Tag Archives: faith

November 17, 2025 · 5:48 AM

Promise Keeper

Have you ever said, “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye”? Or ever made a pinky promise before? When we were kids, that’s how we made sure the other person knew we weren’t going to break our promise. As adults, we live in a world of broken promises. I can’t remember the last time I heard someone say, “My word is my bond.” It seems like people cared about their reputation and keeping their word a lot more in the past than they do today. When you find someone who makes a promise and keeps it, you think it’s a rare find. You can trust a person that keeps their promise to do what they say. You don’t have to worry about it, remind them constantly or question them when it doesn’t happen on your time table. A person like that is someone we should strive to be like.

In Genesis 22, God approaches Abraham years after He fulfilled the promise of giving him a son. God told him to take his son of promise to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him there. Abraham didn’t question it. He got up the next morning and headed for the mountain. When Isaac asked where the sacrifice was, Abraham replied, “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son” (NLT). Abraham had learned to trust God despite his circumstance. He made it to the top of the mountain, built the altar, tied up his son and had his knife raised when God intervened. He didn’t know how God would save his son or raise him from the dead, but he trusted God would keep his promise to give him as many descendants as the stars. God kept his promise and provided a ram.

Psalm 145:13 says, “The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.” You can always count on God to keep His promises. You may feel like Isaac where you are bound up and wondering when God is going to show up. You may feel like Abraham where you’ve trusted God, but time seems to have run out. Keep walking in obedience though. God’s timing is not like ours. He will keep His Word and His promise. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Trusting God isn’t always easy. It requires faith. We must learn to see with our spiritual eyes rather than our physical ones. God is gracious and merciful in all He does. He will always keep His promise.

Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 23, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Insurmountable Odds

2 Kings 18 tells the story of King Hezekiah. He was a good king who was compared to David in his zeal for the Lord. Verse 5 says he trusted in the Lord like no other king in Judah. In his fourteenth year as king, the Assyrian army came to attack. They were the world’s most dominant army at the time. No one could stand against them. They were undefeated, and Jerusalem had a small army at the time. The king of Assyria took control of the city’s aqueduct and then sent people to try to get Israel to surrender. They started off in verse 19, “This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?” (NLT) Hezekiah had confidence in God while he was facing insurmountable odds in the face of defeat.

In chapter 19, King Hezekiah did what we need to do when we’re facing insurmountable odds. He went to the Lord in desperate prayer. He then sought a word from the Lord from Isaiah. God said he would send him back to Assyria where he would be killed. However, the stand off continued. The king of Assyria taunted more. He said, “You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different?” He reminded them of all the other people they destroyed, but Hezekiah still went to God for help even when it looked like God wasn’t answering like he said. Then God moved against Assyria killing 185,000 of them in one night. The king broke camp, went home and was killed.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see” (GNT). You can have confidence in God even though you’re facing an insurmountable odd today. Whenever you’re feeling like the situation is taunting you and it looks like you can’t win, turn to God. When you look at what it has done to others and the thought comes that says, “Why should you get a different outcome,” turn to God in faith. There is nothing God cannot do. There are no insurmountable odds that He can’t overcome. Faith is to be sure of what He can do in the face of what you can’t overcome. Don’t listen to the voices of doubt or the words that tell you there’s no hope. Trust in God no matter what insurmountable odds you face.

Photo by Ashley Knedler on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word. G

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 1, 2025 · 5:33 AM

Inconvenient Opportunities

Years ago I saw a video of Arnold Schwarzenegger telling how he became Mr. Olympia seven times and Mr. Universe five times. He said he would get up early and workout before he went to his job. Then after working all day, when everyone else went out for dinner and drinks, we would go back to working out. He said that he would work out even when he wasn’t feeling it because he had a desire to win those titles. He pushed himself in the hard times and on the days when he felt unmotivated because he knew if he didn’t do the work then, he wouldn’t achieve the results he was working for.

