a challenge should not intimidate you a problem should not frighten you because you are not alone the Bible clearly says in Exodus 14: 14 the Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace every challenge is an opportunity for you to watch God fighting for you although it may not always be easy it may not always be enjoyable but it is necessary if you want to experience the mighty hand of the Lord working you see every great Act of God almost always started with a problem so here's my advice to you don't always
pray for your problems to go away start praying for the Lord to show him yourself in the midst of your problems don't always pray for your challenges to disappear but start praying for the Lord to empower you to overcome that challenge I encourage you to begin to see your problems as opportunities begin to see the fight before you as an opportunity for you to see God move and act in a mighty way maybe you're in a dry season and you find yourself on unstable ground well Saints where we're limited the Lord is Limitless where we
see challenges the Lord sees opportunities opportunities for him to demonstrate his love for you opportunities for him to demonstrate his might and power to you don't ever become disheartened because you're surrounded by water and what I mean by that is in Matthew 14 when the disciples were in the boat they had nowhere to go they were essentially trapped if you got out the boat you're worried about drowning if you're in the boat you're still slightly worried about sinking or capsizing so the disciples were surrounded by water they were Bound by water but here came Jesus
walking on the very thing that threatened the disciples the very thing that restrained and limited the disciples is what Jesus used to demonstrate his Superior power so don't be discouraged because you're surrounded by water don't be frightened because you're surrounded by water call out to Jesus the one who walks on the water so even if you're battered by the waves of life you can call on Jesus you and I are called to trust God now my own perspective on trusting the Lord is that I don't need to have all the answers because I know the
one who knows all the answers I don't need to know what the plan is because I know the planner I don't need to know the why if I know the one I don't need to know the how because I trust him someone who has set their heart to trust and believe in the Lord can never be broken and what I mean by that is a Believer who has encountered Jesus a Believer who has been truly transformed by the power of God you cannot uproot that type of person nor can you shake them and I believe
this is to be the case because the Bible says in Jeremiah 17: 7-8 the Amplified translation reads blessed with spiritual security is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord for he will be nourished like a tree planted By the Waters that spreads out its roots by the river and will not fear the heat when it comes but its leaves will be green and moist and it will not not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought nor stop bearing fruit a
Believer who has set their heart to trust in Jesus is spiritually secure that means you aren't vulnerable to attack it doesn't make you immune because we all fall under attack from the enemy at some point but you're not vulnerable You're not exposed let me put it this way think of a house a house where all of the windows have been left open the front door is wide open the back door is wide open there are no curtains no blinds but there is plenty of valuable material inside that's the picture of a person who is not
spiritually secure they are open for attack from the kingdom of darkness because their trust is in everything but God but you see to be a believer who really trusts in Jesus Christ a Believer who really believes the word of God and declares that greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world that person is secure the Bible says in Psalm 37: 3-6 trust in the Lord and do good then you will live safely in the land and prosper take Delight in the Lord Lord and He will give you your heart's
desires commit everything you do to the Lord trust him and he will help you he will make your innocence radiate like the Dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the Noonday Sun I believe that God is pleased when we trust him to such an extent that we can say whatever awaits me in the future I'm facing it with Jesus whatever comes against me I'll be protected by Jesus and here's the thing about faith and trust in the Lord a lot of times you'll have to walk with god without knowing in fact faith
can be summed up in the following way Faith is doing your part which is trusting God to do his part your part is to believe that's all you need to do and then you leave God to do his part your part is to stand on God's word his word says that nothing is impossible with God let me ask you are you doing your part are you believing and standing on God's word faith is not necessarily something tangible it's not something you can put your hands on and control faith is the substance of Hope and the
evidence of the Unseen this means to me that if you can see it it isn't faith if you can explain it or control it it isn't Faith many of us try to orchestrate and control everything in our lives until one day we're faced with things that are outside of our control and the truth is the most important things in life are out of our control you can exercise and diet all you want but disease can still come knocking on your door we can build magnificent buildings and structures but we must still bow to the power
of a tornado a hurricane or an earthquake these things remind us that we are not in control but I want you to understand that it's during Times Like These when we feel out of control that we are reminded of the purpose of faith Faith enables us to be comfortably out of control even though we cannot control things like disease nature or death we have faith that God has a plan and that God will have the last word and so as we approach the throne of grace let us ask God to help us to move into
