Mistake

Taking Risks, Trusting God..DIANE FERRARO

 Taking Risks, Trusting God

DIANE FERRARO 

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (ESV)

There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about the risks my biological mother took to keep me alive and then choose someone else to raise me.

Before I was born, she had decided to end her pregnancy. In fact, she was already on her way to the clinic when something inside her told her to stop. Instead of aborting me, she found a couple to adopt me. My mother chose life for me, and that’s why I’m here today.

My birth mother’s decisions required so much trust in God. It reminds me of the story of Moses.

In Exodus 2, we read about Jochebed, a Hebrew woman who gave birth to a son, Moses, during a time when Pharaoh ordered all male Hebrew babies be killed. She put her 3-month-old baby in the river in a basket; then Pharaoh's daughter saw it and, taking compassion on the baby, raised him as her own.

Imagine, though, what Moses’ biological mother felt the moment she put the basket in the river, risking it all to save her son. The fear and anxiety that were wracking her. She had no idea what might happen to her baby. He could have tipped over and drowned, easily fallen into the many dangers of the Nile or even been discovered by an Egyptian soldier.

It was the mother’s faith, her trust in God, that assured her that her child would be OK. The basket that took Moses to a place of safety and care became a vessel of divine deliverance, God’s own hand steering it toward protection. God’s own hand leading Moses into a life He would later use mightily.

Whether a mom who chooses life decides to raise her child on her own or selects other parents to raise her child, both avenues hold huge risks. Both paths require walking in faith and trusting that God is going to take care of both her and her child.

You can’t build trust without taking risks. 

Many women in the Bible — like Moses’ biological mother, Jochebed, or Esther, or Mary — have one thing in common: They risked everything to follow God.

And God was faithful to them.

Maybe today you’re facing an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy. Or maybe you’re already a mom, but you’re fearful in raising your children. Sister, God sees and understands your fear, confusion, conflicting emotions and feelings of inadequacy. He knows the details of your circumstances and won’t leave you in the middle of them. In fact, He will meet you there in the middle of them, if you’re willing to turn to Him in faith.

When we take risks in faith, we allow God’s hand to steer us toward a life that He will eventually use mightily. He will always be faithful to us, protecting us along the way.

I have been a foster mom, an adoptive mom and now a stepmom. My children are all adults now, but every day I still choose to entrust them to God. Whether you’re a mom or have someone in your life you care about deeply, let’s rest assured that God loves them even more than we do. He is looking after us and our children.

Risk-taking helps build our trust with the Lord. Even as you face the unknown, even when you can’t see the outcome, take the risk because God is surely with you. He goes before you. And He is faithful in rewarding the risks you take to follow Him.

Dear heavenly Father, show me how to be strong and courageous as a woman in whatever role You’ve called me to fill today. Push me out of my comfort zone to take that risk I’ve been avoiding, and help me to come alongside someone else who may need encouragement to take a risk. I know that when I open my hands to You and let go, You will not only step in as my Protector, but You’ll also hold my hand and lead me. I will trust in You, and You alone! In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Reconciling Love and War..Dr. Charles Stanley

 Reconciling Love and War

Dr. Charles Stanley

Luke 6:27-31

One area of confusion about war is the apparent discrepancy between Jesus’ words and God’s approval of battle in the Old Testament. Can such dissimilar teachings be reconciled? How can the God who told Israel to destroy the Canaanites be the same one who said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (v. 27)?

To clarify this issue, we must distinguish between commands issued to nations and instructions given to individuals. The Lord has bestowed certain responsibilities upon governments. He calls them ministers of
God for good and entrusts them with avenging evil (Rom. 13:4). But to individuals, He says, “Never take your own revenge” (12:19).

People are killed in war, but this isn’t the same as murder. A soldier on the battlefield carries out his duties under the authority of his government (Rom. 13:1-2). Murder, on the other hand, is an individual’s vengeful response to anger or jealousy and is motivated by a desire to destroy another person.

When governments avenge wrong, innocent people are protected, but when individuals seek their own revenge, they destroy themselves and others. In Luke, Jesus was speaking about personal conflicts, not national wars. He knows that loving our enemies is the only way to protect ourselves from bitterness.

