Pastor Stephen Dedman

God Keeps His Word

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself,
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6:13‬

The writer of the Book of Hebrews wanted us to know that we can fully trust God in every aspect of life.  We can trust Him for salvation, forgiveness, and grace.  Most of all we can trust what He says He will do.  He keeps His word.

When God made a promise to Abraham He followed through with His word.  The writer wants to remind us that just as God kept His promise with Abraham, He will keep His promises with us.  And most of all, we can trust Him because of that great truth.  

God swore by Himself because there was no one greater for Him to swear by.  We swear by and take oaths upon the Bible and to God because He is greater than all.  The downfall is that we sometimes don’t keep our word.

The next time you start to lack trust in God remember that He has kept every promise He has made.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.  He will never turn His back on His children.  

He will never keep anything great from you because He loves you so much.  You may think God is not following through but in reality He is up to something great.  Trust in Him because of who He is.  He is the great “I AM”.

Pray

Lord, You have been faithful for all of eternity.  You will not fail me now nor anytime in the future and for that I will trust in You. Help me to keep my word and be an example to others.

He Will Assist You

‘Cast your burden on the Lord , And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.’
Psalms 55:22

Have you ever given something to someone but when you reached out to hand it to them you couldn’t release it? That sounds pretty silly doesn’t it?

To not let go means it’s valuable and you don’t want to get rid of it. So what’s keeping you from giving your burdens to the Lord?

When you give a burden to the Lord, you hand it over for God to deal with it. Look at what the psalmist says after casting your burden on the Lord… “and He shall sustain you.” The true meaning of the word sustain means to assist.

When we cast our burden on the Lord we allow Him to carry the load. We allow God to take the heavy load off our shoulders so that we can walk freely in His grace. It takes the pressure off of us.

It doesn’t mean that your troubles disappear. It doesn’t mean that you won’t have to make tough decisions or deal with difficult situations. But it does mean that God will give you the strength to get through. He will assist you.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” The only way that we can rest is to fully trust in the Lord. Jesus wants us to have peace and not be anxious.

The best thing we can do with our burden is to release it. It’s very similar to throwing a fishing lure into the water. Once it’s released there’s nothing we can do but wait. And with our burdens, we wait on the Lord to do His great work.

Pray

Lord, I know You care but You are waiting on me to ask for help. So Lord, help me! I can’t do it alone. I praise You for what You are doing in my life.

Turn It Over To The Lord

‘And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”’
Mark 4:37-38

It feels great when you are in control of your circumstances. But what about when God allows things to happen around us that are completely out of our control?

Sometimes (many times) we tend to forget how big God really is. We also tend to forget how much He loves and cares for us.

The disciples found themselves in a helpless situation in the middle of the lake. Little did they know they were about to learn a very important lesson.

They were very familiar with the Sea of Galilee as they sailed many times before. But on this day the unthinkable happened! The disciples were experiencing hurricane force winds that were threatening their lives.

Where was Jesus in all the chaos? Mark tells us that Jesus was in the stern, fast asleep! Have you ever felt like God didn’t care about what was happening in your life?

They woke Jesus up and said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Worry and fear will control you when you forget how much God cares and loves you. As soon as Jesus calmed the winds and waves, the disciples knew that God was right there in their midst.

When we find ourselves in the middle of difficult situations we need to immediately admit our helplessness to God and trust in His care and love and know that He is right here with us.

What is out of your control that you need to give over to the Lord? Trust God to take care of it.

Pray

Lord, I admit my weakness and helplessness to You right now. I need to experience Your love and care. Remove my fear and worry and give me peace. Let me know that You are with me.