Faith

By Andrea Ferguson

Faith, what a mighty word. It is used daily in our lives. The dictionary defines faith as believing in something unseen. We practice faith daily. We have faith our house will not fall apart around us while we are sleeping, our heart will not stop pumping, or that our car will get us to work.

It states in the bible at least 30 x’s that without Faith its Impossible to Please God. (Hebrew 11:6) There are many examples Old and New Testament that contest to this. In Genesis Noah walked with God while his neighbors thought he was crazy. God spoke to him and told him to build the Ark. You do not think he had doubts after staying on the ark almost 135 days with no sun in sight? But he had faith that the Lord God would provide and keep his promise. And he did! God rewarded him by promising never to flood the earth ever again.

Or think of Paul. He started of as Saul. He persecuted Christians. Hated them with a passion. Put many to death or prison. And in Acts 9 we see him falling to the ground on his way to Damascus because a bright light from heaven fell all around him. Our father God then spoke to him. That conversation turned his life around. Started him a new man.

He faced challenges at first. For 3 days he could not see. But God used another man of faith to seal the deal you could say. God showed both men by healing his sight what great faith they possessed.

Faith is hard to fathom at times. I had faith that God would help the Doctor remove my cancer. He did! I had faith that after my car accident not only would my foot not be amputated but I would walk again. He has! I have faith that one day when it is his time I will sit at my fathers feet and live with him for eternity. Do you posses the faith to believe in something unseen?

You cannot be around a Christian without noticing a twinkle in their eyes when they talk about the Lord. They have faith that they will be blessed by his love, understanding, and promises. You can expiernce this faith by allowing him to dwell in your heart (Ephesians 3:17).

Just remember For with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) if you just have faith.

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Loneliness

By Andrea Ferguson

Do you ever feel like you are alone? No one in front or back of you? To your left and right is just air? In our lives we will all feel some loneliness. People will come and go from our lives. They will move, change churches, and go to Heaven.

The bible states in Genesis that God created man and did not desire for him to be alone. He felt that man needed a help mate, partner, friend, and wife. Do you not think God desires this for us?

There are so many ways in this age to meet people. You can meet at your Church, local singles groups, even at the grocery stores. The Internet has opened a million possibilities to the lonely. You can date, meet, chat, and even swap pictures at the click of a mouse.

Job did not have that option. He could not go to a chartroom or support group for people going thru that situation and talk his issues out.

He got so upset that he was ready to throw in the towel. He wanted to die; the loneness was over taking him. In Job 7:16 he even states “I hate my life, I do not want to live forever. Leave me alone.”

There are times we all feel very similar. We loose a great job, lose friends, or feel we are not good enough. We think no one could possibly understand the pain.

But it states in 1 Peter that if we just turn all our worries to him, he will not only take them off our shoulder but carry them. Why you ask? Because he cares.

God does not desire for you to be alone. He will place people in your paths. He wants you to be his light house and draw people to him, others he just wants you to love on them. But remember you are never alone.

Proverbs 17:17 states “A friend loves at all times. He is there to help when trouble comes.”

You have an everlasting friend in Jesus Christ. He is there for you at all times. He will never leave nor forsake you. He is there are on the good, bad, ugly, gloomy

days. Just open your eyes and heart to him and he will fill up your soul with his peace and love.

How could you go wrong on this deal? Just receive my dear friend.

