Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: faith

No Doubt

Encouragement

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
II Timothy 1:7

Satan uses tools of fear and doubt to keep us from doing and witnessing extraordinary things.  Satan does not want us experiencing God’s power and love. Instead, he will try to paralyze our faith.

God gives us power, love and a sound mind to do things that glorify Him.  We are capable of doing powerful things through Jesus when we put our faith to the test. Without Him we are nothing.

In Matthew 17:14-21 a man came to Jesus and begged for his son to be healed from demonic convulsions associated with epilepsy. Previously the man brought his son before the disciples but they couldn’t heal him. Immediately Jesus cast the demon out and the boy was healed. 

The disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast it out and He replied, “Because of your unbelief.”  He said if they had mustard seed-sized faith they could move mountains and nothing would be impossible for them. The problem wasn’t with their faith.  They had faith.  The problem was with their unbelief or doubt.  He gave them a solution: “this kind (of unbelief) does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” 

The devil plants seeds of doubt into our minds subconsciously and sometimes we’re not even aware of it.  We must protect our minds and be sure that what we are hearing and seeing is full of truth and not the lies of the devil. Jesus said to fast and pray.  Fasting and praying starves the flesh of self desires and feeds our souls with the Spirit of God.

Is there any unbelief that is keeping you from living an extraordinary life? Is your unbelief keeping you from witnessing God’s great things? Remove your unbelief.

Prayer

Lord, I pray in the Name of Jesus to have all fear, unbelief and doubt removed from my mind and replaced with God’s power, love and truth. Give me the knowledge of what I can do through Jesus.

Effective Prayers

Encouragement

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:7‬

Some people say that praying is useless because God is going to do what He wants to do. What’s the point of praying?  Sadly, those people are missing out on a blessing. Prayer is the most powerful and wonderful tool that we have to use. Prayer is powerful and miraculous when we are connected to Jesus. 

Jesus says that when we abide or remain in Him and if His words remain in us we can ask anything and it will happen. That is the secret to prayer. If we want our prayers to be heard and answered by God we need to know him and know Him closely. 

The more we know God the more we know the things of God. We won’t be asking for a million dollars to be in our bank account tomorrow morning. We will be more mindful of what others need more than what we want. 

We will be more aware of what God is already doing in our life and we will be in His will. We can expect our prayers to be answered because they are according to the Spirit of God. What are you praying for today?  

There’s nothing wrong about praying selfishly for the things that glorify God and praise His name. Prayer is effective and powerful when we abide in Him and His words abide in us. 

Pray

Lord, I seek you will all of my heart. I want to know you and honor you. Please lay on my heart what I need to pray for. 

Peace And Holiness

Encouragement

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
Hebrews 12:14

Have you ever considered the importance of peace and holiness? The command in today’s verse is to pursue peace and holiness. This means that we are to walk right with both men and God.

A lack of holiness is a critical obstacle to a close relationship with the Lord. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Unholy Christians are the plague of the church. They are spots in our feasts of charity. Like hidden rocks, they are the terror of navigators. It is hard to steer clear of them; and there is no telling what wrecks they may cause.”

You may be active in church attendance, engaged in spiritual activities, and believe you are a spiritual person, but if you do not have holiness you are missing a vital part of being a follower of Christ. Holiness is godliness and Christlikeness. 

Jesus lived a holy and perfect life that was in complete obedience to God the Father. Everything He did pointed people to God. His peace and holiness showed the glory of God.

You cannot pursue peace and holiness outside a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Good works alone will not get you into Heaven. The closer you are to the Lord the more peace and holiness you will pursue.

Pray

Lord, will You give me the strength and courage to avoid evil and pursue peace and holiness? Forgive me and cleanse me of all sin. Fill me with Your love and joy.