Tag Archives for Faith

8:39 P.M.

I am learning who God is. I am learning who I am.
I truly believe that there is no better place to be than here.

To know God… to truly know Him… is to have life. There is no life apart from Him. None.

“for in Him we live and move and have our being…”
Acts 17:28

God’s grace is sufficient for me… Oh, that I would believe this more and more. Lord, lavish on me the gift of faith!

God is teaching my hands to make war… on all that is not of Him. On every voice that attempts to breathe insecurity into me… On every thought that runs contrary to godliness… On all that seeks to tear down what God is building up. God is teaching me the power that is found in the Name to which every knee will bow.

“He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.”
Psalm 18:34

I’ve dreaming a lot, as of late, about life… and love. I am finding SO much comfort in knowing that I have a God who cares so deeply for my longings. If I am abiding in Him, He desires to satisfy them. But I must understand that He is greater. His ways are so much higher than my ways… His thoughts far above my own. God’s plan for my life will supersede by wildest imaginations… I finally believe this.

A Thousand Times I’ve Failed.

“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.”

I can’t take it anymore. I can’t live the way I have been living. I am sick of being stuck in the same place… running so hard… but feeling like I’m moving no where.

No where.

But maybe that’s the problem: I am running so hard. I am attempting to fix everything that is wrong. I am depending on myself.

I know that I need to be closer to God… I know that I need to hear His voice. So  I make my own plans for what I will do to draw nearer to Christ. And I fail. I know that are areas of my life in which I am continually defeated by sin. I run around in circles over and over and over and over. So I make plans of what I will do to overcome. And I fail.

Then I get frustrated.

Then I feel hopeless.

Then I start to believe that it is impossible for things to ever change.

But what I need to begin doing is believing what God’s word says! God has redeemed me that I might walk in FREEDOM… not so that I can be weighed down by sin + failure + guilt + insecurity… and everything else that gets me.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1

With Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior FREEDOM is available. When freedom is available, change is possible. God CAN change us! We need to say this over and over again and pray for faith until we believe this truth in our hearts and in our minds!

It does not matter what you are struggling with or how long you’ve been fighting against sin + failure… God will change you.

Repeat after me:

WITH GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:2

2:44 A.M.

6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs…”
Matthew 10:6-10

Lord, You have called me to something GREAT. So often I forget this. You have given me the privilege of sharing You with the world… You have put Your words in my mouth and Your Holy Spirit within me that I might do great things in Your name.

Lately I have had such a desire to be used by You. But You keep reminding me of a great truth that I often forget: Before You desire to use me, You desire to shepherd me. You want ME. First and foremost, You want my heart. It is so easy for me to get caught up in doing and working but did You not say Yourself, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom I sent”? (John 6:29)

This is You want from me, Lord: a heart that believes that You ARE.

“Before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 8:58

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6

The part of the Matthew 10 passage that really caught me was verses 9 and 10. You told the disciples to basically take nothing with them… to travel light. Lord, how easy it is for me to lose my focus and carry along a whole bunch of unnecessary extras that weigh me down. Help me to be focused on You and the  things that please You. Help me Lord to lay down the weight and the sin that so easily ensnares me! My pride… My desire to lift myself up and be seen… my vanity… the feeding of my flesh…

Lord may You become greater and may I become less!

Lord help me to return to You with all my heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning! (Joel 2:12)

Where is my heart? Where is my treasure? Is it with You, Lord?

No. It has not been.

I have had many idols competing for Your throne in my heart. But I cast down those things now and pour out my heart before You. Your love is better than life, therefore my lips will praise You! (Psalm 63:3)

I want You.

I need You.

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:38-39

“…the fear of the Lord is his treasure.”
Isaiah 33:6