"Talk to the Father"

DAY #26 - 'A Woman of Faith' Devotional
Verse: "You do not have because you do not ask." James 4:2 HCSB

Talking to the Father... a very important and sometimes overlooked detail in our days. God doesn't just want to speak with us at mealtimes or at bedtime, He wants to be able to communicate with us all day long. When you are communicating with someone, it's usually a two-way conversation. Sometimes we feel that God should do all the talking. Why isn't He talking to me? When we are in trouble, one of the first things most of us do is call on God... or blame God. He wants us to share our hearts with Him, He knows our thoughts, our desires, but He wants to hear us ask Him for them. Sometimes as was shared in a previous devotional, the busyness of and the distractions in this crazy world around us get in the way of 'praying at all times'. (Romans 12:12 & 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

We too often try to rely on our own resources, knowledge and strength to get through our day... yet a simple call out to God can do so much more. With God NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE, and we need the faith to believe that is true. God is the provider of all the grace, strength, love, patience, wisdom and more that we need throughout the day. All we need to do is 'A.S.K.' -- Ask, Seek & Knock! "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV) 

Faith in God opens so many doors of blessing that God has for us. There is an old song with the lyrics, 'Prayer is the key to Heaven, but Faith unlocks the door'. Are there unopened doors in your life right now? Would you like God to just open them for you? Well He cannot without you asking in faith for Him to do so. He is just waiting on our actions sometimes. Faith without works is dead afterall. (James 2:17 "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." and James 2:26 "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.")


... so as you go through your day, speak to the Father, and ASK for the things that you need. Even little things are important to God. Speak blessing and healing over people's life that you pass by and don't forget to thank Him for His many blessings in your life. It's amazing what a little 'faith can do'.

Check out this song by Kutless, 'That's what Faith Can Do'...


...and the lyrics, as they are powerful... yet not as powerful as God Himself!

Everybody falls sometimes

You gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think its more than you can take
But youre stronger, stronger than you know


And dont you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining


Ive seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesnt ever end
Even when the sky is falling
Ive seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
Thats what faith can do

It doesnt matter what youve heard
Impossible is not a word
Its just a reason for someone not to try
Everybodys scared to death
You may decide to take that step
Out on the water
But itll be all right


Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing
Overcome the odds
When you dont have a chance
(Thats what faith can do)
When the world says you cant
It will tell you that it can


(Repeat Chorus)


BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING!

"Faith That Works"

DAY #8 - "A Woman of Faith" Devotional
Verse: "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'" Romans 1:17 NIV

Faith that works... something we all have access to, yet don't always use. I was actually thinking about this thought earlier this week. We all say that we have faith, we know that God can do what He says He will do, yet when we walk through life, or trials, or even just down a dark street alone our faith is tested. We face a 'trial' of some kind and immediately say 'God help me', as if He is not already there helping us or protecting us. We shouldn't even be walking in the minute amount of fear that makes us have to pray for protection or help in times of trouble. Sometimes there isn't even trouble brewing, you might just be walking down a street at night alone (well technically not alone) thinking of the things that may happen, as this world is not as clean and safe as it once was. This infact was me, during a walk this week... I don't mind walking alone, yet in the back of my head are all the stories of deaths, rapes, stealings, molestations, kidnappings, etc that happen in our neighbourhood alone. But also in my head and heart are the promises that ring true in the Bible. God has commanded his angels to protect me in all that I do, that I may not trip or even stumble on a stone. (Psalm 91:11-13 NIV says, "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.") He also says, 'no weapon formed against me shall prosper'. ("no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me..." Isaiah 54:17) -- these are the TRUTHS that I (and YOU) should be holding on to (and yes there are many more promises in His Word). I should just be thanking God for fulfilling His promises in my life, and walking through the 'storms' into victory. Why do we let even a minute or small amount of doubt to step in? We need to live by faith and not by sight! Because there are stories told of angelic experiences, and I have kept those in my mind & pondered them in my heart, especially in situations like the above (where it's just a simple walk in a 'dark' neighbourhood, past somewhat normal neighbourhood people). I remember a story I once heard of a young girl who was walking somewhere, and there was a gang or a couple of bad guys, and she was nervous about walking through them, however she did and nothing happened to her. But then later she heard of an attack on a young girl or something... and she somehow ended up seeing the 'accused' somewhere, and she asked them why they didn't bother her, and they wondered why she was asking, because she had a really big guy walking with her, so of course they would have left her alone. (paraphrased obviously, as I heard the story when I was much younger, but it has always stayed with me.)

