Please God Through Faith and Not Fear

“Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬ ‭ERV‬‬

This is one of the most powerful verses that can change your thinking about life. There have been periods of darkness in my life when fear and worry dominated my thoughts, especially about 3 AM. I know that the reason my thoughts were more troublesome at that time, Satan knows that I am halfway awake and this is a great time for him to lie to me.

Also, there are trigger points that can remind me of a bad time in the past. Satan will catch me off guard and lie to me and tell me that God is not powerful enough to help me. One of the most awesome things God has helped me to do is to pray about the eternal and not the temporary. Notice that I said, “God helped me to do this.” In my own strength, I cannot change.

“So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:18‬ ‭ERV‬‬

If we think about only what we can see and understand and control, we think that we can handle life on our own. That’s where the fear comes in. We seem unable to solve all of our problems and all of our families’ problems. We spiral into depression and fear about the future.

Back to the original verse, “Without faith no one can please God.” When I realized the weight of this verse, I knew that I can never come close to pleasing God with fear. Only faith can please God! “Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him.”

I try to grab my thanksgiving journal when the fears about the future pop in at 3:00 AM. He is deeply in love with each of us and wants to reward us. He wants to save us. The thanksgiving journal reminds me of all the times he has saved me.

“But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14:13‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Do You Want to Feel New?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (‭II Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ NKJV)

Are you sick and tired of the "old" you? Are you wishing that this verse would miraculously change you into a new person? Are you struggling with how this verse works in your life, with your problems? Let's assume for a moment that you truly know Christ. But you are still stuck in your patterns of your old life. You are probably discouraged because you wonder why this did not work for you. 

The problem is not that this verse isn't true. This verse is truer than any other fact that exists. Just because you doubt it's truth does not change the fact that when you are in Christ you are a new creature. But you are not "moving" into the new house. If you built a new house, you get to move in and not live in the old house anymore. 

I'm sure you are thinking "I would never want to stay in my old, broken-down shack because I have a brand new house." What causes us to live in our "old" houses? 

Well, they are familiar to us. We know how everything works. We don't have to learn anything new. We don't have to change. It takes a lot of faith to believe that this new house will be a better place to live.

Ask yourself the big question...if I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, what is stopping me from moving in to my new living quarters? You have already been given the keys to the house. Our enemy is telling us that it is just easier to stay where we are. That way we don't have to do all the things that are associated with moving...sort through stuff, throw away things, actually take the steps to get familiar with our new surroundings. 

The old neighborhood is always going to look so enticing. That is our security. But the Bible addresses this so well,

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans12:2(NLT)

So if you keep walking around the old neighborhood, you won't look any different. But if you purpose that you will not be conformed to the world, God WILL transform you into a new creature...and you will like the new you! 

Do You Want to Be Strong Without Depending on Chocolate?

Isaiah 30:15-16 (ERV)

15 The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says, “If you come back to me you will be saved. Only by remaining calm and trusting in me can you be strong.”

But you don’t want to do that. 16 You say, “No, we need fast horses for battle.” 

On any given day, okay most days, I need to find the strength to get through the day. I feel like there are way too many items to check off my to do list! I feel defeated before I even start the day and want to give up because I feel so discouraged…like the battle is too overwhelming for me. So at that point, I have two choices. 

First choice, eat!!!  Eat something that will make me feel better, give me energy, give me strength. I can't tell you how many times I take the first choice. It may be evening time and I have too much schoolwork to get done and I will spend my evenings working on that, as well as laundry and dinner and a host of other things. Eating something unhealthy seems to be a great solution to give me the energy I need. I can sit down and get busy and have a "snack" right beside me and I tell myself this will be perfect.  Only problem is when I finish that snack and I have to stop and get another snack and then another and suddenly I realize that the thing that was supposed to make me strong made me feel weak. Has that ever happen to you?

Read what it says in Isaiah, “Only by remaining calm and trusting in me can you be strong”But you don’t want to do that. 16 You say, “No, we need fast horses for battle.” .

I took that right out of the Bible!  I thought,"God, you read my mind."  You told me that if I wanted to be strong, the way to accomplish this is to remain calm and trust in you.  But instead, I say "I don't want to do that. You were not enough for the kind of strength I needed." God's ways are always going to seem contrary to the world's logic. When the world says to go shopping and buy something you don't need then you will feel better, God says remain calm and trust in me. When the world says to yell at your kids or your spouse and you will feel better, God says just trust me. When the world says to go through the closest drive-in and order something very unhealthy because you had a bad day, God says "Can you trust me, instead of food?' 

The second choice is always the choice that works every single time! There is not enough energy in a candy bar or bag of chips to help you through your day. The enemy will lie to you every time and a lot of time you will listen to him. And then you know what he has the nerve to do…condemn you for eating the whole thing. You just cannot win if you choose that way. Next time you get to this point where you are desperate for some strength, remember this promise:

Isaiah 40:29 

He helps tired people be strong. He gives power to those without it.