Timing
"He has made everything beutiful in its time..."
Sometimes we feel like we have been waiting forever for God to do something new and fresh in our lives, but God still has not responded. While we cannot understand why, we must trust Him and trust His faithfulness. He is at work in a different way than we understand or expect.
I have asked God many times to speed things up for me, high school, the days until my driver's test at the DMV, college, getting married. It is difficult for us to wait on God, but it is in these times of waiting that God is able to work a process in us that refines our faith. If we are not patient, we become discouraged and lose hope. Yet, if you have been patient, when the day you've been waiting for arrives, God will have worked all the details out beautifully, and it will be more exciting and fullfilling than you dreamed!
There will be good times, and there will be hard times. Second Timothy 2:13 says that even if we are faithless, He will remain faithful. It is God's very nature to prove Himself to you, to come through for you. God will not let you down. His grace will sustain you. Trust in Him.
Sometimes we feel like we have been waiting forever for God to do something new and fresh in our lives, but God still has not responded. While we cannot understand why, we must trust Him and trust His faithfulness. He is at work in a different way than we understand or expect.
I have asked God many times to speed things up for me, high school, the days until my driver's test at the DMV, college, getting married. It is difficult for us to wait on God, but it is in these times of waiting that God is able to work a process in us that refines our faith. If we are not patient, we become discouraged and lose hope. Yet, if you have been patient, when the day you've been waiting for arrives, God will have worked all the details out beautifully, and it will be more exciting and fullfilling than you dreamed!
There will be good times, and there will be hard times. Second Timothy 2:13 says that even if we are faithless, He will remain faithful. It is God's very nature to prove Himself to you, to come through for you. God will not let you down. His grace will sustain you. Trust in Him.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Seasons Of Grace
Ecclesiastes 3
There is a time for everthing, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a atime to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
As Christians, our lives are not always going to be easy. There will be seasons of joy, seasons of sorrow, seasons of celebration, and seasons of frustration. We haven't been promied comfort, but we have been promised peace. Even when we cannot sense Gods's Presensce. His grace still sustains us.
Inevitably, we'll all expericnce a lifeless time in our walk with the Lord. This is probably the most difficult time in the life of a Christian. "Spiritual Winter" can happen as a result of certain events in our life, or it can be because we have become lazy in our service to God. Although we are alive in Christ, we feel dead. He seems far away. We've lost our spiritual hunger. Living for Jesus seems more like a duty than a privilege. We must remember that just because wer're having a difficult time does not mean we are bad Christians. It means we are ready for growth.
During those seasons if you are faithful to contnue caring for your soul, watering and nourishing it with the Word, through prayer, and by the Spirit, you will once again bloom! You may feel lifeless inside, but the truth is that this is just a season. There is still life inside you; God is still working inside you.
1 Peter 5:10
In His kindess God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while he will restore, support, and stregthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
During some seasons of our life, we may not be able to see very far ahead of us. Everything appears foggy, and we are not sure of what's happening around us. It feels dangerous, dark, and lonesome.
Just because we are Christians doesn't mean that we will avoid trouble and suffering. We have an enemy, Satan, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Suffering can come in different form, such as depression, discouragement, boredom, or loneliness. As discouraging as the clouds of suffering are, we can keep in mind that God is still working in us.
I recently heard a story about a man who was visiting a goldsmith. He watched as the man picked up the crucible containing the gold with large tongs, and then held the gold in the middle of the fire. Every few minutes the goldsmith would remove the gold from the fire, look at it, and then place it back in the fire. After watching this routine several times, the visitor asked, "How long do you keep the gold in the fire?"
The goldsmith reponded, "Until I can see my face reflected in it."
Although our suffering seems unbearable at the time if you look in 1 Peter 6-7 you will see that there is a greater plan in progress. God never causes trouble to happen to us; He is always there to help us though it. But His greatest concern is not our contentment with life (although He wants to bless us) but that we are being refined until His image is reflected in us.
You could say that God uses hard times and difficulties to refine us in the same way that we saw the goldsmith refine the gold. Times of suffering that you may experience in your life are opportunities you have to be made more like God.
There is a time for everthing, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a atime to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
As Christians, our lives are not always going to be easy. There will be seasons of joy, seasons of sorrow, seasons of celebration, and seasons of frustration. We haven't been promied comfort, but we have been promised peace. Even when we cannot sense Gods's Presensce. His grace still sustains us.
Inevitably, we'll all expericnce a lifeless time in our walk with the Lord. This is probably the most difficult time in the life of a Christian. "Spiritual Winter" can happen as a result of certain events in our life, or it can be because we have become lazy in our service to God. Although we are alive in Christ, we feel dead. He seems far away. We've lost our spiritual hunger. Living for Jesus seems more like a duty than a privilege. We must remember that just because wer're having a difficult time does not mean we are bad Christians. It means we are ready for growth.
