Tests and Strength…

Jesus was filled with the spirit when He was led to the desert to be tempted. A lot of times, people make the mistake of believing that if you’re being tempted, tested, or going through a storm that it’s because you’ve done something wrong or that God is punishing you. What some fail to realize is:

1. God does not bring you into or allow you to go through a situation that He is not fully prepared and willing to carry and supply you through.

Yes, Jesus was tested and this was a difficult time, but the Spirit also led Him and gave Him all the knowledge and strength He needed to pass the test. All Jesus needed to do was trust God was with Him through it all, and follow the Spirit’s promptings no matter how His body felt.

And

2. God brings you to and allows you to go through difficulties to solidify your faith in Him and to make you stronger.

If you can, think about a time when a friend of yours was there for you when you most needed them. They could’ve been there with advice, or comforting words, or simply a shoulder to cry on. Having them be there for you during that situation bonded you more with them, didn’t it? Going through that and having them there helped you to trust them more and believe that the next time you needed them, they’d be there for you in whatever capacity you might need. It’s the same with God, only infinitely better. God may not be visible, but His help is more real than anything any friend or person could ever offer you. Every time you turn to Him for help, He’s there for you. Countless times in the Bible, no matter what His people did, God would always respond to the cry of His people. No matter how many times they sinned or turned from Him, He always forgave and brought them out of their situations when they repented and asked Him for help. James 4:8 says “come near to God and He will come near to you.” Trust He’s there for you through the storm. And once you trust and He brings you through, you’ll find you’ve grown stronger in spirit and faith than you were at first.

If you listen to nothing else I ever tell you, please listen to this: God knows what’s good for you so much better than you think you know. No matter how much or little sense His plan may seem to you, trust without a shadow of a doubt that everything He does and allows is for your benefit and the furtherance of His kingdom.

Reading: Luke 4:-2

Transferable Faith…

 

I remember growing up as a child being raised by my two Christian parents. I remember thinking of how normal it was to see what they did that I only now realize was far from normal and was taken for granted all these years.

My parents depended on God for everything; for protection, for guidance, for provision, everything. And I never saw my parents without any of the things they asked God for. Looking back now, I’m remembering how it seemed like second-nature for them to immediately turn to God for anything they couldn’t work for or attain themselves, which, apparently when raising six children (and a guinea pig) on one pay check, is a lot. However, no matter how hard anything got, they never faltered in their faith.

During the holidays now, especially thanksgiving, my parents get all the family together and we reminisce about the years long past, about how God brought each and every one of us through difficulties, challenges, and attacks that none of us would have been able to bring ourselves through. We talked and even laughed about how each one of my parents’ children could’ve died at least three times between the time they were born and their 10^th or 15^th year of life. We’d sing together and talk about God’s goodness, and it would only be through these discussions that I’d come to find out how many difficulties my parents went through when I was just a tiny girl with ginormous dreams.

I remember seeing my parents sad, or upset, but not once in my entire life have I ever seen my parents give up faith on absolutely anything. This is one of the many attributes of their faith I’d taken for granted. They’d lived through difficulties that people would stress and cry about for years, but instead of losing faith, they believed and waited for God to do exactly what He said He would, and He always did.

As I got older, but still at a young age, my parent’s faith habits started to become my own. My relationship with God was started during those years and built off of a transferred faith I received from my parents; because they always had faith in God and received what they needed and asked for, it only made sense that I do the same, so I did. Now, as I look back and write this entry, I now have a clearer view of how precious and rare my parent’s faith was, and still is. So many people are living on little to no faith, resulting in a despair-filled life where they believe in God, but are unsure of His care or blessings or love or faithfulness in their lives. Much of that problem could be connected to the fact that they never had any role models or people in their lives that emulated the faith that Jesus had placed so much emphasis on during all of His teachings.

Jesus made a lot of bold statements about the effects of faith and what it can do for or in someone’s life. In Mark 11, He said,” Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” WOAH. That’s a level of faith that I find many people, including myself at times, are afraid of having. The question sometimes arises in some people’s minds,” What if I believe and I don’t get it? Does that mean God doesn’t love me?” or something along those lines. One must also keep in mind that the Bible says in James 4,” When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” And also in 1 John 5,” This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Basically, the only reason God wouldn’t answer a prayer said in faith is because it’s going against His will for your life, or the prayer was said for worldly reasons.