Would we prefer to turn the responsibilities around—are we quick to fight personal battles, but slow to affirm the avenging of evil nationally? Sometimes the only way for a country to have peace is to go to war, but we’ll never experience inner peace if we battle with individuals who wrong us.

It’s Only By His Spirit..Mark Jeske

 It’s Only By His Spirit

By Mark Jeske

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: '“When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, ‘Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’ [He divided] the three hundred men into three companies” - Judges 7:15-16

Gideon was a man who knew no fear when he knew that he had the Word of the Lord behind him. A gigantic coalition of nomadic peoples headed up by the Midianites had rolled into Israel like an invading army of locusts, stealing their animals and destroying their crops. Their camels “could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.” Their army numbered 135,000.

Gideon mustered 30,000 Israelites, but the Lord didn’t like those numbers. He thought Gideon had way too many. He led Gideon to reduce Israel’s force to a small battalion of 300. He gave Gideon a positive sign, allowing him to overhear a Midianite man’s dream of Israelite victory.

“When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, ‘Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’ [He divided]the three hundred men into three companies” - Judges 7:15-16.

Not only did Gideon welcome the sign and believe the Lord’s promises; he actually divided his tiny force into three companies. The Lord didn’t even need the three hundred—he simply drove the Midianites and their allies to attack and kill one another. Through Gideon’s strong leadership, Israel had peace for 40 years.

It pleases the Lord to no end to do great things through small people, to make the extraordinary happen from the ordinary. Never say, “We are too small.” Never say, “God can’t.”

A Prayer to be Firm in Your Faith..Tiffany Thibault

 A Prayer to be Firm in Your Faith

By Tiffany Thibault

"If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all." - Isaiah 7:9b

This world and its politics, philosophies and priorities seem to be spinning out of control, much like a snowball rolling down a hill. As that snowball is rolling down, it gathers more snow with each turn, growing larger and larger until it is massive and uncontrollable. As that snowball is rolling down, it gains speed, becoming dangerous to anyone or anything in its path.

Turn on any news channel and you will see the raw pain and the anger in the hearts and lives of so many. People are so hurt, and they need some real solutions. Everyone has an opinion on how to fix the problems, but in their well-meaning words and efforts, someone else becomes hurt.

There has never been a better time in your life than right now to stop and take a moment of reflection. How firm, how solid is your faith in God? Do you know what you believe? Do you know what is true about God? Have you grown your faith, increased your knowledge of doctrine, and strengthened the miracle of your testimony? Have you studied the Bible for yourself and learned to love and embrace its truths in your life? Isaiah 7:9b says this: “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

There is a battle going on in this world of evil versus good. As followers of Jesus, we know that He alone is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6) History has always been filled with evil men bent on destruction. History has also been filled with Godly people making a difference in the lives of those around them, not only through good works, but through allowing their firm faith to guide others to the Lord.

• Is your faith firm enough to stand against the tidal wave of evil in this world? (1 John 5:19)
• Is your faith firm enough to know that regardless of the situation, that God will never leave you or forsake you? (Hebrews 13:5)
• Is your faith firm enough to sustain you though no one goes the same path as you? (Matthew 7:14)

If you are not firm in your faith, then when the troubles in life come your way, you will be like someone trying to balance on a raft going over a waterfall. You will not make it. Every single situation that comes your way will either build your faith or chip away at it. If you want your faith to be firm, then deliberate effort needs to be made to do so. Just as one is intentional about other goals in their life, growing faith needs to be made a priority now more than ever. Your soul requires it, the struggling child in your home needs to see your faith, the hurting neighbor is looking for it, and the desperate co-worker is watching you to see if your faith is firm enough so they can grab hold of the truths you say that you believe, to help them as well.

God said in Luke 12:20, “This night your soul is required of you.” Death will come for each of us one day. How ready will you be? The time is now, today. Open up the Bible and study it, for in it you will find the truths that will change your life for today, tomorrow and for eternity.

