Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: jesus

God Keeps His Promises

Encouragement

‘For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.’
II Corinthians 1:20

The moment you were saved by Jesus Christ every promise of God ever made in the Bible became “yes” for you. Do you believe this in your heart? 

We should spend our time and effort seeking the promises of God and live them out.

Can you imagine what would happen if we believed every promise of God? There are hundreds of promises given to us in the Word of God. It’s one thing to hear it in our head, we need to let it sink eighteen inches lower to our heart.

Once a promise of God connects with our heart it changes the way we think, act, and feel. And once we discover one promise it creates a desire to find every promise God has given to us. If it’s only in our head, it will never change the way we live.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Do you personally believe that in your heart? Why do we not draw near to God and keep in that direction until we know God has drawn near to us? 

Here is a fact for you: you cannot be in the presence of God and remain the same. That would be impossible. Once you come into the presence of the Almighty, Holy, Righteous God, we can’t help but fall to our knees and tremble. The closer we come to God we see who we are.

Pray

Lord, I know what Your Word says. Help me to believe it in my heart and let it change my life. Make every word of Your promises make my life a reflection of You.

Jesus Knows How To Encourage You

Encouragement

But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
Luke 5:5

Have you ever failed at something that you were good at? Do you remember that feeling of failure and frustration? 

No one knows how to help you in times of discouragement like Jesus does. He will not just encourage you to do better next time, instead, He gives you a recipe for victory.

Peter was cleaning up after an all night fishing failure. It wasn’t like he had just caught a few fish; he had nothing, and he was a profession. There was nothing to show for his effort. He was ready to throw in the towel and give up. Needless to say, what he needed was a victory.

Jesus could have said to Peter, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll be in a different line of work soon.” Instead, Jesus instructed him to launch back out into the deep and let the nets down. That sounds crazy! A carpenter instructing a skilled professional fisherman where and how to catch fish! But even crazier was the fact that they caught so many fish that the nets were breaking and they had to call for help to carry in the weight of so many fish.

This is how Jesus works in our life. He will take us right back to where we were unsuccessful in order to build us back up. The problem may have been that you were relying on your own strength and understanding and He wanted you to rely and trust in Him. We must learn from our faults and failures so that next time we will experience victory in the supernatural, spiritual strength of God.

Pray

Lord, I know that I need Your help and Your strength. Comfort me with Your Holy Spirit and show me what to do next. Your ways and plans are much better than mine and I will follow Your lead.

Watch And Pray

Encouragement

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26:41‬

The only way you can live victoriously in this fallen world is to heed the instructions of Jesus and to watch and pray. Keep watching and keep praying, is the guiding principle for every child of God, every moment of the day and throughout our time on earth. 

As Jesus prayed before the night of His crucifixion, He urged His disciples to watch and pray as well. The disciples were all exhausted and could not stay awake to pray. After praying for some time, Jesus walked back towards them and found them sleeping when they should have been praying. 

We need to be praying in unity with the Holy Spirit. Our flesh is weak. We need the strength of the Holy Spirit of God to give us victory while we walk this earth. 

We must remember that God is in control. Jesus is on His throne and has everything under His authority. But what Jesus wants is His bride to be watching and praying. We are to pray in unity together and for one another. 

This is a time for Believers to come together and strengthen one another’s faith. We are to encourage one another through prayer and sharing the Word of God. Don’t let this day of chaos blindside you and find you sleeping. This is a great time for us to shine the light of Jesus Christ into a dark and sinful world. 

Pray

Lord, let us all be aware of what is happening in our world today. Hear our prayers and heal our land. Let me be a light of Jesus for someone to see.