#wtsdevo faith

[walkthesame]

A Reminder of Hope

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” -  John 14:26-27

             Have you ever felt that it is all up to you? Have you ever cried out to God in prayer, but still felt that it was left to you to somehow find a way out of the tangled wilderness surrounding you? You remind yourself to just have faith, but the cycle of striving continues and you wonder if this battle you’re fighting will ever end.

           I know what it is to be in this space. I know the desperation of clinging to this fortress of self-reliance my hands have made, when all the while, true rest lies on the other side of letting go. God knows my struggle with this intimately; every detail is known to Him. But beauty and grace are found in the truth that He sees this space of doubt and fear, this emptiness, and He refuses to leave me there. He refuses to leave you there.

           He knows that we will forget. He knows that our faith will experience seasons of doubt, that we will need help to find our way back to Him. He sent the Holy Spirit in the name of His Son to remind us of every word Jesus said, of every truth that self-reliance would have us forget. The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of the living God – revives our faith and reminds us of the peace Jesus left with us, peace so very different from what the world offers. Jesus sent His Spirit to live within us always, so that fear might fall away and His rest be restored.

           His Spirit reminds us that the renewal of our strength and faith is not up to us. He is here to comfort and restore, to show our fortress of self-reliance for what it is: a weak structure trembling on a foundation of sand. But as we watch the walls crumble, we realize that we have not been left to rebuild alone. We stand on the Rock, a sure Foundation that will never be shaken or moved, and we remember the reason for this hope that we have.

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Devotional Series: Faith (#wtsdevo faith)

By: Alexandria // Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Way Beyond Me (#wtsdevo Faith)

"But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen." - Hosea 1:7

Back in biblical times the chariot was the equivalent to the drone of today--at least as far as having an edge in battle tactics. Chariots gave a faster, more mobile way of fighting. So in war you definitely want to be the guy riding the chariot and not the guy on foot. Then again, if you're the guy on foot at least you can still use your sword if you have one. Even a strong man has a fighting chance with a sword or an archer with precise accuracy.

The point is that all these things have something in common. Control. The horsemen on the chariot, the swordsmen and the archers can all use their strength and ability to earn victory. And if they won it would be because of the training and preparation that developed their skill. God was making sure there was no mistaking the reason for their victory. He is sure and all else is futile.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." - Psalms 20:7

The question is where is our faith? Our abilities can only take us so far. And the sooner we understand this the better. I'm so tempted to revert back to my own effort. I've seen the result of my hard work. And I'd like to think I know what it takes to get some things done. But the problem in that is that I get all the credit with an ego boost to go along with it. If I'm being honest I'm terrified of what I can accomplish because pride is lurking around the corner.

It doesn't make sense to the rest of the world. When it comes to the things of God, less is more. We shrink so He can be magnified. We become weak so He can be strength in our stead (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). We lay down everything we bring to the table -- our talents, our intellect, our power to trust that God can do more with His thoughts than we could ever do in our fullest human capacity. Meanwhile, we can boast in our God and bring Him His due glory. Then the rest of creation will see Him and not us.

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Devotional Series: Faith (#wtsdevo Faith)

By: Julian // Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Have Faith! You’re Surrounded! (#wtsdevo faith)

As the missionary exited her flight and made her way toward the arrival-flight terminal, she was unaware of the crowd waiting for her on the other side of the gate.  The past two years on the mission field had been filled with many highs and lows, and the prayers of these very friends and family members had been the wind beneath her wings when she didn’t have the strength to continue flying on her own. Turning the last corner of her journey, she spotted her loved ones holding signs in the lobby and quickly recognized the many faces of men and women she held dear to her heart.  As she began to run toward them, the thought of their embrace overshadowed any reservations she had about how she appeared to onlookers as she lunged forward at neck-breaking speed.   Suddenly, it was as if she were alone in the airport running toward the cheering crowd.  As she ran, she unconsciously and one-by-one dropped her backpack, purse, and several other items to the ground behind her allowing herself to be uninhibited in her attempt to reach the group of people as quickly as possible.

As I think about this and so many similar emotional airport reunions, I can’t help but think about what it will be like on the day we each arrive in Heaven.  I imagine the faces of my loved ones who are already waiting for me on the other side.  On days when I feel tired and weak, I sometimes even try to be still and listen for their cheers as I persevere in this challenging race of life.  I especially love to picture my son or daughter who went to Heaven before me handing me a cup of water as I reach a situation where I’m tempted to sit down and call it quits.

Hebrews 11, often called the Hall of Faith, does a beautiful job of reminding us of the great faith of our forefathers as they journeyed through their time on this planet.  I love that Hebrews 12:1 picks up where this great faith chapter ends with these powerful words,  “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)  

God wanted us to know that we are not alone in this journey of faith.  I love the fact that we have a cheering crowd surrounding us every minute of every day.  Because of my faith in this cloud of witnesses, I want to do whatever it takes to throw off all the things holding me back from running this race with confidence and endurance.

