Today is Mark 5:21-43 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”
“She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.” Mark 5:26 NIV
Desperation! A woman who had suffered much from a bleeding issue pressed through a crowd. She had hope that somehow she would come into contact with the Jesus she had heard about. She knew if she could just “touch his clothes” she would be healed.
What impresses me about this account is that she had tried everything to be better and had only grown worse. I can relate to that. One time I tried to calculate the amount of money I spent trying to fix myself and the anxiety that I suffered with: professional counseling, meds, self help books I purchased, subscriptions to Headspace — eastern meditation app, gas to drive to the counseling sessions, over $700 on a workshop that offered a cure (15 years ago I haven’t checked its price now), coloring books to distract me from my anxious thoughts, the list could go on… AND what I was suffering with did not get better. It grew worse.
All I really needed was just reach out to Jesus. He had paid the price for me to be free long ago on the cross. When I finally came to an end of myself and my ways and I came to Him, I was healed.
What is it that needs a miraculous touch in your life? Jesus has power flowing out of Him that can free you from your suffering. Come to Him in faith believing He can!
What is God showing you today in our reading? Share it below 👇 👇👇
“He said: ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me.’” 2 Samuel 22:2-3 NIV
My childhood home did not have a basement. I can remember being afraid because we had no place to go if a tornado came. That was until our family became acquainted with our neighbors who had a cellar. They told us that we were always welcome to seek shelter there during a storm.
One day a severe storm rolled in. The skies suddenly became black, and the tornado warning sirens went off. Mom told us to run for the neighbor’s cellar. As we darted across our yard, the wind began to blow, and the rain started to pour. As we quickly entered the safety of that small room, large hail began to fall. After our neighbor closed the door, I breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing I was safe from everything that was going on outside that place of refuge.
Our focus verses this month are on the word “refuge.” A refuge is defined as a place that shelters and protects from danger, distress, or calamity. It is a place of security and safety. It is a place that is inaccessible to an enemy.
It is a fact that each of us will experience many storms as we journey through this life. Jesus assured us of this when He said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Storms will come. The enemy will attack and assault again and again. However, just like the cellar I ran to, believers always have a shelter to run to in the midst of the storms and/or the attacks. We have a place of protection that is always safe and secure, inaccessible to the enemy of our souls. Who and where is that place? God’s Word tells us plainly that God is our refuge. It is when we dwell in Him that we are protected from the dangers, the distresses, and the destruction. It is when we remain in Him that we are safe and secure.
When God is our refuge, we do not have to fear the possibility of danger, distress, or calamity. We do not have to fear the enemy who “comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). We do not have to believe the lies that our circumstances will blow us away. When we dwell in God, who is our refuge, we can be assured that there is no circumstance, danger, or distress that can ever harm us. We can say as David did in our verses above, God is “my stronghold, my refuge, and my savior.”
As I write the words above, the winds are blowing, and the rain is pouring down in my life. I am sitting here at the University of Missouri Medical Center next to my Dad who has multiple fractures in his back. We are waiting to hear what will happen next. The storm of uncertainty rages all around us. The lies of the enemy are falling like hail. However, my dad and I have decided to run to our God and take refuge in Him. Years ago, I experienced the safety and security of our neighbor’s cellar, a physical refuge; and today Dad and I are experiencing the safety and security of God, our spiritual refuge. The door through which we have entered our refuge is faith. We are determined to believe that no matter what God is for us, and we will trust in Him entirely and completely. We know our God will never fail.
Do you find yourself in a storm today? May I encourage you to run to and dwell in the same refuge my dad and I have found. Like us, you will say with assurance that “God is my rock, in whom I take refuge….” No plan of the enemy to harm you will succeed. Rest safe and secure in your God who is your stronghold, your refuge, and your Savior.
Our song this week is “Praise You in the Storm” by Natalie Grant.
““And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
1 Peter 5:10 NIV
“You have an enemy, and he is real.” These are words I remember hearing when I first attended WOW three years ago. I arrived at WOW after years of not standing firm in the faith. In fact, half-hearted and wavering are the words that described me well at that time. As the teaching continued, I heard these words — “determined and steadfast.” As I thought about those words, I suddenly knew what I needed. I needed to trust in God, the God who by His grace had called me to “his eternal glory in Christ,” the God who loved me, the God who would “restore” me, and make me “strong, firm and steadfast.”
