Are You Spiritually Prepared for What You're Expecting From God?
This morning the Holy Spirit said: TURN-BY-TURN DIRECTIONS.
The scripture that came to mind was about the father of our faith, Abraham when God said in Genesis 12:1
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. Genesis 12:1 NIV
This meant Abram (who later became Abraham) was going to have to rely on God’s turn-by-turn directions. It would literally become a faith journey. He didn’t know where he was going, but Abram was obedient and went wherever God said go.
Is God trustworthy enough for you to do that?
In today’s blog/podcast episode, we are studying and discussing Hebrews 11 and it’s all about living by faith!
Here are some hope words that you should write down and let settle into your spirit to kick us off today:
The opposite of faith is not doubt; the opposite of faith is disobedience.
Dr. Tony Evans said, “Faith is acting like God is telling the truth.”
To exercise faith is to have CONFIDENCE about an expectation without visible proof that it will happen.
Crazy Faith! It’s only crazy, until it happens.
As I read chapter 11, which I think is possibly my favorite chapter because it is most timely for me today. Yesterday I had a moment where some thoughts tried to creep in and disrupt my faith. I started looking at what I could see in my home. I started looking at my relational situation. I started thinking about the promises God made and how I wasn’t seeing them yet. It kinda got to me. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I kept moving to clean my kitchen up from dinner and parent my kids. It was like I was having a battle in my mind. Will I continue to trust God or will I focus on what is front of me?
I realize that God uses songs to speak to me. It’s not about me singing them, it’s about the words in the song that he uses. I laugh all the time about singing, but I realized yesterday that that’s one of of the ways God speaks to me…through song lyrics!! I immediately started singing….Even when I can’t see it you’re working, you never stop, you never stop working, you never stop, you never stop working.
Today, let us be encouraged that even when we can’t SEE what God is doing, He is definitely still doing! We must live our lives by faith.
And speaking of living by faith, these faith heroes in the Bible did just that. Here are the ones I learned about while studying Hebrews 11: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Rahab (who was a prostitute), and Moses.
What really stood out to me was the period of time between when God made the promise and when the promise actually happened. God told Noah to build an ark and it didn’t even make sense because it had not rained one single drop in history when He told him to do it. From the time God told Him to build the ark and the flood was 125 years!!! When God told Sarah’s old self she was having a baby, she laughed at first. But I love that scripture points out that she EVENTUALLY had faith that the ONE WHO HAD PROMISED HER THE BABY WAS FAITHFUL! And the time period from when He told her to when she had Isaac was 25 years!!!!
Dr. Evans study notes said this and it completely changed my whole perspective on waiting on God:
Oftentimes God doesn’t complete what He wants to do in your life until you’re spiritually prepared!
When you really know the ONE who is preparing better for you, you can survive any wait!! That really blessed me this morning as I wait on my last name to be new! But I can’t let my last name becoming new become an idol. God will always test how much we love Him over the things we want. Do we love the gift more the GIFTER? We shouldn’t, if we do.
I also learned while reading Hebrews 11 that as a parent, the #1 thing to pass on to my children is faith in God above all else. Passing on other stuff should all come secondary to passing on how to live by faith in God!
So you may be looking around like I was yesterday and things are looking the exact same way, even though God has given you a promise. Living by faith means having confidence about the promise without any visible proof. It may not LOOK LIKE it’s gonna happen. It may even look totally opposite of what will happen, but know this. We can expect God’s divine intervention when we live by faith! And guess what else, God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8), so most likely, it won’t happen the way you think it will!
Be encouraged to live by faith every single day!
SALVATION PRAYER
If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and you’re not a believer, but you have a desire to be, all you have to do is openly confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community, stay connected to other believers, and start having daily conversations through prayer with God every single day. Welcome to your new life with Jesus Christ!!!
ASSIGNMENTS
What did Holy Spirit say to you in your conversation with Him this morning?
Are you spiritually prepared for what you're expecting from God?
Leave me a message on the Anchor.Fm podcast app or Text Me at 601-299-4398! Share this blog post/podcast with someone who needs encouraging. Share buttons below.
Become a subscriber and get the blog and podcast in your inbox daily!
