I Believe

One of my favorite parts of "The Polar Express" is when the little boy says "I believe".  He had lost his belief in Santa but through a set of circumstances he again believed in Santa.  I would like to say that there is a huge difference between Santa & my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.  Christ asks us to have child like faith.  I've been spending a lot of time thinking about that lately.  Today's verse is Genesis 15:6 NLT.  It says, "And Abraham believed The Lord, & The Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith".  The part I've been thinking about is "believed The Lord".  Too often we believe our circumstances, other people, news reports, medical reports, financial statements, when we really need to believe what God says.  We need to ask what Gods word says about us & our situation.  Then we need to decide are we going to believe what I Am says or are we going to take someone else's word about us.  I want to encourage you to believe God.  He made you.  He knows you better than anyone else does.  He knows your past, present, & future.  So if He says it, trust Him& believe Him.  He knows what He's talking about.

Peace

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts & minds in Christ Jesus.(Phillipians 4: 7 NIV)

Peace can be a hard thing to come by.  Circumstances are always trying to rob us of our peace.  Today I would like to encourage you with this verse that even in crazy circumstances, you can have peace.  You see the peace that comes from God is bigger & stronger than any of those circumstances.  Keep your focus on Him during the storm.  Let that peace guard your hearts & minds.  Let it wash over them & cover them.  Worries, fears, & anxieties, can't get through Gods peace.  So today whatever is trying to take your peace away, remember God is big enough to handle it.  He loves you & He has great plans for you.  Claim this verse, focus on the good

Faith, Love, Hope

We continually remember before our God & Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love & your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:3 NIV)

As I was reading this today, it gave me the thought that this is how great things start.  What a thre step process.  Step one is faith.  In order to do something great you have to start with faith.  Faith is what causes you to be able to do something bigger than yourself.  It forces you to stop relying on your power & start relying on Gods power.  Faith is what let's you do something even when everyone else tells you it's impossible.  You have to start with faith.
     Step number 2 is love.  You have to have love if you're going to be pushed to attempt something great.  I think love is a two parter.  The first part would be love for what you are doing.  In order to do something great, you will need that love to keep you going when the work gets hard.  Without love for what you are doing the work will get to hard & you'll give up because it simply becomes work.  The second part of it is love for who you are doing it for.  First of all you need to be doing it for Christ which will in turn cause you to love others & therefore attempt something great for them.  When we put Christ first it gives us the love for others to serve them.
      Step number 3 is hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  When we start the journey in faith, we're excited about the vision of what we believe will happen.  Then we add love & that love pushes us when things get tough.  Hope in Jesus Christ is what allows us to stay the course when Satan & others start telling us why this could never happen.  Those times will come when you try to do something great for Christ.  We just have to remember where our hope lies.  It's not in us, it's in Jesus Christ.
     So today get your faith up.  Step out of the boat.  That's how you walk on water.  Let your love for Jesus Christ & for others propel you to do that great work.  And always remember that your hope is in Jesus Christ.  There's nothing He can't do!

Preparation

So Jesse sent for him.  He was dark & handsome, with beautiful eyes.  And The Lord said,"This is the one; anoint him." (1 Sam. 16: 12 NLT)

So here's David, the youngest son, & Hes just been anointed king.  He should've been on cloud nine.  This was his time, God had declared it.  But it wasn't to happen all of a sudden.  David would have to go through many trials, struggles, & tests before He was ready to be king. God had to use all of those things in David's life before he could be the king that god needed him to be.  David had to go out with Gods help & fight battles & defeat giants.  David had to learn restraint & to follow God in all things before God could use him .  I think today it's no different.  God has a plan for your life.  That plan might not be coming about as fast as you would like & there might be a lot of struggles to go through but God is using it all to prepare you.  Trust God through the struggles & ask Him to reveal to you what He's trying to show you.  Trust His plan.  If God put the plan inside you, He will bring it to pass.  The rest is just the preperation process.

Know What You Believe

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow & deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition & the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.  ( Col. 2:8 NIV)

In today's world, it is extremely important to know what we believe as Christians.  People will try to twist Gods word, cite the latest polls, & give you all the reasons why things have changed & we need to as well.  As Christians our only guide is to be Gods word.  It doesn't change.  If we don't know what Gods word says, it is easier for us to be deceived.  We have to be spending time studying Gods word on our own.  We need to be in bible study with others.  We have to spend time in prayer daily.  During our prayer time we need to spend time talking with God & also listening to God.  If we will do these things, we can discern when the philosophy is hollow & deceptive or it just goes against Gods word.  It's up to us to know what we believe because if we don't the world will be quick to tell us what we should believe & the world is not our guide.  So today study, teach your kids, be the influence.  It's our best protection.

Build up

Therefore encourage one another & build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.  (1 Thess. 5:11 NIV)

Today when I woke up, I found out that a friend of mine had finished her journey here on earth & was called home to he withe The Lord. She had battled for a long time & god said it was time for her to rest.  I didn't know her well but got to know her through my cousin, hoping that my devotions would encourage her.  Little did I know that through that journey, it would be her to encourage me as I would later have cancer removed from my arm.  As she was going through her struggle, she was still encouraging others & trying to help others, even when her situation was so difficult. As I heard the news today, my thoughts went to her family who will remain in my prayers.  But it also got me thinking how we need to he about the business of encouraging people.  There are so many people in this world trying to tear down & destroy & we as Christians need to let Christ work through us to build up , repair, & encourage others.  We don't know what people are dealing with or going through in their day.  Everyone could use a smile, a kind word, or a helping hand.  Those people should be able to depend on us to be those things.  Sometimes it's even our own families who are in need of one of those things.  Maybe it was a rough day at school, work, practice, etc. & they just need a hand up.  Sometimes it just means taking our focus off of us & our problems & asking God how we can help someone else.  Thank you to all of the encourages I have in my life, you are a great blessing.  Today the world lost an encourager, now it's up to us.

Hold My Hand

For I am The Lord, your God, Who takes hold of your right hand & says to you, do not fear; I will help you (Is. 41: 13 NIV)

Today I want you to take a break from your worries, fears, & doubts.  I want you to picture yourself walking along a winding road as the sun starts to disappear & you can start hearing the sounds that you hear at night that have those ominous noises.  You start feeling nervous, uncertain, & fear starts to creep in.  You can't see what's ahead & the noises are numerous & sound very big.  All of a sudden someone walks up, takes you by your hand & says "Do not fear, I will help you".  As you look up, things start getting brighter, the sounds become a little less ominous, & you look into the face of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.  Suddenly fear has turned into overwhelming peace as you realize there's nothing that Christ can't bring you through untouched.  Now that's a picture but it's real life.  Christ has you by the hand t & there's no reason to fear as you walk through the scary things in life.  When you know He's walking with you, things aren't as scary& if those fears & doubts start making noise again, focus on that picture & most importantly focus on the face of the Savior.  His face will make your fears melt away.