This month our verses at WOW have been focused on the word “steadfast.” To be steadfast is to have firmness of mind or purpose, to be constant in pursuing a purpose unwavering, fixed, and steady. Our verse this week is a very precious promise that follows a very serious warning. It is the same warning I received three years ago at WOW — “You have an enemy, and he is real.”
In 1 Peter 5:8 Peter describes the enemy as a “roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” That enemy is real! That enemy is powerful, very cunning, and deceptive. He wants us to believe that we cannot be strong, firm, and steadfast. He wants to persuade us to be disengaged and unbelieving. If he can get us to give up or walk in fear when we undergo trials and suffering, he knows he will be able to keep us separated from our God and destroy our relationship of oneness with Him. This is why believers are commanded to be steadfast and to “resist him (the enemy), standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9).
Our verse this week assures us that we do not have to stand against this devouring enemy in our own strength. Our “God of all grace” who has called us to live as one with Him assures us that after we “have suffered a little while,” He will “restore” us and make us “strong, firm, and steadfast.” What is our role? Our role is to believe in Him and remain firmly attached to Him. We are to trust Him entirely, totally, and completely. As we do so, God’s power at work within us will enable us to remain “strong, firm and steadfast.”
I have experienced this truth. Three years ago, I came to God knowing that I needed Him to change my heart from fearful, anxious, and wavering to one that was “strong, firm and steadfast,” full of faith. As I have submitted to Him in the midst of suffering, trials, and temptations, He has been faithful to bring His precious promise to reality in my life.
Have you found yourself where I was three years ago, tormented, fearful, and anxious during the trials of life? God says come and believe in Me. As we submit our hearts to Him and believe in Him, He promises to “restore” us and make us “strong, firm, and steadfast.” Will you come? Will you trust in Him with all your heart? Our song this week is “Firm Foundation” by Cody Carnes. Our God desires to make you a woman who is strong, firm, and steadfast in faith.
“The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” 1 Peter 4:7 NIV
When I was little, I was a daddy’s girl. There was nothing that I loved more than spending time with my dad. I have fond memories of sitting out in his garage watching him work on our family’s car while I would sit there and talk away to him telling him all about my 6-year-old life. I LOVED being with my dad. However, time went on and life changes happened. I still loved him, but I became busy with my friends, my activities, and my life. After high school, I moved to a different town. My time with my dad became less and less as well as our conversations. Truth be told I forgot what a joy it was to be with him. The past year things have been different in our relationship. Dad is now 86 and I am 53, our relationship has matured and deepened. Lately, we have engaged in the most wonderful conversations. I’ve asked him questions about his younger years and discovered things about him that I never knew. We’ve talked about memories, both good and bad. We’ve made plans for the future as well. Once again, this daddy’s girl has found what she needed, time with her dad in a close relationship.
This month the verses at WOW are about prayer. Prayer is our connection to God through faith. Prayer is our invitation from God into a deep love relationship of oneness closely attached, connected, inseparable, and indivisible with Him. Prayer develops our relationship with God demonstrating our trust and utter dependence upon Him. You and I are our heavenly Father’s “Daddy’s girl”. God longs for us to spend time with Him, lots of it. Prayer is us spending time with Him engaging in conversation not just occasionally, but throughout our entire day, month, year, and life.
Our WOW verse for this week speaks of the need to “be alert and of sober mind so that you can pray.” Our world around us holds so many distractions that pull us away from relating to God in a life of prayer. Our enemy would like nothing better for us than to focus on all these distractions so that we would not live in a close and intimate relationship with God. His desire is for us to be disconnected from our heavenly Father. He wants to render us useless and to keep us from living fully in that relationship for which we were created. This is why we must be spiritually alert and watchful as we live our daily lives. It is easy to drift away from a close and vibrant relationship with God, as I drifted from the close relationship I had with my earthly dad as a little girl. It is easy to lose focus of why God has invited us to be closely connected with Him in prayer. Especially if we come to God with our thoughts, our wants, our desires, and our ways in mind. If our lives are filled with the self-centeredness of an uncircumcised heart, we will not experience the close relationship of oneness that God desires us to have through prayer. This is why we must “be alert and of sober mind so that ‘we’ may pray.”
