Generous Faith

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In I Kings 17, we see an amazingly true story about a widow and a prophet.

Verses 1-7 tell us there is a famine in the land… and then the story really gets good.

Elijah is commanded by the Lord to go to a specific widow for provisions. When Elijah finds her and asks for help, she explains she only has a little flour and a little oil left. Her plans were to finish the food with her son and die.

I find it so interesting that Elijah’s response to her was, “Don’t be afraid…” and then, he proceeds to give her instructions. He even tells her what the results of her obedience will be.

Did she go home to a room full of flour and oil? No. In fact, verse 16 tells us, “The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the LORD He had spoken through Elijah.” Same flour jar. Same jug of oil. Faith conquering fear at every single meal.

She had to have faith to obey before the miracle happened.

So, what does all this mean?

For me, it’s a great reminder that fear causes me not to give, but faith causes generosity.

What do I mean?

Elijah told her to feed him first. She didn’t feed her son and then see the flour and oil miraculously replenish. She had to give first.

I think that’s why Elijah responded to her excuses by saying, “Don’t be afraid.”

He knew that fear would cause her to hang on to that flour and oil, but faith would cause her to obey.

That’s the human response whether it’s a roller coaster, money, or food in a famine.

Fear causes a tight grip. Faith results in generosity.

When I am believing God for provision… truly leaving it all in His hands… I am a cheerful giver.

When I am fearful of the future, I have a very tight grip on the checkbook. It doesn’t matter if the balance is $8, or $8,000, the result is the same.

When I am fearful, I actually have a tight grip on everything… my family, my friends, my finances, and even my dog. I get on everyone’s nerves… including myself.

Living in faith is just better for everyone!

So, let’s live by the widow’s example. Let’s replace the fear of the future with faith in our God. Faith in the one, true and living God of the universe who has control over flour, oil, finances and everything else under the sun.

Let’s choose to live in the generosity of faith.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

*image copied from e-bay

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How to Move Forward With no Regrets

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“I wouldn’t change a thing”. This is what my father-in-law said about his marriage to my mother-in-law after 50 years.

“50 years and you would not change one thing?” I wondered silently, “You wouldn’t change the hardships that I remember you reminiscing about? You wouldn’t change difficulties like miscarriages, financial woes, a Christmas where all your gifts were stolen? You wouldn’t change anything?”

I will admit I was skeptical, at first. I mean, after all, wouldn’t I change some things about my husband and myself’s marriage of 26 years? Wouldn’t I change the struggles that we have faced? Wouldn’t I want a healthier start for us, an easier path? Wouldn’t I change something?  Would I change the struggle that we had that brought our marriage to the brink of extinction back in our fifth year?  Would I change the many moves we have made due to my husband’s call into the ministry? Knowing what I know now, would I really change the ministry struggles that we have faced?

As I pondered this, I began to realize… I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING either! But, it’s only because God is so good at what He does. Romans 8:28 says that He works all things out for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He is so good at this promise that my father-in-law and I can look back over incredible hardships and say with every fiber of our being, “I would not change a thing.” How could we? Wisdom has come from previous unwise choices. A trap we have fallen into keeps us from a greater trap years later. Stronger faith comes from seeing God work through incredible hardships in ministry. Trust in God’s provision and being thankful in all circumstances has resulted from financial crisis. Why would I change any lesson that turned out so great? When I see the goodness of God and realize how trustworthy He is, how could I possibly be filled with regrets? How could the chains of my past hold me in an endless cycle of ‘what if’? God is so good at what He does! He works all things for my good because I love Him and am called according to His purpose. So, I absolutely would not change a thing!

Our ultimate example, of course, is Jesus Christ. The Word of God says in Hebrews 12:2, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” We see here that Jesus trusted His Father to turn all the horrible injustice of the cross into the ultimate good. Did He enjoy the cross? The Bible says clearly He did not; in fact, He despised it. Yet, He submitted to the process because He knew His father was able to and would turn the ultimate place of suffering into the beautiful place of Redemption that we have today. Jesus is now able to look at the cross which He despised and then look at us, redeemed and righteous through Him and say, “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Think over your own life experiences. Maybe it is your marriage, but maybe it’s your job, your family, your health, any area where suffering has occurred. At the starting line we would ALWAYS choose an easier road, but would we now?

