Steadfast, Beloved

Week 2; Day 3 James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. How amazing it is that we can ask God and He willingly gives. So, going off the last blog we see that fear of the Lord is wisdom. When we walk with God, we also walk in His wisdom. If we are continually in fellowship with the Master, we begin to see His plan. Someone recently told me concerning faith and the mustard seed, that we could move mountains. I never understood how, or understood the measure of faith. It was always something I had learned but never truly made any sense. He told me it wasn't the amount of faith that could move mountains, but God's will. God will, aligned with ours could move mountains if we asked. We ask for God to reveal His wisdom to us, but sometimes it isn't always for us to know what He is doing. When I came to Ignite, I didn't really understand why I was here, except that God called me. A

Week 2: Day 2 Psalm 111:10 The fear of the is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. For me the fear of the Lord has always sounded like a scary thing. Like the only way to wisdom was to bow before the Lord in fear and pray He wouldn't release His wrath upon you. Of course, knowing the power of the Lord would surely mean I was wise. But as I grew to know the Lord more, I began to understand His heart. He isn't a God who wants to release judgement upon us (although we know one day it will come). The fear of the Lord is something much sweeter. It's a relationship. As I began to walk in a relationship with the Lord, I began to be more like Him. I understood more of His character and love. We want to do what He calls us to do because we love Him and understand He is a good and just God. Not because we're afraid of what might happen if we don't.

Week 2; Day 1 James 3:13-17 "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." James gives us a clear understanding of what wisdom is and isn't and apparently I had the wrong idea of what it meant. I thought by not living the way some of my worldly friends live is wise. That always having something intelligent to say after someone vents to me made me wise. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. My wisdom

Week 1;Day 5 "And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him ,"Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you." He is calling. This verse reminded me of the darkness I lived before coming to Christ. This man was blind, but he called out to Jesus and He heard his cry. When we came to Christ, there were probably people around us who doubted our faith, or told us God wasn't real. But Jesus heard the call and he answered the blind man. Later we see the man had faith in Jesus' healing and he was healed. Lately I feel the Lord has been distant from me. Everyday I have cried out for Him to reveal Himself to me but I only received  silence. This outcry was consistent. I really did want to

Week 1; Day 4 Luke 8:22-25 "Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" This verse brings me comfort. Immediately Jesus said, "Let us cross". There are arfimity in His words. It was only when Jesus fell asleep that the storm came and i cant help but feel convicted of this in my own life. When I stop fellowship with

Week 1; Day 3 "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one 'Go,' and he goes; and to another 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, i have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!" -Matthew 8:9-10  It says in this verse that Jesus marveled. What makes the Lord marvel? A few things that stuck out to me in these verses are love, authority, obedience, and humility. When the centurion comes to Jesus, he proclaims his authority, but recognizes he is also under authority. This took Jesus by surprise,  because Jesus also had the highest authority but he came to the earth in humility. Jesus marveled at humility. The centurion explains next, his servants' obedience. He tells Jesus that his servants do what they are told without hesitation.Jesus marveled at the obedience. We ca

Week 1; Day 2 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) We all hope, but do we all have faith? Each one of us has something we want to believe in, like "Bigfoot" or "aliens". Hope, is described as "the feeling that something desired is possible; to look forward to with desire and confidence". This would give reason to believe in something that actually exists. We could hope for something tangible, like a good night's sleep."For we were saved in this hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance"-Romans 8:24-25. But hope is not the same as faith. Faith: confidence or trust; loyalty. Faith is what we know when we hope, even if we can not see it. It is constant for us to develop a trust in, without doubt. Faith is not like hope, as it comes from time to

Week 1; Day 1 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." -Hebrews 11:6 Without faith, we are nothing. We can not raise our hands during worship, close our eyes and pray for another, or have fellowship with God if we do not have faith. Without faith, everything we do is in vain. Our works, our prayers, our worship  mean nothing if we do not have faith in God. We obviously know from this verse, everything means nothing if we don't have faith. There was a time, when we all accepted Christ. When we did, was there any doubt in our heart that He wasn't God? If we believed Him then, why do we doubt now? Where is our Faith? As we gave to him, he will return. John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." When we came in faith, we received our reward. Jesus. If