No matter what storms of life you might be going through, or feel like you cannot “get back on your kayak”, you can always have an assurance of His hope if you have Jesus as your anchor and put into action some of the steps above by faith.
We might say some of God’s servants in the Bible spent their time alone. Yes. but it was not meant to be that way. Well, not for long; because their life had no real meaning until they were amongst people.
You would think that everyone would be working hard to have more family dinners, yet according to a number of studies the frequency of family dinners is shrinking in Canada. Today 1/4 to 1/3 never or seldom eat together as a family and 14% never eat a family meal!
Walking by faith is rewarded by God, but so is standing, and this takes confidence. In Hebrews 10 we read, do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised… “My righteous[one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”
From the time we were little, many of us dreamt of being firefighters, astronauts, doctors, soldiers… All occupations that take courage. And though we may not always maintain the same passion for that particular occupation as we grow older, something in all of us still longs to do something courageous with our lives. Yet so often, when the moment comes to make a decision or to step out in courage, we can find that we don’t have the capacity or ability to do so. The desire may be there, but often when the moment comes, we feel like we are not ready, and we can easily shy away from the moment.
On a scale of 1 to 10 how encouraged are you today? Are you somewhere in the middle?
As we go through each day, I think we often walk a very fine line between encouragement and discouragement. One moment, everything is positive – your feeling good – and then out of nowhere something doesn’t quite go as you had hoped or you hear a piece of bad news and you find yourself battling discouragement.
There will be moments in all our lives that demand courage. We will all face situations that are larger than our experience or ability. The great news is that we don’t have to walk through these situations in our own strength, as believers, we have the power of God in us. The Bible is filled with stories of ordinary men and woman that reveal how we too can be courageous.
very great man and woman of God that we read about in the Bible has been confronted with the question of whether they are affecting culture or if the culture around them is affecting them. And in that question, a decision arises: Will you set a new trend, or simply follow along with society and what the culture of the day dictates?
Have you ever felt as if your past mistakes, glaring flaws, and life circumstances have led you to a dark place limiting you from receiving something from God? Perhaps these have paralyzed you with inaction and wondered, “am I good enough to receive all that God has for me?”
The letter of James is extremely practical and helpful for believers looking for specific guidance in the Christian life. He did not address the letter to just one single church, but to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered among the nations (1:1). James was Jesus’ half-brother who came to faith in Christ after Jesus’ resurrection. He became an early leader of the Jerusalem Church and died as a martyr in AD 62 or 69. He was known as James “the Just” because of his exceptional virtue.
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