As you are reading these words, do you feel the pushing and pulling of the world’s influences trying to keep you from that intimate time of relationship with your heavenly Father as His “Daddy’s girl”? God’s desire is for us to focus attentively on Him and Him alone moment by moment throughout our day. He wants us to experience Him more fully in a living relationship of prayer. May we fix our hearts and our minds on Him so that we can truly be “alert and of sober mind.” May we guard our hearts from anything that would try to influence us and draw us away from God’s life-giving connection to Him, our relationship of oneness with Him through prayer.
This week’s song speaks of a deep and intimate relationship with God that is developed in a lifestyle of prayer. It is “Heart of the Father” by Ryan Ellis. May we know His closeness and love as we experience more and more of Him!
“When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” Luke 19:45-46 NIV
Two years ago, the youngest of our four children graduated from High School. This signaled the beginning of my husband and I gradually becoming empty nesters. For 26 years, our lives had revolved around our kids. Many of those years consisted of my husband working long hours and sharing the weekends together with me and the kids. We rarely had time alone together. Suddenly, we found ourselves, alone, sitting side by side in our living room recliners with nothing to do. At times, I resented our new way of life. I liked having my time with our kids. I did things my way, after my own plans that centered around their activities. I was used to my independence and being in control. However, my husband desired for this new season in our lives to be a time that our relationship of oneness would deepen and grow. Every time he had a day off from work, he would wake up and ask me, “what are we going to do today?” I did not understand that this was his invitation to participate in a closer relationship. I didn’t realize I needed to drop my plans and my independent ways. Thankfully, I am changing and once again I am enjoying the gift that God gave to me 32 years ago when he and I were dating, our one-on-one relationship spending time together.
This month our weekly verses at WOW are about prayer. Prayer is our lifeline and connection to God through faith — totally relying on, being fully assured of, and strictly adhering to God and His Word. Faith gives birth to prayer. Prayer is absolutely dependent upon faith. Prayer is our invitation from God into a deep love relationship of oneness closely attached, connected, inseparable, and indivisible with Him. Prayer develops our relationship with God demonstrating our trust and utter dependence upon Him.
God deeply desires that we have a close and intimate relationship of oneness with Him. Jesus came to our world to make this possible. Our verses this week are an account of when Jesus came to the temple, a place of communion with God. When He arrived, He saw that the people had made the temple into a place of business instead. He began to drive out those who had turned His house into something other than its design, “a house of prayer.” Those people were used to doing things their way and after their plans, but Jesus came to introduce a “new and living way” (Hebrews 10:20) of a relationship of oneness. Jesus wanted His temple, His dwelling place, to be “a house of prayer.”
Jesus wants our lives to be one with His as well. He desires us to be “a house of prayer” or communion with Him. However, we have hindrances, sin, that need to be cleaned out in order for us to fully realize the depths of a relationship of oneness He desires. These keep us from being closely connected to God by faith through prayer. This is why we must allow God to cut the sin away through His circumcision of our hearts.
Two years ago, my husband longed for a closer relationship, and I realized I needed to repent of my independent ways. As I have, our time together is becoming beautiful. Jesus comes to us the same way. He is offering to cut away the things that separate us from Him. They leave our lives nothing more than a “den of robbers”, trapped in death, darkness, and destruction. How will we respond? May we respond, “Yes, anything that is not of You, cut away, clean it out. I want a relationship of intimacy communing with You, God, through prayer!”
Click this link to access our song this week: Kim Walker-Smith – Make Room (Lyrics) (youtube.com). May we desire to be free of all the sins that keep us from a close relationship of oneness with our Heavenly Father. Let us make room for Him. So, we may experience Him through a life of prayer.
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith…” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV
A little over a year ago my husband and I went to Kauai, Hawaii to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary. One of my favorite activities on the island was our sunset stroll along the ocean shore. Our resort had a sidewalk that meandered through the palm trees and flowers. Every so often we had an opportunity to get off the sidewalk. One of the stops was the sandy beach and the other was an area of large lava rocks that extended out into the ocean. When I walked down onto the sandy beach and into the ocean, it didn’t take me long to back away from the water. As the waves came crashing in and then rolled back out, the sand would move and shift and wash out from under my feet. I felt very unstable and uncomfortable because the sand upon which I stood was always changing. However, when I ventured onto the lava rocks, I found the experience very different. As I stood upon those rocks, they did not move, nor did they shift. Even with the waves crashing upon them they remained unmovable. I felt extremely secure as I stood there enjoying the color of the skies change as the sun appeared to sink into the horizon. That memory stands out as one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.
