Faith On The Offensive

The just shall live by faith

Romans 1:17

God wants you to move from a survival mentality to a position of ruling and reigning; from just getting by, to really believing Him '...to do exceedingly abundantly above all that [you] ask or think...' (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV). You're not told to cope with the devil, you're told to resist him and he will flee from you (James 4:7). The Greek word for flee means 'to run in terror'. Picture yourself waking up in the morning and the devil saying, 'Help, they're up again!' Paul writes, '[Don't] give place to the devil' (Ephesians 4:27 NKJV). Satan has no place in your life unless you give it to him!

His goal is to separate you from your faith, because faith is what pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith makes you an overcomer (1 John 5:4). Faith brings answers to your prayers. '...when you pray... believe that you receive... and you will have them' (Mark 11:24 NKJV). If you really believe that, you'll act on it. The Bible says, 'Fight the good fight of faith...' (1 Timothy 6:12), so there must be enemies of our faith. And one of faith's biggest enemies is your ignorance of God's Word. 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee...' (Hosea 4:6). Medical science teaches that you can be exposed to a disease and not get it because you've been inoculated against it. Likewise, religiosity can inoculate you against real faith. Negative people can do that too. You say, 'How can I strengthen my faith?' The Bible says, 'Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God' (Romans 10:17 NKJV). So live in God's Word.

Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Skywatch #131

Autumn Sun, originally uploaded by duopastorale.

London has recently had a heatwave... in October. But today we are back to Autumnal weather. Good :)

The Race

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,
    my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
    excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
    or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
    and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.  read more

Helping Hurting People

A word of encouragement does wonders

Proverbs 12:25

Ask yourself, "Do I hurt people, and am I easily hurt by them?"

(1) Hurting people hurt other people. the German poet Hermann Hesse wrote: "If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us." Hurting people lash out in response to what's happening inside them. they feel or believe something negative within themselves. Try to remember that.

(2) Hurting people are more often hurt by people. Let's say you've got a splinter in your finger and it becomes infected. Then someone brushes against it. you howl with pain, "You hurt me!" No, the real problem is the splinter you neglected to address. Hurting people overreact, overexaggerate, and over protect. They also overinfluence. Ask any counsellor who's dealt with a hurting couple. Emotionally one spouse "throws up," then the other "cleans up." Usually the individual with the most pain does the most damage.

(3) Quick fixes don't work. the kindest thing you can do for hurting people is ask them, "Are you prepared to work through the issues and get beyond your pain?" When a New England pipe cleaning company was working under streets to clean out a sewer line, they found: 61 diamond rings, vintage coins and silverware. It was an unpleasant job - but they were allowed to keep the valuables they found in the process. Now you may have to do some digging and deal with some pretty nasty stuff, but in the process you may discover some treasures you didn't know existed, and at the end of all your hard work, learn to develop healthy relationships.

Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Our God Is Greater - Chris Tomlin