We always need to walk our our faith, be FAITH in action! There is a verse in the Bible that says, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:17 NIV) Basically again, we cannot talk the talk without truly walking the walk.

Remember that God does command His angels concerning you... and YOU are important to Him! Pray a HEDGE of protection over you and your family/friends/co-workers, etc...

Be Blessed & Be a Blessing!

 

Happy 2011~~ New year, New blog posts... New fun!

So, this year I am going to try to continue with my devotional thoughts, and try to keep them more up to date. I have a 'A Woman of Faith' Devotional book that I have been reading this past year (again not faithfully), so this year I thought I would read the devotional and then comment on the verse or the thought of the day and share it with you, instead of in a notebook/journal form.

Today's 'DAY 1' entry was rightly called 'A Woman of Faith' and the verse was found in Matthew 21:21 -- "Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done."

Earlier in the book of Matthew in 17:20, Jesus also uses the mountain analogy, "He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'" The last sentence in this verse is what should be a resounding truth in our hearts and minds, but we somehow cannot let this truth really manifest itself in our lives. That little thing called 'doubt' and one called 'fear' get in the way of us truly believing that 'nothing will be impossible for you'. We try to pray and live with FAITH... and then a little pinch of doubt creeps in, and throws us for a loop. Somehow the promise of 'nothing will be impossible for you' just doesn't hit home with us. Why we can let ourselves get so worked up over sometimes little things, and not truly believe that God can and will do what He promises makes God sad I'm sure. Sometimes we even try to make it work on our own, and try to do things our way, since God is obviously not listening to our prayers and our hearts cries and desires. (Truly He is listening, but we try to make ourselves feel better thinking we can do it for Him.)

Sometimes God promises us something, but we have to wait for it, but we don't desire to wait any longer and patience and endurance are not gifts that we want to utilize. Like Abram and Sarai, when God told them He would make Abram (Abraham) the Father of many nations. How was he supposed to be a father of many nations, when he didn't have any children to call his own. He was getting older, and so was Sarai, and so they took their 'promise fulfillment' into their own hands and allowed Abram to sleep with Hagar, and she bore a son, Ishmael. Later Sarah and Abraham did conceive the 'promised' son, yet Ishmael was there as 'thorn in his side'. Isaac was conceived in 'due time'... every promise in the Bible belonged to those in the Bible, and also to each of us. We just need to read, meditate and claim the promises... However, in most cases it says "God will..." and that's what we as readers of the Bible dwell on. Different people (not just Christians) can quote different promises of God from the Bible. They then question why God isn't granting them that promise. If you look closer at the Scriptures, there are two little words usually in front of the promise (or just after)... "If you..." We have to do our part too. I can't just walk through life expecting God to bless each and every thing I do, I need to do my part too. For example, one of the well-known Scriptures in the church is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

What does it take to be a 'woman of faith' (or a man of Faith)... technically it's easy for me and other members of my church, as our church is called Faith Tabernacle. So being of that church makes me a woman of Faith... LOL! However, it takes much more than that! Believing and not doubting... not letting fear or guilt get in the way of receiving the full blessings of God. We need to LIVE out our FAITH. The Bible also says that Faith without works is dead... (James 2:17)


This day is a NEW BEGINNING... a FRESH start at living a life of FAITH. Come join the journey with me...

I've heard it said that FAITH can be described as...
Forsaking
All
I
Trust in
Him

So trust Him today, and lean not on your OWN understanding (stop trying to do things your own way), and He will direct your paths (He will bring you to where you are to be!)

BE BLESSED, and BE A BLESSING!