Entrust Your Life to Him

Are you trusting God with every aspect of your life? Are you putting everything of importance into His hands to securely hold? If not, you’re liable to lose it all.

November’s Awakening, Day 21

Dear Lord, although I am sure of my position, I am unable to sustain it without you. Help me or I am lost.

 —Martin Luther

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

—Corrie ten Boom

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8 NIV

            It should be comforting for us to know that even great icons of the Christian faith needed to rely upon and trust in God daily. Are you willing to trust solely in Him and cry out “Dear Lord, help me or I am lost.”? And remember Paul’s thorn? Whatever is was, God refused to remove it and simply said that His grace was sufficient in weakness to make Paul even stronger. We must trust in those types of situations that God knows best and desires the best for us, contrary to what we may deem as best in our limited mindset.

            Give it to God. All of it. If you’re holding on to everything of importance in your own limited strength and understanding, you will often dishearteningly see the world strip it away. We are not the best of managers of anything good, only He is. And He truly knows what is essential and important and of true value. Some things we simply need to let go of, and most things we need to put into His hands. In our hands, it’s just like sifting sand, blowing away in the whimsical breeze and falling through the cracks.

Faith in the Face of Doubt

When doubt tries to stifle your faith just look to the scars in His hands.

November’s Awakening, Day 20

True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie. It is enough that God has said it.

 —A. W. Tozer

The strength of your faith is not measured by the absence of doubt, but by the faithfulness of your life in the face of doubt.  

 —Nicky Gumbel

I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Revelation 2:19 NIV

We would all like to have powerful, bold faith all the time but as fallen humans that is not probable. We will all have doubts at times and question the how and the why just like Thomas. We know in our heart that God can do all things but we often wonder, will He, for me. Jesus understands our dilemma and empathizes with us, but the important thing to note is that He commends those who are “doing more than you did at first,” in our deeds, love, faith, service, and perseverance. Growing into maturity is what is most important. Stagnant is stale and lifeless.

            Be strong and courageous in your faithfulness to Him, His Word, and what you know is true. Persevere in the face of doubt, and be encouraged and strengthened knowing that if you need to see and feel the scars in His hands just look to the Cross once more and know.

Flight at the End of the Tunnel

Fight, flight, or faith—which do you choose when you’re going into life’s battles?

November’s Awakening, Day 19

The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in. 

 —R. C. Sproul

When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.

 —Edward Teller

            Faith to believe in God is one thing, faith to believe everything that God is and has said is quite another. Faith vitality comes when we can trust God because of who He is, what He has already done for us, and what He will continue to most assuredly do. Jesus Christ is the One who is faithful and true, the way, the truth, and the life, and the light that is never dimmed or extinguished. All His promises for us are clearly delineated in His Word and they are genuine and valid without expiration.

            How firm is your faith in Him? How unshakable is your faith when you’re in life’s darkest tunnel, seemingly without end, not knowing what lies ahead? Does your faith penetrate the darkness to see His beckoning light? Are you faithfully trusting that once you break through that darkness there’s solid ground anew to take foot? Or better still, are you prepared to fly and soar across the bottomless chasm when you see Him on the other side with outstretched arms urging you onward? Bold faith—unshakable, unswerving, unrelenting, unyielding—that’s the kind of faith He’s looking for in you.

Faith for Your Past, Present, and Future

Faith looks up, to free you from your past, to love you where you’re at, and to give you His blessed hope for tomorrow.

November’s Awakening, Day 18

Trust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love and the future to God's providence.

 —Augustine of Hippo

Regret looks back.

Worry looks around.

Faith looks up.

 —John  Mason

            When you reflect upon your past mistakes, faith in His mercy and forgiveness allows you to learn and mature without condemnation. Regret may motivate you to avoid the same mistakes, but sometimes it can keep you in bondage to your past and never allow you to break free from its chains. Faith freely forgives and lets you acknowledge your errors and move on.

            In the chaos of each day, we are often overwhelmed by stress and the busyness of life. We can be overtaken by the worries and the concerns that each day brings or we can choose the way of faith, trusting in His love and His promises for us. Instead of the anarchy of worry, faith gives us His confident assurance that He is in control and has you by His hand.

