Hope

"Let us hold fast to our hope without wavering, because He who promised is faithful." - Hebrews 10:23

When we are being defeated in a tough situation, the last thing to go is hope, and hope is the most important thing we need to survive. Our hope is what keeps us alive no matter the winds that are blowing against us. That's why when we're going through suffering, our hope and faith in God is the first thing the devil subtly attacks. First come the questions such us, why is this happening to me? Then it's anger against God and believing He does not care. Slowly we build up a bitterness against Him where we can't even pray. I know; I've felt like this before. But please, through the storm, remember this verse - hold on to your hope in God. He is faithful although it might seem to you that things aren't going to get any better. Scripture says in the book of Habbakkuk to set your eyes firmly on what you want (keeping hope alive) because the Lord will make it happen for you. Take your eyes off of how bad things are and how much you're hurting and focus on how big your God is. Your God is a king! Your God is Almighty! Your God is working on your behalf to help you now! Keep your hope alive! Set your hope on Him because He is faithful.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, break through the hurt and disappointment I feel. Sometimes the enemy gets in my head and leads me to think You don't care and have abandoned me. Fan the flame in my heart and keep my hope alive so that I can see Your love and mercy in my life. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Waiting...

"One day some Aramean soldiers raided the land of Israel and took a young girl captive who became a servant to the wife of Naaman." - 2nd Kings 5:2

As the days in your life pass you by, do you ever feel like nothing changes and instead you're always waiting for something? To meet the right person, a new job, or maybe for a certain problem to go away? I remember telling my friend that life sometimes feels like I'm swimming along the shore of a quiet beach with still waters, waiting and waiting for the right waves to come, but other times, I'm caught in a bad storm and the waters, like for Peter, can't calm down soon enough. But during all these times, when nothing seems to be happening, we're still praying and we're still asking God for certain things to come our way, yet there seems to be silence. It feels like for all of the years we've lived, there are few days that stand out as memorable like our graduation, meeting our first love, getting our first job.

Yet, I have to remind myself how limited my vision is. I only see what I can perceive and am completely in the dark as to what God is doing. Naaman, the man mentioned in the verse above, was the commander of the Aramean army. He was an extremely powerful and prideful man but had been sick with leprosy for a while. By the power of God, Naaman was healed with the help of the prophet Elisha in the Jordan River. It was a day that changed and restored his life, but that single day doesn't sum up all the work God put into it. While Naaman was sick with leprosy in Aram, a young girl was born in Israel and grew up believing in God and seeing the work of His hand through Elisha. When the Aramean army raided Israel, they took this young girl captive and she landed precisely in Naaman's house to work for his wife. It was then that this girl saw her master's illness and spoke about the power of God to this family. This motivated Naaman to visit Elisha and become healed.

God knows what you are waiting for! Even though it feels like nothing changes, God may even be planning on uprooting people, like with the Israeli girl, just to come into your life and bless you! Give it time, the master of the universe is at work and His works are seamless and perfect. Until then, try to wait with hope and peace, awaiting that one day God is ready to show you what He had been working on all along.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, I want to thank You for all of those things You're doing behind the scenes. I pray that You grant us patience and perserverance to wait it out and to never ever assume You're not paying attention. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Waiting For God's Answer

""Yahweh, how long will I cry for help while you pay no attention to me?' Then Yahweh answered me and said, 'Write down the vision, inscribe it on tables so it can be easily read, since this is a vision for an appointed time; it will not fail but will be fulfilled in due time. If it delays, wait for it, for it will come and will not be deferred. The proud will never possess my favor, the upright, on the other hand, will live by His faithfulness.'" - Habakkuk 1:2, 2:2-4

Habakkuk was a prophet that called God into account. He would cry out and ask God why certain situations were happening and why He would not show His help in anything. Sound familiar? Each of us has something that's hanging on our shoulders while we cry out to God for help. But when? When will He finally answer us and show us that He's listening and He actually cares?The Lord gives us hope in His answer to Habakkuk. God tells him to write the vision on a tablet for all to see and easily recognize. Therefore, all people will have that plea to the Lord before their eyes as a solid reminder of their hope in God. What is it that you're waiting for? Show your hope in God by keeping it before your eyes always, so that when it's answered, you will see it and know that God came through. But here's the key to this, God comes through at the appointed time. We only know about what we want and when we want it. The Lord, who governs the universe, knows the precise moment to move in order to give you the answer to your prayers with the most blessings possible. Just when you think you can't hold out longer, you realize He's making you stronger and you grow in faith and perserverance. God's timing is perfect; it never delays but arrives exactly when He knows we need it the most…not when we, in our limited vision, think we need it. This is why the Lord says that the upright, those who wait in the Lord, will be blessed because they trusted and made it through out of love for the Lord. Yet the proud, meaning those who are impatient and set out to try to do things on their own, on their own terms, will fail. They seek alternate means, even seeing psychics, horoscopes, proving their lack of confidence in God. That's why their prayers aren't answered sooner and why they receive no comfort during the wait. With what enthusiasm will the Lord want to help those who "cheat" on Him while He was planning great things for them? We need to remain in the Lord, keep our needs before our eyes, and trust in Him because He has never let anyone who truly seeks Him down, and never will.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, through this wait, I trust and hope in You for Your ways are higher than my ways and Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts. Guide me and help me be patient, always increasing in trust in You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