Our verses this month are about faith. Faith is the spiritual gift of God that benefits and prospers every believer. It is required to live a life worthy of the calling we receive from God. Faith attaches us to God so that we can live the all – important relationship of oneness and receive the abundant provision of God into our hearts – His power, His holiness, His love, His mercy and grace, His wisdom, His righteousness, His joy, His peace, and so much more. It is faith that enables you and me to function in the spiritual realm – to hear God when He speaks to us, to listen intelligently and understand what He is saying, and to then act rightly according to what we have heard.
Our verse this week tells us that we must “stand firm in the faith.” To stand firm in the faith is to be fixed, steadfast, and unwavering in our total reliance on, our full assurance in, and our strict adherence to God and His Word. God and His Word is the strong, unchanging, unwavering foundation upon which faith is built and stands. Standing firm in faith is like me standing on the large lava rocks totally relying on them not to move or tilt or shift even when the waves come crashing upon them and me. Faith is in God and His living, written, and spoken Word that is unchanging, immovable, and unshifting. We, as believers, are not to stand firm in our own understanding, our own intellect, our own reasoning, our own wants and wishes. Doing that is like standing on the shifting sands of the oceans floor.
If we do not stand in faith listening to and depending on the spoken and written word of God, we will not stand at all (Isaiah 7:9). We will fall to the ways and the voices of the world — the voices that speak one lie after another lie. When we listen and pay attention to the lies, we will act upon them and find ourselves living a life that is unfaithful, troubled, fearful, anxiety ridden, doubting, stressed out, discontent, and mean. We will be tossed about in a life of sin, never settled and secure.
Faith is required to live the calling we have received from God. Are you standing firm in the faith? Faith comes by hearing the message. What message are you hearing and paying attention to – the Word of God or the lies of the enemy? Is your heart and mind fixed on God and His Word? Or are you standing on the shifting sands of the enemy’s lies? God has given us a choice. As we choose to hold fast to God and His Word, we will live standing “firm in the faith…”
This week’s song is once again, “Take You At Your Word” by Cody Carnes and Benjamin William Hastings. As we listen, may we be reminded to “stand firm in the faith” in God and in HIs Word.
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:23-24 NIV
The internal struggle I was having was beyond what I can describe in a few words. Every Wednesday morning during the 2021 spring semester of WOW, I would pull into the parking lot and contemplate walking into the building. Every week as I sat in that parking lot I would hear the voices of the enemy speaking to me. This is what I heard those voices saying, “Don’t go in! They don’t like you. Wait until they hear what you have done.” But deep within my spiritual heart I knew that I needed to hear the Truth that was being spoken.
In God’s strength, I got out of my Jeep and walked through the doors of the church. As I sat in the auditorium and listened to the Word being spoken, I began desiring a deeper relationship with God. I took the WOW bookmark with the weekly verses and did what I was encouraged to do. Every morning I took out my Bible and I read the verse for the week. I read the verses that came before it and the verses that followed. It wasn’t much, but those short portions of Scripture were planted into my heart like a tiny seed.
The Word of God is powerful to do a mighty work of strengthening a man’s faith, no matter how small that faith might be! As I took God’s Word into my heart and believed it, the Holy Spirit began strengthening my faith. As my faith was strengthened, my heart began to change. Three years later, I am not the person I was in 2021 — angry, bitter, fearful, and anxious. I no longer continually live in anger, bitterness, fear, and anxiety. I now live by faith in God and as a result am experiencing abundant life. Just like Jesus said, “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
The verses this week come from a conversation between Jesus and a desperate father who had a son tormented by demons. This man recognized his need and came to Jesus seeking a cure. He had taken a very important step of faith, to come and ask the One who is able to do all things.
