Tag Archive | faith

Like Newborn Babies

Sep10

like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, — 1 Peter 2:2

“like newborn babies”. As I watch my new granddaughter long for the milk, sometimes not very quietly, every two to three hours it brings to mind that she needs this to grow big and strong. Most newborn babies lose weight their first week of life but my granddaughter has gained a quarter pound already. She longs to feed. She needs it, longs for it, cries for it and is not satisfied until she is full.

I thought, how do I long for the Word of God? If I am going to grow in my salvation I need to feed on the Word of God. I need to long for it as a baby longs for milk. Is my desire so strong that I cry out for it if I am not fed regularly?

Are you losing weight or gaining weight? The Word is necessary for growth in your Christian faith. How many meals do you miss in a day? How many opportunities pass by you to be in the Word in a day? Are you suffering from malnutrition? Why not try some Word today and nourish your spiritual life. Give it a try, it may be as honey to your lips.

How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! — Psalm 119:103

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Childlike Trust

Sep7

Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever. — Psalm 131

Childlike faith leaves no room for worry, no room for stress from responsibility or “too much on my plate”, or insecurity. My Father has it all under control. I can trust that He wants the best for me and will supply all my needs. And . . . if I would just get out of His way and let Him lead, I would be so much more secure in my life. As David pleads with Israel to hope in the Lord, I believe the Lord wants us to hope in Him from this time forth and forever. It is so worth it.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Promise: You are His Child

Aug26

which God, who cannot lie — Titus 1:2
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. — Galatians 3:26
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, — John 1:12

God cannot lie so we are children of God, if through faith in Christ Jesus, we believe in His name. God cannot lie which means we can trust these Words of His. We are His children and this being so we receive every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

The blessing of being holy and blameless before Him. Having His grace bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ and redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of our trespasses and having made known to us the mystery of His will. Because we are children we receive an inheritance and are sealed in Him (Jesus Christ) with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Those are promises to hang on to, rely on, trust in. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for you so that you can be holy and blameless before God, then you have all these promises bestowed on you. You need not be discouraged. You have hope in these promises. Hang on to them and trust in the One who promises them to you. You can do great and mighty things through Christ when you hang on to His promises.

Go in peace and trust in the everlasting God Almighty and His perfect promises.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon
Bold text found in Ephesians 1:3-14

Hope To Be

Aug23

All I am
And hope to be
I’ve found in Jesus
Who died for me.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. — Galatians 2:20

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. — Philippians 1:21

 

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

God Really Cares

Aug21

casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7

What are you worried about? What in your life is causing you anxiety? Do you know that God cares for you and that you can take anything and everything to Him in prayer?

God is Sovereign which means He is in control of all things and knows what is happening in your life. If God is in control of your life, that means you can trust Him. Who else can you trust with every aspect of your life? God says He can and He will. If we trust Him than it is a sin to worry/have anxiety. Our faith is weak when we worry. Why are you carrying the burden of worry when the Lord is waiting to hear about all that makes you anxious? He cares for you.

Okay, lets say that we are good at taking our worries and anxieties of life to God and spilling it all out to Him. That is wonderful. But do we take it back or leave it in His capable hands, trusting Him to see us through and give us direction? Take each specific worry or anxiety to God telling Him all about it. After each specific statement tell Him you trust Him to take care of that which is worrying or causing anxiety in you. Then trust Him for the outcome knowing He cares for you. To God be the glory in your life as you cast ALL your anxiety and worry on Him. He really cares for you.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of faith is the end of anxiety” — George Muller
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength” — Corrie ten Boom

Justified

Aug18

Can mankind be just before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? — Job 4:17

How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman? — Job 25:4

If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? — Psalm 130:3

nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. — Galatians 2:16

It is only by and through Jesus Christ that we, “mankind”, can be “just with God”, “pure before his” (our) “Maker”, “clean”, and able to “stand”. There is no other way. We need to realize that we are nothing without Jesus and it is all about Him, not us. Turn your life over to Jesus today so that you may be “justified by faith in Christ”.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Step By Step

Aug8

Now the Lord said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing; — Genesis 12:1-2

Four days a week I walk four miles in the morning. On two of those days I take a very long path down hill at the beginning of my walk and, you guessed it, I have a very long hill to climb at the end of my walk. That can be pretty taxing the last quarter mile of your walk.

