BLESSED FAITH.

" Faith Means Relying on God "

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:6 NLT) Anytime we demonstrate faith, we’re relying on something. When you sit in a chair, you’re relying on the chair’s manufacturer to produce something that will hold you up. When you’re on the freeway, you’re relying on every other driver around you. " Faith in God means we rely on him and depend on his reliability ". Having faith means realizing that God is bigger, greater, and better than me – and he loves me greatly. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death” (NLT). That's the problem with relying on yourself. We’re often wrong. Human intuition is not always reliable. In fact, it’s just good enough to make us think we’re right – even when we’re not. Genuine faith is relying on God's direction and on who he is. " God is reliable" He knows what you need, and he wants to meet those needs. Unfortunately, we think we know better. We think we have a better plan. We want to use our logic and get to the answer in a way that makes us look good – and doesn’t require risk. But God wants us to grow, so he takes us a different way. Many times in Scripture, God asks us to do what doesn’t make sense to our logic. For example, Mark 10:43 says, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant” (NLT). To most people, that verse doesn’t make sense; you’d think great people would have others serving them. Jesus says it’s the other way around – the great people are the ones serving others. I need to trust what God says about greatness, not what I think. God also says we’re to honor him by giving the first 10 percent of our income back to him. By our reason, that doesn’t make much sense to us. But we’re to lean on God’s understanding, not our own. " Because we trust him, we obey what he says – even if it doesn’t make sense to us ". =================================================

" Commit Yourself to "Clap and Cheer"

Little Jamie Scott was trying out for a part in his school play.

His mother knew he had his heart set on being in the play, but she feared he wouldn't be chosen.

On the day the parts were awarded, apprehensively she picked him up after school.

To her surprise, Jamie came rushing out, his eyes shining with pride and excitement.

"Guess what, Mom!" he shouted. "I have a part! I've been chosen to clap and cheer."

God calls some of us to be in the limelight; others He calls to "clap and cheer."

At this point in his life, Joshua was asked to do the latter.

It would be 40 years before he became the leader of Israel.

In the meantime, he was a supporter and assistant to Moses.

And he did it well.

Whether it was battling with the Amalekites (Exodus 17:10)

or providing moral support as Moses met with the Lord on Mount Sinai,

Joshua served the Lord by being an encouragement to the His servant.

Those whom God calls to serve Him in leadership face many challenges.

Often they carry deep responsibilities and heavy spiritual burdens.

At times they are the target of malicious gossip or hurtful behavior.

You can understand how important it is that they have around them some

mature believers who are there to "clap and cheer" for them.

What a blessing such encouragement can be!

Have you given any thought to how you might be an encouragement

to the servants of God whom you know?

Who encourages your pastor or his wife?

Who cheers on the Sunday school teacher

or the workers at the homeless shelter?

What can you do today to lighten their load and lift their spirits?

Too many are prone to criticize and complain.

Perhaps God has a part for you.

Commit yourself to "clap and cheer" and you'll be the hit of the play.