a space where we are comfortable without knowing ask him to move us to a place where we can be comfortable not because we have all the answers but because we know who our answer is his name is Jesus when you put your trust in the Lord there is something that happens within you you have a boldness about you when you know and trust that your step s are ordained by God so where have you placed your trust in whom have you placed your trust in now allow me to speak about doubt for a moment beware
of Doubt because doubt is the enemy of Faith doubt will only ever see the obstacles in front of you however faith faith sees the way Faith believes that God Will Make A Way even when it seems like there is no way doubt will see Darkness doubt will see despair but faith will see the day Faith will see the light it will see hope doubt will you as a person but when you trust God you could take a leap of faith trusting God dispels all fear faith and fear cannot simultaneously occupy your mind and heart it's
impossible you either have one or the other faith and fear cannot exist together there is one Bible verse that should really Challenge and provoke every believer in Christ Luke 14:33 says so likewise whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple the Bible is saying unless you surrender all to Jesus Christ unless you are ready and willing to give up all you possess you cannot be a disciple of Christ and so each of us must ask ourselves the following questions firstly do I want to become a disciple of Jesus Christ
because that comes at a cost [Music] secondly am I willing to forsake everything else for the sake of following Jesus Christ this passage of scripture certainly makes me think one translation of Luke 14:33 reads simply put if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you whether plans or people and Kiss It Goodbye you can't be my disciple when Jesus made this statement that you must forsake all PA to be his disciple he wasn't just talking to the people who were around him at that time he was essentially speaking to all of his followers
it's very straightforward some may even say it is blunt he makes it clear that if we do not let go of our Earthly Treasures we cannot follow him truthfully now for some groups of people they may feel as though God is asking too much of us his requests seem too extreme and inconvenient for us we may start to feel sorry for ourselves and imagine that we are in a movie where we are the victims and God is the villain we convince ourselves that God doesn't want us to have anything or to enjoy our lives but
instead wants us to give everything up so that we become miserable and are left with nothing but we couldn't be more wrong God came to give us life and life in abundance God created the world and saw that what he had made was good the issue is that we are the ones who mess things up for ourselves the Lord will only use someone who is willing to give up everything for him the Bible makes it crystal clear that to be a disciple of Christ you must be willing to surrender everything else and hold on to
Christ and Christ alone if this wasn't the case then we would get our priorities all mixed up and end up placing our Earthly pleasures and treasures above Jesus by our very nature as humans we can be our own worst enemies at times because we are so easily drawn to and attracted to things that offer no benefit to our souls we push God further and further away in exchange for worldly things things that are temporary and have no benefit to you in eternity take the story in Matthew 19: 16-22 for example Le a Rich Young Ruler
approaches Jesus calling him good teacher the man asks Jesus what he'd have to do in order to gain eternal life Jesus responds by telling him to follow the Commandments but the rich man explains that he has already kept these Commandments his whole life he further prompts Jesus by asking what else he could do this time Jesus answers him if you want to be perfect go sell what you have have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me now Jesus doesn't say this because he thinks money is bad
or that the man shouldn't own any possessions Jesus knew the man's heart and his thoughts he knew that the man thought too highly of his Earthly possessions and that this obsession is standing in the way of his relationship with God I believe that Jesus told this young man to sell his many possessions because he knew that by keeping his material things so close to his heart this young man would ultimately deny himself entry to eternal life in a way I believe Jesus was inadvertently telling all of us to stop indulging in our blessings but rather
to use them to serve others and bring glory to God and in return Jesus promises we will gain treasure in heaven the rich young man probably didn't even hear that part all he heard was that he would have to lose all of his money he would have to lose his picture perfect home in his many cars but if only he had focused on Jesus's promise of eternal life in heaven he wouldn't have felt the way he did we can sense the man's reluctance because scripture tells us that after that conversation he went away sorrowful he
was sorrowful he was given a choice give up your Earthly riches for God and you will gain so much more in heaven but that choice made him sorrowful it was too painful for him to give away his great possessions we are often so focused on what we have here and now that we get concerned about losing it all yet instead we end up losing sight of the most important thing and that's eternity with God in the Bible Matthew 10:38 38-39 says and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy
