"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites
to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.'" Exodus 14:15-16 Imagine a family about to leave for vacation and the father says, “Let’s pray for God’s guidance on this vacation.” They begin to pray and days later, they’re still in the garage, praying. They hadn’t left! Here is a lesson we learned from the Israelites: There’s a time to pray, and there’s a time to move in faith. Israel had their back against the wall when Moses led them from Egyptian slavery. There was the Red Sea on one side, the Egyptian army on the other. Then God miraculously parted that great sea. Now, the children of Israel could have just stood there as God parted the water and dried the ground for them to walk through, but they moved through the parted sea in faith. That would have been the result of a lot of “head knowledge” of faith, just like a lot of Christians today. Many cultural Christians believe the Bible “with all their heads.” And when it comes to giving God their lives, they are standing just on the edge of the sea. Just like the Israelites, we must trust God to save us. They were looking at the walls of water on both sides, and walked through that sea in faith. There is a time to pray and a time to move. There is no real faith until we step out and trust God with our own lives, no matter how much we pray. In Amos 3:3 we read. Do two walk together except they make an appointment and have agreed? To walk with God we must agree with God. This means agreeing with His Word with His heart and with his Character. We need to agree with everything He says , everything He does and everything He is. As we do this we will be empowered to live victorious blessed overcoming lives. Have a blessed day walking with God.
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives! When I am weak, He is strong! When I am lost, He is the way! When I am afraid, He is my courage! When I stumble, He steadies me! When I am hurt, He heals me! When I am broken, He mends me! When I am blind, He leads me! When I am hungry, He feeds me! When I face trials, He is with me! When I face persecution, He shields me! When I face problems, He comforts me! When I face loss, He provides for me! When I face Death, He carries me Home! "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many." Matthew 24:11
Do you know how Treasury agents are trained to recognize counterfeit money? They spend hours studying the real thing--the real notes. They become so familiar with true currency, that false ones are easily recognized. The same principle applies in the spiritual realm. All around us are belief systems that promise to discover the God within you, or the ability to delve into psychic mysteries, or those that assure that we have innate goodness and the need for no authority beyond ourselves. These counterfeit beliefs seek to turn our attention from the true God revealed in Jesus Christ. You can avoid being trapped by a lie. However, if you'll spend time getting to know Christ and His teachings in Scripture, false ideas are easily seen because in comparison to knowing Christ, other ideas don't even come close. God is present everywhere and participates in all the circumstances of our lives. It is not necessary to shut down the rest of your life or retreat to a distant mountaintop to be with him. Driving down the highway, in hospital waiting rooms, at dinner, greeting clients - God's presence fills every moment of the day.
We can't fix ourselves. We can't find our own way. We certainly can't control life's twists and turns. But we can gradually learn to sense God's presence with us in all things. His love - and His peace. But I must confess to having a problem doing it. As I've tried to figure out why I have the problem, at least this much is clear: I am more comfortable with noise than silence, with activity than stillness, with struggling than surrender, with trying to be strong than admitting my weakness. It was the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal who said, "All human miseries come from not being able to sit in a quiet room, alone." Could he possibly be right? Do we humans need more reflection than we permit ourselves? Time to take our thoughts and feelings seriously? The courage to bring them honestly before God to see what he may want us to learn? Or to be? Last week I was forced to sit still in weather-bound traffic for a while. For Type-A personalities, that is nerve-jangling, finger-drumming time! I had a schedule. There were things to do. So... something told me to pray instead of churn. And I did -- about a host of things. The time passed quickly. When I was able to get going on the road again, there was no haste or panic. Just gratitude for an unanticipated time for prayer. And a sense of peace about what lay ahead. Perhaps it would be wise to book a half-day each month for silence before God. To use dead time in airports to be alone with God. To turn off the noise of a radio or Ipod for the chance to hear God while driving to work. Perhaps you live at such a hurried pace that a half day or even a half hour of silence with God seems impractical. For today, put just five minutes of silence between appointments or work two five-minute periods of quiet into your morning. At the end of the day, you may have discovered the meaning of this text from Scripture: "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge" (Psalm 46:10-11) Steve Blair Sometimes we perceive God to be silent but it is because we are listening for the wrong answer. We listen with our earthly or fleshly problems in mind while God is busy working and resolving our heavenly ones. John 6:36. It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing! Gods Spirit is the source of all life pursue Him .
1. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. 2. Dear God, I have a problem, it's me. 3. Growing old is inevitable, growing UP is optional. 4. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open. 5. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted. 6. Do the math... count your blessings. 7. Faith is the ability to not panic. 8. Laugh every day, it's like inner jogging. 9. If you worry, don't pray. If you pray...don't worry. 10. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home everyday. 11. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape. 12. The most important things in your home are the people. 13. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still; God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot. 14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry. 15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead. 16. We do not remember days, but moments. Life is moving too fast - so enjoy your precious moments. 17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it, otherwise it's just hearsay. 18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done. 19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you're seeking require courage and risk taking. Learn from the turtle, it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck. "We are continually faced with great opportunities disguised as unsolvable problems." 20. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. Micah 3:8 tells us that we can be full of power by the Holy Spirit. I believe that everybody can be mightily used by God, we can do great & mighty things John 14:12 if we believe God wants to use us. And be daring enough to step out. Ephesians 3:20.
Some of us do not believe enough. We need to stretch our faith into new realms. We need to be people with uncommon goals because we are full of the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't be afraid of people, who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is the one who can destroy the soul and the body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Hell's misery is deep, but not as deep as God's love. So how do we apply this [truth]? If you are saved, it should cause you to rejoice. You've been rescued. A glance into hell leads the believer to rejoice. But it also leads the believer to redouble his efforts to reach the lost. To understand hell is to pray more earnestly and to serve more diligently. Ours is a high-stakes mission. And the lost? What is the meaning of this message for the unprepared? Heed the warnings and get ready. This plane won't fly forever. "Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart" (Ecc 7:2 NIV). When Christ Comes (Max Lucado) |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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