Faith, Belief, Trust

An insight given to me by my beloved, Jesus... (November 2009)

Faith is when belief marries trust. When I truly believe I am valued and loved by God so much that he gave his one and only Son for me, and when I trust that God keeps His Word, then I can act on that belief and trust in obedience allowing Him to transform me from the inside out. Acting on belief and trust, living out God's great love for me by sharing it with others - that is faith.

Hebrews 11:1 "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see."
Confident assurance is trust and what we hope for is going to happen is belief- again faith is when belief marries trust.
Evidence of things we cannot see, yet when we look for the things we cannot see and believe... when we are prayerful and watchful we see glimpses of eternity and we learn that believing is seeing! When we believe we see. We see Jesus, we see love, we see His Kingdom. Praise God!

A Prayer from 11-26-09

a prayer based on Ephesians 3:14-21

Father God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, I drop to my knees and start talking to you, praising you for the wisdom and breadth of Your Plan. Lord, I pray that you will give us mighty inner strength from your glorious, unlimited resources through Your Holy Spirit. Christ Jesus, I ask that you make yourself more and more at home in our hearts as we trust in You. Our desire is for our roots to go deep into the soil of your marvelous love. Father, give us the power to understand how wide, how long, how high, how deep your love really is. Your love is so great we will never fully understand it. So Lord, help us to experience and receive it! Fill us with your Life and Power that comes only from You so that all glory is yours. We know that only by your mighty Power at work in us are you able to accomplish infinitely more than we could ever dare to ask or hope. Lord, may all honor, power and glory be yours in your people and Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.

God's strength

I am reading a book by Donna Partow called Becoming a Vessel of God's Power and she writes about letting God tell you what and who to pray for... so yesterday I did just that - started with a blank piece of paper instead of a "prayer list" and God led me to pray for a sister in Christ. First He led me to His Word and then the prayer follows. Feel free to substitute your name :)

Isaiah 40:29-31
He gives the power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

Daddy, I come before you as your humble daughter.

I praise you for your power and your love. Your mercy. Your strength.

You are the king of kings and lord of lords.

Thank you for all your good gifts.

Precious Father, I lift up my sister, Jan, to you.

You give power to the tired, overwhelmed and the weary.

You freely give your strength to those who are weak.

Lord, I submit Jan to you as one who is tired and weak. As one who needs and deeply desires Your power and strength.

Your call is for her to wait on You so that You may give her new strength -

Your strength.

May she feel as if she is flying high on eagle's wings.

She will provide meals and love to her family and not grow weak.

She will serve You with tasks for Emmaus and her church family - all the things that need to get done and not grow faint.

Lord, I pray that she fully surrenders to you.

Further I ask that what you need her to do will get completed and what she does not get completed she will rest in the knowledge that it was not hers to complete.

Help her to live in Your Freedom and Love.

May all she accomplishes, in Your strength, be for your glory for I know that is her deepest desire.

Beyond the tasks and cooking, Lord, I pray that Jan finds rest for her soul.

Help her to sit at your feet even as she goes through busy days.

Father, be her Shepherd, so that she will not be in want.

Make her lie down in green pastures.

Lead her beside still waters and restore her soul!

Lord, we know that your yoke is easy and your burden-light.

Jan comes to you weary and with heavy burden so that you can give her rest for her soul even in the midst of busyness.

Help her to hear your invitation to learn the rhythm of Your grace.

Your grace is more powerful than her work and our Enemy.

Help her trust your Love more than her own efforts.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Truly Free

Galatians 5:1,6,13
So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.
For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
For you have been called to live in freedom - not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.

I have set you free.

The chains of sin and law have been broken.

Run to Me.

Pursue Me.

When you pursue Me you pursue love and My way, which is to die to self.

You are a new creation.

Seek new revelation of Me.

My freedom is in Love.

Surrender.

Trust.

Believe.

Live.

Live free from unbelief.

For My promises are for you - not just for everyone else, but you.

Live.

Live free from guilt.

For I did not come to condemn you, but to free you to live now for Me

and for others.

Live.

Live free from worry.

For if I am for you, and I am, who can be against you?

Live.

Live free from fear.

For I did not give you a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love

and self-discipline.

Live boldly.

For a righteous person's prayers are powerful and effective.

Believe and act on - KNOW that the power that raised Jesus from the dead -

My Power - lives in you.

Move towards perfection, completeness, wholeness.

Grow into forever.

Love is the key.

I am the answer.

Be Love.

Live as a saint not a sinner.

For you are free!

Character not comfort is what I am growing in you.

A life surrendered to Me.

A life spent with Me.

Free to serve others in love and humility is a life lived in freedom.

Be complete and whole in Me.

Ask Me in - allow Me to transform you into

who you are meant to become in Christ.

When you are willing to suffer for Christ then I will know

you have decided to stop sinning.

Rather than wasting your life chasing after your selfish desires

be anxious to do My Will.

I anxiously wait for you to be finished with being satisfied with things

that bring godless people pleasure and be satisfied in Me alone.

You are Mine and I am yours.

Give as freely as you have received.

I dare you to try to outgive Me!