Tag: challenge

Believe God Anyway

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Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing.

When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭MSG‬‬

I want to encourage you today that no matter how dark the situation may seem to believe that God can do something about it anyway.

I want to challenge you to dare to trust Him in the desert – there is a promised land and you are on your way to it.

My prayer for you is that like Abraham you will decide to live today not based on what you can’t do but on what God can do through you. His power sustaining you to walk, to love, to care and to be fully alive even though you may feel dead inside.

Long before he saw the fruit of the promise, Abraham believed God anyway. Though everything in his life seemed to indicate otherwise, He lived his life, every day, not looking at the impossibility of the promise but in the possibility of God.
Because God initiated it, Abraham believed that God would fulfill it.

I am sure that there were times that Abraham barely believed. I know that there were days that he was only holding on to a bare thread of hope…but he held on.

Hold on, my friend, you may have only had a thread of hope but in Christ, that thread is stronger than what you face and will hold against that which you fear.

I know you don’t see how it will happen but God does. He can see how and he knows when.

Hold on.

Hold on to Jesus…He is holding onto you.

Grab Hold

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The day will come when the work God does in you will be complete.

A day when all your broken parts are mended and all the gaping holes are filled.

A day when God’s work of re-creation is done and you are a new creation, through and through.

But until then, you are in the process of being created new.

Until then, every fiery trial that seems like it will destroy you is purifying you.

God can (and does) use the very things the enemy means for harm, for your good.

“Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.

When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.” 1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭6-7‬ MSG

One day you will stand before God healed and whole.

Until then, grab hold of grace and don’t quit.

What new thing is Jesus creating in you?


What old thing is being burned out by your current trial?

Sabotaging​ Speech

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Little white lies.

Big unsaid truths.

Smoothing it over by telling them what they want to hear.

Avoid confrontation at all costs so you won’t be rejected.

We rarely do these things because we don’t like someone, sometimes we do them the most with those we care for.

It becomes the language of our relationships and the protection of our most tender selves.

“Liars hate their victims; flatterers sabotage trust.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭26:28‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Words are powerful and all deception, whether it is big or small, deteriorates relationships. It doesn’t matter if it is a negative slur or a positive flattery.

If the words you are speaking are not true, you are not really loving them.

Your deceptive words are causing ruin whether you want them to or not.

If you love someone, tell them the truth. It doesn’t have to be brutal but it does need to be spoken.

This isn’t a challenge to suddenly verbally vomit all your pent up, stuffed down and swallowed words on the ones you love.

This challenge is to examine your words and your heart.

This challenge is to ask God to show you why you are stuffing, swallowing, avoiding and not speaking the truth.

And it probably has more to do with how you see yourself than how you see others.

When you discover why you are lying and unintentionally ruining your relationships, you will uncover a place that God wants to heal.

Trusting God means having the courage to boldly look at your underlying motives and bravely begin to create new speech patterns with the ones you love.

It matters.

Speak the truth in love.

Face the fear of being misunderstood.

Ask God to heal the broken parts in you so that you can have healthy relationships with those around you.

Opportunities

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The challenge you are facing is a gift. It is an opportunity for a divine purpose.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭MSG‬‬

God will use today’s challenges to give you the skills you need for tomorrow’s assignment.

Look to Jesus to guide you through it and help you navigate all the way to the other side of it. Don’t give up halfway through. Storms do not last forever but the lessons you could learn from them will.

It doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, God will use It to get you going in the right direction.

God will use whatever opposition is coming at you as an opportunity to grow your faith and character. Let Him.

What is God using your current challenge to develop in you?

Opposition vs. Opportunity 

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The challenge you are facing is a gift. It is an opportunity with a divine purpose.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭MSG‬‬

God will use today’s challenges to give you the skills you need for tomorrow’s assignment.

Look to Jesus to guide you through it and help you navagate all the way to the other side of it. Don’t give up halfway through. Storms do not last forever but the lessons you could learn through them will.

It doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, God will use It to get you going in the right direction.

God will whatever opposition is coming at you as an opportunity to grow your faith and character. Let Him.