Faith is the spiritual gift of God that is required to live a life worthy of the calling a believer receives. Faith attaches us to God. It is the all-important channel through which the abundant provision of God’s heart flows into our hearts – His power, His holiness, His love, His mercy, His grace, His wisdom, His righteousness, His joy, His peace, and so much more. Faith enables man to be one with the invisible God, to hear Him when He speaks, to understand what He is saying, and to obey.
The foundation of faith is God and His Word. Jesus spoke words of truth to the father when he said, “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:32). Jesus was saying, believe in me, for I can do all things. The father heard what Jesus said and responded by exclaiming, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” This father heard the spoken Word of Jesus, believed what Jesus said, and deliverance was accomplished for his son.
It is faith that enables you and me to trust and have complete confidence in God and in His Word. Faith enables us to believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. Our role is to receive His Word into our hearts and believe that every Word of God is right and true no matter what we are experiencing. As we believe in God’s character, His promises, and in His commands our faith will be strengthened, and we will live in abundance and power.
God has given us the gift of faith. He desires us to live by faith in Him not in our own understanding, reasoning, self-effort, intellect, sight, or feelings. Faith in Him is required to live a life worthy of the calling we have received from Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. May we come to God acknowledging our need and believing that “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
This week’s song is once again, “Take You at Your Word” By Cody Carnes and Benjamin William Hastings. May the lyrics be an encouragement to us to read and listen to the Word of God and to act upon it in faith!
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Romans 10:17 NIV
Every day I lived for the next dose of my anxiety pills. For six years, I took them faithfully. Every day was the same: wake up, get a glass of water, take the meds. Then at night: get another glass of water, take the next dose, go to bed. One morning in October 2021 everything changed. That morning, I grabbed my pill box and heard these words deep within my spiritual heart, “This is not your inheritance.” At that moment, I believed that God had different plans for my life. I believed He could provide peace where anxiety had reigned. I stopped Buspar that morning and weaned myself off Prozac within five months. Two years later, I am still living in the peace, love, and joy that my Heavenly Father has generously given to me as a part of His inheritance that I received that day.
This month our WOW verses are about faith. Faith is complete confidence in God – in His character, in His Word, and in His promises. It is complete trust in God believing and being fully assured that He is who He says He is and will do all that He says He will do. God’s Word works a mighty faith in us, a faith that is strong, and able for anything because it is the living Word of God. God’s Word is powerful and does the work of strengthening, establishing, and rooting our faith within us. We hear the Word of God, receive it into our hearts, and God uses His Word to do a work of faith in us. That is because His Word is living and active and powerful to accomplish His will.
Lately, I have been contemplating why the words, “This is not your inheritance.” came to me deep within my spiritual heart back in October 2021. It was because I had heard the Word of God spoken to me the weeks prior to that day as I sat in the main sessions at WOW. The teaching was on what we receive as a part of our “inheritance” when we dwell in God’s New Kingdom as His child. I heard how God wanted the eyes of my heart to be enlightened so that I could know the hope for which He had called me, “the riches of his glorious inheritance…” (Ephesians 1:18) I heard “the Word of Christ,” that was being spoken, took it into my heart, and it began to strengthen my faith.
Perhaps as you read these words you are experiencing a longing within you for more? The Word of Christ is speaking to you and inviting you to live a life of faith that responds to the Word of God. You may wonder, how do I respond to the Word? We must receive His Word through reading it and listening to it carefully with our spiritual ears. We must diligently study His Word, hiding it in our hearts, the Word that works within us a mighty faith if we hold firmly to what we have heard. It will trust that God will do what He has promised because He is faithful.
God has given each of us a small deposit of faith and the opportunity to receive His Word so it will grow and mature and become established. I can testify that this is true because of that morning in October of 2021. That little seed of faith deposited within me when I had received Jesus as my personal Savior was growing as I retained it and believed it. As I have acted upon the Word I have heard over and over, that faith has grown more and more. God has been at work in me through His Word and faith. Today I am free. I am dwelling in God and His peace! What He has done for me He will do for you. His Word is speaking. Hear it, receive it, and act upon it in faith!
This week’s song is “Take You at Your Word” by Cody Carnes and Benjamine William Hastings. May it be a reminder that God will do what He says He will do in His Word. As we receive it, we can live a life of faith!