During those seasons if you are faithful to contnue caring for your soul, watering and nourishing it with the Word, through prayer, and by the Spirit, you will once again bloom! You may feel lifeless inside, but the truth is that this is just a season. There is still life inside you; God is still working inside you.
1 Peter 5:10
In His kindess God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while he will restore, support, and stregthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
During some seasons of our life, we may not be able to see very far ahead of us. Everything appears foggy, and we are not sure of what's happening around us. It feels dangerous, dark, and lonesome.
Just because we are Christians doesn't mean that we will avoid trouble and suffering. We have an enemy, Satan, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Suffering can come in different form, such as depression, discouragement, boredom, or loneliness. As discouraging as the clouds of suffering are, we can keep in mind that God is still working in us.
I recently heard a story about a man who was visiting a goldsmith. He watched as the man picked up the crucible containing the gold with large tongs, and then held the gold in the middle of the fire. Every few minutes the goldsmith would remove the gold from the fire, look at it, and then place it back in the fire. After watching this routine several times, the visitor asked, "How long do you keep the gold in the fire?"
The goldsmith reponded, "Until I can see my face reflected in it."
Although our suffering seems unbearable at the time if you look in 1 Peter 6-7 you will see that there is a greater plan in progress. God never causes trouble to happen to us; He is always there to help us though it. But His greatest concern is not our contentment with life (although He wants to bless us) but that we are being refined until His image is reflected in us.
You could say that God uses hard times and difficulties to refine us in the same way that we saw the goldsmith refine the gold. Times of suffering that you may experience in your life are opportunities you have to be made more like God.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
The Road Less Traveled
Traveling on a journey involves deciding which roads to take. The same is true for your life. Jesus said that the road that leads to destruction is broad, but the road that leads to life is narrow. What road are you traveling on? Or are you like me and sometimes you are sitting on the fence betweeen the roads. Everything we do, every decision we make leads the way to what road we are traveling on Friends; Boyfriends; Drugs; Alcohol; Smoking; Music; Movies; TV; Computers; School; Parents; Church; Language; Devotional life; Attitude. All of these things play a huge roll in what road we are traveling. Two of these things that I struggle with are, TV/Movies and Attitude.
What we listen to with our ears and watch with our eyes is what will occupy our thoughts and our minds. And what occupies our minds is what influences our speech and our actions. As a believer it should be impossible to watch anything that blasphemes God by their profanity and indecent subject matter.
An attitude is a state of mind or feeling. Your attitude is your mental outlook on life. God desires that not only our actions be Christlike, but our attitudes as well. We can be physically foreced to conform to Christian standards by our parents, youth pastor, or teachers, but that does not make us Christians. If our attitudes are rebellious, disobedient, defiant, stubborn, or quarrelsome, our hearts are not right with God. A Christlike attitude exhibits those qualities that characterize Christ: righteousness, holiness, meekness, gentleness, kindness, and love.
Do you need an attitude adjustment? What road have you been traveling down? If your life choices have kept you on the broad road, what can you do to get onto the narrow road? I've been strattling the fence, which is a scary raod. I know whats right but when I get frustrated I seem to give up on the narrow road. When I feel like life isn't the way I want it, I get angry with God. And get the wrong attitude of: "Well if all this trying to do good all the time never pays off then why should I try so hard?" I often catch myself with this attitude. And I have learned that when I start feeling this way it is just plain selfish. Now when those feeling flood my mind I force myself to think of all the blessings in my life and how those were results of living life on the narrow road. Temptations and struggles will come our way. But it is how we chose to deal with them that will lead us on the path of our journey!! :)
What we listen to with our ears and watch with our eyes is what will occupy our thoughts and our minds. And what occupies our minds is what influences our speech and our actions. As a believer it should be impossible to watch anything that blasphemes God by their profanity and indecent subject matter.
An attitude is a state of mind or feeling. Your attitude is your mental outlook on life. God desires that not only our actions be Christlike, but our attitudes as well. We can be physically foreced to conform to Christian standards by our parents, youth pastor, or teachers, but that does not make us Christians. If our attitudes are rebellious, disobedient, defiant, stubborn, or quarrelsome, our hearts are not right with God. A Christlike attitude exhibits those qualities that characterize Christ: righteousness, holiness, meekness, gentleness, kindness, and love.
Do you need an attitude adjustment? What road have you been traveling down? If your life choices have kept you on the broad road, what can you do to get onto the narrow road? I've been strattling the fence, which is a scary raod. I know whats right but when I get frustrated I seem to give up on the narrow road. When I feel like life isn't the way I want it, I get angry with God. And get the wrong attitude of: "Well if all this trying to do good all the time never pays off then why should I try so hard?" I often catch myself with this attitude. And I have learned that when I start feeling this way it is just plain selfish. Now when those feeling flood my mind I force myself to think of all the blessings in my life and how those were results of living life on the narrow road. Temptations and struggles will come our way. But it is how we chose to deal with them that will lead us on the path of our journey!! :)
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