Through infertility, an amazing child has been adopted that otherwise would still be in an orphanage. Through bankruptcy, a release of hypocrisy has been born in us and compassion abounds. Through a friend’s betrayal, we now know The Great Physician heals emotional as well as physical pain. Would we really change those lessons?

Only our God can do this for us. Only our God can take unspeakable heartache, unbelievable adversity, and unjustifiable sin and mold it into a life that we can in all honesty look at and say, “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Trust Him with the hard things in your life. Trust that He can mold all the aches into a beautiful testimony. A testimony that at the end of time when it’s just you and Jesus holding hands looking out at the lives you both led on this earth, you can see Him look at His life of suffering and you can look at yours and you both can then look at God the Father and realize what He has done and say, “we wouldn’t change a thing.”

Seeking Hearts Ministries 

*image by YouTube.com

The God Who Does Not Fail

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In a hymn by William Fullerton we see these words:

“I cannot tell how silently He suffered, as with His peace He graced the place of tears, or how His heart upon the cross was broken, the crown of pain to three and thirty years. BUT THIS I KNOW, He heals the broken hearted, and stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear, and lifts the burden from the heavy laden, for yet the Savior, Savior of the world is here.”

This beautiful hymn reminded me that even if life is intense and confusing, even if things around me are murky and unclear, there are many things that I do know. Many things that I can still trust. Many things to be encouraged by. Here are just a few:

God is love.

1 John 4:16 – “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.”

Jeremiah 31:3 – “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”

God is good.

Psalm 136:1 – “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His love is eternal.”

God is light. No darkness dwells in Him.

I John 1:5 – “Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.”

God is my protection.

Psalm 36:7 – “God, Your faithful love is so valuable that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”

God is my sanctuary.

Psalm 55:22 – “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

Psalm 71:3 – “Be a rock of refuge for me, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and fortress.”

God is my portion.

Psalm 16:5 – “LORD, You are my portion and my cup ⌊of blessing⌋; You hold my future.”

Psalm 119:57 – “The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.”

God is faithful.

Psalm 36:5 – “LORD, Your faithful love ⌊reaches⌋ to heaven, Your faithfulness to the clouds.”

Deuteronomy 7:9 – “Know that Yahweh your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.”

God is present.

Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

God is glorious and righteous.

Psalm 97:6 – “The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the peoples see His glory.”

God is sovereign.

Psalm 138:8 – “The LORD will fulfill ⌊His purpose⌋ for me. LORD, Your love is eternal; do not abandon the work of Your hands.”

God is kind.

Romans 2:4 – “Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

God is peace.

John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.”

John 16:33 – “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Philippians 4:9 – “Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

God is Healer.

Psalm 103:3 – “He forgives all your sin; He heals all your diseases.”

Luke 6:17-19 –“After coming down with them, He stood on a level place with a large crowd of His disciples and a great number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those tormented by unclean spirits were made well. The whole crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming out from Him and healing them all.”

God is trustworthy.

Romans 4:20, 21 –  “He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God because he was fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

God is incomparable.

Psalm 40:5 – “LORD my God, You have done many things— Your wonderful works and Your plans for us; none can compare with You. If I were to report and speak ⌊of them⌋, they are more than can be told.”

God is greater.

1 John 4:4 – “You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

God is FOR me.

Psalm 56:9 – “Then my enemies will retreat on the day when I call. This I know: God is for me.”

God is worth it.

2 Samuel 22:4 – “I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.”

Revelation 4:11 – “Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.”

So, be encouraged. Even when life is bombarding you with situations out of your control and you are struggling to keep your head afloat, cling to what you know. Cling to the God you know. He will not fail.

Fullerton went on to write in his hymn:“I cannot tell how He will win the nations, how He will claim His earthly heritage, how satisfy the needs and aspirations of East and West, of sinner and of sage, BUT THIS I KNOW, all flesh shall see His glory, and He shall reap the harvest He has sown, and some glad day His sun will shine in splendor when He the Savior, Savior of the world is known.”

Trust that today. Trust what you know. Trust in the One you know. God has never failed anyone throughout all eternity and He will not fail you!

Seeking Hearts Ministries      My Story

Can God be Trusted?

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This week’s blog is a video I made over a year ago, but God kept bringing it to mind once again. What a beautiful reminder to keep us going this year…our God can be trusted.

Can God be Trusted?

