The greatest moments in life

“The greatest moments in life are the moments when God intervenes on our behalf and blesses us way beyond what we expect or deserve.”- Mark Batterson

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 9 of The Circle Maker, he reminds us there is nothing God loves more than keeping His promises.  Praying hard is standing on God’s promises.  Pastor Batterson emphasizes that “when we stand on His word, God stands by His word.  His word is His bond.”

Mark observes that we experience problems when we doubt ourselves, which in turn leads to doubting God.  We don’t ask God to extend His hand to us because we don’t know or don’t trust His heart.  Pastor Batterson states God wants to bless us far more than we want to be blessed.  Mark describes the heart of our heavenly Father:

“He can hardly wait to keep His promises.  He can hardly wait to perform His word.  He can hardly wait to answer our prayers.  And when we simply take Him at His word, He can hardly contain His joy.”

Pastor Batterson cites his favorite verse in the twenty-third psalm (Psalm 23:6)- “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”  He notes that follow isn’t a strong enough translation.  The word follow is a hunting term in Hebrew.  The psalmist is saying that God is hunting us down to bless us.

Mark writes that he prays for the favor of God more than anything else.  He defines God’s favor as “what God does for you that you cannot do for yourself.”  When God blesses us beyond what we expect or deserve, it’s a humble reminder of His sovereignty.

Today’s question: Describe the greatest moments in your life and how they help you to stand on God’s promises.  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “He makes provision”

 

The greatest moments in life

Joint heirs with Christ

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”- Romans 8:16-17

As Max Lucado continues Chapter 2 of Glory Days, he notes that the word inheritance appears nearly sixty times in the book of Joshua. Joshua 24:28 describes the great accomplishment of the Hebrew people: “So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.”

Pastor Lucado reminds us we have an inheritance as well.  If, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you have given your heart to Christ, God has given Canaan to you.  You already have “everything you need to be everything God desires.”

Conversion, Max adds, is not just the removal of sin.  It’s a deposit of power.  Glory Days signal a paradigm shift:

“In Canaan you do not fight for victory.  You fight from victory.  In the wilderness you strive.  In Canaan you trust.”

In the apostle Paul’s time, it was traditional for the firstborn son to receive a double portion of the inheritance, with the remaining siblings dividing up the rest. But with God, Christ’s portion is our portion.  However, even though God promises to meet all our needs, still we worry and fret.

Pastor Lucado believes there are two reasons for this: either (1) we don’t know about our inheritance or (2) we don’t believe in our inheritance.  Max encourages us:

“You are embedded with the presence of God.  Don’t measure your life by your ability; measure it by God’s. . . . And since you have access to every blessing of heaven, you, in time, will find strength.”

Today’s question (from the study guide): What parts of your inheritance do you still struggle with?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Strong and very courageous”

Joint heirs with Christ

Our level of emptiness

“The measure of filling we receive is in direct proportion to our level of emptiness.”- Kyle Idleman

In Chapter 5 (“Empty to Be Filled”) of The End of  Me, Kyle Idleman begins by boldly stating that God loves to fill empty things, whether it’s a widow’s jar (2 Kings 4) or a measure of hope.  All jars begin with emptiness, receiving what is poured into them.  Pastor Idleman describes what it’s like to come to the place of emptiness:

“. . . I’m sure it wasn’t part of your plan.  Life has a way of pouring us out, and it has nothing to do with what we wanted or expected.  Life takes away . . . a home.  A job. . . . At some point, we’re left holding what feels like a whole lot of nothing, and we hold on to it with clenched fists.”

Our emotions are raw.  The worst emotional state of all is emptiness itself. But, Kyle asks, what if that emptiness signifies God has us right where He wants us?  Kyle asserts that when life takes away, God gives.  We’re in position for the ultimate blessing in life, “a close encounter with a loving heavenly Father who has in-depth, sweeping plans for blessing us in ways we never imagined.”

Yet, as Pastor Idleman will explore next, there is a major difference between a jar that is full and a jar that is filled.

Today’s question: How would you describe your state of emptiness following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Question: full or filled?”

