We are Called to Persevere in our Faith

Hello Dear Readers,

  How is everyone doing? I hope that no matter what you are going through, good or bad, you are resting in the loving arms of your Heavenly Father, each day. This is the very best place you can be.

  As God’s children, we are called to persevere in what ever situation we are in, which brings glory to God and causes us to mature in our faith. If we walk with Jesus daily, we learn to trust Him. Then there is nothing this world can throw at us that will keep us down. When the relationship between Jesus and a Christian becomes very strong, that Christian has no fear and will graciously persevere through various trials God allows them to go through. They persevere because they love God more than their life, they are obedient to God’s Word, and they stay close beside Jesus daily. This is how God’s children persevere.

  If God’s children love Him more than their own lives, they will be equipped to persevere in the harshest of conditions. This love between them and God will be the firm and strong foundation they cling to in all situations.

  God delights in the obedience of His children. When we learn obedience to God, we learn that He has everything under control, so we can persevere with confidence as we wait for His will to be done.

  God desires all of His children who know Him to seek Him every day, to love Him, and to receive His love and encouragement in return. When we live daily in His presence, we can persevere through anything that comes our way.

  Even with all the heart breaking circumstances Job was placed into, and then to have three friends come and make it even worse, Job still persevered. His faith and trust in God was greater than any condemning words that man could say to him. Through everything that happened to him, his faith could not be shaken. His heart was completely devoted to God because he knew God was good in His ultimate authority and righteousness. As we read, God was greatly pleased with Job for speaking the truth, persevering in extreme trials and persecution. Job was blessed by God- double what he had before. 

  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:1-5

  “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11

  Won’t you join me as I walk with Jesus each day? As I daily rest in His loving arms, knowing that His guidance is always available to me for the asking. When I do, I am prepared to endure and persevere through any trial that comes at me, because He will always be there right beside me to help me walk through it.

We will be reading Job 32-42 for one more week.

Have a Blessed Week!

Love

Patricia

Let Go of Your Life and Trust Jesus

Hello Faithful Readers,

  How are you doing this week? I hope your heart is being blessed today and everyday as Jesus shows you His great love for you, in intricate ways. Keep your heart open to receive His little gifts of love for you today and every day to come.

  There is no trial that we may face in this life that we cannot make it through when we stand with Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. When we stand on the Rock, and rest in His presence all day every day, we walk in peace and security no matter the circumstance or situation.

  If we truly desire to walk with Jesus every day, we must first learn to trust Him, by growing in our confidence in Him even in our most difficult situations. There is more we can learn from God during our trials than at any other time. In our weakness, He is strong. If we as God’s children allow our hearts to completely trust Him, then in any situation, especially the most difficult, we will turn to God and give Him all our fears and worries, so we can rest in Him. As God’s children we know that He desires the very best for us. While we wait to get through the difficult times, we can be learning God’s lessons for us that will teach us to be who He created us to be. When God’s children see that even in their difficulties, they are experiencing spiritual growth in various ways, their trust and confidence in Jesus as their God, will become perfected. This is God’s deep desire for all His children, to love Jesus with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, more than anyone else.

  As we read scripture we see that those who trusted God looked to Him for deliverance, or protection, or any number of things they needed help from God for. You have Abraham, Gideon, David, Esther, Daniel, among many others. When they asked God for help, they believed that He would help them as they were in need. That God would provide according to His will and purposes. Much of the time they had to wait, and wait they did. Sometimes they waited a day; sometimes they waited months or even years. But in their suffering, they learned to rest in God’s loving arms in humble submission to His will for them. This sounds easy, but in reality this is a very difficult virtue to acquire. It means one hundred percent trust in God and His perfect will for us as His beloved children. Even though the whole time Job didn’t understand God’s purposes behind his suffering, he still trusted God and held onto God’s truth in His heart.

  All my Christian life I felt that I trusted God and I had confidence in His ability to provide for me. But in actuality I didn’t really trust Him and my confidence was not fully on Him. My confidence was still on me and my abilities to take care of myself and those in my life. Not until Jesus started healing my heart in many deep ways, did I start truly trusting Him and seeking Him for my needs and daily guidance. This is the act of faith that we do every time we speak to God and know He hears us. If we ask according to His will, He will do it. After all, Jesus is on our side and delights to bring us blessing and gifts, for us to use to bring Him glory.

  As children of God we are called to trust fully in Jesus and let Him be the Lord of our life. He will do this when we trust Him fully with our lives, our finances, our families, our future, and the intricate details of our daily lives. By faith we must grow in our confidence in His ability to provide for us and we will be able to trust him in any situation this life throws at us.

  “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:8

  “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.” 1John 3:21-22

  “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62: 1-2

  Trust Jesus with all the cares that are in your heart. He desires to heal your heart and restore you to who He made you to be. This means we must let Jesus be in control.

  We will now be reading Job 32-42 for two weeks.