God’s Perfect Preservation

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Psalm 32:7 says, “Thou art my hiding place; Thou dost preserve me from trouble; Thou dost surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”

The Lord will preserve us from trouble. He is our hiding place. He surrounds us with songs of deliverance. You might be thinking, “Really? All I see is trouble. All I know is abandonment and all I hear is madness.”

Look closely, my friend. He is here. He is your hiding place. He was in your past. He will be in your future and He is here now, in your today. Even if your trouble surrounds you, you are winning your battle because He is on your side. In the midst of it, know that He is preserving you.

Remember what it’s like when you are canning vegetables from your garden? Things get hot. This is all in the process of preserving, isn’t it? Through that process, things get hot and uncomfortable (for us and the vegetables). Just like those garden goodies, we would like to stay on the vine, being watered gently daily and basking in the pleasant sunshine. We don’t like the boiling water bath, but that’s the only way true preservation can take place. God’s preserving methods sometimes feel just as uncomfortable as canning must feel to a vegetable (if it had feelings), but rest assured you are being protected, preserved and sheltered for the winter ahead. I Peter 5:10 says, “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm,  strengthen and establish you.” What better preserving could we ask for?

To take our example a little farther, nothing tastes sweeter than fresh vegetables from your own garden. You can buy things from a local Farmer’s Market, but the absolute best is knowing that through God’s provision and your own hard work, the food you are eating came from your own plot. So it is with God’s spiritual provision for us, we can hear other’s testimonies (and they are encouraging), but there is nothing like experiencing our own tests and coming out victorious. We are then experiencing our own fresh fruit from our own God-given garden. Spiritual preservation can then provide fresh faith for us in the middle of our spiritual winters. We “open up” our jar of faith and remember God has already provided in times past and He can and will provide for our now. We just have to open up what’s already on the shelf. Ephesians 1:3 tells us that we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing.

It is so  frustrating to buy tomato juice at the grocery store only to discover another stack of homemade, well-preserved juice ready to use. Somehow, I always manage to shove a few jars behind some green beans, or jelly of some sort. They are forgotten for a time. When I finally find those jars, they can still be used, but oh, how great it would have been in that homemade soup last week!?  Just like those forgotten jars of juice, we need to remember that God has provided for us. He has preserved us and established us with exactly what is needed. Sometimes though, His provision gets relegated to the back. Let’s ask Him to help us remember what has already been preserved in us. Let’s open up what He has already established in us! Let’s feast on what He has already provided.

Psalm 32:7 also talks about God surrounding us with songs of deliverance. I really enjoy singing when I’m in the kitchen, don’t you? There’s nothing like humming (or belting out) a little tune while going about our tasks. So, just imagine that while God is in “our kitchens” preserving us for the coming winter’s trials, He is actually singing over us as He works. I love that! He is molding us and preserving us into the men and women that He designed for us to be. God is excited throughout the preserving process knowing that what He is making us into now is exactly what we need to be in our future. The process may be hot at times, but He is lovingly watching the clock, knowing exactly how many minutes we need in the boiling water to produce the desired results, all the while singing precious songs over us. When we allow Him to guide the process, He never allows a jar to crack; He never ruins a batch. He is the Perfect Preserver.

No matter if we are in the middle of needing to hide in Him, being preserved by Him for the coming winter, or hearing clearly His songs of deliverance, let’s rest in Him today. Let’s rest in Him knowing that He will never leave us, or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He will not ever stop loving us (I John 3:1) and He will always perfectly preserve us for the coming days (Psalm 41:2).

Seeking Hearts Ministries

My Story

 

** Photo by simplyeclectic.com

 

Can God be Trusted?

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Do you ever wonder if God can really be trusted? Do you ever wonder if trusting God is worth it? Do doubts about His love for you creep in when the lights are off and the house is quiet?

This session discusses many obstacles we face when learning to trust God and answers some questions like, “Does God want our questions?” “Does God get mad when we doubt Him?” and “Does God deserve to be trusted?”

I love this session because we see how people in the Bible dealt with their trust issues and how those examples can teach us how to deal with our own doubts.

This is the last session I will link to the blog (as far as I know), so if you want to be notified of other videos in the future you will need to subscribe to the YouTube channel. When you watch a session, there is a subscribe button right below the video.

Praying you all have a weekend filled with joy!

YouTube – Can God be Trusted?