I know it’s easy to say—Do not be anxious about anything…. You know the verse well. Some of you memorized it as a child. You know the verse is true. You have experienced God’s peace. But today is different.
Daily Devotion
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: Casting Your Cares on Him
The opportunities were few and far between. I had just graduated from seminary, and many applications had been sent out, but few churches responded, and those who did were not interested. I was trying to wait patiently…but I was discouraged. In the meantime, I was painting for a man named Pancho, who owned several apartment complexes in the Dallas area. He kept asking me if I had found a church opportunity. One day, he said, “I guess God needs painters more than preachers.” He said it in jest, but it hit hard.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: The Pits of Patience
Okay, I admit it…I hate to wait. I hate to wait in the car for family members (I dare not mention names) who will be out in “just a minute.” I hate to wait in the mall for family members (I dare not mention names) who say, “It will take just a second” to go into a certain store and check on a certain item. I hate waiting for everyone to show up so a meeting can start…and sometimes I hate waiting until the meeting is over. It’s not that I don’t like people or family members…on the contrary…it’s just that I hate to wait. And…I admit it…I hate waiting on God.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: Into Deep Waters
In our passage today, David, the man after God’s own heart, felt like he was caught in deep waters up to his neck. His feet were trying to locate a rock—a foothold—on the bottom of the stream, but he searched in vain and felt like he was sinking “in deep mire.”
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: Calming the Storm
Followers of Jesus are not immune to disappointment, discouragement, or fear. Unanswered questions rattle around in our minds. There are challenges, for sure, but we know that every believer is empowered by the Spirit.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: Eternal Things
One of life’s biggest dangers is the trap of the temporal. One writer notes that our “deepest devotions simply leak out of our bodies by how we spend our time and what makes us smile and what claims our energy.” Most of our time and energy is spent on the things we will retire from and leave behind. When we are caught in the trap of the temporal, we burn out or wash out. But…there is a remedy.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: By Faith
So, check this out. You are your father’s favorite son and your brothers’ worst nightmare. It doesn’t help that you bring bad reports about them to your father and brag about dreams in which they bow down to you. They plan to kill you, mercifully throw you into a cistern instead, and then not so mercifully sell you to a traveling band of Ishmaelites.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: Predestined
One of the most controversial words in Scripture is found in our passage today. It’s the word—predestined. Some run with this truth to places they should never go. For instance, there are those who discard the need for evangelism. “Why share the gospel if God has predestined people?” they reason.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: According to His Purpose
There are many circumstances and challenges in our lives that we don’t understand. From our perspective and from our pain, they simply do not make sense. Death comes suddenly and unexpectedly. Illness invades a healthy body, and we watch it waste away. An accident results in chronic pain.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: Obedience
Job survived. He endured heartache, heartbreak, physical pain, and mostly bad counsel from his so-called friends. In today’s passage, Job even prays for them! And God blessed Job by giving him twice as much as he had before. God blessed the latter part of his life more than the first.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: Trust
After tragedy struck Job’s life, he moved into the natural and normal period of questioning. Then, as we saw last time, God rescued Job from his downward spiral and refocused his vision. Job was looking at his situation; God said, “Time to look at me.” With his eyes on the person and character of God, Job responds.
Standing Firm in Unshakable Faith: An Arm Like God
Normally, we are the ones asking, “Why?” But in today’s passage, God turns the tables. Speaking “out of the whirlwind,” God peppers Job with questions. Anytime God begins the conversation with “Dress for action like a man,” you better know that God has something to say, and he wants you to hear it!