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trust

You Matter

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“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 
Jeremiah 1:5

1I want to know God’s will for my life, don’t you? Sometimes it is so hard to distinguish between what God’s will is for you and your will for you. By this, I mean, it is difficult to determine whether it is the plans that God has established for your life, or the plans you have organized for yourself. Sometimes these plans align, while other times, they do not. It is very important to recognize the fact that we need to have a proper perspective of who we are before we can grasp what the Lord wants us to do. Once we realize who we are and what our purpose is, we can then fulfill the things that the Lord has in store for us – pursuing Him faithfully. The Lord loves you and who you are. He wants to use you to do amazing things, so say yes to Him! Say yes to God every day, allowing Him to grow closer to you and forming you into the person that He has called you to be. Trust in His plans and in His timing, because His timing is perfect and His plans are perfect. He knew what His plans were for you before you were even born. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5) God has created you with a purpose, so let’s fulfill it!

Morgan Drake

Photo credit: http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/marcovan-56576

Faith In Action

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“So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.”
1 Kings 17:15, NLT

Faith_SignIsn’t it easy to claim faith in God when all is going great for us? I know it is for me. But, how well does our faith stand up when tested– does it reveal faith in action or faith in theory only?

God tested the faith of a widow in the village of Zarephath who, along with her son, faced starvation. God sent Elijah to the woman with instructions for her to feed him. She told Elijah, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”  1 Kings 17:12 NLT

The widow obeyed God and was blessed. Read today’s Dose verse. “There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.” 1 Kings 17:16 NLT

God also tested Abraham’s faith. “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” Genesis 22:2

Abraham obeyed God and was blessed. “… Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number… And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” Genesis 22:16-18 NLT

No doubt, things looked desperate for the widow and Abraham, as fear and uncertainty threatened their families, provision, and lives. Yet, they yielded their great uncertainty and fear to their greater faith in God to provide for their needs.

God sacrificed even more for us–His only Son for our sins!

Are you unable to see how your needs will be met and your family provided for right now? You wonder, “Should I obey the Lord and trust in what I can’t see or try and handle things myself?” Perhaps you’re resigned to die (like the widow was) because that’s all you can understand to do. Why not call out to God and obey Him (despite what you feel, see, or understand) instead? Now, that’s faith in action!

By grace through faith,

Rita

Dreams for the Good Life

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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”  
Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT

GoodLife_SignI was sitting around with a group of friends, talking about our lives and how we’d gotten to where we were when one friend declared, “This is definitely not what I had in mind when I made my big plans to live the ‘good life’!”

Many of us develop big dreams of what we’d like our lives to be in the future.

But how often do we look back on those great dreams and have to admit, that for whatever reason, they’d never come true? I mean, when was the last time you looked at your life and said, “I’m doing exactly everything that I’ve ever hoped, wished for, and dreamed of doing”? If you’re like me, the answer is…never!

Generally, we can stand to relinquish some dreams without much regret. But what do we do about those unrealized dreams for which we simply have a very difficult time letting go? Maybe we missed out on having a spouse, child, or children. Maybe we longed for but never received a certain education, career, retirement, house, or car. Maybe we lost a marriage, friends, or family member too soon to bring closure to the relationship. Perhaps, we even think that we found out about God’s love and grace too late in life to really do something useful about it. Have we simply missed out on our opportunity for the ‘good life’? Has God let us down by refusing to honor our dreams? Read today’s Dose verse.

Often, our ‘big plans’ don’t take into consideration God’s will for our lives. We envision what we’d like due to our own interests, passions, and knowledge. We don’t realize or we forget that, our knowledge is limited and our truth is not God’s truth. When our plans aren’t realized, we don’t understand and we can become discontented. But take heart, my friend, God has not abandoned you or allowed you to miss out. He has the ultimate good life planned just for you!

The Lord will lead us on the correct route in life so long as we place our trust in him instead of ourselves. Placing God as number one means readjusting our will and life to his. Then, our dreams will move in line with His plans for our life. Yielding to his leadership is often a humbling experience but it’s our one and only shot to have a truly ‘good life’. Don’t you want that promise over anything that we can dream up? It’s not too late. Why won’t you trust Him today?

 

 By grace through faith,

Rita