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Jars

Get a glass jar. One with a nice tight cap. And do not forget that little piece of scrap paper and a pen. Do you have them? Now on that paper write your biggest problem facing you right now. It could be with a person or a situation in your life. Did you write it down? Now stuff that paper in your jar. Close that lid very tight. There goes your problem. I challenge you to leave that problem on God’s shoulders. Nehemiah 8:10 states “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” You know you can leave it for he has given you the strength to leave it in his hands. Every time you feel you must try to fix that problem I want you to pray over it, Father God, Please give me the wisdom to leave this mess alone. I know you will guide me the right decision. I am seeking your will and know in your hands nothing will go wrong. Amen. Now think hard. We all know someone in Church who looks distraught and empty hearted. It could be the lady across the pew. You have never spoken to her but she looks like she needs a friend. But you tell God “Oh Jesus I just cannot, Mary Sue just found out she has broken her toe and well I have known her since I was a 12. You don’t need me send someone else”. We all know people like this whether it’s a personal friend or a silent person at Church. God calls us to step out of our comfort zones. Comfort zones are easy to start and harder to get out of. I would rather sit with my girl friends then go sit with a group of strangers. Today we call these groups Clicks. It could be a group of women who grew up together or a bunch of mom’s whose children all go to the same Sunday School Class. But when we only see our comfort zone its hard for us to see others in pain. All we care about is our group of friends. When in the comfort zone you could miss a person who might just need to be blessed by your love or a listening ear. There is a cause and effect for everything, we might look at our difficulties and think they beyond fixing. But God has a master plan Ephesians 1:3 even before he made the world, God loved us. So do not give up. Think of Naomi in Ruth. She was an older lady. Her spouse and only children are all dead. She encourages both daughters in law to move on. Get out of there and start over. Ruth could see her pain. But Ruth was also young like her sister in law; she would have had more in common with her. But she stepped out of her “Comfort zone” and decided to go with Ruth to a different region. Leave her family and friends behind. (Now I am not suggesting you get up and move to another country unless God places that on your heart. But listen to his will first.) We may not get a blessing like Ruth did but we know we will get our riches in heaven. There are many people just wanting some support, a hug, a shoulder to cry on, or a listening ear. So Get out of your “Comfort Zone” and give some love to a hurting soul and let God take care of the rest. Job 4:3 “In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak.

God’s The Judge not us!

Have you ever noticed how things happen that we have no control over and some people throw tantrums like children over them? I was raised to believe everything happens for a reason. Rain falls from the sky to water the flowers, signs stop us so other traffic my go, and you have to go to school to learn. But have really thought why? “All things happen for a reason!” In the bible there are many examples of this. Take for instant Abraham in Genesis 22. He was going to sacrifice his son for the Lord. Had the alter ready. Had the wood piled up. Fire ready. He was obedient just like we are when we follow traffic signals. God rewarded his obedience. Not only was Isaac not sacrificed, God provided the sacrifice, a ram in a bush for him. What a reward for believing everything happens for a reason. Or think about Job. Job was a great man, had everything going for him. And in a twinkle of an eye Satan took it all away. He was upset for a while even felt like giving up. God allowed this to happen to prove that all things happen for a reason. God proved Satan wrong and for Job’s obedience God restored him giving him all he lost and more. We may not understand the reasoning for things at first but after we see the out come it all makes sense. God places trials in our lives to make us stronger. The outcome is what we make it. Next time you question why think on this……………God does things for a reason, just trust him and hold on because life is a bumpy ride. God’s The Judge not us! By Andrea Ferguson - Recently a pastor in Iowa was arrested for stealing funds from his Church. - A teen from San Antonio was arrested for shop lifting. - A friend from Maryland lied to her best friend. What do all these things have in common? They all lied, cheated, or hurt someone. We judge them right away, we think we could or would never be in there shoes. We get on people for judging others but as Romans 2:1 states we do many of the same things we condemn in others. We are so quick to judge them, so caught up in believing one side or the other that we do not know the real truth. But thankfully it states in Romans 2:2 that God’s judgment is based on the truth. His judgment is pure. We try to take over God’s job of judging at times. We forget we are mere humans that can and do make mistakes and not always correct. We forget when we are judging others we are judging God’s work. For he made us in his image. There is a song that states “Don’t throw your trash in my backyard ‘cause my backyard is full” Luke 6:41 basically said how can you take the speck of sawdust out of your brothers eye if you have a log in yours? It is as true today as it was then. It applies to our backyards. We have so much in our backyards, our thoughts, secrets, past mistakes, regrets, sin. If we keep on cleaning them up and repenting to God we will never have time to judge others. So the next time you start to judge a situation …………STOP!! Give to him because you know in his hands he can handle everything without our help.