The other day my walking partner and I took that particular route walking a total of five miles and it was a chore to get up that hill. I thought I was going to pass out and for the next two days, thank the Lord it was the weekend, I paid a price with a very painful hip. That is not why I am writing this. On this particular day I looked up the hill desiring the top to come but it seemed so far off. It was as if the top kept creeping away the more I walked. It was grueling trying to keep my eyes on the top of the hill and realizing I still had so far to go to get to the top.

The following Tuesday I took that route again but when I got to the end I didn’t look up the hill. I focused on my feet and each step I took. As I went along I kept focused on the moment and enjoyed each step. By the time I looked up I had conquered most of the hill and so the short distance left was not much of a challenge.

As I thought about the difference in these two days my mind wandered off to how God gives us instruction as we need it. With Abram it was go. Abram under the direction of the Lord set out to “the land which I will show you”. How is that for direction? All Abram was told was to “go forth from your country and from your father’s house”. All Abram had was the Word of God and a promise. How’s that for trust? One step. One step of faith. Trust in the One God.

God directs our steps, path, each day. We only see a portion of the picture He is painting of our lives. I think that is a good thing. If we actually saw some of the things God has planned for us I think we would turn tail and run down the hill. On the other hand sometimes we long so much for what God wants us to do that we tend to not notice each step along the way. We miss out. God is building us into His perfect child one step at a time. Each step draws us closer to the fulfillment of His plan. Let us not forget to enjoy the journey. Trust each step to the Almighty. The reward is still waiting when we get there but let us not regret the steps it takes to reach it.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Mustard Seed

Jul22

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. — Luke 17:6

My faith does not determine what God can do. With God all things are possible. God’s plan will be fulfilled despite my level of faith. The size of my faith is not the issue. The object of my faith is.

I have heard — praise God, not for a long time — someone say that the reason a prayer was not answered was because you didn’t have enough faith. My response to this, “When did God determine how He would answer prayers by how much faith I had?” God is God and does not need counsel from me. “I only need enough faith to see what God can do and once I see that, a mustard seed of faith is all He needs to do the impossible.”*

Ask God to use your mustard seed of faith to do the impossible in your life for His glory.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

 

*Grandpa Pearson p.9, 50 Days of Unleashing Hope Daily Devotionals, Ray Johnston

Faith Is The Victory

Jul9

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. — 1 John 5:4

What makes you different from every other person born of flesh and blood? All mankind is born of flesh and blood, born of the will of man. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. — John 1:12-13

Born of God. How is one born of God? To know Jesus Christ, that He is righteous. To know Him is to follow Him by practicing righteousness. To know that He died for us and rose to victory over death. To have a personal relationship with Him. That is what it means to know Him and know that He is righteous.

Being born of God makes us overcomers because Christ lives in us. He who lives in us is greater than he who is in the world. Jesus has wisdom greater than, power greater than, victory greater than he who is in the world. We are so blessed to have Jesus living in us. He is our victory! He is our righteousness! He is our overcomer!

It is by faith that we shall overcome. Faith in Jesus Christ. He is the VICTORY!!!!!

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. — 1 John 2:29

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. — 1 John 4:4

Overflowing Hope

Jul6

May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13(GW)

Are you lacking hope? Are you missing the source? Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord?

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. — John 3:16-17 Jesus is our Savior, the giver of eternal life, to everyone who believes in Him.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, — 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Belief that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and God raised Him from death.

That belief is faith. Through our continued living faith, God fills us with joy and peace. Is your life filled with joy and peace? Most faces I see and pass by daily don’t show it, so I wonder how many people really are experiencing joy and peace in their lives. That raises two thoughts in my mind. The first, do they know Jesus? Really know Him? Second, am I living out my faith that others can see it?

If we are living our faith out with joy and peace then we should be overflowing with hope by the living power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. What would you say is the level of hope in our world today? Is that overflowing hope present in our lives? Is it impacting our corner of the world? What can we do to bring hope to the hopeless?

Let us evaluate our faith. Let us seek Jesus through faith and experience the joy and peace that will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, overflow our lives with hope for ourselves and others.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon