In times of peace and plenty it is easy to maintain our faith, and to remember the gift of redemption that God has given us through Jesus Christ, but when we are faced with suffering and hardship this is when our faith is placed in the furnace and dipped in the water that strengthens it. We weep and begin to question God, mistaking what we have always held to be valuable and real in our lives to be more precious than Him who tempers us... above Him who redeems us.
When did you begin to pray? Can you remember, or was it so long ago that it has been lost in the mist of your memory? Did you begin praying at the moment you confessed God as your creator, Jesus as your savior, or even before you understood who they were and you cried out in the darkness of your night for help... not knowing exactly who would come, but knowing someone greater than yourself would respond? Prayer, it begins with a cry, and ends in a conversation of love and eternity.
What will this year bring you in regards to life, and your faith? Will you continue living here on earth as you know it now; filled with challenge, the saving grace of Jesus, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, or will you cross over Jordan to rest in God the Father? Will you suffer new hardships in this world, and obtain new heights of faith by the work of the Spirit in you, or will this year be free from turmoil, and your path made straight? Will you eat manna here in the desert, or the milk and honey of heaven beyond? Are you afraid of what lies ahead for you this year... well fear not!
Has God called you, and given you a job to do for Him? Is this job beyond your abilities, and have you been ignoring His voice because you feel inadequate? Perhaps you started to answer, but have let it go stagnate because you can’t see how to proceed... well in either case God is with you, but in order to overcome the difficulties and obstructions that you perceive are blocking you... you must lean on prayer, and listen to His voice. Then, as He brings success, you must give Him the glory.
Do you make intercession for your family? Do you pray for your wife, your children, your parents, and others in your house? Sometimes we think that we are only responsible for our own salvation, and only have the power to save ourselves, but in fact we have the ability, and even the obligation, to lift up our family before God.
We receive the blessing of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. It is in this way, through our faith in Jesus, that we also receive the Holy Spirit. So once again the power of faith, and specifically our faith in Christ, and His ability to save us from the law, quickens us. Are you prepared for the reformation of the law, by placing total faith in Jesus, and to receive both the blessing and the Spirit this allows us?
There are two parts to spiritual salvation, and there are two parts to the salvation of countries, churches, and peoples. The first part changes who we are, and the second part fills us with God’s essence. We find Jesus Christ who renews us, and then we receive the Holy Spirit which is the understanding of God. Do you have both? Is your country prepared to be fixed and restored to God?
Do you believe that you have discovered Jesus Christ based on some historical writings and empirical evidence? In fact your journey to Him has been carefully orchestrated by God the Father who has called you to Himself and His Son. You have been called, and drawn to Jesus by God, but once you find yourself at the door it is up to you to knock.
Do you really know how to wait upon the Lord? Sometimes we are so busy in our lives that we forget what it means to be absolutely still. We forget what it means to quiet our minds and just listen to the breath of the world around us, and for God who moves it with His hand.
Today is Christmas Day, and all of Christianity is celebrating the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but on this day, and at this time, we are waiting once again, not for His birth, but for His triumphant return. Yet, in His absence He has sent another... the Holy Spirit. He is our helper, and declares to us the truths that are of our Lord Jesus, and the Holy Father. Have you opened your eyes to Him?
You confessed your sins, accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, and were baptized. You felt the joy of that moment of great faith and salvation as it ripples through you and lifted you high, but what have you done in the months and years since? What place Has your faith taken in your life; has it fallen to second place, third place, or further than that? To Jesus you are still as important and loved as the moment you first believed... can you say the same about Him?
How do you believe? Do you believe because you have leaned on your own understanding, and reasoned Jesus Christ to be true, or do you believe because your heart has led you to him? Faith and belief that flow from our own reasoning places God in the realm of man, but faith and belief welling up into us out of the depths of our hearts is delivered from the realm of God through Jesus Christ. Who rules your faith?
Are you born again in the hope and resurrection of Jesus Christ? If so do you go through periods when you are vexed by suffering and calamity in your life? Does this cause you to confront your faith, and if so does it challenge it, or strengthen it? Many of us seem to believe that when Jesus steps into our lives we cease to feel the pain and suffering of living in the natural world, but is that really the promise?
Do you want to improve your prayer life, to pray in joy, to pray without ceasing, or to find the ear of God with your words... but try as you might you fall short of during your attempts? Do you find yourself going through the motions as you retreat to your prayer closet only to return empty and unsatisfied? Perhaps the problem isn’t in your praying at all... perhaps it is in your faith.
Do you feel inadequate in faith, spirituality, and in what you do for the Church? If so then let me ask you a very simple question... how is your prayer life? If our prayer time is weak and disjointed; sometimes good but often forgotten, then this may be the root of the problem. Prayer isn’t simply a time to give the Lord your wish list... it is the root of our relationship, and the source of our strength.