Rooted, Built Up, Established And Steadfast

"The full counsel of God", His Word, was never meant to be studied by the cramming of facts, but intended to be meditated upon and grasped and written on the tablet of our hearts, that we might be STEADFAST and SECURE in all His ways, being changed and transformed into the likeness of Christ. It's one thing to believe the scriptures are the inherent Word of God and another to live under their divine authority. It's one thing to understand the doctrine of grace, but quite another to, actually, know and live in it's freedom!

The knowledge of scripture, may only puff up, but when grasped, in it's entirety, by the heart, one is humbled before an Almighty God, recognizing that we fall short of His standard and is in awe of the magnitude of His mercy and grace! Pride only demands from Him, our every wish, while humility, brings into perspective our sinfulness, in comparison to His Holiness. Recognizing the cost and extent of His love in the sacrifice of His Son and desiring to live out that which we've already attained, the righteousness of Christ, is our calling by a Holy God.

The scriptures call us out of our alienation from God to a place of forgiveness and reconciliation by Christ death, to present us as holy in His sight, without blemish; and to establish us in our faith, making us STEADFAST in our hope, which is Christ.

Colossians 1:21-23 says,

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body, through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation ~ if you continue in your faith, ESTABLISHED and FIRM, NOT MOVED from the hope held out in the gospel."

Colossians 2:6-7 says,

"So, then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

1 Peter 3:17  says, 

"You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose you own STABILITY."

We can find several key phrases in this passage that teach us how to remain steadfast:

The first being, the "knowing beforehand" which means to foreknow or knowing something before it comes to pass. There's a warning, as we are instructed to "take care" to keep watch of the false doctrine of lawless people. These people show no restraint when it comes to God's laws and seek to lead others astray, in order that, they may lose stability and the steadfastness that comes from being rooted in Christ and His Word.

This verse lies firmly planted in Peter's final words, in which he seeks to instruct the church to be diligent and steadfast in their faith, to beware of false teachers and to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:12 says, 

"Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are ESTABLISHED in the truth that you have."

2 Peter 1:10 says, 

"Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure for if you practice these qualities you will NEVER FALL."

James 1:12 says,

"Blessed is the man who REMAINS STEADFAST under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life."

Psalm 16:8 says,

"I have set the Lord always before me; because He is my right hand. I shall NOT BE MOVED."

1 Corinthians 15:58 says,

"Therefore, my dear brothers, STAND FIRM. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.'

I encourage you, my friend, to continue in the Lord, seeking after Him, to be rooted and built up and established in your faith ~ giving thought to His Word and hiding it in your heart. It will hold you fast when the winds and torrents of life's hardships roar and will secure your faith, as you continue to live in the light of His very Presence. He is with you and will hold you fast! Continue in your pursuit, I'm praying for you daily!

Some have asked me to open this sight up to all for comments. I've made that change and would love to hear how you are progressing in your walk with Him. You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below any of the posts. Thank you!

Do You Feel Life Passed You By? Find The Freedom To Dream Again!

Christianity is not about having it altogether, it's recognizing that we don't! It's about a God that meets us in our brokenness and loves us as we are! A God that desires to have a relationship with us and has made a way for us, as sinners, to have a relationship with a Holy God! A God given freedom to be all God created us to be, to have renewed hope and to live a dream, His dream! To celebrate with each new sunrise, a new day and a fresh start, when we find ourselves less than perfect. To be accepted and loved for who we are! This is the freedom we have to celebrate when we walk with God!

I don't have it altogether either ~ but even with my husband, recently, passing away, I haven't lost hope for the future ~ still grieving some, yes.  Jim's life is over, mine is not! I still have dreams GOD has written on the tablet of my heart that EXCITE ME and give me EXPECTANT HOPE for the future! He's written them there and I'm looking to Him to fulfill them, because they are alot BIGGER than me! I want every day, I have left, to live for Him! I want everyone of them to count for eternity! I want to live and breath His plans and purposes! Did you know God has a plan and purpose for your life? We burned this truth into the hearts and minds of our children, at a very young age.) We wanted them to dream BIG, to dream with God!

In our brokenness we can, often, lose sight of our dreams that were so alive and vivid in our minds when we were young. Our first car, college, a career, we just knew we were meant to follow! But life happens and we can lose sight of those dreams. We can feel imprisoned, in a survival mode of existence and wonder how we got to this place. We can feel resentment and jealousy, inside, as we see others happy and blessed and breathing in every moment ~ when we feel life has lost it's color! We can sense the emptiness, the gray and look robotic, going through the motions! Life's wonder has faded, we no longer feel we can conquer the world, as we did in our youth! We can sense the lack of purpose and direction, but are we looking in the right places?

