Got to move

“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”
‭‭James‬ ‭2:19-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬
What’s the use of a car if you have no gas? What’s the use of a bike if you never ride it? What’s the use of books if you never read them? What’s the use of a job if you never go? What’s the use of buying things if they never get used? All valid questions revolving around faith. Truth is a lot of people know how to ride a bike. People know how to get jobs. People know how to spend money. What is the use of going through all that to do it if you never use it?

HERE IT IS…

Your faith does not work if you sit on it. Your faith won’t work if you don’t exercise it. Your faith won’t work if you just hold on to it. No I am not saying that God won’t work in your favor! But, what does he have to work with if you don’t give him something to work with? “God I want this, God I want that!” When is the last time you got up and made an effort to go get it? Go after it and exercise your faith and watch God blow your mind and then propel you into something even greater.

Got Faith?

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?”
‭‭James‬ ‭2:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬
If I say that I am the CEO of a company and I don’t have the credentials? If I say I have a Porsche outside and it’s actually a Honda? Or if I say I live in a mansion, on a hill, with a whole bunch of land, and I actually don’t I am not telling the truth about who I am, right? I mean I am saying all this stuff and bringing up all this stuff and not having anything to back it up with. I can’t produce the house. I can’t produce the car. I can’t produce the CEO position of the company that I have. All I am doing is telling you what I want you to hear, until you see it for yourself.

HERE IT IS…

How can we say we have faith without producing it? How can we say we are Christians without displaying it? How can we say we love our neighbor when we don’t even know our neighbors? We can make big claims about who we are in Christ. What we do for the kingdom. What church we attend. But, what do you do? Who do you help? Who have you prayed for? Who have you reconciled with? Who have you blessed lately? We can all say we have faith and we are a Christian until we see it for ourselves.

He heard them

“But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭5:36‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Marks gospel in this chapter reveals a lot to us about how the four gospels are similar in certain ways. Being able to have four different versions of the same thing is pretty amazing and even though they end up the same, the details in each are different because you have different people seeing and in four different places. This shows is that we can have people around us and have the same story and have different pieces of the story even though the ending is the same all because of who the story is coming from.

HERE IT IS…

We are in a time and a place where we have all these doctors and politicians and city, and state leaders coming out in the press saying some things and they may sound different and have different ways of saying it and none of them are saying the same thing. They all are coming out with information that they want us to hear or that they took from it and trust them for their judgement calls. Well I have to say these words in this 5th chapter of mark has helped me. Because Jesus over heard what’s going on in the crowd. He hears what they are actually saying. He understands what they mean when they try to confuse us. This is what he tells us. “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith!”

Faithful

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:1-2, 39-40‬ ‭NLT‬‬
In this chapter of Hebrews you will read a recount of many people of the Bible who were faithful to God. You will see the different people’s struggles and find that they all had to muster up faith from a place that seemed to be doing the opposite of what WE think God would say do. In our minds we would see God saving these people so that they would not have had to go through all the things they went through. It was only by listening to Gods voice and they’re relationship with him that the faith that they had was displayed in an amazing way.

HERE IT IS…

Your faith is not dependent on other people’s opinion of your situation. Your faith is not dependent on whether or not someone else’s didn’t have to do it this way. Your faith is not dependent on what you have now. Your faith is your trust in Gods voice and his word. Truth of the matter as it says at the end is that these people did not receive what ALL that they thought they would get here on earth but they were able to see it here on earth. It is through the faith that they had that propelled them to lay the foundation for others to continue the work that he set forth in you. See, your faith in Him is not always for you alone. But rather it’s to help move you in a place where someone else can complete what God has through your faithfulness.

Stay

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10:35-36‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Can you remember the last time you lost something and the thought came up that you may have actually thrown it away? When you think about how you may have done it but then realize that it’s that important that you have to look for it. Which means going through garbage to find it. Nobody wants to look through trash period. Especially when it’s not your trash. When you have to go through others trash to find it is another story.

HERE IT IS…

How many times have you thrown God away and had to run back to him? Or better yet? How many times have you felt like, been in, treated like, thought of yourself as trash and God had to come get you out of it. Remember that there is nobody greater. Just stick with God. Stay by his side. Even though it may get rough sometimes why not be in it with the one who created everything. Be patient and see it to the end.