In Genesis 6, God told Noah to build an ark. Eva use there was going to be a flood. After getting the instructions from God, he went to work. When people didn’t understand, he kept building. Before there was a drop of rain, he kept building. He obeyed even when it wasn’t convenient, when things were t going well and when people mocked him. He trusted what God said more than he trusted his current situation. When the rains and flood came, he had the only thing floating. His obedience in the hard times paid off when the rains came.

Proverbs 20:4 says, “The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing” (NKJV). The lazy person gives up in the times of inconvenience. What he doesn’t understand is that faithfulness in the season of plowing determines your fruitfulness in the season of harvest. There’s always an excuse to not do what God is asking, especially when it’s inconvenient and you don’t see any movement from God. Keep plowing though. Your harvest depends on your obedience in the hard times. God’s greatest opportunities often come wrapped in inconveniences. Will you be faithful when you’re not feeling it so you can receive a harvest later?

Photo by Kenji Elzerman on Unsplash

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 19, 2025 · 5:30 AM

The Process Of Growth

The Chinese Bamboo tree is one of the most incredible trees on the planet. When a farmer plants the seeds in the ground, waters and fertilizes them every day, nothing happens. He can keep tending to the soil for a year and nothing will happen. If he keeps going, years two, three and four will pass to with nothing shooting up from the ground. Then in the fifth year, suddenly the stalks rise up to 90’ in the air in just six weeks time. For five years, the farmer must trust that roots are forming underground while he does the preparation above ground. His faithfulness is rewarded in “sudden growth” that actually has been going on for five years where he couldn’t see.

This the same growth process God uses in our lives. We see it many times in Scripture. Take David for example. He was a young shepherd boy around 16 years old when he was anointed King. It wasn’t until he was 30 that he actually became king. During those 14 years or so he faced giants, served in Saul’s court, fled for his life, lived in caves and in foreign lands as well as became the leader of a group of outcasts. David wasn’t ready for the coronation at 16 so God sent him through a growth process that was masked in intense trials. One day his men were about to turn on him, and the next he became king suddenly. What seemed like a dark period of his life was actually roots of faith growing in the unseen to prepare him for what was next.

Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in” (AMP). If you’ve been in an intense season of trials or you have been praying over a situation for what seems like an eternity, don’t give up. God is working in the unseen. At the right time, those seeds will sprout and come shooting out of the ground. If you’re waiting on God to fulfill his promise, don’t stop being faithful in your preparation. It can often feel like nothing is happening or that God is slow concerning His promises, but nothing could be further from the truth. God’s promises are on the other side of His processes.

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 2, 2025 · 5:08 AM

Productive In Every Season

In every season, farmers are doing something to get the most production out of their plants and trees. In one season they prune in order to create new growth opportunities. In another season they work the soil giving it what it needs so that the plant can grow and produce healthy fruit. In one season they wait and let God do the unseen work. Finally there’s harvest season where they reap the rewards of all they’ve been doing. Harvest time is the result of their productivity in the other seasons.

In the late chapters of Genesis, we read the story of Joseph. He went through several seasons himself. He was planted in his father’s house and tended to by him. There was a season of pruning by his brothers and the Egyptians where he lost things and people in his life. There was a season of waiting where he felt forgotten in prison. There was also a harvest time where Pharaoh called for him and he interpreted dreams no one else could. He was given the position of being second in command of Egypt. It didn’t happen overnight. Instead it was the culmination of trusting God in the other seasons. The productivity in the other seasons produced a great harvest.

1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures” (TPT). I don’t if you’re in the waiting season, the pruning season, the soil working season or harvest season. Whatever one you’re in, keep serving and trusting in the Lord. The harvest will come at the appointed time. Don’t grow weary in your work. You will reap the harvest at just the right time that God has appointed (Galatians 6:9). Keep tilling. Keep planting. Keep fertilizing and watering. Keep being still before the Lord. Be faithful in this season and God will do His part to bring about the harvest.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 3, 2025 · 6:00 AM

God Of Breakthroughs

In 2023 there was a young lady in Ohio who got accepted into the school of her choice. The problem was that she couldn’t afford to go there. She tried, but was unable to secure any scholarships to help pay for it. She prayed all summer about it. As the deadline was approaching, she was preparing herself to reject the offer. That’s when she got a letter stating that she got a full ride scholarship from a Christian organization she had never heard of. A month or two before she had mentioned it at youth camp. Someone heard and submitted her for the scholarship. God made a way just as she was about to give up.

