Pastor Stephen Dedman

Category: Faith

The Word Of God

Faith, Trust

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17

The gospel of Jesus Christ leads lost people to saving grace.  The power of God’s Word calls people to trust in the name of Jesus and causes people’s faith to be strengthened.

Sadly, there are a lot of people in the world today who are not searching for truth.  People believe much of what they hear to be true, even if it isn’t.  The media only tells people what they want them to hear and many times that means leaving out the truth.

One thing we can stand firm on is that the Word of God is true. All of Scripture is God’s truth to mankind. Truth produces faith and faith produces love and love produces patience.

Faith opens our hearts and minds to understand God’s truth.  Only those who hear the Word of God can repent of sin and trust Jesus for eternal life.  This is why God’s Word is so important.

As Christians, we need to be consumed in the Word of God so we can know and understand the perfect plan of God.  Scripture will reveal what we need to know.  However, if we never turn to the Word of God we will never understand what God desires for us to know.  

Maintaining a constant and consistent study and meditation of the Bible will allow us to hear from God and to align our lives with what He desires.

Pray

Lord, give me the desire to know the truth through reading Your word. Help me to align my heart with Your heart. Only Your word will I hide in my heart.

Give Quietly

Faith

‘But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ‘
Matthew 6:3

The people that Jesus was referring to were very generous people. Just as they publicized their righteousness they also publicized their giving. They wanted to be noticed for their good deeds.

Public recognition is still popular today. We see famous people get a lot of publicity when they give large donations to charity. Some even have buildings named after them.

Jesus tells us to be careful with public recognition. It’s nice to be praised when you do something for the common good but there is a greater reward for those who do it quietly and privately. Would you rather be rewarded by men or by God?

While it is biblical to do good deeds and to be generous, the lesson that Jesus is teaching us is about denying ourselves self-congratulation. It should become so natural for us to not even know that we have done something that deserves praise. It’s about giving for God’s glory.

What is your motive for doing good deeds? Is it to get a promotion or to get a favor in return? If so, you are giving with the wrong motive. The purpose of our generosity should not be to impress others but to impress God with our faithfulness.

Pray

Lord, all that I have is from You. Help me to be a good steward of what You have trusted me with. Increase my faith in You so that I will be a more giving person.

Don’t Give Up

Faith

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Ephesians 6:13

We’ve all encountered times when we were ready to quit. The thought crossed our mind that it wasn’t worth it any longer. We wanted to throw in the towel and give up.

Well… Paul encourages us to not give up or give in. The question that we must ask is, “have we done all that we can do?” You may quickly respond with a shouting “YES!” I’ve done all I can do and nothing has changed.

The Bible says, “…and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…” (Ephesians 6:13,14) Paul didn’t say turn and run. He didn’t say give up. He said when you’ve done all to stand – Stand! Just stand there!

Sometimes that’s just the thing to do. Just stand in place and wait for the Lord. Let the Lord come to your rescue.

God is waiting for you to say, “I can’t do it any longer” or “I don’t have the strength to carry on.” That is when submission happens and the Lord can step in and do His job and help us.

All He wants you to do is stand there and just keep your position. Don’t give up and don’t give in to the temptation to quit. Just stand there and be quiet.

Stop complaining and start praising. All we have to do is just believe.

Pray

Lord, I am Your servant and You are my Lord and Savior. I belong to You and You are my strength and comfort. In You I will trust. Give me what I need to keep going.