It's never to late, to leave our prison cells and to live a life of expectant hope! To be refreshed, to be renewed, to soar, to use those gifts and abilities that God has given us in ways unimaginable ~ to drink in life, once again! It's possible! I'll say it again, IT'S NOT TOO LATE!

Have you been sucked into the pressure to conform ~ do you feel life is passing you by? Maybe, you feel what you "don't have" has left you with a disadvantage and you're discouraged and tired of fighting to make a way for yourself. Maybe, you've made some mistakes and don't know how to find your way back. The pressures of this world, our choices and others can make us feel we're inadequate, but it's a lie that Satan wants us to believe. He wants us to feel it's all been lost! God has a plan and purpose for your life, did you know that? Check it out! (If you know this verse, please hang in here with me a moment, there's more!)

Jeremiah 29:11 says,
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." That's God's promise!

That verse makes my heart soar, how about you? God has a plan and purpose for your life and mine, but it's found in Him! It says, "I KNOW the plans I have for you. (They are HIS plans) If we don't have a full understanding of that verse and the two verses that follow, we can grow discouraged in the waiting, expecting God to drop it all in our laps ~ we can lose heart! As my husband use to teach, with every promise comes a premise! The premise is (our part),  and lies in the next two verses and we tend to leave those out and that can cause us to miss out on the promise, altogether, blaming ourselves, God and others for our demise ~ Check it out! Let's read all three verses together:

Jeremiah 29:11-13 says,
 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me WITH ALL YOUR HEART."

Our hope and future, what we were created for, lies in God, He's our Creator ~ He, alone, knows what He created us for. God reveals His plans and purposes as we walk with Him. He says, "you will call upon me and pray to me" (the premise, our part) "and I will listen to you" (the promise, His part) "You will seek me" (the premise, our part) "and find me" (the promise, His part, to make Himself known) "when you seek me with all your heart." (the premise, our part). We do our part and God fulfills the promise! No man can take away, what God has ordained! Stop complaining and blaming others for your demise and get your eyes back on the ONE who fulfills His plans and purposes for you! Look to Him alone! Nobody's failed you! God alone knows and fulfills ~ and what He ordains, WILL BE, no man can stop Him! If you got your eyes off of Him and have looked to yourself or others to fulfill your dreams, put your eyes back on Him! Dream BIGGER, dream with God!

You can wait a life time for the plans and purposes God's created you for, but by leaving God out of the equation, seeking to make it happen on your own, will only set you up for disappointment! Our faith has to be focused on Him ~ His will, His plan for us, not ours! It's God's plan and purpose ~ you may want the blessing of having a plan, of knowing your purpose and desire to prosper, but God's plan can only be fulfilled by God, not by you!

We have to choose to walk with God, in His truths, in His ways! We can view God's commands as bunch of rules, but they are boundaries that were meant for our good, to set us free and keep us free! Just like, we, as parents, set rules for our children to keep them safe, healthy and happy. They can cross the road, without stopping to look, but they may reap the consequences. When we choose to be our own god and live our lives for ourselves, outside of God's boundaries, we too, someday will reap the consequences, but, even now, in this life we are missing out!

It's never too late! Throw off the chains that shackle, those things you've held on to, that you think you need! Set aside, the bitterness, the anger, the blame, the complaining about your demise and do your part and God will fulfill His purpose for you! It takes faith to believe God's plans are good for you, to trust they are better than what you are striving to accomplish on your own. It's time to dream BIGGER than yourself and celebrate your uniqueness that God designed, so specifically, to complete His purposes for your life! The you God created you to be! Align yourself with God ~ take that step of faith and give Him the reigns of your life and watch Him bless your socks off!

A man that is free to WALK with God, is a man free indeed! Don't buy into Satan's lies! Choose the freedom of living with the purpose, you were created to fulfill! What has God written on your heart to do? It's never to late, quit complaining and get on with it! Stop making excuses ~ step in faith and let God be God! You're on my heart, I'm praying for you! You matter to God, get back to Him, with expectant hope!

Faith, Are You In The Wheelbarrow?

A faith story, first, requires a step of faith! To believe God and to step, believing, but not seeing!
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as, "being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see." Verse 2 says, "This is what the ancients were commended for."

Faith, is a leap into the darkness, with all CONFIDENCE that God is going to be there! It's a trust in God! We don't trust someone without coming to know them. Faith in God is built on a relationship, time spent with! Our faith grows as we grow in our relationship with Him!

