Day 134 - Trust

"I just have to trust God."

Last year we had a situation that kept us on our toes for weeks. Over the course of the events we were back and forth, wasting time and money and not knowing what would happen. We got bad advice from well meaning people and ended up making wrong decisions and went against what we knew we should have done. 

Thought that time I wrote the words "I just have to trust God." Those words ring true today. A year later I can see how God covered it all. He is faithful and true. He is completely trustworthy. 

The Apostle Paul wrote some words to a young minister named Timothy that he said were a faithful saying. In this faithful saying he describes God as faithful even when we are faithless because God cannot deny Himself. 

What that means is that God is completely trustworthy even when we can't trust ourselves. No matter what condition you are in, how much bad advice you have listened to or the road you seem to be going down today, God is faithful and can be trusted. 

No matter the situation you face...you just have to trust God. A year from now you will be glad you did  you will be able to say that He is faithful! 

What have you seen God do that showed you He can be trusted? How do you build trust in God more? 

Day 58 - Pre-Marital Mayhem

"They are experiencing the premarital attack of the enemy. If the devil can keep two believers apart then he has sapped their effectiveness. One can put a thousand to flight but two can put ten thousand to flight. Why would the devil want effective Christians? So he tries to keep them separated or together in sin. Either way he wins. If we keep ourselves pure and come together in marriage we can become exponentially more effective."

During my engagement the company I worked for shut down it's local branch and I lost my job. We were freaking out. Add to that a whole lot of family tension and personal fears of the unknown and it makes for a heavy dose of the cold feet. Thankfully I had a great friend at the time who gave me some sound advice and pep talk I still remember to this day. 

People who want to get married need to know that the devil and all hell break loose against Christians when they get engaged. The devil hates marriage because it is a picture of Christ and the church. If the devil can halt or destroy a marriage he has succeeded in removing a witness of Jesus on the earth. That is why many people have battles before they get married that make them feel like they are on the journey in the movie The Princess Bride. (You didn't think I would talk about marriage without that reference did you?) 

In Ecclesiastes it speaks of the effectiveness of unity and says that a cord of three strands are not easily broken. In marriage that is the husband, wife and the Holy Spirit wrapped all around us. Keep God in the center of marriage and it will be wonderful. He invented it and wants it to be good. For the engaged I say keep it clean! You will be glad you did. If you have messed up, repent and commit your journey to the Lord. God will give you the grace to stay holy. To the single i say wait on the Lord. Sink yourself in Him and He will either fulfill you or bring you the right person at the right time in the right way. 

Did you encounter any trials before you got married? How can we stay pure before and in marriage?

Day 43 - Practicing what you preach

"It always amazes me that when we preach on a subject the it pops up in our life. We have often joked about getting sick when we are preaching about healing. I remember I preached a message on spiritual warfare and my son was admitted to the hospital with croup while I was preaching. Tonight was one of those times that this was evident. Pastor's message was about the protection of God and while he was telling a story before the message a guy comes walking right up to the front of the chairs and is stopped by our security before he can continue. He had missed his aisle and then when he was told that he couldn't go around the front he got angry and left. Then, right as we were ready to sit down one of our ushers had a heart attack. May we be loyal in our hearts and rest under his wings!"

Jesus beautifully illustrated this concept in the parable of the sower. He pointed out four types of soil and four ways that the Word is received. Three out of the four don't make it. I believe that even though Jesus spoke in terms of four types of soil all four can apply to our own hearts. 

When we say we believe something the devil immediately comes to test the Word we believe. "Did God say...?" will be his deceptive lie to get us off the Word as he deceived Eve in the Garden. Only by professing the truth can we fend off his advances. 

Then comes the persecution for the sake of the Word. It comes daily like the rising of the sun. If we are deeply rooted in God's Word then the same sun that scorches will be the sun that nourishes. 

Finally the weeds will try to grow and choke the Word. We have to focus our hearts on the Word. Otherwise the cares of this life, deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things will distract us to a place of unfruitfulness. 

If we have passed through all these tests then we can know for sure that we will be fruitful. That night that I referred to ended up being a night where 25 people came forward for the altar call. Also, our usher who had the heart attack was just fine. He still serves faithfully to this day. 

Have you experienced these types of trials when you got a hold of the Word? What scriptures helped you through?