Tag: faith

Essential…Joy

 

You feel the call of God on your life…you realize He has a plan and purpose for you. It scares you, even overwhelms you as you think how you can live out God’s will. How do you move from the place of discovery to the place of fruitful active ministry…a ministry that brings glory to God?

It is a question we all have…”How do we live out our calling…”

ESSENTIALS (noun)

1. something basic; the essentials of astronomy

2. something necessary, indespensable, or unavoidable

Merriam and Webster Dictionary

What is essential…what is basic to living out God’s calling on your life? 

Faith…we have no Christian walk apart from believing Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God.

Again, what is essential, something necesary, indispensable to living out our calling in a way that honors God?

Joyful Faith

How would you describe your faith…strong, sincere…joyful? Would you ever think to say that I am so JOYFUL in terms of living out your faith?? Yet it is critical that we live our life of faith with joy. Often—too often we get weighed down with the difficulties we encounter..there is NO JOY—just the quick prayer, “Lord, help me survive this.

But what really keeps us from experiencing joyful faith…a joyful life? It is not circumstances or people—it is how we respond to them—ultimately it is where we put our focus—the negative in this world can consume us.
What steps do we need to take to move from weighed-down, grumpy, burdened faith to peace, hope, joyful faith??

  1. Don’t seek joy. Instead seek to love God more and to deepen your relationship with Him. Joy will come as a result of the relationship. Joy is found…when we embrace the goodness of God, have peace with God, through faith in Jesus, and when we are led by the Holy Spirit.
  2. Joy is not about you—what you want or getting your way. Joy is always about God, accepting His plan and purpose for you.
  3. Joy comes out of grace. The grace we need- because of our own sinfulness…The grace we receive- the peace of forgiveness…the grace we give-mercy and kindness to others. We lose our joy when we forget grace.

“You can tell a person’s relationship to God not by their theology, but by their kindness and their joy.”

 

Enough, enough all ready…

Do you need more?

As you look around your home you probably think “I don’t need more stuff.” Then you might think well I could use more…time, money and chocolate (or maybe that last one is just me 😊).

How would you respond if God appeared to you and said “I am enough, I am sufficient for all your needs”? After you pick yourself up off the floor from the shock of it, you might say something like, “I am listening“. That is pretty much what God did to Abram.

Go…I will bless you

God had appeared and spoken to Abram several times before. He had asked Abram to leave all that was familiar to him, his country, family, home and go to a place God would show him. God also had promised great things for Abram. One of the promises was that Abram would become a great nation (Gen 12:2) and that he would have numerous descendants like the stars in the sky (Gen 15:5). Now, Abram was 75 years old and his wife was barren (Gen 11:30), when he first heard this seemingly impossible promise. Yet, he believed God and moved to an unknown land leaving all his family behind, except for Sarai, his wife.

Ten years had passed, Sarai is still without children (Gen 16:1-3). Thinking they had waited long enough, Sarai has the plan…a plan that brought a child into the home, but also anger and strife. All the while, God is silent, Abram has not hear from Him for thirteen years. Then…

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty;

Walk before Me, and be blameless.”

I am God Almighty…

I am El Shaddai…This is more then just a title God gives Himself. This is a revelation of His character. He is saying, I am enough…I am sufficient…I can fulfill the promise I made to you. You don’t have to run ahead of Me…you don’t have to figure out a new plan…I have this.

Walk before Me

This command is to live “in full view of, under the eye of” God. In a sense, when Sarai and Abram took matters into their own hands, they turned away from God. God is now calling Abram back, to live as he had before walking in obedience in full view of God. It is much like when Jesus calls us to abide or remain with Him (John 15:5, 7). It is then that our lives are fruitful and God gives us the answers we desire.

Be Blameless

God is asking Abram to live with integrity. According to Webster’s dictionary integrity means adhere to a code of moral values; the state of being complete or undivided. God wanted Abram to trust Him completely to fulfill this promise.  As James wrote when our faith is filled with doubt or uncertainity, we are a double-minded or divided and unstable.

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:5-8 nlt

The All-Sufficient One

God through Jesus calling on us to walk before Him and to be blameless. The Almighty is always enough. He is always sufficient provide for you and to keep all His promises.

The question we must all answer is are we willing to trust Him, to walk in love and obedience, and continually praise the Lord God the Almighty?

And the four living creatures…do not cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” Revelation 4:8