Our level of emptiness

The audience you choose

Kyle Idleman continues Chapter 4 of The End of Me by noting that, in God’s kingdom economy, much is determined by the audience you choose.  If your primary interest is in what other people think, your reward is their applause or attention.  In Matthew 6:1, Jesus says, “Be careful not to practice you righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.  If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Pastor Idleman explains the problem with this approach:

“The problem comes when we metabolize a habit into a philosophy and come to believe that our faith is defined by things we do with no reference to the heart.”

Conversely, Kyle states, coming to the end of me means you are through with the emptiness of that charade and only seek to praise God.  The reward is from God rather than people- and we are not consumed by appearances.  Kyle adds:

“God calls us to live one life and live it out in the open.  HIs mane for that is purity of heart, and his reward for that is rich and fulfilling blessing in life.”

While very instinct we have draws us to deeply cover our sin, giving the impression we have all the answers, the real me needs to experience the real life available in Christ.

Today’s question (from Kyle): In what ways are you sometimes inauthentic with others?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Our level of emptiness”

The audience you choose

Blessing hidden in the shadows

“There’s nothing life can throw at us that God can’t use to draw us closer to him.”- Kyle Idleman

In Chapter 2 of The End of Me, Kyle Idleman observes that it’s human nature to do everything one can to stay away from suffering in the first place.  But we take things one step further when suffering inevitably hits.  We do everything possible to stay away from mourning.  And when we do catch ourselves mourning, we embrace avoidance behaviors to do all in our power to make mourning go away.

Pastor Idleman refers to this as a “grim quest to turn that frown upside down.”  However, Kyle explains, that frown won’t go away because gravity keeps tugging at the edges.  Rather than mourn, we shift our efforts to getting over it.  In fact, a man named Jeff Goldblatt founded Get Over It Day (March 9th).

Kyle counters that Jesus wants us to realize we can find incredible blessings hidden in the shadows- but that blessing only may be visible through the lens of our tears.  Through the unique focus of those tears, the intruder begins to look strangely like a guest.

When adversity hits, we can’t see anything bigger than our loss.  The truth is God more than fills that space, including spaces we didn’t know we had.  Kyle concludes:

“. . . those who follow Jesus find that their pain is not wasted.  There is a blessing that seems totally illogical.  It requires climbing to the bottom of the deepest pit, without a flashlight, venturing far into the darkness.  But the blessing is there, and it’s worth everything.”

Today’s question: What Scriptures have helped you find blessing hidden in the shadows?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Spit first.  Dig second.”

Blessing hidden in the shadows

The blessing of God"s presence

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you.  Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”- Matthew 5:4 (The Message)

In surprising ways, suffering makes room in our spirit for us to know and experience the blessing of God’s peace and presence.”- Kyle Idleman

Kyle Idleman continues his discussion of Matthew 5:4 in Chapter 2 of The End of Me by asserting that we can’t know God’s comfort without experiencing suffering.  When we mourn, then, we experience the blessing of God’s presence.  Pastor Idleman explains what we find in our suffering:

“There is a deep void that used to be filled with whatever we lost.  That could be stuff or even relationships- none of which are bad things.  But when it’s gone it leaves an aching cavity, and God is there to fill it up with himself.”

Coming to the end of Me enables you to experience the blessing of God’s presence as you never have before.  While wonderful things have been embraced and lost in life, Kyle encourages us that there is no embrace like God’s embrace.  God will not waste your pain, and He most certainly will not leave you alone.

Today’s question: As you mourn your ministry downsizing or vocation loss,  how have you experienced God’s blessing as never before?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the Thanksgiving Short Meditation, “Thanksliving”

The blessing of God"s presence

Blessing comes from the inside

Everybody has that sudden, painful longing for yesterday, when they didn’t know how good they had it, just before the world fell in.”- Kyle Idleman

Kyle Idleman continues Chapter 2 of The End of Me with an example the Bible offers to help us figure out what Jesus means when He uses the word mourning.

We mourn the true circumstances of life.  Pastor Idleman defines these true circumstances as “dream busters that awaken us at the worst time.”  We don’t choose or invite them.  They simply kick down the door and barge in.  These dream busters are beyond our control- and they change everything.  Yet, when this happens, Jesus says we are blessed.

