Pastor Stephen Dedman

Category: Encouragement

Hope And Healing

Encouragement

Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”
Isaiah 35:4

Isaiah prophesied about a time of judgment that would bring them to their knees but then God would strengthen them, raise them up, and save them. The people of Judah had committed adultery against God but God wanted to reveal His love to them.

Always remember God only chastises those whom He loves. He straightens our crooked paths and puts us back on track. He does this because He wants what is best for us.

Hebrews 12:12-13 says, “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.” The writer of Hebrews quoted Isaiah 35 while driving home the point that after God’s chastisement there is hope and healing.

Just like ancient Judah, we need hope and healing in our country today. We need every believer strong and courageous. We strengthen ourselves when we walk with the Lord.

Even in our present trials, we have the hope of Jesus Christ to help us overcome our fearful hearts. The hope that we have is in the confidence that God will save us and redeem us.

Are you progressing in your walk with the Lord today? Are you strengthening yourself in the Father’s love? God is actively seeking you to do His great work.

Pray

Lord, I need your strength today to do fulfill Your great will. Help me to overcome my fears and failures with Your hope and healing. Help me to encourage others to progress in their Christian walk as well.

God Gives Us What We Need

Encouragement, Salvation, Trust

He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:32‬

Paul asked a question: “If God gave us His Son, then will He not give us everything else He promised us?”  How do we know if God’s goodness and love are going to be given to us?  

To answer that question we must understand that If God has given us His Son, then He will give us everything else we need.

In Genesis 22, in the Old Testament story of Abraham offering his son Isaac, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his own son. The Bible says Abraham did not spare his only son. Of course, God intervened at the last second and provided a ram for the sacrifice.  

That was a picture of what Jesus Christ would do one day on that same mountain range of Moriah when God would send His only Son, the Lamb of God, to take away the sins of the world.  Paul was essentially saying, “If God was willing to do that for us, then why wouldn’t He do anything and everything else for us?”

God did not send His own Son into the world because we were good people.  Jesus came to die for us because of our sinfulness.   That’s what makes God’s gift of salvation that much more unbelievable.  

The Bible says that while we were sinners, God sent His Son to die for us.  If while we were sinners, God sent His best and most costly gift, and now that we are His children, don’t you think He will give us everything else?  If God gave you His greatest gift while you were His enemy, what is He going to withhold from you now?  Nothing!

Prayer

Lord, thank You for giving me the best gift I could ever receive. Your love and grace gives me peace and comfort.

Let It Sink In

Encouragement

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4-5

Jesus was born as a man but if He had been born of Adam, He would have inherited the sin nature of Adam. Hence the reason for the virgin birth. Mary gave birth to a son but He was also the Son of God. Let that sink in for a minute.

Jesus was fully man and fully God at the same time. He was in the form of a man but not of man. God had a plan from the very beginning to save mankind from sin.

Here is an interesting viewpoint. Jesus defeated sin and death as a perfect man not as God. Jesus went to the cross fully man and defeated Satan’s power and authority. He could have done it easily as God but He chose to do it as a man.

God could have spoken a single word and Satan would have fallen in the blink of an eye. But instead, God chose to become man to defeat Satan’s dominion.

Animal sacrifices of the old covenant system were unable to provide complete remission of sins. But the blood of Jesus Christ was the complete atonement of sin.

Here is the point to today’s devotional. Jesus, being fully man and fully God, defeated Satan on your behalf. As a believer in Jesus, you no longer belong to Satan. You belong to God!

You have victory over sin, over temptations, over anything that grips you. You do not have to battle Satan and his demons. They were defeated by your Lord and Savior. Let that sink in!

If Jesus is in you and you are in Jesus, you are one. Let Jesus give you His peace and love so that you can live the “abundant life” today.

Pray

Lord, I know You defeated sin and Satan upon that cross. Give me the mindset of victory today so that I will complete this day with joy. Fill my heart with Your love and compassion.