Faith

"These trials will show that your faith is genuine..."

Faith: more valuable than gold, more refined and celebrated more than we could ever imagine.

Faith becomes more than words when we go through trials - when God strengthens us to keep seeing His character in the dark hour of circumstance.

When we can keep seeing our hope and inheritance in Jesus, that's when our faith shines true - even amidst the trials.

Open-Minded Revelation

"Test everything. Hold onto the good."
1 Thessalonians 5:21

A man who ate locusts and dressed in wild skins; a prostitute; a donkey given to speaking - these are some of the beings God chose to reveal Himself through as mentioned in His Word. So why do we have such a problem accepting God's revelation from people whose culture or social standing may be offensive to us?

You may be Conservative with a dislike for loud prayers; you may be Pentecostal with an aversion to quiet prayers; you may be well dressed with an objection of people who smell - don't let that disqualify you from hearing God. God didn't come to earth in the form of an Armani-clad motivational speaker. He chose to come as a carpenter from Nazareth - a hillbilly with a broad accent that some people would have shown contempt for.

There can be great grains of gold in the seas of sand. We can find something from God if we test everything and hold onto the good that remains. We can hold up someone's words against the Bible and hold onto those things that comply. Just don't be so open minded that your brain falls out! Let God speak however He chooses to and you'll be surprised at the great pearls that you will discover.

More at http://www.davidwillersdorf.com

Learning To Wait

"I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'"
Lamentations 3:24

Often in life, we can be distracted by what is going on in the lives of others at the expense of what God can be doing in ours. They have the blessing that we want now. They may even tell us that we must have the same right away. Be careful of asking for something just because someone else has it. God has you on His own path for you. His work in you is not His work in another.
Choose to throw your lot in with God and you will go the quicker route to His purpose. If you can confess, "The Lord is my portion," then the portion of others will only bring out joy in your life. Covet the portion of someone else and you'll be trapped in the snare of jealousy.
Each of us encounters times when we are in a still place with God. These are times of preparation - God settling our spirits. These are the times of waiting. I once wrote a song titled, 'To Wait On You'. When writing it, I did not realise at the time that God would so powerfully answer the prayer that I uttered in its words.

There's rest for my soul
There's time for Your winds to blow
To listen as You speak
There's all the time for this...

To wait on You, to wait on You
To wait on You, to wait on You

Waiting for God means that something exciting is right around the corner. And when He does move, we'll find ourselves saying, "If only I could get some rest!"

More at http://www.davidwillersdorf.com