Fully Persuaded

There's faith and then there is FAITH.  I'm not just talking about the kind of faith that operates like a carousel, up one minute and down the other.  I'm talking about the kind of faith that is unshakable   As I read Romans 4: 19-21, I am amazed at the conviction in which Abraham lived out his faith.  We read the following regarding his faith:

"And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. "

God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child many years earlier.  Time went by without the promise being answered.   If anyone had the right to doubt, it would be Abraham.  His body was,well....kind of old.  His wife's womb was considered dead with regards to child bearing (v. 19). Yet, Abraham remained "fully persuaded".  To me, that means that he didn't doubt even once. Sarah doubted a couple of times, but not Abraham. He was a friend of God.  He knew that God would answer as impossible as the situation might have seemed.  God honored that kind of faith.  Romans goes on to tell us that his faith was  imputed to him for righteousness. This means that his unshakable faith made him saved.  His faith made him pure.  That's some special kind of faith!  

Romans does not stop there.  It says the following:

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it [righteousness] was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (Romans 4:23-24). 

So here's the cool thing.  Abraham's story was written for us as an example of what our own faith should look like.  Notice that the last verse emphasizes our belief in the God who "raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead." What this tells me is that we should have a resurrection type of faith.  If God raised Jesus from the dead, then know that He will make the dead things in your life live again and will do the impossible when we are "fully persuaded" of his goodness and faithfulness. 

This song was written a couple of years ago, but I feel it more than ever.  Enjoy!

Single for a Season...Single for a Reason

Note:  If you've never experienced a long season of singleness in your own life, then this blog posting is probably not for you.  However, please feel free to pass on to others who you think might be blessed by it. 

I couldn't help but share this amazing article of encouragement with all my fellow singletons, but before I share it, I want to preface it with some of my own words.  I am finally at a point that I am enjoying my season of singleness  to the  fullest.  I wasn't always at this point and for most of my 20's( I'll be 30 next year), I was dragged down the road of God's will often times kicking and screaming like a big baby. lol.  I really thought that I would be married by the time I was 25 years old (uuummm, I've kind of changed my mind about that).  I used to ask God, why am I not married yet?  I'm a decent gal.  I've done everything right for the most part (completely self-righteous as if our works can manipulate God into doing what we want). If its not time, I used to beg God, please take this feeling of wanting to be married away from me so that I can enjoy my life. Yah, that didnt' happen. God wanted me to learn how to depend on Him even more.  He wanted me to learn patience by being put in situations that required PATIENCE.  It didn't come right away, but I recall the time where God began to speak and tell me, You have waited on me and now I'm going to give you what your heart truly desires. I am going to give you a season of pure satisfaction and contentment only in me.  I'm going to give you that rest you  asked me for all this time.  I am going to give you a season of joy and peace where you can serve me without distractions and with singleness of heart.  This will be one of the most blessed seasons of your life.  I cannot express fully what God has done in this season of my life up to this point.  I feel a supernatural push daily to serve God like never before. I feel happy just getting up in the morning. Some even say I smile too much.  I have been blessed in my career as well. I just received a scholarship to go study at a prestigious museum in New York City this summer.  It had nothing to do with my abilities, but everything to do with God's.  He has planted in my heart areas of ministry that I was too afraid to even dive into before.  I feel like I have a gift to encourage other singles to live for God like never before.  Did you know that right now, in our world today, the largest group of under-served and un-churched people are singles.  More young career professionals are putting off marriage until later years in order to pursue their goals.  I believe the church has a wonderful opportunity to share Jesus with these people, disciple them, and send them off the make more disciples.  They not only have the time, but they also have the resources.  I want to be part of the group that makes this happen.  If God can use my simple life to help in this area, then so be it.  Don't get me wrong, I know that one day when God decides to open that door, I will join in matrimony with a person who I can team up with to further God's kingdom, but for now, I want him to use me to the fullest to reach others to build His kingdom.  Some may not be ready to hear me out and I totally understand that. I was once at that same point.  When you are ready to let God use you, where you are at in your life, with what you already have, there is a place for you and an amazing opportunity to make a difference.  Pastor Jason Sciscoe said it once and it has stayed with me until now:  The most on-fire people, the most dedicated, the greatest prayer warriors, and overall, the greatest Christians should be single people.  They can give themselves wholly to God without reservation and without limits.  May that be my life-story.  :)

Here's the article that I found that will encourage you in your season.  May it empower you like it empowered me:

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/single-satisfied-and-sent-mission-for-the-not-yet-married


Other resources:
Rev. Lee Stoneking and his thoughts on singleness:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOLeCjC-2K4
Skip Heitzig's Series on Singleness, Dating, Marriage, Divorce, and Widowhood (Great series, completely downloadable):  http://skipheitzig.com/teachings_search.asp?series=112  

When God Hears, but Does Not Answer

    

   We all want to be heard.  There’s something about having our words acknowledged and deemed important by someone else.   We want to know that someone understands how we feel  and that  they can sympathize with us.  In Psalm 22:2, we can relate to the words of the Messiah when He says, “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.”   How many times have we felt like God is not hearing us?  How many times have we felt like our words bounce back to us when we pray?  We all have felt this way at some time or another.  It can even be discouraging.   Yet, a couple of lines later in that same chapter, we see that the Messiah sings a new song, “Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast  heard me from the horns of unicorns.”  This is much different from his initial cry and prayer.  Hebrews 5:7 says it like this (referring to Jesus),

“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save him from death, and was heard, in that he feared.  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered…”

Jesus, without a doubt, knew that every word he had prayed had been delivered and  heard. There was a peace in knowing this.    The interesting thing is that nothing had changed in Jesus’ situation.  He still made his way to the cross to be crucified.  He still had to learn true obedience to God’s will.  This is how he would be perfected and glorified.   A lost and dying world needed Him to be obedient.   It’s through his obedience that you and I can enjoy his salvation today.

      So here is what I want to tell you.  God hears you.  He hears every word that comes from your lips.  He hears your praise and worship, but he also hears your words of pain.  He hears those late night cries.  He hears those sighs of exhaustion because you feel you can’t go on anymore.  He hears your frustration.  He hears those fragrant prayers for your loved ones.  He hears those prayers for that special need that you have.  He hears you.  Your situation may not change immediately because there is still more perfecting that is needed in you.  Your prayer may not be answered because God is teaching to be obedient even when you don’t have your answered prayer yet, but rest assured that God hears you.  There is a peace in knowing that God hears you.  When you trust that His ear is open to your prayer, there is a faith that floods your soul that allows you to walk confidently through life even through the silence of God.  His silence does not equate to a closed ear.  His silence means that He is working on your behalf and believes that you have what it takes to trust him.   My greatest faith has come through His silence.  My prayer is that your faith will also grow through knowledge that God hears you.

Walking in confidence,

April