Hope

““But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬
If you could paint a picture or even photograph it what would your hope and confidence look like? How could you draw how it looks like? Would it take a while because it’s so big? Or, will it be quick because it’s small. Now let me be clear I’m not talking about faith in God but your hope and confidence. What does your expectations look like? We can place expectations on things, people, care, spouses. Are you expecting God to move in your life? Well Rev. how can you place expectations on God?

HERE IT IS…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬
This one scripture can tell you exactly what to expect from God. Repeat this verse to yourself until your able to see your hope and confidence grow. He knows what he has for you and it’s not to damage you. Hurt you. Defeat or belittle you. It’s a plan for your future and your HOPE. Build on it.

He got it

“The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:17-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬
When I put my Hope in Christ in all I do I am giving him all control. I am surrendering to his will. I am allowing God to move the way that knows best for me. Even when I fall short and even when I do wrong he is still there to rescue me. What is it that you have yet to surrender to God? What have you held on to thinking you have all of it under control and still mess it up? It’s in those times when God is still there to help pick up the prices and put them back together.

HERE IT IS…

It can seem to be hard to turn everything over to someone to do what’s best for you. But the awesome thing about God is that he is not just somebody. He knew you before you were formed. He knows your end before your beginning. He said he will never leave you nor forsake you. It’s now that you can turn it over to him. It’s now that you can allow him in to change everything in your life. It’s now that he is there waiting for you to move over and let him drive. Don’t worry because he has it all under control.

Hope in Him

Loved ““And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.”
Psalms 39:7 NLT
Have you ever felt like this? The way this writer felt. How this writer exclaimed to God. He was not questioning where to put his faith, but simply reminding God he has no where else to put his faith. After all this God where do I put my faith. When I was battered and bruised it was in you. When I had a little bit it was in you. When I couldn’t talk to no one else, God it was you. When I couldn’t do for myself God it was you. When I was sick, hurt, down to my last , God it was you.

HERE IT IS…

Can I tell you that you are in the best place to be anywhere in the world when you are in this place. Well, how can that be Rev. How can you tell me that I am in a great place when I have lost it all. My friends are gone. My money is gone. I say that because your left with the greatest thing we all have taken for granted at one time or another. Our hope in God. When the writer says that’s all he had was his hope in God because he had nothing else to put it in. He was in a place of surrender. A place of adoration. A place of sincerity. A place of peace. And a place of redemption. This is where Gods best work is performed because your empty. Your worn out. Your tired. Now put it all in God. ”

Hold on

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬
You ever been on a roller coaster ride that goes really fast? You ever tried anything like me that is something out of a daredevils book of tricks? I have tried both and one thing that I can remember is how tightly I held on to whatever it was that was supposed to keep me safe. The thrill. The joy. The fun while doing these things you forget how tightly you hold on until you get off and have to shake your hands because you didn’t realize how tight you were holding on. Your hands are red. Your hands are cramping to the point you have to massage them.

HERE IT IS…

How tightly are you holding on to Gods word? How tightly are you holding on to his voice? How tightly are you standing on his promises? We can hold tight to all the other things in our life to not let them go. Whether it’s something or someone. We don’t realize just how tight we hold on to things. It’s in those moments that we have to check to see if we are holding on to Gods word and promises like we are those things. After all that Hod has done for us without us holding on to him. Imagine what he will do when we hold on to him just as tight?

Keep that same energy

“If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:14-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬
If I suffer and God’s name is lifted I will do it. If I am doing Gods will and his name is exalted, I will do it. God has blessed me enough to know that he gets all the glory. Think about what that means to say if God doesn’t bless me anymore I will still give him all the glory. Truth I none of us want to suffer or have to go through test and trials. To die for Christ is to gain. We would go through anything for the people we love. That’s exactly what Jesus did for us.

HERE IT IS…

We can honestly put ourselves in things that we suffer from that have nothing to do with Christ. The amazing thing is that he still comes to our aide. He still provides. He still upholds us. All because of his love for us. Now, take that same energy and put it into what God has put in you to do. Take that same love you put into getting your credit straight. Keeping your job. The stuff you put up with and put it into your faith in God. I am a witness that you will experience a change in your life like none other.