It's personal

We understand faith up to a certain level, but last week God told me to have faith in my relationship with Him and it got me thinking. Ok, so not just faith in Him, but faith in our relationship, because it's personal. Think for a second what the difference is. When we meet God we start to build a relationship with Him, the same way that we would start any friendship.

At the beginning you are unsure of who this person really is, what he likes, how he reacts, how he loves, how he speaks etc. As the relationship develops you see His kindness, you experience His love and blessings and you learn about His character and personality. At some stage you reach a point where you can put faith in the relationship that has developed. You can rely on the relationship, because you know Him as a person. You know that the relationship can withstand ups, downs and misunderstandings and you come to know that He always has your back and loves you with an unconditional love.

It is during challenging or teaching times that we can put our faith in our relationship with Him. We can know that even though He seems silent, He will speak again. We know that even though we think we might have messed up, He will never turn His back on us. Even when the enemy or people around us try and convince us otherwise, we can know and stand sure that He will never leave us or forsake us and that He is a good God.

Just because the circumstances in our lives change, doesn't mean that God changes as well. He is always consistent and when times are tough, we need to exercise faith in our relationship with Him and hold on to what we know and not to what we feel.

Ensure today that you know God personally so that you can rely on your relationship with Him when times are challenging. He will never leave you or forsake you and He has a plan. Hold on tightly and find peace in the midst of the storm. He will quiet the wind and the waves and you will be able to see clearly what was going on all along.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

Picture credit: Asksister

A desperate place

At times you can reach a desperate place, a place in your life where everything is overwhelming and you have no energy left. The problem is not the amount that needs to be done, but rather the lack of enthusiasm to do it with. You are busy, but bored, around people, but lonely and you are weighed down by cloak of sadness. You ask advice from almost anyone and even scarier, you consider or actually follow advice from people that you normally never would have. My point being, you are desperate.

You might believe in God, you might not, but my advice still remains the same… relax. Just take a moment, just calm down. There are a million voices in your head, opinions, thoughts and fears, just put them aside and just relax for a moment. Currently anxieties, fears, emotions, opinions etc. are forming a cloud around your head making you unable to see ahead or even feel a way out, you have reached your end.

When God looks at you He sees potential, He sees future plans and a destiny. He sees wholeness, not brokenness, peace instead of turmoil and joy instead of sadness. Why, you might ask? Because although the world has told you that you are broken, desperate, sad, alone and a failure, He still believes in you and He sees a prince(ss), He sees a success and child to love. Your challenges are no match for Him as nothing is impossible with God.

Can I challenge you? Humble yourself before God. Go on your knees in whatever desperate place you are in today and bring your troubles to God. Stop listening to the lies, opinions, self-help books and mantras, but bring your heart, in whatever state it is in, to Jesus. Put it in His hands, His love and His peace. I challenge you to ask Him to allow His love into your heart and to allow His love to change you and encourage you. If you do not know Him, ask Him to help you to put your trust in Him and in His love and to show you the way. Ask Him to wipe away your fears and tears, to pick you up from the mud and to put your feet on a solid foundation.

It is Love that brings the change, it brings the joy, peace and the enthusiasm for life. Hold on to the Love that you know and it will help you to cast out all fear and doubt. The Bible says: “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.” 1 John 4:18 You cannot be afraid of punishment if you know God’s perfect love, we need not fear punishment, because there is no punishment in God’s love.

Let go into His love, it is safe, secure, not judgemental, kind, peaceful, generous and mostly everlasting. Allow yourself to experience this today, to bring calmness to the storms in your mind and the fears in your heart.

“Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.” Matt 8:26

Jesus doesn’t need you to have a lot of faith, all you need to do is come to Him and ask Him to save you from the storm.

“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” Rom 10:13

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in Him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.“ Lamentations 3:22-26

Photo credit: the rainbow maiden

With praise and thanksgiving!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thes 5:16-18

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:4-7

God wants us to “rejoice always”, “give thanks in all circumstances” and “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”.  It sounds so simple, but when we find ourselves in a desperate place of hopelessness, sadness or discouragement the last thing we feel like is praising and thanking God. Especially if you have been waiting and waiting for God to change your situation, to provide or to restore and you are not seeing any change.

I don’t know about you, but I have found this to be very challenging over the years. I don’t like pretending and I don’t like thanking and praising God in a fake way just because I’m supposed to. I want to thank Him from my heart in truth and love, but still the Bible tells me to “rejoice always” and “with thanksgiving”. So how do I do this without being fake?

My search has led me to the word “faith” and the definition of faith. Faith is knowing that you already have what you have asked for and faith comes from hearing the Bible. I looked for scriptures in the Bible to strengthen my faith and I started from there. I would find verses that tell me who God is and that He is faithful and I then thank Him because He is faithful, kind, gracious and in control. I thank Him for who He is and praise Him because He is God.

Then I look at scriptures which directly relate to my situation and I thank God for what He has already promised me. I allow them to give me hope and by the Spirit my faith grows and I start climbing the mountain, even if it is just with a small thanks. As we build our foundation on God and on who He is, the mountain becomes smaller and we become taller and we reach a point where we can look over the mountain and receive vision. We see God’s plans fulfilled and our needs met and we receive the peace of God which transcends all understanding.

Our mountain has not yet been moved but, we have already received the victory and we can walk out the last stretch with peace and joy, thanking Him for what we are about to receive. God knows that praise and thanksgiving focus our attention on Him and not on our circumstances, break the chains of despair and give us strength to persevere to the end.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” Acts 16:25-26

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Rom 8:38