When it seems that I am at my lowest point in my life and things do not come together, and life seems to blow me out of the water like a whale sprouting water...I know these are the times when I must gird up my lions. I must place the whole armour of God on to defeat the enemy. I know that God did not promise me a life without trials and tribulations, and I know that he did not promise me all good days, but this I do know, he did promise me eternal life. I must remain strong as Paul, a fighter like Peter, and have a kingdom set mind as King David did when he gave his all to serve God. In Psalm 37:25 King David wrote, " I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. " I will admit that I bear witness to Psalm 37:25, I know that God will not forsake the righteous and we will not go without because the God we serve is awesome!
That said, it does not mean that we will not endure trials and tribulations, heart ache, heart break, and physical, mental and emotional stress. It means that we must study the word of God in and out season, so that when we are in a season of storms that rage in our life...we can speak the word of God to our situations. "We must have faith!" We all have heard this phrase countless times, but do you ever ponder upon the word " faith?"
You must have a complete trust in God!
Faith is believing in God!
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary states that faith is:
1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs
I love definitions #2a (1) belief and trust in and loyalty to God, and (2) : complete trust, 3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; synonyms see belief — on faith : without question.
So if I say family and friends have faith, that means that I must believe in God, his holy word, and be loyal to him in everything I do. This means if society is moving to the left, God's people move to the right, God's people are unstoppable, unshakable, unmovable, and are steadfast ready for the fiery darts of Satan, our adversary, God's people do not practice the same lifestyles as the world ( society).
God's people practice faith, they walk in faith and not by sight. "We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight"
2 Corinthians 5:7 God's people know that God's promise is worth more than any gemstone, or precious metal. It is a gift that we can reject or we can accept...what will you do with it???
God's people practice a type of faith which the world has not seen nor heard. God's people are separate from the world, in fact, we have a different walk, a different talk, and although we may struggle, no one will know the extent of our struggle because we rejoice in our struggles, we praise God because we know he will bring us out of our struggles.
Psalms 23: 4-- Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, [a] I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
This verse tells those who are truly walking with Christ, I am not speaking about the Sunday morning Christians, or the Wednesday night and Sunday morning Christians. I am speaking about the Christians who live a truthful walk with God each day, 24-7-365. Even though we may walk through the valley, the key word is "through" which means you are passing through you will not dwell in this land. You shall not fear, your heart shall not be afraid because Jesus your shepherd is with you, and if we think about a Shepherd, he has a rod and a staff to help him protect his sheep. He will give his life to defend his sheep. Jesus did the same with us, he gave his life to defend and protect us so that we may have the opportunity to repent, accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, to confess that he lived and died for us, to be washed of all of our sins and gain the inheritance that Jesus left for us...Eternal Life.
Even though we are going through we must exercise our faith and as we increase our reps in faith, we must continue to study the word of God and hide it so deep in our hearts that we will not sin against God.
Doctors are telling their patients to exercise, it includes weightlifting and Cardio.
Exercise your faith daily!
We are so quick to rush to the gym to keep our appearance and our health up; However, we forget that like our bodies, our faith needs upkeep as well, and this upkeep is exercising our faith.
Exercise your faith as you would exercise reps for your body!
We must continue to praise God although our situation may become worse, we must not give up on God, kick your praise into overdrive! When there seems to be no other way, kick your praise into overdrive and go! Don't stop once you have traveled down the hill and you are in the valley, you must continue to allow your faith to be in overdrive, you have a need to continue, and you must continue, do not stop! If you do you will be like the children of Israel who were in the wilderness for 40 years!
We must remain in the word of God daily, we must activate our faith and continue to live in God's word. We must continue to witness to the lost souls, practice being compassionate, and always be Christ-like. Remember God does not love sin, it stinks to his nostrils and we who are his true soldiers ( his children), we must continue to be like our Father in Heaven. Sin should stink to our nostrils as well, but the times we might stumble, we should always repent, get up immediately, brush yourself off, and continue in God's word. Psalm 37:23-25 states, " 37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth [him with] his hand. 37:25 I have been young, and [now] am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."
Psalm 37:25 King David wrote, " I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. "
God's true people rejoice when they enter hard times, it is not the hard times we rejoice, it is what God said he would do, and what he has done, and what we will do for us!
Food for thought, " When the storms in your life are raging against you, and it seems as though you will be tossed out of the ship, remember to have faith, and speak to those storms! Tell those storms how Great is our God, How great is our God and he is much bigger than this storm. Tell the storms they too shall pass, I am just going through, I am not setting up camp, nor I am planning to move in and live here. I am going through, because my God said in Isaiah 40:31 KJV ( Paraphrased)--- "But ( insert your name here) that wait upon the LORD shall renew( insert your name here) strength; ( insert your name here) shall mount up with wings as eagles; ( insert your name here) shall run, and not be weary; and ( insert your name here) shall walk, and not faint."
What does this verse mean??? Let's go to the NIV in plain English for our time. " But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
In closing, remember to kick your faith into overdrive, you are going "through" { "passing"} the valley.
Isaiah 54:17; " No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD."
Remember...
Exercise your faith!!!! Kick your faith into overdrive!!!! Speak to the storms in faith!!! No weapons again you will prosper!!!!
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