Jesus isn’t excluding the worst stuff, nor is He referring to little “character builder” moments.  Commentator William Barclay explains the weight of the word mourn:

“The Greek word for to mourn, used here, is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. . . . It is defined as the kind of grief which takes such a hold that it cannot be hidden.  It is not only the sorrow which brings an ache to the heart; it is the sorrow which brings unrestrainable tears to the eyes.”

Jesus’ message is that blessing comes from the inside.  Blessing is not dependent on what happens on the outside.  As Kyle concludes, “There is a blessing to be found only through the shedding of a certain number of tears.”

Today’s question: Following your vocation loss, how have you experienced that blessing comes from the inside?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The blessing of God’s presence”

Blessing comes from the inside

Unanswered prayers

Today John Ortberg discusses the first two reasons why some doors remain closed to us (Chapter 9, All the Places to Go).

1.  Knocking at the wrong door.  Pastor Ortberg states that sometimes doors are closed because we want the wrong thing.  Throughout the Bible we see closed doors in response to wrong requests.  As country singer Garth Brooks writes in his song “Unanswered Prayers”: “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

2.  Doors are closed because there’s something better.  John notes that sometimes a door remains closed because there is something better down the road.  The problem is that we can’t see it, as John explains:

“It is fundamental to the kind of person God is and to the nature of prayer that God always reserves the right to say no, because he knows what will lead to better outcomes than we do.  For every kind of power human beings have access to, we find a way to use it with great destructiveness.”

The author adds that while it’s good to ask God to shape the people in our lives, such requests must not come at the expense of our personal and spiritual growth.  Finally, door closings may be disappointing because we don’t get the options we want.  But door closings can lead to us finding, or being found, by God.

Today’s question: What unanswered prayers ultimately have led to blessings from God?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Come to the well”

Tomorrow’s blog: A door marked “Grow”

Unanswered prayers

Open doors are everywhere

As John Ortberg continues Chapter 3 of All the Places to Go, he posits that actually noticing people leads to open doors.  He states: “Doors open when I actually notice and care about people I might otherwise overlook.”

Pastor Ortberg relates a story he read about a woman who locked her keys in her car.  The car was parked in a very rough neighborhood.  Frustrated by her bungled attempts to use a coat hanger, she prayed to God to send someone to help her.  Soon a rusty car approached, driven by a tattooed, bearded man wearing a biker’s skull rag.  The woman thought this a rather dubious answer to prayer.

Nevertheless, when the man asked if he could be of assistance, the woman replied, “Can you break into my car?”  Replying that it was no problem, the man took the coat hanger and had the door open in seconds.  The woman hugged him and told him he was a nice man.  He told her that he wasn’t a nice man, that he’d just gotten out of prison hours earlier after serving two years for auto theft.  The woman hugged him again and shouted, “Thank you, God, for sending me a professional!”

To a reasonable person, this was not an ideal door choice for the man or the woman.  But what a blessing each received, far beyond the specific encounter.  John concludes:

“Open doors are everywhere, everyday.  And when we follow God’s leading, we receive the blessing of seeing the world and our place in it as he sees it.”

Today’s question: How have God’s open doors blessed you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “How to fix a broken story”

Open doors are everywhere

When the divine "go" comes

“The divine ‘go’ comes into every life, but we must be willing to leave before we’re willing to go.”- John Ortberg

In Chapter 2 of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg notes that there’s an entire field of study in the social sciences based on the psychology of regret.  Regret changes over the course of our lives.  When we’re young we have short-term regrets. They most often involve wishing we hadn’t done something, like getting a speeding ticket.  As we age, we come to regret those actions that we did not take, such as the chance to serve.

Pastor Ortberg adds that if we make the wrong choice we’ll have short-term regrets, but we won’t wonder what might have been.  If we say yes we may fail.  But if we don’t, we won’t experience life with God and be a blessing in this world.

John states that when Terah and his family set out for Canaan, Terah didn’t complete the journey.  He stopped at Harran.  When Abram received his divine ‘go’, he willingly followed God’s calling to  new land.  John concludes:

“When a door is opened, count the costs, weigh the pros and cons, get wise counsel, look as far down the road as you can.  But in your deepest heart, in its most secret place, have a tiny bias in the direction of yes.  Cultivate a willingness to charge through open doors, even if it’s not this particular door.

