Tag: faith

Isaiah 6:10 ” Make the heart of this people calloused…”

Are you walking around with a hardened heart?  When we’ve been hurt over and over again, our only recourse is to protect our heart…our inner person.  We put up a wall of callousness  and apathy so no one can hurt us again.  It’s  effective, but makes us appear uncaring and insensitive to others.  It’s also really lonely within those walls…but we’re too afraid and distrustful to allow anyone in…so instead, we put on the mask of indifference.

But you may also be walking around with a hardened heart from sin.  Everything is going great… you  can make it on your own…you don’t need the Lord.  But obstinately refusing God will only lead to destruction.

Daniel 3: 16-18 ” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’ “

The three Hebrew children knew just where their strength came from…there was no need to defend themselves before the king.  For their faith and trust in God enabled them to rest in the knowledge that the battle was the Lord’s, not theirs.  We too don’t need to fight our battles alone…the Lord is standing ever ready to advocate for us.  All He asks is that we walk in faith while He does the work.

My wish for you this Christmas Season

Just think, you’re here not by chance, but by God’s choosing.  His hand formed you and made you the person you are.  He compares you to no one else – you are one of a kind.  You lack nothing that His grace can’t give you.  He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.

Written by Roy Lessin, Co-founder of DaySpring

Luke 1:38 ” ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ “

The Lord has called you and laid on your heart a promise, but like Mary,  you can’t understand how this could possibly happen. Like Mary, you have questions…but also like her, God will faithfully answer them all  in due time.  And in the end, like Mary,  we will need to put our complete faith and trust in God, knowing that what He has placed on our heart will come about. Today you too are  pregnant… you’re pregnant with a promise…a promise that’s about to come full-term.

Psalm 10:14 ” But You, O God, do see trouble and grief; You consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.”

The Lord understands the misery and sorrow you may feel today.  He wants to take that pain from you…placing it in His all-powerful  hands and off your shoulders.  If burdens are weighing you down today…entrust yourself to God’s mercy and fall upon His  grace.

II Samuel 1:26 ” I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother, you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.”

In your life time,  you’ll only be able to count on one hand the same kind of friendship that David and Jonathan had.  Their relationship was extraordinary, amazing and unique…and much closer than being biological brothers.  When you have such an intimate friendship with someone, it doesn’t matter the space of time or distance, the friendship still endures . If you haven’t connected recently with this friend…don’t you think it would be a wonderful time to do so?

Ephesians 1:11 ” In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will…”

You are not a mistake.  No matter what people tell you, God’s divine Will included you as an important part in this world.  He has a unique purpose for your life here on earth…your birth was foreordained by Him…He knew you before you were even conceived.  You are not a mistake, but a valuable part of God’s plan.

Psalm 80:3 ” Restore us O God; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.”

Turn us around Lord.  Return us to our first love and enable us to know again the joy of our salvation.  As it says in Psalm 71:20, “Though You have made me see troubles many and bitter, You will restore my life again.”  Refresh us  O Lord that we may restore others around us.

Romans 1:11-12 ” I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”

There’s no way around it…we all need to be around fellow Believers.  There’s nothing like being with like-minded Christians…sharing, listening, and bearing each others burdens in prayer.  All of us need encouragement and our faith strengthened by interacting with other Believers…we all need to hear how God is moving in other’s lives.  As it says in Proverbs 27:17, ” As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”   Think of it…something the Lord has brought you through is exactly what someone needs to hear today.

Isaiah 25:9 ” Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Where and in whom does your hope lie today?  Do you trust only yourself and your sheer determination to make your dreams reality?  Or maybe you trust the world around you to give you everything you desire.  Unfortunately, there is no one or thing here on earth that has the ability to deliver you from damnation… for there is only one person that can give you victory over guilt and eternal punishment of your sins.  Jesus is that only person that can save your soul.