Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: stephen dedman

In It To Win It

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

This one verse is given as a message of hope. God’s design for human life is for us to succeed and not fail. However, fear will keep a person from accomplishing the best things God has to offer.

Satan uses 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 will allow us to succeed.  We are capable of doing powerful things through Jesus when we put our faith to the test. Without Him we are nothing.

If we fall into Satan’s trap of fear we will give up and give in and Satan wins. God has given us everything we need to win. We have victory through our faith in Christ.

Is there any fear that is keeping you from living an extraordinary life? Is your unbelief keeping you from witnessing God’s great things? Remove that spirit of fear in Jesus’ name.

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.

Do You Have Hope?

Encouragement

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
‭‭Romans‬ ‭15:4‬

There is so much power in the Word of God. Not only is the Bible for our learning, but it gives us the hope and assurance to face each day with confidence till the Lord returns. 

When we are comforted with Scripture we have assurance that everything will work out as God designs. The reason why a person wouldn’t have hope is because they are lacking in the area of hearing and reading the Word of God.

There is a story in Luke 24 about two disciples walking down the road to Emmaus. In their minds, Jesus had failed in His mission and everything was doom and gloom. He had been crucified, and He was gone. They had set their hopes on Him thinking He would redeem Israel. They were very disappointed that it ended so tragically.

As they were walking along the road, a stranger joined them. They didn’t know who it was, but it was Jesus.

Jesus asked them why they were so sad. So they began sharing Jesus with Jesus. And they weren’t doing a very good job of it. 

They said, “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to redeem Israel”. Then Jesus gave them a summary of all the Old Testament passages that pointed to Him. As He spoke their hope was restored. And when they sat down to eat with Jesus, they realized it was Him. Then He suddenly disappeared.

So how did Jesus restore their hope? He comforted them through the Scriptures. Of all people, we who are followers of Jesus should be filled with hope and joy. Are you filling yourself with hope straight from the Scriptures? Are you rejoicing that one day you will be in the presence of Jesus?

Pray

Lord, give me hope through your word today. Give me a word that will set my heart on fire for you. Let me meditate on it and let it live in my heart. 

Our Living Hope

Encouragement

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
‭‭I Peter‬ ‭1:3‬

Are you living in the hope of Jesus Christ? We have hope through Jesus’ death and resurrection because he defeated sin on the cross.

The hope that we have is based upon Jesus coming back for what we call the Second Coming of Christ. When Jesus comes all things will be made new. This earth will be dissolved and a new earth will be created for our good. Until Jesus comes back we patiently wait for the glorious day to appear. 

Some days we let the worries of the world get the best of us. We sit and sour over things that sometimes are meaningless. If we dwell in the living hope of Jesus our mindset will give us a positive outlook on life. Our hope in Jesus will give us courage to face opposition of the enemy.

Until the day Jesus comes back we honor and praise His wondrous name. We live our life in a way that brings glory to God. We set ourselves apart from evil and resist the devil. We live every day like it is our last day here. We desire to hear Jesus say, “good and faithful servant.” 

You may be faced with a dilemma today but rest in the blessed hope of Jesus. He will see you through to the end. It may not be the outcome you were expecting but God has a purpose and a plan just for you. Will you trust in His blessed hope today?

Pray

Lord, thank you for giving me hope and assurance. I praise you and honor you for who you are. As I go through this day, help me to see what you have in store for me.