In 2 Samuel 5, David had just become king when the Philistines came to challenge him. They spread out around the city he was in and surrounded it. David went into the stronghold and began to pray. He asked God if he went out to fight, would He give him victory. God told him yes, so he and his men went to fight the army that was surrounding them. They won a swift victory. Verse 20 says, “So David came to Baal-perazim, and he defeated them there, and said, ‘The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.’ So he named that place Baal-perazim (master of breakthroughs)” (AMP). Just like water breaking through a dam, God showed up and gave them victory at the right moment.

Isaiah 43:19 says, “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” I’ve learned that God answers on His time and not mine. I’ve also learned that His breakthroughs come swiftly and decisively. You may be standing in a desert right now wondering where God is as the time runs out on your situation, but keep standing and believing. He will burst through and give you rivers in that desert. He is the God of breakthroughs and breakthroughs start with surrender to His will, His timing and His way.

Photo by Gary Yost on Unsplash

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 9, 2025 · 5:43 AM

Obedience Brings Victory

Have you ever felt God leading you to do something that didn’t make sense? I’ve felt that way several times. Once I was facing a serious challenge to my character. My initial strategy was to go on the defensive and then attack. As I mapped out my plans, God had a different strategy in mind. It was to be still and quiet. It was the opposite of what I felt should happen. What I wanted to do made sense, and what God was asking didn’t. I had a choice to make. I could choose to do what made sense or I could obey. I decided to obey. What God asked me to do worked out better than anything I could have done.

In Joshua 6, the Israelites faced their first enemy in the Promised Land. Jericho had thick, intimidating walls. Israel didn’t have siege equipment or battering rams. I’m sure Joshua met with his military leaders to devise a strategy. Then he met the captain of the Lord’s army. He was told to simply march quietly around the walls for seven days. On the seventh trip around the wall on the seventh day, they were to blast trumpets and shout. It didn’t make sense, but Joshua had learned that victory comes through obedience. He followed God’s strategy, rather than his own, and God destroyed what had been impossible and intimidating.

Zechariah 4:6 says, “The angel told me to give Zerubbabel this message from the Lord: ‘You will succeed, not by military might or by your own strength, but by my spirit’” (GNT). So much in life depends on obedience to what God desires for us to do. However, we must first stop and ask what He wants in each situation. I don’t know what intimidating walls you’re facing today, but I do know that His strategy will work better than yours. It may not make sense or seem like the right thing to do in the moment. It might even seem crazy or counterintuitive, but remember that obedience brings victory. Follow His leading and plan, then watch the walls fall before your eyes.

Photo by Steve Douglas on Unsplash

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 12, 2025 · 5:13 AM

Having Confidence

Several years ago, we were in London, and decided to tour the Tower Bridge. They took us to the top and there was a glass floor high above the street. We had confidence in it and walked across it. On another trip, we were in New York City. We found a place called the Edge. It is the highest outdoor observation deck in the western hemisphere. When we walked outside, they had a glass floor as well. Again, we had confidence in the builders and walked on it. Then just this week, we were driving through Memphis and my son wanted to the observation deck of the Bass Pro Shop pyramid. When we got outside there was a glass floor. He asked, Lohengrin thick is this glass?” I answered, “Hopefully thick enough!” We then stepped onto it. In each case, your brain fights you from walking on it, but you have to override it by having confidence despite what it thinks.

In Psalm 27, David expressed his trust in the Lord as his salvation. He put so much trust in Him that he said he wouldn’t be afraid of anyone. Verse 3 says, “Though an army encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, Even in this I am confident” (AMP). Overtime he had learned to trust the Lord in whatever situation he found himself in. If he was outnumbered and his brain told him he should be afraid, he continued to have confidence in God. That’s a pretty bold statement and makes me reflect on how much I trust God. Do I allow fear to control my decisions or faith? Do I allow my circumstances to override my trust in God? David determined that even if he was surrounded by his enemies, he would still have confidence in God.