Blessings,

Patricia

Honesty about God's Truth

Hello Dear Ones,

  I am praying that you are doing well this week, and you are seeking Jesus in all you do. Jesus delights to be a part of every aspect of each of our lives; to be the light that shines in the darkness, to show us God’s truth.

  There is only one absolute truth about who God is. That truth is given through out  God’s Holy Word, and is identified with the help of the Holy Spirit that lives in the believer’s heart. When God’s children humbly receive His written Word in their hearts, they receive God’s truth. The one who receives God’s truth through His Word and decides to live by that truth in pure honesty before God shares it with others so that they too desire to know God’s truth. This type of behavior brings glory and honor to God. But... those who receive God’s truth through God's Word and allow outside influences to confuse His truth, get misguided information that does not honor and glorify God.

  As God’s children, we are going to go through trials in our lives, and Job is no exception. Job needed wise council and gracious comfort in his time of trial and anguish. Job’s friends, who thought they were helping Job, actually hurt him even more, by their lack of wisdom about God. They didn’t seem to care if they were hurting their friend. Their pride overpowered their ability to see what was wrong with what they said. Job remained strong in his understanding of God’s truth. He faltered a little, but he knew and trusted God’s truth and lived by it even when everything else was going wrong. Job feared God, and trusted Him even in this most difficult situation.

   I have been like Job’s three friends, unfortunately, but it served as a learning experience, more than anything else. I regret having done this, but I know God allowed it so that He could help me grow in this area. The most important thing I did was to repent of my mistake, learn what I did wrong, and not make that mistake again. I know God is faithful to help me do better if I find myself in this situation again. Thankfully, I fear God, and trust Him to provide strength in my weaknesses. Since this is the attitude of my heart, I am willing to learn and grow in the knowledge of who He is, and the areas He desires for me to grow in.

  As God’s children, when we desire to know Him according to His written Word, with the help of His Holy Spirit, we receive wisdom to live our lives to honor God each day. The honesty of our hearts tells God that we believe He is who He says He is. Our faith allows us to know that He desires for us to walk each day with humble hearts honest before Him.

  “Show me Your ways O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.” Psalm 25:5

  “Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth.” John 17:17

   “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” Proverbs 29:23

  Be encouraged to walk in honesty before God everyday. Then that truth about God can be shared with others in ways that glorify God and are not corrupted by false ideas which hinder and harm others.This is a very deep topic, but I hope the story of Job makes it simple and clear how very important it is to know God accurately and speak of Him with honest truthfulness.

  We will continue reading Job 15-31 for one more week.

Blessings,

Patricia

Obedience to God

Hello Dear Readers,

  I hope everyone is doing well this week, and you have joy in the Lord, who is your strength. Joy that comes when you know you are doing God’s will, in obedience to Him. This kind of joy allows you to overcome any trouble you face because you are looking to God for your needs; guidance, strength, joy, peace and protection. What joy to have these gifts from God, daily!

   When others are coming against us, or we experience very tumultuous situations, we, as God’s children must remain strong in our faith and obedience to God; because we know Him, and we listen and follow His voice which leads us daily.

   Job was a righteous man who walked in complete obedience to God. Even when God allowed everything to be stripped away from him, even his health, Job did not curse God. No, Job knew God enough to know that He was good, even when he didn’t understand why God would allow such a horrible situation to happen to him. Job’s three friends who came to offer support to Job thought they had the answers for why this was happening to Job, but they came up short in their understanding of God, with only partial truths. Their lack of understanding of God and His grace caused Job more anguish instead of helping him. Job remained strong in his faith and obedience to God. Even in anguish and pain Job trusted in God more than anything or anyone else.

  Once I learned how to seek God daily and throughout my day (which I constantly practice even today) I learned that God is my authority and it doesn’t matter to me what others think. I am only concerned with what God thinks of what I do daily. My desire is to be obedient and bring honor to God in the good times and the very bad times. I know that God allows me to go through bad times to help me grow stronger in Him. I trust Him completely, and I know that His ways are perfect. This is the kind of obedience God desires for all His children to posses because this is when God can use us for His greater purposes. If we are constantly questioning Him about everything He calls us to do, we won’t get very far in our service to God, or our strength in God. I choose obedience to God every day. I pray that this is the desire of your heart too.

  Our strength that only God provides comes as we walk in obedience to Him every day. We might even have other Christians disagree with us when we are doing what God calls us to do. What is better, to follow the wisdom of man, or the wisdom of God? I choose the wisdom of God, because God is perfect and in our obedience, God will provide for our needs in the most difficult of times, if we will put our hope and faith in Him alone. Then when we come out of the difficult time and look back on it, we can see all the blessings and lessons we have learned from God.

  “To God’s elect, strangers in the world,… who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ…” 1Peter 1:1-2

  “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.” Psalm28:7

  “Brothers, as an example in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11

  My hope and prayer is that we all would stand obedient to God; remaining strong in our faith because we know Him, and we listen and follow His voice which leads us. Daily.

  We will start reading Job 15-31, for two weeks.

Have a blessed week in the Lord,

Patricia