What is God using your current challenge to develop in you?

Hold Onto Hope

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I want to encourage you today that no matter how dark the situation may seem to be believe that God can do something in it anyway. 

I want to challenge you to dare to trust Him in the desert – there is a promised land and you are on your way to it. 

My prayer for you is that like Abraham you will decide to live today not based on what you can’t do but on what God can do through you. His power sustaining you to walk, to love, to care and to be fully alive even though you may feel mostly dead inside. 

Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. 

When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Long before Abraham saw the fruit on of the promise, he believed God anyway. Though everything in his life seemed to indicate otherwise, he lived his life, everyday, not looking at the impossibility of the promise but in the possibility of God. 

I am sure that there were times that Abraham barely believed. I know that there were days that he was only holding on to a bare thread of hope…but he held on. 

Hold on, my friend, you may have only have a thread of hope but in Christ that thread is stronger than what you face and will hold against that which your fear.

I know you don’t see how it will happen but God does.

Hold on. 

Hold on to Jesus…He is holding onto you.

Uncomfortable 

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God will keep you accountable to live according to your full potential in Him. Not as a punishment but as a part of a thriving relationship of love. Because He loves you, He will challenge you.

He will challenge your status quo.

He will challenge you to get out of your comfort zones and when your uncomfortable zone becomes comfortable- He will call you out …again.

“You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living. “(‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ MSG)

“We need to get comfortable with God making us uncomfortable”
– Shelene Bryan

Sloppy living isn’t about appearance or how your like looks, it is about how your living your life.

Sloppy living is when you have stopped risking and reaching and are shrinking back and self-protecting.

Sloppy living is settling when you are called to soar and delegating the Great Commission to others instead of doing it yourself.

You are not called to live a comfortable life, you have been called to share the gospel of life.

You have been called to go.

You have been called to be.

If you think that God is calling you out of your comfort zone- He IS.

It’s time to get comfortable with the uncomfortable (not to mention abundant) life with God you are called to live.

A Gift

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The challenge you are facing is a gift, not a test.

It is an opportunity with a purpose.

The things that challenge you from all sides are the very things that build you and make you strong.

Trials do not create your faith- they hone it, sharpen it and challenge it to grow.

The Sword of the Spirit is dull when the day is fair and fight non existent.

The battle sharpens the blade, the test strengthens your hands.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” (James 1:2-4 MSG)

The very things you think will break you will make you into a stronger, more confident, faith filled leader.

Don’t focus on frustrations, the inconsistencies, the impossibilities.

See past the present challenges to the vision God has for you.

Get in the Word.

Soak in worship.

Serve in love.

Do your work with integrity and
let God do His.

Testing

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This verse has always brought me strength and peace:

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (‭Job‬ ‭23‬:‭10‬ NIV)

“He knows.”

God knows the way you take. He knows where you are and what you are going through. He sees the challenges you face, the exhaustion you feel and the discouragement that comes with it. He knows how you question your own ability and sometimes your sanity in taking on what lies before you.

“And when He has tested me.”

There are some tests that reveal what you are made of and some that make you. God will use this time in your life to do both.

“I shall come forth as gold”.

“Yet no gold is ever injured in the fire. Stoke the furnace as much as you may, let the blast be as strong as you will, thrust the ingot into the very center of the white heat, let it lie in the very heart of the flame; pile on more fuel, let another blast torment the coals till they become most vehement with heat, yet the gold is losing nothing, it may even be gaining.”
– Charles Spurgeon.

This trial will not harm you, it will forge you. It will not break you, it will make you.

Today

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Take it one day at a time.

Do what God has told you to do.

He has given you a vision and shown you a glimpse of what is possible if you obey him. If you trust Him enough to take a step of faith and follow through with what He has given you.

But just take it one day at a time.

Obey today.

Trust God today.

Take a risk, speak the words, reach out, follow through…today.

Don’t worry about tomorrow.

Work out the Word of God in your life today and let God recreate tomorrow in His image (not yours).

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭34‬ MSG)

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