Make no mistake about it, we were made to receive. We will accept what is offered to us by one of two choices what God gives freely to us or what the world gives with a price we cannot afford to pay. To not choose God will by default be a choice to receive from the world. We will either know God in intimate relationship, or we will know the world and its ways in a destructive relationship with it, being shaped by its influence and receiving only what it gives.
Jesus spoke of the choice that we all must make and the fruits of that choice:
”“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”“ John 16:33 NIV
”The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.“ John 10:10 ESV
Jesus offers us a life filled with peace and life. The world offers us a life of trouble far from the relationship with our Creator, God, for which we are designed. What the world offers us will steal from us and destroy us. Ultimately it will kill us. Anything short of a living in a vibrant relationship with God is a life filled with death, darkness, and destruction.
It is important to take a look at what you are experiencing in your life. We can see that God created us for experience. He gave us our senses to hear, see, touch, taste and smell. He also has given us our spiritual senses to understand and know the things we cannot with our five outward senses. What are you experiencing within yourself? What you are experiencing reflects who you are receiving from.
If your life is a life of turmoil within— anger, anxiety, bitterness, fear, etc. You are being robbed from. You are being destroyed. Your connection with God is at the very least clogged, if not non existent making it impossible to receive from your loving Creator, God.
If your life is a life of peace, joy, and love. You are connected and receiving from God. You are experiencing a close relationship with the giver of all good things.
We have been given a choice of whom we will receive from. May our hearts long for a pure and free flowing connection to the one who generously gives life to those who will receive it, Jesus!
“And without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6
There is nothing like holding a newborn baby. I can vividly remember holding each of my kids just moments after they were born. The first time I held each one was beautiful. This little one, who had occupied my body for nine months, was now with me face to face. The voice they had been hearing the entire time they were in the womb was more than just a voice now. The voice they had been listening to had a warm body to lie against, strong arms to hold them close, and a face that looked down at them with loving eyes. This time of intimacy made the connection that has forever changed our lives. It was in those moments our relationship took on a new meaning.
We begin a new word this month. Our new word is faith. Every believer in Jesus Christ is called to have faith in God. True or divine faith is full confidence in, complete trust in, and total dependence on God, His character, and His Word. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is unwavering, immovable, and settled being fully assured that God is who He says He is and will accomplish all He says He will do.
Faith is absolutely required in the life of a believer. It is essential in our relationship with God because it connects us to Him. Our heavenly Father is faithful or full of faith. We, His children, are created in His image and likeness. We are to be like Him, full of faith.
Faith in God is much like the first moments that I held my newborn baby. He was born with the need to be connected to me. He needed my constant care, my close relationship, and my nourishment. Without these things he would not survive. We must come to God realizing our total dependence upon Him in all things and for all things. We must come to Him realizing that “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…” (2 Peter 1:3 NIV). We must understand that faith is the channel through which God provides for a life of relationship, love, and holiness.
As my baby had heard my voice for months before he was born, we come to God after hearing Him speak to us. His tender words describe His desire for us to be united to Him in this relationship of oneness. As we are held close by Him, His voice becomes very recognizable. The connection that was established in the hours of holding my newborn close and him gazing in my eyes is much like the faith by which we gaze intently at our Heavenly Father. We look to Him every moment of every day in faith assured that He is holding us close to Him. We snuggle up close to His heartbeat, communicated by His Word, and are assured that we belong to Him. We respond by totally obeying what He says. Our connection of faith grows stronger and stronger. Yes, our relationship to God, connected by faith is much like those moments I experienced years ago holding, my baby boy. It is beautiful!
As you read these words, do you find yourself longing for a close and intimate connection to God, your Heavenly Father? He longs for you to be connected to Him. This is why Jesus said, “Have faith in God…” His desire is for us to have complete confidence and trust in Him. We also know that “…without faith it is impossible to please God.” God’s greatest desire is for us to be with Him in a relationship of oneness. He knew that we could not experience this unless we believe in Him and are fully assured that He will accomplish His will, His desires, and His plans in us. Through this relationship, we will be God’s visible representation, demonstrating His life, His characteristics, and His image to the World around us. Through faith we will know Him and make Him known. May we look to God in faith and experience His life-giving relationship!
Our song this week is “Stand in Faith” by Danny Gokey. As we listen to its words, may we be encouraged to live our lives connected and in an intimate relationship with God by faith.
Your Love 