Today’s question: What regrets have you had following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Truths about myself”

 

When the divine "go" comes

Blessed to bless

“. . . I will bless you.  I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all -peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”- Genesis12:2-3

In Chapter 2 of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg notes that the word blessing “needs to be rescued from the clichés of social hash tags.”  It has become to go-to form for people wanting to brag about an accomplishment while pretending to be humble.

Believing, for Abram, was not only an opportunity to know and experience God, but also included being used by God to benefit others.  Abram was blessed to bless.  Rather than having an attitude of scarcity, Abram had a attitude of abundance.  A spirit of generosity is required when going through an open door.

John states that open doors are an invitation to be part of the misseo Dei– the mission of God.  In Genesis 3-11 the word curse is used five times in response to sin.  But in Chapter 12,God uses the word bless five times.

For the nation of Israel, blessing included not just God’s gifts but life with God.  One could not be blessed in the highest sense apart from becoming a blessing in return.

Today’s question: Following your vocation loss, how have you been blessed to bless?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “You’re not done”

Blessed to bless

Coming from and going to

Moving on in Chapter 2 of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg observes that open doors aren’t’ always well-marked.  In other words, when God does call, the call isn’t always clear.  Pastor Ortberg states that, as a general rule, God gives information on a need-to-know basis.  And God makes the decision as to who needs to know what, when.

Abram’s move from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land God would show him (aka Canaan) is a prime example.  Just as with Abram, there are two parts to God’s ‘go"; coming from and going to.  God was vague about where Abram and Sarai were going to.  John points out, though, that open door people are comfortable with the ambiguity and risk- or at least don’t allow it- to paralyze them.

No one looking for opportunity would have considered “going from” Ur.  Ur was a place of great wealth, trading, learning, and technology in 2000 B. C.  So Abram’s open door wasn’t obvious.  Going through God’s open doors means trusting God with our future when our path is ambiguous.

In Ur Abram had received a cultural inheritance of idolatry.  For Abram to receive God’s blessing and become a great nation, a move to seemingly undesirable Canaan was a necessity.  John notes:

“The open door is often more about where my insides are going than where my outsides are going.”

Today’s question: How comfortable are you with ambiguity and risk?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Blessed to bless”

Coming from and going to

Divine opportunity alertness

John Ortberg continues Chapter 1 of All the Places to Go with the observation that often an open door begins with discontentment about the room we’re currently in.  Although our strength may be small (Revelation 3:8), Pastor Ortberg states it’s comforting to know that God can open a door for anyone, not just the talented or extraordinarily strong.  Furthermore, God can open a door in any circumstance.  While in a Nazi concentration camp, Viktor Frankl found an open door his guards didn’t know existed:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to chose one’s own way.”

John defines divine opportunity alertness as “the ability to discover the range of possibilities that lie before us in every moment and in any circumstance.”  Divine opportunity alertness is a skill that can be learned.  Yet, open doors don’t exist solely for our benefit.  They are opportunities to bless someone else.  Open doors also involve a good not yet fully revealed.

Pastor Ortberg cautions that an open door is neither a blueprint nor a guarantee.  It doesn’t come with a detailed set of instructions from God.  An open door is . . . an open door. If we want to find out what is on the other side, we have to go through it.

Today’s question: What has enabled you to cultivate divine opportunity alertness?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new addition to the Annotated Bibliography, The Grave Robber

 

Divine opportunity alertness

Remember the resurrection

“Lord . . . if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”- John 11:21-22

Mark Batterson states in Chapter 23 of The Grave Robber that many Christians only remember Christ’s resurrection at Easter.  The other 364 days they live as if Jesus still is nailed to the cross.

If we feel as if our dream is dead and buried, we have forgotten about the resurrection.  Yet God has us right where He wants us.  Pastor Batterson notes that the litmus test of a dream is its death and resurrection:

“If it’s not from God, it’ll stay dead.  If it is, it will rise again.  But you need to pray through until you get a breakthrough.”

Mark emphasizes that while most miracles take longer than we want to wait for them, the longer we wait the greater our appreciation of those miracles: “Miracles happen when we’re good and ready, and not a moment sooner.”