of me he who finds his life will lose it he who loses his life for my sake will find it God knows what is best for us and he knows our deepest thoughts he doesn't want to take our enjoyment away but if we begin to idolize the blessing then we have a problem by letting go of or losing the things we idolize we gain life spiritual life eternal life that's what God wants for us but we don't do ourselves any favors when we stand in the way of God rescuing us from our Idols in the
case of the rich young man he valued his finances more than he valued God he laid up for himself Earthly Treasures instead of heavenly ones what God blessed him with became his God an idol now could the thing that God has blessed us with become our Idol could we be rejecting the opportunity of eternal life by seeking something or someone other than God are we placing these things above God himself no matter what God has blessed us with finances family careers gifts talents friends which are all good things by the way way we need to
be careful not to put any of these above God for God himself said in Exodus chapter 20:3 you shall have no other gods before me our God is a jealous God he wants us to be invested in him he doesn't want to play a small role in our lives he wants to have the leading role he wants to be the main character the protagonist but when we don't let go of what's keeping us away from him he cannot assume his role as Christians we should be willing to give up anything and everything for Christ now
I understand that it's easier said than done but that is the cost that is what's required and it's either you're prepared to meet that requirement or not our sinful nature doesn't easily allow us to let go of what we hold on to in this life but when we think of the character of God who he is and what he has done for us it puts things into perspective we only have all these blessings because God gave them to us whatever we have is his our own lives are his the breath in our lungs is because
of him he created us and knew us before he formed us us he loves us so much that he created us in his own image and likeness with a purpose and plan for our lives his love for us is so great that he gave his one and only begotten son Jesus Christ who died for us so that we may have eternal life John 15:13 reads greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends Christ gave up his life for us while we were still sinning now I believe we
ought to commit and devote Our Lives to him not out of obligation but out of love for him and desire for his eternal Kingdom Romans 10:17 so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God if you begin to speak the word of God all audibly repeatedly you will constantly be hearing the word of God and that is when Faith Comes so if I keep speaking Romans 8:37 I am more than a conqueror through him that loved me if I keep speaking Deuteronomy 28:13 the Lord has made me the head not the
tail Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me 1 John 4 four greater is he that's in me than he who is in the world if I repeatedly declare the word of the Lord I hear it my faith grows my belief grows people of God don't be defeated in your heart don't feel defeated in your mind no matter what you face be anchored and fixed on Jesus the trial you face may not look like Paul and Silas in prison it may not be a den of hungry Lions but your situation might
seem just as hopeless and just as intimidating however when you're in the thick of it when you have nowhere else to go don't allow yourself to be moved be unshakable in your faith be unshakable because you have God's promises to fall back on be unshakable because you have the Holy Spirit who will be your strength and your helper Jesus Christ is the only sure foundation in this cold Ever Changing world he is our steadfast anchor circumstances change people change social norms and public perceptions change but the word of God remains true true forever so be
unshakable Saints now ask yourself where's your hope what's your hope built on what ground do you stand on I want to encourage you to make sure that you are rooted in Jesus Christ make sure that you are anchored in the one who died and rose again make sure that your hope your faith is built on the Firm Foundation that is the Son of God my hope my hope is in the living and active word of God it offers hope for the sick hope for broken relationships Hope For The Sinner and hope for the struggling believer
the certainty of your hope should be based on the word of God because in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God that's what makes it so powerful more powerful than a two-edged sword so when in doubt be grounded in the word of God take the example of Daniel in the Bible although he was thrown into the lions then he was unshakable in his faith he was anchored in Jesus look at Paul and Silas beaten and chained up in a dark prison but they still found the faith
to pray and praise the Lord at midnight why because they knew that the one whom they were anchored to was greater than their circumstances they knew that Jesus Christ was greater than those chains he was greater than any punishment they would face so even if all the odds are against you continue to trust in the Lord and He will raise up a standard against the enemy Matthew 17:20 because you have so little faith truly I tell you if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain move from here
to there and it will move nothing will be impossible for you this is a powerful reminder of how Mighty faith is God loves those who come to un broken with the realization that God has been faithful to them he has been gracious to them he has been kind to them even while they were still in sin so listen don't be downcast don't allow the devil to fill you with shame and guilt when Jesus chist Christ offers you mercy and he offers you forgiveness Saints repent be convicted not condemned