The "ancients" mentioned in verse two, above, stepped with faith, believing God and therefore, experienced the blessing of seeing God at work. These great men of God got to witness what God was doing, because they were willing to join Him. Could you do that? Do the unreasonable? Leave all you have and follow God? Faith isn't easy! I haven't arrived either, I'm a work in progress! I struggled too, in letting God take complete control.

Moses struggled, "God I'm not eloquent." "Please choose someone else."
Gideon struggled, "God, I need to know this is your voice", and he put out a fleece twice. (We talked about these in a previous blog.)

Hebrews 11:7 says,
"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

How did Noah come to this place with God?

Genesis 6:8-9 says,
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he WALKED with God."

 Noah spent time with God, trusted Him and Noah believed and acted on that belief! Noah breathed and lived in God's presence, he was blameless and righteous.

If Noah had not obeyed, he and his family would have died too. But because Noah believed, he and his family were saved. Wow! What a faith story they experienced FROM INSIDE THE ARK because they did believe and did, what seemed to others, what I'm sure, looked to be crazy and stupid!

Genesis 7:16b says, "Then the Lord shut him in" the ark.
(God sealed it. This was God securing His promise!)
Can you imagine how GRATEFUL Noah and his family were that God had shown them favor, that they acted in obedience, instead of disbelief!

A step of faith precedes the outcome! Don't we, often, want it the other way around? We want to know the outcome first, but then it wouldn't require faith, would it?

2 Corinthians 5:7 says,

"We live by faith not by sight." 

To join God in what He's doing requires faith in God!

Hebrews 11:8-12 says,

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, who's architect and builder is God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age ~ and Sarah herself was barren was enabled to become the father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he was as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand of the seashore."

Abraham believed God to be faithful and acted on that belief! The call to follow wasn't about Abraham, it was about what God was doing with a nation He called his own. Abraham answered the call and stepped in faith and got to be apart of something much BIGGER than himself and it was credited to him as righteousness, because of his obedience. There were famines, imprisonment, slavery, and alot of difficulties. With great trials, comes great blessing! God allowed them to go through hardships, but in their need, they got to see God provide, for those needs, in BIG ways! Being in need, BIG trials, leave room for God to provide ~ BIG blessings!

Hebrews 11:13 says, 

"All these people were STILL living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of a country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country ~ a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

These people believed God and followed Him to do His will, they were not their own, they chose to belong to God, to fulfill all He gave them to do. Some, died along the way and didn't get to see the ending results, Israel established by God in the promise land, but these men are "heroes of faith"! They were sure of what they hoped for and were certain of what they did not see!

I encourage you to read the stories of Noah and Abraham, in their entirety in Genesis. You can find the "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11. Check it out! Men, with feet of clay, just like you and me, followed God because they believed, in Him, to the point of being willing to obey Him. They were human and imperfect, but God used them because they were willing.

To go with God, requires a step of faith! To take a step of faith requires trust and trust comes through time spent with. As we grow in our faith we, also, grow in our obedience.

I was told that a man was going to push a wheelbarrow, on a tight rope, across Niagra Falls, when asked how many believed he could do it, all raised their hands! When asked who wanted to get in the wheelbarrow, no one raised their hand!

When it comes to God, does your faith put you in the wheelbarrow? Do you just believe He exists or do you believe in Him to the point of following His ways?

So, exactly, what kind of faith or belief does it take to be saved? Can you know?

There's a dependency on God for salvation, a belief or trust that our salvation lies in what Christ did on the cross, alone, not on anything we have done or can do.

John 14:6 says,

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except by Me."(It's a belief, a faith, that Christ's sacrifice was enough.)

So, why do we need Christ's sacrifice, anyway?

The scriptures tell us in Romans 3:23, "That all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

In Romans 6:23 we read,

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God is Holy and without sin, we are sinners and were separated from God by our sin. God sent His Son, Jesus, who was both God and man, to die in our place, for our sins, so we could have fellowship with a Holy God. It's a free gift, there's nothing we can do to earn it ~ by believing, we are claimed righteous.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says,

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith ~ and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God ~ not by works, so that no one can boast."

There's nothing we can do, we can't be good enough. We confess our sin and turn to Jesus and we can be saved.

1 John 1:9 says,
"If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Do you just believe God exists out in the great somewhere or are you "in the wheelbarrow"?

I leave you with this verse:
Colossians 2:6-7 says,
"So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

We have much to be thankful for! I'm continuing in prayer for you, my friend!