Martha’s statement in John 11:21-22, Mark observes, reveals two types of faith:

1.  Preventative faith– believes God can prevent adverse things from happening.

2.  Resurrection faith– believes God actually can undo what’s been done.  It puts commas, rather than periods, at the end of disappointments.

Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead demonstrates that when God takes something away from us, it doesn’t always mean permanently.  God often takes things away with the specific purpose of giving them back.  When He does, we see the miracle for the blessing it is.

Today’s question: What Bible verse enable you to remember the resurrection every day?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Six words”

 

 

Remember the resurrection

Good eye, bad eye

“Your eye is the lamp of your body.  When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.”- Luke 11:34

In Chapter 19 (“Never Say Never”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson begins his discussion of Jesus’ sixth miracle in the gospel of John, healing the man born blind.  Pastor Batterson notes that while the man born blind had numerous words in his vocabulary, he had zero images to match those words.  This was the only world that man had ever known.

When the man born blind saw images for the first time, Mark states that he must have been overwhelmed with visual overload.  Yet, the author observes, the man born blind saw those images for what they were- miracles.  All too often, however, we fail to see the world as it is.  We see the world as we are.

In baseball parlance “good eye” means the discipline not to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.  Biblically speaking, it means to look at things from a God’s-eye view.  Mark states that Jewish rabbis distinguished between a good eye and a bad eye– each distinction pertaining to one’s attitude toward others.  A person with a bad eye turned a blind eye to the poor.  A person with a good eye, in contrast, demonstrated the ability to be sensitive to and seize every opportunity to be a blessing toward others.

Today’s question: During your desert, transition time, how would you assess your vision?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The window of opportunity”

Good eye, bad eye

The Grave Robber

The Grave Robber (Baker Books, 2014)

Mark Batterson’s most recent book is titled The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible.  The book is based on seven miracles of Jesus reported in the gospel of John.  Each miracle represents a different dimension of Jesus’ power.  The prerequisite for a miracle is a problem, which then provides the perfect opportunity for God to reveal His glory.  The miracles in the gospel of John don’t just reveal what Jesus did, but what He wants to do in your life.  One of the truest tests of spiritual maturity is seeing miracles in the monotonous.  Pastor Batterson states that we would crack the joy code if we’d recognize the moment-by-moment miracles that surround us.

Whatever situation we’re in, God has us exactly where He wants us, even if that situation is not where we’d choose to be.  Mark notes that there are no accidents, only divine appointments.  Miracles and divine appointments happen at God Speed.  They never are early or late, but always right on time.  Only one assumption is true: God is able.  We need to keep taking steps of faith, what Eugene Peterson refers to as “obedience in the right direction.”  Rather than doing things differently, we need to see things differently- for God can take a little and make a lot.

God wants to stretch our faith so that someday our biggest dreams will seem incredibly small.  Paradoxically, the more we give, the more we enjoy what we keep.  While God’s blessings amplify joy, miracles fortify our faith.  Miracles are found on the other side of fear.  At some point in our life journey, we need to take a radical step of faith.  That moment will define every moment that follows.  No mater what we might think, when Jesus gets involved it’s never too little, never too late.

The ultimate goal of any miracle is not the miracle itself, but the glory of God.  Jesus is calling us out of our tomb, to resurrect what has died.  As Pastor Batterson concludes:

“He will give you your smile back.

He will give you your laugh back.

He will give you your life back.

Do you believe this?

If you do, He will make the impossible possible.”

 

 

The Grave Robber

Try the other side!

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 15 of The Grave Robber, he comments on an eighth miracle, the miraculous catch of fish (John 21:1-14) , tucked away at the end of John’s gospel.  This miracle followed Jesus’ resurrection.

The disciples had been fishing all night without luck.  Then Jesus told them to try the other side of the boat.  Pastor Batterson notes that first-century fishing boats were seven and a half feet wide.  What possible difference could ninety inches make?  One hundred fifty-three fish!  Mark describes the object lesson: “You may only be seven and a half feet from a miracle, but you have to try the other side!”

