12
Nov '19
Lord, Give Me Faith!
12
Nov '19
“I may be weak, but Your Spirit is strong in me. My flesh may fail, but my God You never will.”
These are the lyrics to a song called “Give Me Faith” written by Elevation Worship. I’m not sure about you, but these lyrics speak to me every single day of my life. I can think of times where I let my wife down by something I said or did. Or times when I messed up by acting a certain way while competing in sports. Or the countless times in a day when I fail God by not trusting what He says.
“Give me faith, to trust what you say. That you’re good and your love is great.”
God’s word – the Bible – is full of wisdom and is truly the guide to living a life with Christ. I have to continually ask God to help me in my faith of what he says. From everyday situations like how I respond to someone who has made me upset, to major life situations like losing a friend or family member.
God tells us in His word that he will never leave us or forsake us.
There are countless examples of men and women in the Bible who trust God and live out their faith. We can look at Abraham and his predicament to sacrifice his own son. Was that ever God’s plan… I don’t believe so. God’s plan was for Abraham to take the next step of faith and trust in his relationship with him. We can look at the life of Joseph. Joseph went through a lot of trials and unfair treatment, but he never lost his faith in God and continued to trust him through the those times. GOD NEVER LEFT Joseph.
It’s easy to trust God when things are going well, but our true test of faith comes when life gets a little bumpy.
Just because we follow Jesus and are Christians, doesn’t mean life will be easy. But we can trust God’s word that He is good and His love for us is great. That he will never leave or forsake us and has a good and perfect plan for each of our lives.
I believe the first step in growing our faith and trust in Jesus is to recite the lyrics that I first mentioned. “I may be weak, but Your Spirit is strong in me. My flesh may fail, but my God you never will.” I know in my own life that this is a daily process to acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. Through my weakness, He is strong.
Please take the time to listen to “Give Me Faith” by Elevation Worship. Pour out your heart to God and ask him to Give you the faith to trust what He says. Because He is good and His love is great.
Author:
Worship leader
Read more...
16
Oct '19
Trust in God’s Plan
16
Oct '19
How many times do we say something we believe in our heart, but turn around the next second and do the opposite? When things are going smoothly in life we praise His name with no problem, but what happens when we get a bump in the road? Do we continue to practice what we believe? Or do we question our beliefs, get angry, lose trust, or even turn away from Him? It is so easy to say we trust God, but when things do not go our way do our actions match our words?
Look at the life of Joseph. He was thrown into a well, sold by his brothers, thrown into jail for something he didn’t do, yet he continued to trust in God’s perfect plan knowing that God was with him through it all. Eventually Joseph would become a major leader in Egypt who would forgive his brothers and save his family from the famine. WOW! I’m not sure I could say that I would do that – but what an amazing example to hear and be encouraged by.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
God has a plan for our lives and much of the time we will not know exactly what it’s supposed to look like – that’s when trust comes into play.
Our faith and trust in the one true God needs to be all-consuming in our lives. That way, when we do encounter those bumps we can say with confidence, “God has my back…even when I question the path and things just don’t make sense”.
I am preaching to myself as much as I am encouraging you. Practice having trust and confidence that God has you in the palm of his hand and guiding you through life.
Take ahold of his hand and continue walking even when you cannot stand -He will carry you through.
So how can we raise our kids to have faith and trust in God’s plan like Joseph?
With God’s help.
Because we can’t raise our kiddos without his help.
Because we can’t raise our kiddos without his help.
Be an example.
Our kids are watching our every move. When things don’t go as planned, use those as teaching moments to encourage them to trust in God’s plan. It might be a failed test, a loss on the field, a sick relative, or a disappointment from a friend. It’s not fun to go through those hard times with our kids. But it’s how we will respond and move forward with them after that will be a witness to our unfailing faith in God’s plan.
Our kids are watching our every move. When things don’t go as planned, use those as teaching moments to encourage them to trust in God’s plan. It might be a failed test, a loss on the field, a sick relative, or a disappointment from a friend. It’s not fun to go through those hard times with our kids. But it’s how we will respond and move forward with them after that will be a witness to our unfailing faith in God’s plan.
When we fail.
….and we will….daily….just get back up and go at it again. That is what is so amazing about our Heavenly Father…he never leaves us.
….and we will….daily….just get back up and go at it again. That is what is so amazing about our Heavenly Father…he never leaves us.
Author:
Jordan Bivins
Faith Kids ministry leader
Read more...
19
Jul '18
Lessons We Learn From Our Children
19
Jul '18
As parents we often think about all the responsibility and important life lessons we are called on by God to teach our children. While here on this earth, He has given us these wonderful blessings to teach, nurture and care for.
All too often we get caught up in what we can teach them throughout the day, when sometimes we need to sit back and observe the things they are teaching us daily. Here are a few things I’ve observed lately, and maybe you have too:
Childlike Faith
When you look at the life of a child, you see the unwavering faith they have in their parents. They know their parents will pick them up from school without even thinking twice. They know they are going to be caught at the end of the slide while playing at the playground. If we could only have this type of faith in our relationship with our heavenly Father…how much better would we live life unafraid!
Matthew 18:2-3
Jesus called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Worry Less
We tend to worry about something on a daily basis…
- What will we have for dinner?
- How am I going to pay that bill?
- What if the load of laundry with our kid’s baseball jersey won’t be done in time for their game tonight?
- What will that other mom think of my child’s lunch I packed while walking out the door?
All of us have stuff stress out about. While our children are young, they may not have those types of stresses in their lives, but they do remind us to stop worrying so much about the small things in life. They live life day to day without thinking about things that don’t matter.
While kids can rest in the care of their parents, so can we rest in the care of our heavenly Father. That issue that’s restlessly plaguing your mind? He already knows all about it, and desires for you to let Him handle it in His way and His time.
Philippians 4:6Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.
Enjoying the Simple Things
When very young kids open presents, often times they end up playing more with the box than the actual toy itself. They enjoy the simple things in life: playing peek-a-boo, picking flowers outside, walking to the park, throwing a baseball. It does not take trips to Disney or shopping sprees to please them. All it takes is spending time with them to enjoy life to its fullest. If we could only realize that life does not exist around things and more around relationships… the simple things in life, how much more would we enjoy life and not always be needing (or wanting) the next best thing.
Focus on what matters and practice gratefulness in the simple things every day. We are God’s children and He has given us so many simple things- and relationships- to delight in.
Proverbs 15:16Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.
Author:
Children’s Ministry Lead at Faith Assembly
Read more...