A Time for Everything

"There is a given time for everything and a time for everything happening under Heaven. A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing. He made everything fitting in its time." - Ecclesiastes 3:1,4,11

Do you notice that we spend our entire lives waiting for something? When we're young, we can't wait to grow up, when we're single, we want to get married, when we're working, we want the promotion and to get rich. Even when we're at work, we can't wait to leave, and pregnant women can't wait to give birth. I think it was John Lennon that said that life is what happens when we're busy making plans. Most of the time we're always waiting for something better than what we have now but instead, we should try to take a deep breathe and enjoy where we are right now. As the verse says, God has set everything in its own time. If we're crying now, we will be laughing in a little bit and if we're happy now, trails will be around the corner. This is the nature of our lives and before we know it, it will almost be over and we need took the time to enjoy it because we were always waiting for something else. Thank God for the day you had today, for the friends and family you laughed with, for keeping you safe for another day. And if today has been trying for you, thank God because He has set better days ahead of you.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, thank You for what You have given me today. Thank You for the joy You have brought me and give me strength for the trails that lie ahead. Help me to trust in You through the good and the bad. In Your Name we pray, amen.

An Exercise of Your Faith - Jesus Walks On Water

"And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray." - Matthew 14:23

This message will be different than the rest and not intended to be read quickly, but to be read when you have time to think about it. We all want to be closer to God and have deeper faith and the only way to achieve this is through meditation. Meditation is not easy because our minds get noisy and it's easy to lose focus of what you're trying to reach. I picked a passage that will serve as a great backdrop for a meditation session. God gave us our imaginations and as we begin to create the following images in our minds, He will be there to guide us through and give us the blessings we need to see Him more clearly.

The passage I have chosen is of Jesus walking on water. He had been away at the mountain praying all night and then made His way over to the apostles who were on a boat. Just as Jesus was at the beginning of this passage, alone praying by Himself, so should you be when you do this exercise.

Matthew 14:23-31

"At nightfall, He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves for the wind was against it.

At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the lake. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them, 'Courage! Don't be afraid! It's me!' Peter answered, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you walking on the water.' Jesus said to him, 'Come.' And Peter got out of the boat, walking on the water to go to Jesus. But, in face of the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying 'Man of little faith, why did you doubt?'"


Now, instead of Peter, it is you sitting on a chilly night on a boat while you wait for Jesus to come to you. The winds have picked up and are pushing against you for what seems like hours, just like the trouble and sorrows in your life that seem endless. Finally, when you thought you couldn't hold on any longer, you see Jesus, radiant in white, coming to you, walking on the water but with His eyes fixed on going to help you in your time of need. Holding on to your faith, but yet still afraid, you call out to the Lord and ask Him to help you get to where He is, and instead of doubting, you want Him to fill you with strength and faith so that you too can walk with Him. Jesus smiles at you, motions with His hands and says, "come." But it's not easy, you try but your problems bring you down. You fall back into the same addictions. Your financial situation brings you down and you can't think about anything else but your own worries and your own fears…and then you take your eyes off of Jesus and start to sink. But when you realize you need His help and despite the storm, you cry out to the Lord to be saved. Lovingly, Jesus is right there to pull you up by your hands and save you. Now He's holding you in His arms and you feel His embrace, His love for you, His care, His mercy, and He looks at you in the eyes and asks you, "why did you doubt?"

You will have your own answer to give to Jesus at this point, but the idea is to close your eyes and envision this, envision Him saving you in this storm and continue the dialogue with Him.

Today's prayer is that you take 20 minutes to practice this exercise in meditation and meet with the Lord who is waiting to save you on the boat and carry you through the storm to where He is.

Waiting for God

"There will be no further delay concerning my words: what I say will be done." - Ezekiel 12:28

God's timing on things is something we only understand after He's answered our prayers. Sometimes I pray for something and He answers me that very day, and other times, it takes months before I see anything happen. It's really easy to give up hope and just think that something isn't going to happen for you and your prayers won't be answered, but if you're asking something of God, you also have to be prepared to a) wait for the answer and b) trust that He is working to get you the best answer He can give you. We live in a culture of instant gratification and we want things on the spot, but God chooses not to work that way, although He can, because when He wants to give us something, He never rushes, instead He takes the time and care that only He can take so that when you see the answer to your prayers, it's something perfect, better than what you asked for originally. All the times you're waiting for something to happen, God is doing two things (if not more) - He's working behind the scenes with all the things you don't even think about to organize all the pieces so that your prayers are answered perfectly, and, He's growing in you, building up your trust and your patience so that you can see His beautiful plans for you take life.

God knows what He's doing so much better than we do, so if we have the confidence to ask Him for something, we should also have the confidence in Him to wait for His answers without doubting. We should always be hopeful if our trust is in the Lord.

Today's Prayer:
God, thank You because Your ways are so much higher than my ways and when I ask You for something, You work to give me what's best for me. Please give me the patience to wait for Your will to be done. In Your Name we pray, Amen.