Mark wonders if miracles involving fish could be the one sphere where the disciples might have been tempted to assert superiority.  After all, fishing was their domain, their strong suit.  Similarly, our areas of perceived strength or expertise often are where it’s hardest for us to trust God.  We tend to rely on our God-given talents instead of the God who gave them to us.

Despite their fishing knowledge, the disciples obeyed Jesus because He told them what they needed to do.  And the quantified the miracle- they counted the fish.  Applying this to us, Mark adds:

“We need to count miracles the way we count blessings.  The latter amplifies joy while the former fortifies faith.”

Today’s question: In what area(s) of your life do you find it most difficult to try the other side?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Believe it to see it”

Try the other side!

Enduring dark times

Today Charles Stanley completes his presentation of five reasons why the Lord allow us to experience enduring dark times.

2.  To prepare you.  Dr. Stanley notes that throughout Joseph’s thirteen years of enduring dark times in Egypt, God positioned him perfectly and spiritually for what would come next.  Dr. Stanley explains that is true for us as well:

“The Father readies your character and places you exactly where you should be, when you should be there, for maximum impact.”

3.  So others can witness His work through you.  It was obvious to all the Egyptians Who was helping Joseph.  The Lord completely orchestrated the events that led to Joseph becoming second in command under Pharaoh.

4.  To raise you up and place you in a position to bless others.  The Lord tirelessly refined Joseph’s character for those thirteen years so Joseph would be ready when his God-centered leadership was needed.  The same is true for us, as Dr. Stanley notes:

“Never underestimate the awesome encouragement you can be to another person or the example you set as a follower of Jesus during the difficult times of your life.”

5.  To change your perspective.  During his dark times, Joseph learned the importance of forgiveness and mercy because of the Lord’s great grace to him.  The author applies the lesson Joseph learned:

“If you are to endure courageously, you must center your attention on the fact that the Lord is responsible for your future and all that affects it.”

Today’s question: Which of Dr. Stanley’s five reasons strike a chord with you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The sword of the Spirit”

Enduring dark times

Promises, promises!

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises . . .”- 2 Peter 1:3-4

As Charles Stanley continues Chapter 5 of Waiting on God, he boldly proclaims that “God has an answer for every need you or I could experience.”  He notes that the Greek word for ‘precious’, timios, means “of exceedingly great value, costly, honored, highly esteemed, or especially dear.”  Similarly, megistos, the Greek word for ‘magnificent’, means “preeminent, greatest, or strongest.”

Dr. Stanley states this means that our loving heavenly Father’s assurances surpass the highest possible honor and worth our finite imaginations can conceive.  As we actively claim the assurances of God’s blessings, we are enable to endure the delays.

Obviously, a promise is only as strong as the character of the one making the promise.  As the length of our wait becomes seemingly interminable, it becomes difficult for us to trust.  If people we can see, hear, and touch can let us down, we extrapolate that belief to God, who we cannot see.  But God is not unreliable, impulsive, or limited.  We can be certain God will bring His promises to fruition.

In the next blog Dr. Stanley will discuss how we can appropriate a meaningful passage in Scripture and claim it for our own.

Today’s question: What promises have sustained you during your transitional journey?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “General and limited promises”

Promises, promises!

Actively expressing faith

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”- Hebrews 10:35-36

In Chapter 5 (“Claiming God’s Promises: Actively Expressing Faith in the Delays”) of Waiting on God, Charles Stanley emphatically states that the principle of claiming the Lord’s promises to you is a crucial precept during times of waiting.  This precept  will enable us to remain steady and strong when swamped by the waves and storms of adversity.

Up to this point, Dr. Stanley has discussed how waiting signifies an expected endurance demonstrated by a directed and purposeful attitude of prayer.  The third characteristic is that we must be active.

The Lord didn’t intend for believers to passively wait.  Although we are still in the sense that we relinquish all control of our situation and allow the Father to work through our circumstances, we must be active in our spiritual growth as we resolutely take hold of God’s Word.

Our ability to persevere is the key factor in receiving the very best God has planned for us.  If we jump the gun by taking matters into our own hands, we can’t possibly know with certainty that we will receive the blessings God has planned for us.

Today’s question: What Bible verses have encouraged you to take an active role in your transformational growth?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: Promises, promises!”

Actively expressing faith