What do you need to throw off today as you run this race called life?  Never forget, you’re not alone!  Have faith!! You’ve got a cloud of faithful witnesses cheering you on every step of the way!!

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Devotional Series: Faith (#wtsdevo faith)

Posted by: Tammy Nischan @tammynischan \ Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Waiting with Expectant Hope

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” -  Psalm 130:5-6

Often, I catch myself placing my faith in my abilities, my skills and my strengths. When I sit down to write and insecurity threatens, I comfort myself with assurances like, “Think of all the time you’ve invested in fostering this dream,” and “Look at the distance travelled since the moment you first put pen to paper.” 

For a while, these assurances work, but the effect is shallow. Every time I place my faith in myself, I am gripped by the realization that my strengths are inextricably tied to my weaknesses, my skills tangled up with my insecurities and my abilities a cold reminder of all that I haven’t managed to learn yet. And so, every time I place my faith in myself, there is an edge of insecurity, of doubt. I move cautiously as I complete tasks and explore new dreams, never giving my all to anything because I’m terrified that if I do and I fail, there will be nothing left. 

But Psalm 130:5-6 speaks to a different kind of faith that I’m called to: “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” This is the kind of faith we were designed and equipped for; a faith that has no reservations or fears to hold it back because its Source is One Who is infallible and unchanging. 

We don’t have to strive to create circumstances that will bring about success; rather, we can rest, knowing that God is seamlessly working out our role in His divine plan and that He knew what that role would be before the beginning of time. All we need to do is wait. Seems daunting, doesn’t it?            

But the psalmist knew a secret about waiting. If we count on ourselves, waiting will lead to despair, but when we put our faith in God, waiting becomes the most exquisite kind of anticipation. We wait because we believe God is going to show up, though we don’t know how. The edge of insecurity and doubt is gone. No fear is left to hold us back or keep us from all God created us for. Our whole being waits in expectant hope, longing to see the incredible beauty God is creating while we wait for Him

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Devotional Series: Faith (#wtsdevo faith)

By: Alexandria // Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Hope Against Hope (#wtsdevo Faith)

"In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be."" - Romans 4:18

Faith and trials go hand in hand. Because it takes every bit of trust and hope to believe that God is still for us and is still working everything out for our good when things go bad. It requires a steadfast faith in a steadfast God to maneuver through all the layers of opposition we face. Our faith is put up against a monstrosity of obstacles and It feels an awful lot like trying to walk up an escalator that's going down. It's a fight. And of all the ploys up the enemy's sleeve, the most effective faith deflator would have to be doubt.

Going all the way back to the garden we find the serpent doing what he does best. Deception. He's been whispering the same nonsense for ages through a simple question: "Did God really say...?" And with all the noises and self-talk and opinions we're ingesting on a daily basis, it's not too hard to get tripped up by that.

I currently find myself in probably the biggest transition of my life. Because the weight of my decisions will also fall on a wife and two little boys. Not just me. And it feels as if the very hope I'm clinging to is working against me. You name it, I've lost it. Car. Gone. Home. Gone. Job. Disappeared. I have every reason to doubt God. It's as if He snatched every bit of security away leaving me with nothing but Him and His promises.

The beauty in that is that He is immeasurably more than an abundance of stuff. He is my everything and His promises are sure. Against all odds His promises prove true. We can search the scriptures page by page and find a one hundred percent success rate on God's resume of promises. Because He speaks and things come to fruition. He thinks and it exists. He is incapable of lying. So we can cling onto every single word He has ever said or will say. In a world where people fail us every day and fall back on their word, God never does.

Ever.

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" - Numbers 23:19

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Devotional Series: Faith (#wtsdevo Faith)

By: Julian // Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Constant Faith (#wtsdevo faith)

A lot can be said about us as Christians when our walk in Christ is closely looked into. Take the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 for example. As the narrative begins, we see him as a devout follower. But as the story goes on, we see that He didn't seem to have enough faith to actually answer the call of Christ when the invitation was extended. Why? He felt that his possessions were far too valuable to part away from. On the other hand when you read about the disciples of Christ, they didn't hesitate following Christ when they were called. That's some solid faith right there.

As time went on, life wasn't exactly a joy ride for Christ and His followers. The days ahead of them became more unpredictable, scary and uncertain. Christ and/or the disciples could've easily called it quits. But they didn't. They pushed on with the mission tasked to them and kept on spreading the message of love and hope with the world despite the hate and backlash. That's faith right there and this is what is means to be a Christian.

It should be said though that being Christian, doesn't mean that we are super crystal perfect. Infact it's the opposite. But our true Christian spirit shines when we continue to push forward in faith and hope, despite our imperfections, despite our falls. It is this attitude and relentless nature that speaks volumes about our Christianity.

Our faith says it all.

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Devotional Series: Faith (#wtsdevo faith)

By: Jude \Personal // Walk the Same