The Faith to Stand

The church here in Tucson that we have had the privilege of being a part of is called New Song Foursquare Church. It has been a real blessing for our family because it is hard enough moving to a new place and trying to find schools for the kids and work and housing. But to have a church that welcomed us into their family so immediately was an absolute blessing. One of the the many things I love about New Song is the way we start the sermon every week. We hold up our Bibles and say the following:

This is my Bible.

It is God speaking to me.

I am who it says I am.

I can do what it says I can do.

I can have what it says I can have.

So I open my heart to a receive a word from God

That will change my life forever.

This very idea has strengthened my faith. The idea that I am who God says I am. In Ephesians 6, Paul teaches us that we are in a spiritual battle. He then tells us how to put on our spiritual armour. In verse 16 it says to pick up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. I find it interesting that the flaming arrows often represent questioning our identity. He tries to get us to doubt our security as sons and daughters of God. If he can get us to look down upon ourselves due to our circumstances and keep us from entering boldly into God's presence, he will do so. It is in these times when we are often feeling really low, looking at our circumstances, staring at our weaknesses and being disgusted with ourselves where we do not have the strength to return fire and attack. But that is not what the scripture says. It says to lift the shield of faith. Faith is described above in the words, I am who God says I am. We choose to believe that God is who He says He is and we are who He says we are. So no matter what difficulty or trying time you might be facing, remember that by simply speaking those words aloud, you take away the enemy's power to steel, kill, and destroy what God is doing in your life.

So stand by faith today. God has a plan and He is faithful to complete His plan. It may not happen in our timing, it may require some suffering. We may even find ourselves questioning it, but His promises remain. Nd if He promises us something, we can rest assured that He will complete it. So stand firm, reminding yourself often of the above statement, and know that God is moving on your behalf and He longs to give you all that He has reserved for you.