Let's pray:

Dear Lord,
I want to know you more. I want to be sure of what I believe about you and your Word. Help me to apply my thoughts and my time so that I can study your truths, so that I can increase my faith. Help my unbelief Lord. Help me to take what I know about you and consistently live out those truths every day of my life. Help me to see my situations as opportunities to see you move in my life. Help me to be bold in sharing what I believe to those around me.

In Your Name, I pray,
Amen.

Troubles Are the Norm..Anne Peterson

 Troubles Are the Norm

By Anne Peterson


“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

We sat around a table in Germany, at the Hospitality House. It was a weekly Bible study for servicemen and their families. On a tape recording, Charles Swindoll said “We look at life with the mindset our difficult circumstances are the exceptions, that somehow, life should be easier. But troubles are really the normal part of our lives.”


We were made for heaven.
Have you ever felt like you don’t belong here? Many years ago, as a new Christian, I remember singing a hymn that said we were pilgrims. I thought, I’m not a pilgrim, this is my home. But as the years kept passing by, I understood. This is not our home, but one day we will go home. We have desires that will not be satisfied till heaven, that’s what we were made for. And instead of trying to satisfy those desires with things around us, we would be wise to read God’s Word to find out what God says about this world and the one to come.

No one likes struggles.
In all my years of being a Christ follower, I have never met anyone who said, “I love trials and struggles.” When Jesus walked this earth, he didn’t love the hard times, he endured them. Often Jesus had to pull back and go off by himself because of the weight of living on this earth. So, what did he do? He spent time talking with God. And he came away from those times refreshed and renewed. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to get renewed, how much more do we need that same thing?

Platitudes don’t help.
For most of my life I’ve heard platitudes that do not help when someone is struggling. Platitudes like, well you know, God helps those who help themselves. You won’t find that in the Bible. Thankfully, God helps us when we are unable to help ourselves. To be clear, I’m not saying we should just sit, doing nothing. There are times we are to wait on God (Psalm 27:14, and Isaiah 30:18).  But there are also times when God will lead us. Times when we need to apply what we’ve read in God’s Word. I believe the red sea would have never parted if they didn’t lift their feet to walk into it.

God tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 to trust in the Lord, to acknowledge him and he will make our paths straight, or in another version it says God will direct our steps. That is talking about us moving in a direction.

God does give us more than we can handle.
So often people have misused the verse 1 Corinthians 10:13, which talks about how we will never be tempted above what we can handle, and they will say that means we’ll never be given more than we can handle. Without being in situations that are too big for us, how would we ever learn to lean on God? Of all the Crosswalk articles I’ve written, I got a lot of pushbacks about this one. You can read it here.

Jesus told us we would have troubles.
Accepting that we will have troubles in this life has been very liberating. It makes me more grateful for the quiet, peaceful times, knowing there will be trials as well. Times when things don’t go as planned, or when I get bad news or hear of a loved one who is ill. Times that will bring me to my knees. But the good news is, we are not alone in the hard times. God said so. And God is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19). If it wasn’t for the hard times, we would never grow our faith muscles.  

Yes, Jesus told us there would be troubling times, but he also told us to take heart. We can be encouraged that Jesus has overcome the world. And while some problems may seem overwhelming, maybe even impossible, God’s Word reminds us that the things which are impossible with men are possible with God (Luke 18:27).

Intersecting Faith and Life:
What are you facing today that is overwhelming? Remember you are not facing it alone. God invites you to share whatever concerns you with him. And remember when you don’t see God working in your situation, it doesn’t mean he’s not working on it. God does some of his best work in the dark.

Lord, I lift those who are reading this right now. I don’t know what is happening in their lives, but you do. I pray that you would comfort where comfort is needed, that you would give your wisdom if that’s needed, and that you would remind each of us how much you love us, so much that you sent your precious Son to earth to die for us. We pray this in His precious and Holy name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

You’ll Never Forget, a poem by Anne Peterson

I know it doesn’t matter, God,
How big this world may grow,
You never will forget me 
and you’ve often told me so. 

You count each hair upon my head,
you watch me night and day.
And you will quiet heaven 
every time you hear me pray.
© 2016