Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: faith

Deep Faith

Encouragement

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
Acts 17:26-27

Just because you believe in Jesus as the Son of God doesn’t mean you have strong faith. Faith in Christ is the foundation of salvation but strengthening your faith and your walk with Christ is a process. Salvation is instantaneously given to those who believe.

Sometimes our faith isn’t always strong. Even though we believe in Jesus, there are times when we feel far from Him. Our Christian faith is more than just an intellectual belief. Strong faith results in a life of seeking to please God and valuing what He values.

It is easy to say that God is in control. It’s harder for us to believe in faith that He actually is. Sometimes fear supersedes our faith and doubt replaces the truth. We need to always remind ourselves that everything we experience is ordained by God. Everything that happens in our life is for God’s glory.

God is sovereignly positioning every little piece of your life; the good and the bad. God is in control of every detail of your life and so He knows what you are dealing with. God is always within reach and you can draw near to Him by saying, “Lord, I need You. Help me.”

Pray 

Lord, You are all that I need and all that I desire. I know that You have a count of every hair on my head and every thought in my heart. Give me the courage to know that You are sovereignly in control of all things.

The Greatest Demonstration

Encouragement

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

God wants to make Himself known to us. He shows and reveals Himself to us so that we shall know that we belong to Him alone. While He has never been seen by human eyes, His glory is revealed to us in various ways. He reveals Himself through the beauty of His creation. He will reveal Himself to us through people that He places in our lives. But most especially, God reveals Himself to us through His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is Emmanuel! He is the loving, good Savior who came to earth. Emmanuel means, God is with us. Jesus is God in word and flesh. 

From the Bible, we learn that we all sin (Romans 3:23). And the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23) and eternal separation from God’s goodness. Because we sin, we cannot go to be with God in heaven on our own when we die. God loves us so much, and he provided a way to rescue us from our sins about 2,000 years ago.

God makes His presence be known among us through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the invisible truth of God that encourages and convicts us of our sin. Most importantly the work of the Holy Spirit is in bringing people to salvation. When God shows His love for us, He reveals His nature and character to us so that we may know Him personally.

Pray

Lord, I want to see Your glory. Let the power of the Holy Spirit give me wisdom to see You as a personal God who loves me and cares for me. Thank You for sending Jesus into my life.

It’s Time To Walk

Encouragement

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
‭‭John‬ ‭5:8-9‬

As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, He was met by a paralyzed man who had been crippled for 38 years. This man went down to the pool of Bethesda everyday with the hopes that he would have an opportunity to be healed. 

Tradition holds that when the water in the pool started to bubble or stir, whoever was the first in the pool would be healed. The problem this man faced was he needed someone to assist him into the water. Little did he know the “Living Water” had come to him. 

The day Jesus came walking by changed this man’s life forever. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. The man replied with the excuse we all would use, “I can’t.” 

He said to Jesus, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” (John‬ ‭5:7‬) Immediately Jesus commanded him to stand up, pick up his mat, and walk. 

Can you imagine the thoughts that were going through this man’s mind? He had never walked a day in his life. And if he was able to get up and walk he wouldn’t need help getting into the pool. 

Jesus instructed this man to stand up and quit making excuses. He was ultimately saying, all you need is Me!

This man had to be willing to get up. He had to be willing to take the first step. He had to be willing to try. He had to quit giving reasons why he couldn’t do something and have faith in Jesus. 

Sometimes things happen to us that keep us paralyzed from receiving a blessing from God. But we can’t let those things stop us from being blessed by God.

Some of the best blessings we can receive are brought forth because of our faith in Jesus. Yes, we may fall but Jesus will catch us. Yes, we may stumble but Jesus is there to help us. 

We may even go a wrong direction but Jesus is there to redirect our steps. Are you coming up with excuses of why you can’t do something? Stop giving excuses and get up and walk. Are you willing to overcome the fear that crippling you and fall into the arms of Jesus?

Pray

Lord, I don’t know all the how’s, where’s, why’s, or when’s but I know you will be with me through it all. Give me the willpower to stand up and walk in faith.