Hebrews 10:35 says, “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!” (NLT) When you’re surrounded with no way out, don you still trust God? Can you step out onto that glass floor and trust that He will be faithful to His Word? In the next chapter, the author reminds us, “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” There is a decision we must make to trust in God no matter what before we’re in the situation. If you’re surrounded right now, you can still put your confidence in Him o see you through. He will not fail you nor abandon you in those moments. Hold on tight and remain confident in Him.

Photo by Delano Ramdas on Unsplash

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

February 11, 2025 · 5:44 AM

Victory Over Giants

I used to teach a class on the psychology of fear and how it keeps us from being productive. At one point, I introduced an activity without any warning that involves one of the greatest fears most people have. As I kept adding to it, I watched people squirm in their seats. I would stand next to them, look them in the eye and act like I was going to choose them. Before I proceeded, I would ask, “What are you feeling in your body and mind right now?” People would have sweaty palms, upset stomachs, the need to use the restroom and more. I explained that our brain wants out of the situation and will do anything to take flight. I told them that when we walk away or give into the fear, we miss out on opportunities.

In 1 Samuel 17, the Israelites and Philistines were engaged on the battlefield ready to fight. Each side was encamped on a mountainside with a valley between. Before the battle started, Goliath, a giant about ten feet tall, walked out and yelled at the Israelites. He taunted them and challenged them. When the Israelites saw him, they gave into fear and ran. For forty days, they were stagnant in this routine of allowing fear to keep them from the opportunity of victory. That’s when David stepped into the camp. He heard the same giant, saw everyone panic, but had a different response. He was filled with confidence and trust in God. He stepped onto the battlefield, looked the giant in the eyes, told him God would deliver him and then ran towards him. God honored David’s faith and trust in Him and gave him the victory.

Isaiah 41:10 says, “Do not fear [anything], for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you; I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation]” (AMP). What opportunity or victory is fear holding you back from? God says, do not fear anything standing in the way of what He’s called you to. It won’t be done in your strength. He will help you, but you must step onto the battlefield, look your giant in the eye and trust God. His hand of power and victory will be upon you when you trust Him. Don’t let fear keep you on the sidelines indefinitely. Courage is being unsure of the outcome, but stepping out in faith anyway. God constantly tells us to take courage and to be strong. It’s time to quit being held back from opportunities because of fear. Trust in the Lord and slay your giant.

Photo by Анна Рыжкова (Anna Rizchkova) on Pexels.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 26, 2024 · 5:30 AM

God With Us

There’s a story of how the Cherokee would perform a right of passage for all boys before they were considered men. To become a man, the boy would be led into the woods at night. His father would sit him on a stump, blindfold Him and then leave him. He was told that he had to sit there all night, but he couldn’t make a sound. When he saw the sun rays through the blindfold, he could take it off and find his way back to camp.

It was tough to sit there silently. With their eyes covered, their sense of hearing was enhanced. They heard ever twig break as an animal stepped on it. They could hear the sounds of all the animals in the forest that were out at night. I’m sure they could hear the sound of their own heartbeat as they wondered whether they would be attacked. In the morning when he removed his blindfold, he would see that his father was sitting beside him the whole night watching over him.

I love that story because it’s so much like what our Heavenly Father does for us. We often feel blind and alone as we go through this world. Our fears can get the better of us if we aren’t careful, but God is right there with us through it all even though we can’t see Him. Isaiah 7:14 says, “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (NLT).

Immanuel is one of my favorite names for God. It gives me hope when I feel blindfolded as I go through this life. When I’m unsure of how things are going to turn out, and I feel vulnerable and open to attack, I remind myself that God is right there with me. He’s watching over me, protecting me and caring for me. He has never left my side no matter how dark the night has been. He remains true to His name Immanuel. He is God with us.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,