Hello My Friend/Guest,
Today is Saturday July 10, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Psalms, chapters 88-91. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-july-10
Today's Message: You Will Be Walking Again
As Christians our faith in God never remains the same, oh, one may remain faithful to God, but how much faith we have in God differs, usually upon the circumstances we are facing and if we are not daily walking with God, the faithfulness will become the unfaithfulness. Does it feel as though nothing ever changes and that you will never see an end to the circumstances you are facing? Do not give up hope. Do not stop believing in God's great power. Jesus said; “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” - Luke 17:6. A mustard seed is one of the tiniest seeds on earth, but it grows into one of the biggest trees. As long as we have just enough faith planted in us we have hope that we can get through any of the circumstances we are facing. If we daily walk with God through those circumstances we will increase our faith in Him, becoming stronger in mind, body, and spirit, which in turn enables us to to overcome them. Think about it, a person has been in a car accident and is unable to walk, the only way to be able to walk again is through intense physical therapy. It is going to be painful, but as long as he has a little bit of faith that he is going to walk again, he will be walking again. The more he progresses the stronger his faith gets, the quicker he recovers, but if he does not make an attempt to go through the therapy his faith will never increase, but decrease, often to the point that it is completely gone and he never walks again. The same is true for the Christian who never does anything to increase his faith in God through his circumstances, if he is not daily walking with God, his faith will decrease and eventually be gone to the point that he no longer believes in God at all. God has faith in you, He wants you to walk again and as long as you keep holding on the that little bit of faith, you will be walking again.
We all get discouraged from time to time, when we are living in sin it is easier to understand if we do not see a change in our circumstances, but when we are living right, one can not help, but wonder if God is even paying attention. Perhaps you may feel as the psalmist writes; “O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave....LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.” - Psalm 88:1-3,14-16. Our circumstances can distract us to the point that we think God does not hear our prayers, but it is okay to talk to God and just tell Him how you are feeling, He is listening. Yesterday, in fact, the past few weeks I have been struggling to keep my focus on God. He has me working on this project, on top of the other work that I do, and the more I try to get it done the more difficulties I face. It is a bit discouraging and I find myself questioning whether or not I am doing the right thing. This morning I just said to God; “I need Your power, wisdom, and guidance to get me through this day, please do not try me today, You know I need you.” And you know what? For the first time in two weeks I have not just stared at the screen for a hour trying to locate some kind of message to write until the Holy Spirit speaks to me and says; “You are not listening to me.” God is speaking to us, we just have to pay attention to what He is trying to tell us.
God knows what you need, you just have to ask Him for it, it is all about communication, you can talk to God all day long. Did you know that He reads your mind? Did you know that Satan can not read your mind? He can plant things in your head, but he can not hear what you are saying in your head. So, if you talk to God in your head, all day long, your faith will increase as Satan can not discourage you because he does not know what you and God are talking about. Praise God! “Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.” - Psalm 89:13-18. Talking to God and praising Him all day gets us walking and increases our faith in Him. In fact, we see light through the darkest of circumstances the more we praise Him and talk to Him throughout the day. Praise God! We not only see the light we become stronger because God is our strength. We can get through anything with the power of God.
One important step to get you walking is by reading God's Word, do not be afraid of it, He gave it to us to help us. Some of my favorite books to read out of the Old Testament are Job, Joshua, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah. The Book of Job is very special to me, when I could not walk God sent me to this book and it was only by reading it that I was able to start walking again. Some of my favorite books to read out of the New Testament is Luke, Romans, Philippians, and Hebrews. Romans reminds me that Christ is my Savior and that He has done so much for me. Find a book that you can relate to and hold on to it, go to it every time your faith is tried. Find a secret place where you can be alone with God and go to it every time you can not walk. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;... For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” - Psalm 91:1-5,11-16. When we put our trust in God, who is our refuge, He takes us under His wings and protects us from the dangers that are around us. We may have to suffer some, but He will always deliver us to victory. Perhaps the most important victory is our salvation. It is only by trusting in our Lord as our Savior that we even have our salvation. Praise God!
What is the biggest challenge you are facing? Are you afraid to go through the spiritual therapy needed to walk again? Keep holding on to that little bit of faith, pick up the Bible, get in the Word of God, even if it is a verse a day, each day your faith will increase and you will be increasing that faith more and more and be walking in no time. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” - Ephesians 5:1,2. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Visit: I'm Following Jesus!
http://www.imfollowingjesus.com
Are You 100% Sure That You Are Going to Heaven?
You Can Be: I'm Ready to Get Saved
http://www.readytofollow.com/salvation
Want To Receive These Devotions in Your Email?
Send me a blank email with the word Subscribe in the Title to:
devotion@readytofollow.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.