Be Still.....................

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:19

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

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What does it mean to be still? The story of Elijah should really help us understand what it is to be still and let God. Elijah was discouraged and felt that God was not with him and he was left alone to do all this work. He decided to go to the mountains and waited for God. Then, there was an earthquake, a fire and a great wind, but surprisingly God was not in any of them. But then came “the sound of sheer silence.” And that’s when God spoke to Elijah.

Friend, in order to connect with God, you and I need that stillness. We need a time when we turn everything off and seek God quietly. You and I need to stop manipulating our circumstances and let God talk to us. If like me you get impatient easily then, you will miss out on communicating with God. You and I must learn to be still. As a teacher, I have learned that the greatest punishment is for my student to be still. They just can't do it.

When we are going through difficulties, we tend to want to overcome quickly without much enduring. As a result, we come up with our own solutions and ending up learning the same lesson time and again. We must learn to wait on God. Some challenges come to strengthen us. We must learn to wait on God's wisdom and guidance. To be still is to trust that God has our best interest in mind and He knows what He is doing. To be still is not passive. It is to wait with expectation. To be still is to know without a doubt that God is able and He will do what He says: He will be with you in times of trouble.

Father how grateful I am for your love and your patience! Teach me to wait on you Father. In Jesus holy name,I pray amen!

Praise the Lord!

Walk by Faith....................

For we walk by faith [we [a]regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.2 Corinthians 5:7

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Walking by faith and not by sight is a short and yet fully loaded description of what a real Christian's walk should be. The Bible says in Hebrews11:6 "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Romans 14:23 says "Whatever is not of faith is sin." Faith is major deal. God wants us to have Faith in Him. In order to have, the Christian must know what faith is. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval." (Hebrews 11:1-2) "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4) My favorite scripture on faith has to be Psalm 127:1, "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." How many nights have I stayed up wondering what country I should move to and what city? What college to attend and what degree to pursue? Who to marry? What to wear? what to eat? I have learned in my walk that every time I move on my own and act in pride and impatience, I lose. I can't tell you how many times I have to go back to "point A" just because I did not want to walk by faith and because I wanted to make things happen for myself instead of waiting on God's providence.

"Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." How true and how relevant is this verse! Friend, the world says, "Seeing is believing." God says, "Believing is seeing." Who are you going to listen to? Walking by faith involves obeying God even when you do not understand and when you don't even feel like doing so. Living by faith involves accepting God's will even when it does not match your will and and plans. Walking by faith involves staying still when God seems silent. Walking by faith is thanking God before receiving. Walking by faith is accepting healing while still in pain. It involves calling yourself healed while the lump is still visible and while the doctor is saying nothing has changed. Walking in faith involves smiling when the bank send the last foreclosure notice. Faith is believing the promises of God, even when there is nothing to show for it and no reason to believe. Walking by faith is standing firm while some are laughing. Walking by faith is believing the word of God not matter what you see, no matter you hear and not matter what the doctor says. Faith means taking the next step in front of you and leaving the rest in the capable hands of God. Walking by faith can be hard on those who think that they can move the hand of God. In reality nothing but faith will move the hand of God. It is in acting in faith that we will see the glory of God.

Praise the Lord!