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Stand Firm in Your Faith

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“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
Isaiah 7:9 NIV

What you stand firm in is where you place your identity. For Christians we can tell ourselves that our identity is rooted in Christ, but do we act that way? We need to remember that our actions speak louder than our words. What have you done lately to show that you are standing firm in your faith? Sometimes it’s not a “ready for battle attitude”, but instead it’s more of “circling back around to the truth.” After you feel like you’ve exhausted all other options, so now it’s time to pray. After you allowed anxiety and worry to consume you, you remind yourself of God’s love.

Reminding ourselves:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  2 Corinthians 4:8-10

We are human and sometimes we want to try to make ourselves happy or try to fix things ourselves. Standing firm is not in our own power, but in the power God gives us. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. The Holy Spirit is our super power! He is where our supernatural strength comes from. He is where our perseverance comes from… But only if we activate our power through Him.

If you are wondering whether you’ve been standing firm in your faith or in something else, I encourage you to ask yourself what is it that most people see when they look at you? Are you living as such that people can see Jesus in you, or are worldly worries and idols take over your heart?

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me

Psalm 51:10-12

This is my prayer for you today, friends.

Stephanie Miller

 

Photo Credit: image created via wordswag

GET’ER DONE!

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“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21

I didn’t know much in my early Christian life, but it didn’t take long to realize that I needed a power greater than myself if I was going to truly be Jesus’ disciple.  Change was hard! (And by the way, it still is!) Somehow, I understood that any accomplishments made for eternal purposes would not happen unless I had help. 

I read the Bible, but had a hard time understanding it. I searched every self-help book I could get my hands on, and listened to hundreds of sermon tapes. I asked other Christian women to teach and mentor me, but help came like a very slow dripping faucet. Like a sponge I listened to anyone who would teach me. 

After a while I began to understand that man and his manual tools could only help so much.  To illustrate, think of a man who needs to drive a three-inch screw into concrete. Using a manual screwdriver, he is going to struggle, pushing hard with all his might to get the job done in his own strength. Or he can pick up an electric power drill and sink that same 3-inch screw in seconds!  By using his outside power source, he can get the job done without zapping his own strength, and can get much more done in the process. 

After we have accepted Christ and have His power living in us through the Holy Spirit, we too can accomplish a lot more in this life. More than we could ever accomplish in our own strength.

So today – let us plug into the power source that God has already given us. His power source, His Holy Spirit, that lives inside us 24/7, but which we so often ignore. He is stronger that we will ever be.  And then watch him work through us, getting more done that we would ever have imagined!  

Until Next Time,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda

 

Photo credit: https://www.freeimages.com/photographer/unknowme-67461

 

 

 

Like a Little Child

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 “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 
Luke 18:17 NIV

It is while wearing two of my hats, military wife and mom, that I speak to you today. As some of you have experienced, military life requires going where the Army says to go at any given time. Even if we are happy, content, and rooted where we live, we must go, and uprooting always causes my mind to spin with ‘why’ questions that have no answers. Therefore, when there are unknowns coming up, I like to line up plan A, B, C, D, and then D2, D3, and D4 because of my human need to be in control.  Reality though, will inevitably involve something I didn’t even think of (such as buying a house in Colorado just to find out that our orders were changed to Georgia). I think though, that this military lifestyle is a lesson in how to surrender to God. I must remember that God is bigger than the Army (and if He is sending me to Georgia then there must be important kingdom work for me to do there).

My kids on the other hand, don’t need to worry because they trust and depend on me. As I schedule movers, declutter, change dentists, and transfer school records, they have the freedom to play outside, run, pretend, and imagine without knowing all the answers because it is their job to be curious and enjoy life. My kids don’t need to plan and schedule because they know that I will take care of them.

I need to remember that for me, as a child of God, there are plans in motion that I can’t even see and a future that I can’t even imagine. God has me in his hands. I can trust and depend on Him and (this is the hardest part) surrender my ‘why’ questions, my worrying, and plans A, B, C, D, and even D2, D3, and D4 to Him because He is in control, not me. Hebrews 11:1 NIV says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Similarly, 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” This means that God doesn’t even want me to try to handle it myself, for if I have faith, and admit that I can only succeed with God, then his glory is shown. Luke 18:17 NIV says “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” We are required to surrender our worries, and then enjoy the freedom of not knowing all the answers! (and then go play with our kids)

Your sister in Christ,

Erin Tabor