I, now, consider myself extremely blessed to have had two faith-filled prayer warriors for parents, and that my life was built off of the only foundation that can never be moved, Jesus Christ. I now charge you, reader, with this: ask God to build a faith in you that when transferred or come into contact with others, it inspires them. The kind of faith that, when you raise your children, will place them on a solid foundation of belief in God. The kind of faith that looks crazy and stupid until God shows up and answers everything you’d asked for. The craziest forms of faith that are executed within Gods will are the most effective, not only for the person believing but also those watching.

Take this challenge with me to ask God to show you where there may be gaps or scarcities in your faith, and ask Him to help build and strengthen it so you’ll be ready and well-grounded when the winds and storms come.

I pray this message finds you well.

God bless.

Prayer…

There are often times when we feel a burden to pray for others but don’t know how to or what to pray, but we must remember that God gave us his Spirit to be our help and support and that he will pick up our slack and do for us what we cannot. Whenever we are called to complete a task, we can be sure that God never calls us to do anything he didn’t already equip us for, or provide His Spirit to help us with. That is why we are told to do two important things:

1) In everything give thanks (1 Thess. 5:18): because no matter what happens, we know with doubtlessness that our God is still helping us thigh every situation. If you can’t find anything else to be grateful for, that’s a pretty good one.

2) Worry about nothing (Phil. 4:6): we don’t worry because God’s got our backs. Worrying is a sign of lack of faith, it means that in our hearts we don’t trust God can or will do what he said he’d do, or be who he said he’d be in our lives. We have to bear in mind that whether or not we believe he is God and in control, he still will be. The only thing that can change in that situation is whether or not we choose to accept that fact, and what we decide to do with it. We could either believe, or lean on our own (extremely, painfully, extraordinarily) limited understanding.

As we submit our wills to God, we bear lesser burdens because the Lord takes them upon his shoulders. We are told countless times not to worry because the moment God takes our situation is the moment we know the outcome: victory and glory to his name.

Lastly, when it comes to intercession, keep in mind that if God’s will is at the forefront of your mind, so also will be the wellbeing of others. Intercession is one of the most selfless acts a follower of Christ can do because it’s (usually) done in secret. The person being prayed for gets what was prayed for, and God gets the glory. But because of how selfless it is, and because you’re showing his love through your actions despite the fact that few or no people will know about it, he will abundantly bless you for sacrificing your time for his children.

Tangible…

Sometimes when God wants you to wait on and trust in Him, the devil tries to make you believe that you need to do something. He continuously turns your focus and attention to the visible, the things you can see and touch, and away from the promises God has given you. The tangible. He tempts you to believe that you need to do something with what only God can fix. If you try to do something in a situation that God alone needs to work in, you will fail because it was not his plan for you to succeed in this area. He needed for his work and will to be done, not yours. In some cases, it causes depression because one can lose faith in themselves and their abilities, and they lose faith in God because they expected him to bring them to victory but never consulted him in the first place about whether or not they should be taking part in that battle. 
Paul spoke to the Galatian church and said (paraphrase) “what did you hear God tell you?” In other words, stop looking at the visible, the circumstances, the people, the lies, and turn your eyes to God’s promises to you about that situation and about your life and walk with him. He said he’s a provider, a protector, deliverer, caretaker, lover of your soul, that he has the entirety of existence in the palm of his hands, that there is nothing too great for him to handle, and that he has your best interests at heart. Keep those promises in mind. Before a difficult situation arises that tries to make your faith waver, find and meditate on several verses that speaks to the issues that can arise in your life and hold onto them with all your might. Memorize them, speak them daily, and when you feel an attack, that verse you’ve written in your heart and mind that you need will be brought to the surface and will be an encouragement and be a source of motivation and strength. 

Goliath said in Samuel (paraphrase) “send out your giant or best fighter and fight me, if we win, you will be our slaves, if you win, we will be yours.” The devil was trying to squash the people’s faith and make them believe that their enemy was too strong for them. He knows that once your faith is raised to a higher level, once it’s solidified in God, he will be a slave to you, he will have no power over you because you are grounded in God, the most powerful force in existence, and that’s the last thing he wants, which means it needs to be the first thing we want! We cannot allow the way things look to dictate the level of our faith. It needs to be as unwavering as our God is.