Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Faith Challenge Part 1
Scripture:
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8
Saints,
Periodically I have an epiphany about God's word. Epiphany means; A sudden manifestation of the meaning or essence of something. Recently, as I sat listening to my pastor preach, I had one about my level of faith.
You see, Pastor Smith has starting preaching/teaching a series on "Be Encouraged.” Yesterday he spoke from the book of Exodus Chapter 14 verse 14. "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." Now how many times have we all heard this message? If we would just learn to be obedient and be still, the Lord, our God, will fight our battles for us. In essence, if we would turn our problems over to God and LEAVE them with God, he will handle it.
Now even though, I know this word from God and have learned so much more, I don't always adhere to it. You see, we go before God in prayer everyday to talk to him and tell him all about our problems. We ask God to help us and then we continue to worry about the same old problems all over again.
We go before the alter of sacrificing and place our cares and concerns there for God to take them from us and then, when we finish praying, we start worrying about the same old things all over again. Taking the same old problems away with us.
That day when I got home from church, I issued a faith challenge to myself. I went before the alter and pledged to God that I would not speak anything negative about my situation this week. Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, it may not be as easy as it sounds.
You see, I know that saying you are going to do something and then making it happen, isn't always easy. In order to leave my troubles and problems with the Lord, I have to commit to not taking them back from him. I can start by not speaking them into existence. This is part one of my faith challenge. Will you join me today?
Prayer:
Lord, we come before the throne of grace this day, to thank You for Your word. Lord, You are my rock and my strength. I can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens me. Lord, I come before You this morning to place my all on the alter. Lord, we know that You are our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end. We know that You can do anything but fail. Lord, we come standing on Your word and Your promise. The promise of everlasting life through Christ Jesus, my redeemer. Father, You have said there is power in the tongue. The power of life and death. We speak life into our situations. We thank You Lord, for keeping us in perfect peace. You speak to the storms in our lives, Peace Be Still. You wipe away our tears and heartaches. Thank You Lord. Father, we surrender all to You today and we will walk away knowing that all things are in Your hands. Thank Lord. We praise, uplift and exalt Your name. Praise be to God, for he is worthy of all honor, praise and glory. Amen.
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8
Saints,
Periodically I have an epiphany about God's word. Epiphany means; A sudden manifestation of the meaning or essence of something. Recently, as I sat listening to my pastor preach, I had one about my level of faith.
You see, Pastor Smith has starting preaching/teaching a series on "Be Encouraged.” Yesterday he spoke from the book of Exodus Chapter 14 verse 14. "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." Now how many times have we all heard this message? If we would just learn to be obedient and be still, the Lord, our God, will fight our battles for us. In essence, if we would turn our problems over to God and LEAVE them with God, he will handle it.
Now even though, I know this word from God and have learned so much more, I don't always adhere to it. You see, we go before God in prayer everyday to talk to him and tell him all about our problems. We ask God to help us and then we continue to worry about the same old problems all over again.
We go before the alter of sacrificing and place our cares and concerns there for God to take them from us and then, when we finish praying, we start worrying about the same old things all over again. Taking the same old problems away with us.
That day when I got home from church, I issued a faith challenge to myself. I went before the alter and pledged to God that I would not speak anything negative about my situation this week. Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, it may not be as easy as it sounds.
You see, I know that saying you are going to do something and then making it happen, isn't always easy. In order to leave my troubles and problems with the Lord, I have to commit to not taking them back from him. I can start by not speaking them into existence. This is part one of my faith challenge. Will you join me today?
Prayer:
Lord, we come before the throne of grace this day, to thank You for Your word. Lord, You are my rock and my strength. I can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens me. Lord, I come before You this morning to place my all on the alter. Lord, we know that You are our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end. We know that You can do anything but fail. Lord, we come standing on Your word and Your promise. The promise of everlasting life through Christ Jesus, my redeemer. Father, You have said there is power in the tongue. The power of life and death. We speak life into our situations. We thank You Lord, for keeping us in perfect peace. You speak to the storms in our lives, Peace Be Still. You wipe away our tears and heartaches. Thank You Lord. Father, we surrender all to You today and we will walk away knowing that all things are in Your hands. Thank Lord. We praise, uplift and exalt Your name. Praise be to God, for he is worthy of all honor, praise and glory. Amen.
