What Do You Really Believe?

For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Matthew 9:21

What do you really believe about Jesus? If your back was against the wall, what would you believe that God could do to help you? If you were facing a giant of a problem, what would be your response to God? I think we would all like to think that we would say "God, You're awesome! God, You're almighty! God, You can do anything!" But what would our actions be right after we said that? The woman who had been bleeding for years believed that Jesus could heal her. She had absolutely no doubt about this, and she believed that Jesus could heal her so much that she thought that if only she'd touch His clothes, that would be enough for Him to heal her. I have faced many giants in my life, many brick walls, obstacles if you will, that seemed to just swallow me up if I let them. I have to admit there were times I would look at a situation in front of me and say, God I know You are almighty, but I just can't do this! Then, when I would find myself right back at that situation (and that will always happen), I would call out to God again and say "God, I know this situation is bigger than I am. I know this situation goes well beyond what I can do, but I know You are bigger than anything. You are the One Who parted the Red Sea, You are the One Who brought down the walls of Jericho, You are the One Who raised Jesus from the dead, and if you can do all of those things and more, then you can bring down this wall thats in front of me." Sometimes it took many times saying that, but I did not give up, I kept at it and in the end, God WAS and IS almighty! We think that if we don't get the result we want right away, that God wasn't there helping us. In reality He was, it is just that He knew where our faith was, it was us who just didn't know...but we found out!

Take Away: what you do, your actions, will reveal where your faith is. If you find you are lacking in faith, ask God to strengthen your faith, ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you. If you ask, He will respond!

Worship Song of the Week...

Take a Moment by Will Reagan

Faith and Persevere

But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:11-12 NET)

The Bible is filled with the promises of God for the believers. But if you notice what the writer of Hebrews is saying here, we've got to do something to see the promises of God in our lives. It says here we must have faith and perseverance. So what does this mean to us? It means we can't sit around waiting and hoping that something will happen. If you are doing that, then you may be sitting around waiting for a long time! We've got to have faith, and not only faith but passionate faith in God that His promises will come to pass in our life. And then (here is what I think is the hardest part) we've got to also maintain that passionate faith even when circumstances are saying the opposite. If we cave into circumstances, then we have lost faith in His promises. When we have the next rent or mortgage payment due and we are standing in faith that "God will supply all my needs (Phil 4:19)" and the bank statement says $12...and then another bill comes in...we've got to remain passionate in faith that God WILL supply my needs, even if we have to say it over and over. Really, that is what you need to do, you need to say those statements of faith over and over because that builds up your faith. It looks dismal at times, but if you stand in faith and persevere, God's promises will come to pass.

Take Away: when faced with dismal circumstances, stand in that passionate faith and persevere with the passionate faith until you see God's promises come to pass.

Statements of Faith in Times of Trouble

We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NET)

Just because we are Christians, that does not mean we will not experience trouble. In fact, throughout the Bible, we are told that we WILL experience trouble. But what separates us from those that are not Christians is that we have Someone we can go to when we experience these troubles. Jesus experienced more troubles in His 3 years of ministry than we will ever experience in our lifetime. He is our example, He is the One we turn to for help and comfort. He is the One that gave us the words of hope we read in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. These are words of faith we can speak to our problems. So, whenever you are experiencing problems, you can say to the problems "although I have these problems, through Jesus I am not crushed." Whenever you get perplexed (which is being puzzled or confused), you can say "although this doesn't make sense, through Jesus I will not despair." When you are feeling persecuted, you can say "although people are attacking me, through Jesus I am not abandoned." When you have given all you got but you are still feeling knocked down and not able to give any more energy, you can say "although I am completely wiped out, through Jesus I am not destroyed." You may have to continually speak these words over and over, but they will eventually begin to energize your faith where you will no longer feel crushed, in despair, abandoned or destroyed.

Take Away: When you are experiencing trouble, confusion, persectued or knocked down, speak the words of 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 to your problems as a statement of faith.

Unbelief and Trust

He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. (Romans 4:20-21 NET)

Abraham knew without a doubt that what God said He would do would happen. At this point in scripture Abraham was 100 years old, but God told Him He would be the father of many nations...and that's exactly what happened. God has made many promises in His word, but how much do we really believe He will do what He says?  When He promises that He will supply all your needs (Phil 4:19), do you really believe that, or do you get stressed out and frustrated when what you are trying to do doesn't work? When He promises He will give you what you need when you need it (Heb 4:16), do you wait on God, or do you try to figure things out on our own, and end up getting angry, anxious, frustrated, etc. When I finally started letting God be God in my life and started trusting Him instead of trusting in myself, peace replaced frustration, a settled mind replaced anxiety. There are times when I do get frustrated at what I am doing, and that is a "red flag" for me that I have crossed over from trusting God to trusting in Kent and that I need to believe God will do what He says He will do. When you are faced with a circumstance that you don't know what to do, instead of trying to figure it out on your own, talk to God, trust Him and do what He tells you to do. If that means wait, then you wait. If it means you do something, then you do something, if it means you say something, then you say something, but in everything, be fully convinced that what God says will happen.