God’s promise for Week 5:
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)
For those who want further Scripture reading each day here are a couple of suggestions:
-Read one Psalm a day and meditate on it.
-Read the book of Acts and focus on the idea of faith.
-Read one Psalm a day and meditate on it.
-Read the book of Acts and focus on the idea of faith.
Day 32
He frees us from fear.
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "(Matt 10:37-39)
I must admit that I have often avoided this verse because it just doesn’t jive with my often watered-down version of what it means to be a Christian. I think the question that this verse poses is actually very plain: “What are you holding on to? What is more important to you than Me?" I think Jesus often waits a long time for us to answer this question. Sadly, sometimes he waits a lifetime. Once again, I am challenged to let God out of the box I have him in and just believe that His promises are true. I find myself wanting to face the truth of this verse boldly and courageously like Matthew did: “Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him" (Luke 5:27, 28). He didn’t ignore it, he didn’t sit down and write a pro and con list, he “got up, left everything and followed him." So what are you holding on to for dear life? What are you afraid to give up? And why are you so afraid? Perhaps the answer in your life is the same as in mine: Because I am afraid to hurt. Because I love comfort. Because I want what I want. During these forty days God has brought me face to face with all of these ugly truths in my heart. He has shown me these things in order to build my faith. He has helped me see that I trust Him more than I’m afraid and more than I love and more than I want. If we choose to believe, by an act of our wills, that God’s promises are true, and that He is who He says He is, then we will no longer be so reluctant to give things up. Has it penetrated your heart that Jesus loved you enough to die for you? I know you know it, but do you feel it in your soul? Is there tension in your heart right now? Do you want to trust Him but the fears just won’t go away? Just say right now, that you choose to believe. Reread the promises for each week and say: “I believe them." Now say it again: “I believe them". And again: “I believe them". I think that it is at this precise moment of choosing to believe that we will feel the power of God rush in like a river let loose, quenching our fears, drowning our doubts and filling our hearts with the calm that is God’s peace. God wants us to give up our hopes, our ambitions, our plans, and our security and sometimes we are just too afraid to do it. But you know what? All we need to do today is to say “I choose to obey", and He is immediately there to give us the strength to obey. So I’m going to choose to hear the call of Jesus, rather than avoid it. I’m going to listen as Jesus asks me: “What in your life is more important than Me?" And I will remember his goodness and I will believe His promises and from the bottom of my soul I will answer: Nothing is. Nothing.
Prayer:
Lord, as I choose to believe your promises, help me to feel your peace. Amen.
In faith:
Choose to believe that God will do a miracle in relation to every single one of your hopeless cases. Find a promise of God in the Bible that you will believe for each person or situation.