            Tomorrow will be a bright new day, if we trust and know without a doubt that He will be there too, providing us with every good thing. Faith brings hope for tomorrow instead of only dismal despair. Faith is the unseverable cord that threads together His peace for our past, His assurance for today, and His hope of providence for tomorrow. Faith always looks up.

Eyes of Faith

Are you looking into tomorrow through the foggy haze of the crystal ball or are you perceiving with the perfect clarity of faith?

November’s Awakening, Day 17

God has made for us two kinds of eyes: those of flesh and those of faith.

 —John Chrysostom

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith.

—Author Unknown

But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Luke 21:14–15 NIV

            Faith sees through the eyes of God not our eyes of flesh. The unknown becomes known, the impossible becomes possible, our inability becomes His perfect ability, and our uncertainty is exchanged for His assurance. With faith, you are not limited to your own talents, abilities, and resources. You have access to Him and all that He is and all that He has, and that’s everything.

            When you’re worried about tomorrow, just remember His assurance to you, “I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” You’re not going into tomorrow’s battles alone.

Faith Doesn’t Need to See or Hear

“I always knew He was there, but I didn’t know His name!”—Helen Keller

November’s Awakening, Day 16

Faith is blind—except upward. It is blind to impossibilities, and deaf to doubt. It listens only to God and sees only his power and acts accordingly.

 —S. D. Gordon

If the blind put their hand in God’s, they find their way more surely than those who see but have not faith or purpose.

 —Helen Keller

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Romans 10:17 NIV

            “Faith comes from hearing the message about Christ,” but what if you can’t hear or see the words of the message? Faith doesn’t need to see or hear—it just knows. Some might say those physical senses are even a distraction. Faith is a spiritual awareness not a physical sensation or a tangible, quantifiable substance. As God is the great I AM, so faith simply is. Faith is the instantaneous and unbroken connection with Him, an invisible lifeline that securely attaches ourselves to Him transcending time and space and the physical order of things.

            Anne Sullivan, herself the epitome of faith, was Helen Keller’s teacher who, despite all odds, faithfully persevered to communicate with Helen. Breakthrough came when Anne simultaneously ran water over one of Helen’s hands while writing the word “water” with her finger on the palm of Helen’s other hand. Helen now understood that everything had a word associated with it. Helen progressed to learn how to speak, read braille, read sign language by touch, and lip read by touch. She earned a college bachelor’s degree and was a noted author, lecturer, and political activist. Amazing.

            Being both blind and deaf was not enough to deter Helen’s faith and perseverance. This world has seen and knows many people just like her. Do your faith obstacles seem so insurmountable now? Faith—it’s the invisible finger of God writing His name on the palm of your hand.

Baby Steps to Leaps of Faith

It’s time to leave home and do it on your own—with faith in Him.

November’s Awakening, Day 15
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. 
 —Martin Luther King, Jr
I do not want merely to possess a faith, I want a faith that possesses me.
 —Charles Kingsley 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV

           

Our faith must start somewhere just like everything else in life. At our conversion to become believers, God gives us a measure of faith to believe but not mountain-moving faith. We begin by taking baby steps but soon that needs to progress to longer and faster steps till we are running and leaping in faith to maturity. Sadly, however, many of us never get past the baby steps.

            We as parents, expect our children to mature and become adults of character and integrity with the ability to be successful in life on their own. Likewise, God expects us to grow and mature in our faith and move away from home and make it on our own. Our increasing faith is what allows us to live in that blessed assurance of who He is, what He has done for us, and all that He will continue to do. Each obstacle that we overcome in this life should be a faith springboard to propel us ever onward and upward. Faith builds trust, trust builds dedication and commitment, and commitment brings us closer once again to Him as our source of it all.

            Sometimes, the mother eagle has to kick the fledglings out of the nest so they can learn how to fly. Sometimes, God allows obstacles in our lives as opportunities to cultivate and grow our faith. Don’t you think it’s time for you to take some flying leaps of faith?