Afternoon Ti: Holy Help

 

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

We were given this hope when we were saved.

(If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.

But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.

Romans 8:23-26a (NLT)

 

At times it can be tough to hold on to our faith in the Lord here on this earth. There is so much injustice, sin, and temptation blatantly running rampant in our world today. It can be hard at times to hold on to our faith in the face of so much.

 

In these verses, Paul shares that the Holy Spirit is our help for these times. He is to be our strength when we are weak. He is our present example of our future heavenly joy.

 

How often do you take advantage of having the Holy Spirit? Do you listen to His voice? Do you follow His promptings? When He reminds you of God's Word, do you obey?

 

The Holy Spirit is there for you. He is there to help you patiently and confidently wait on the Lord's promises for your life. Don't leave Him out of the equation. Don't allow yourself to suffer without His help. When you are weak, He is strong. Allow the Holy Spirit to help you.

There's Nothing Too Hard For God: Believe It!

There's a popular saying in the church that goes, "There's nothing too hard for God." We Christians like throwing that phrase around. We say it with our chest puffed out because the phrase reiterates that the God we serve is so powerful, nothing can stop Him, nothing can beat Him, nothing can make Him fail.

Yet, when problems come our way - I mean serious problems - why do we get so fearful? Why do we worry? Why do we stress wondering how we're going to make it through? We're the same folk who boast that our God can do anything, but our 'big' problems make us shake in our boots.

Do we really believe there's nothing too hard for God?

When you believe something, you're at rest. You're at peace. Right now, I'm believing that my chair is going to continue holding me up. I'm not worrying about falling on the floor in the next moment, I'm not stressing out about how to make this chair strong enough to hold me. I'm at peace. I'm not even thinking about it. I believe in the strength of this chair to hold my weight.

If we can put simple faith in a chair, how much more should we be able to put faith in our God? If He told us something, why should we not believe Him? If He made a promise, who are we to think that it will not be fulfilled?

Still, we do it every day. We face a problem and try to take it on by ourselves because deep down we're not fully sure that God is really able. We look at the size of our challenge and get intimidated. We forget how great our God is, and we succumb to fear. We worry instead of standing on God's Word.

Today, take a moment and check your faith level. Do you really believe that God can do it? Be honest. And if you don't believe, bring your doubts to God! He is so loving and will honor your honesty. And then He will prove His Word to you. He will show you that, yes, He can handle it.

There is nothing too hard for God. We just have to give Him an opportunity to showcase His strength.

Verse of the Day: And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27

What Are You Expecting To Happen?

Yesterday I was inspired by a message by Joel Osteen. He was ministering on doing an act of faith to show God that you believe that He is going to answer you prayers. In the message, Joel mentioned the story of the lame man who was lowered through the roof and placed at Jesus' feet in a crowded house. As a result of their act of faith, their friend was healed.

This morning I am meditating on expectation. Those friends expected their lame friend to be healed. They brought him to Jesus on purpose expecting Jesus to heal him. And, even when they encountered a large crowd and couldn't get right to Jesus, they figured out a way to get their friend in that house because they knew that he would be made whole.

What are you expecting? Do you have anything up before the Lord? Are you expecting Him to answer your prayers? Or, are you just praying out of fear or formality or desperation?

When you expect something to happen, you act as if it's already done. You make plans based on that thing coming to pass. You look for signs of it showing up. You speak in terms that it has already happened. Your mind is set on what you are expecting and your mood matches that expectation.

Are you expecting the right thing? Are you choosing to stand on God's Word believing that it will come to pass just as He said? Or are you just hoping and wishing? Don't just hope with the Lord, stand strong in faith! Believe that His Word is true! Have faith that He is coming through for you!

It is faith that moves God to action. It is that positive expectation that the Lord will come through that prompts Him to do exactly that.

Verse of the Day: And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Mark 2:4, 5

Keep the Faith!

In Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. Usually we look at this passage focusing on the boy who runs off and parties away his inheiritance only to be welcomed back with love and forgiveness by his father. But, I feel that we can learn a lot from the father as well.

In this story, the father is a representation of our Heavenly Father. We directly see how he shows love, forgiveness, and generosity to his son. But we can also see an example of faith and hope.

Luke 15:20 states that the son was a great ways off when his father saw him coming. That means that the father had to be looking far down the road with the hopes that his son would return.

Who knows how long the son was gone? It could have been a week, a few months, or a couple years! Yet, the father maintained his belief and hope that his son would return. He continued to look down the road. He never gave up.

Many times we grab onto God's promises only to lose our hope after time passes and we have yet to see it happen. We may stay on the wall for a few days, even a few months. But, with the passage of time, we can start to second-guess ourselves and doubt that God will fulfill His promise to us.

We stop looking down the road.

Don't give up! Don't give in! God will keep His promise to you! Keep your faith and maintain your hope. No matter how long it takes, God will come through for you when the time is right.

Keep looking down the road. You never know: Today could be the day your promise comes walking toward you.

Verse of the Day: As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. 2 Samuel 22:31

Keep Hope Alive!

Hope is an amazing attribute. There's a song that actually states that hope is hard to kill.

In the face of adversity, challenges, defeat, and setbacks, hope still has some way of hanging in there and staying alive. Even when every signal is screaming that failure is imminent, hope still flickers and dares to believe that winning is still possible.

Often we choose to give up. It's not that we've lost hope that we can achieve our goals, we just choose to go with the overwhelming "evidence" that's stacked against it. At times it's simpler to just give in than to keep fighting against the odds.

Yet some of the greatest triumphs occur in the midst of those hope-crushing scenarios. Abraham was long past his prime, yet he still believed God and received a son in his old age. The Israelites dared to believe that they could defeat the city of Jericho and its native giants, and their battle cry to the heavens caused the city's walls to fall. Hannah grabbed on to the word of the priest daring to believe that God would grant her a son, and was able to conceive after years of barrenness.

What are you facing that is trying to kill your hope? What situation is currently crushing down on your belief?

Don't give in to what it looks like! Don't give up because it seems impossible! You can win! You can overcome! You have the Lord God Almighty on your side. Nothing can stand in your way.

Verse of the Day: What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

Yes You Can!

Doubt is an insidious little character. It capitalizes on every single opportunity it is awarded to eat away at dreams, hopes, and visions. If allowed, it will tear down the most remarkable of promises leaving nothing left to build on.


If you can think of it, Doubt can crush it. It's up to you to keep a steady watch and break the power of Doubt at every turn. Entertaining even the smallest question it offers can send you spiraling down a path that ends in unfulfillment.

Even Jesus had to go and exercise his mental strength against the powers of doubt when he was tempted in the wilderness. Jesus knew that there was no way that he could work miracles, cast out demons, and heal the sick if there was any doubt in his mind. He also knew that he could not preach with strong authority if Doubt felt comfortable enough to whisper lies into his ear.

How much power does Doubt have over you? Does Doubt feel comfortable enough to take up residence in your mind? How do you handle Doubt when it does try to whisper in your ear?

The word of God says that we have to strengthen our minds and seriously set up roadblocks to the onslaught of Doubt. From the way we live our lives, the words that come out of our mouths, to the thoughts that we entertain, we have to stay in faith and vigilantly, actively keep Doubt at bay.

Remember what the Word says: You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! (Philippians 4:13) If you don't see how you can do it, that's okay. It's Christ's strength that's going to make it happen, so stop doubting. Believe that it's going to happen!

Verse of the Day: Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ... 1 Peter 1:13