Tag Archives: faith

Wiggle your big toe

January 18, 2013

When I was younger, I used to daydream a lot. Yes. About all the wrong things which have had the wrong impact on my life. But admittedly I used to day dream. About Prince Charming….thanks to Harlequin Romances. About growing up and getting married. About being wealthy.

The ability to imagine your future is a powerful tool. Especially if it’s used to correctly.

But when you’ve been hurt, disappointed, hurt, disappointed….hurt…you get the picture…somehow you stop wanting to imagine a bright future.
It’s not really ‘somehow’. The enemy comes to steal and kill and destroy…and often he will steal our hope.

When we get disappointed, it’s even more painful to continue to hope in the future. The enemy tricks us into believing that we will get disappointed if we ‘go there’ again. And so…we stop hoping that anything good will happen.

Are you still dreaming about tomorrow? Or has your hope been shot?

You see, I can’t say that we always have our heads screwed on right when we are hoping…Sometimes we hope for things that are really outside of God’s plan for our lives. But if we don’t have a vision of what we want to see happen in the future, the fact is we might never get there.

I often share this excerpt from the movie Kill Bill with my mom:

A woman escapes from hospital despite the fact that her legs have been paralyzed. She is paralyzed from the waste down. She has something to do in the future. But before she could even get to that stage, she has to ‘wiggle her big toe’. Now the hardest thing for a paralyzed person to do, is of course walk. But she imagines first that she can move one toe- her big toe. Of course it doesn’t move right away. But she repeatedly declares it “wiggle your big toe”…until finally, it flinches.

I mentioned a few days ago, that if you want to live the life that God has set for you, you have to see yourself High Healed and Delivered. The thing is without hope, you cannot see anything. I know. I’ve been there. I remember once, looking at myself in a mirror wondering if I will ever feel normal again. My face was swollen with tears, my heart was broken. Everything was a mess. But I looked in that mirror and said “I will smile again”. It took a while. But the truth is now I’m a laughing bunny!

What is it that you are hoping for in your own life. You’re afraid that it won’t happen, and so to avoid more disappointment, you avoid thinking about it.

God wants you to hope for the tomorrow He has in store for you. He wants you to envision your life as bright and beautiful. He wants you to see yourself high, healed and delivered.

Are you in a low place still? See yourself high.

Are you in a sick place? See yourself healed.
Are you feeling as if you’re in bondage by life’s issues? See yourself delivered.

Before God ever spoke, I believe He “saw” what He wanted.

He said:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11

See the future He has for you!

Posted by schadah in High, Healed, Delivered, Uncategorized Tags: believing God, delivered, faith, healed, high, hope

Testimony #4: My Real Estate Agent

August 10, 2012

This testimony is about the leading of the Holy Spirit.

A few days ago, God ministered to me that everything happens in the right season and time. If it hasn’t happened, it’s not because He doesn’t want me to have it. It’s because He’s perfecting that which concerns me.

The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. Psalm 138:8

So recently, this summer I realized that I had to move out of where I was. I hate change. I hate moving more. It’s so much work. But it had come time for me to find an apartment, and after a few years of living the ‘student life’, I really just wanted to have some place to hang my ‘own’ hat.

I hadn’t intended on moving out this month, because a. I couldn’t afford it. And b. I wanted to be done writing my thesis and graduating before I took off. Plus, I didn’t know where I would find a job. As I said yesterday, I was applying for jobs all over the world (i wasn’t joking about that!). So all in all, I was thinking I’d move in October.

But unforeseen circumstances pushed me to find a place. I began looking in my city. I really wanted to stay connected to my church for the time, so I was hoping that I’d find a place near the area. Mind you, i had no idea how I was going to pay for it. But I went looking for a place, and I wanted somewhere in the suburban part of the city.

It was the most frustrating venture I have had (apart from the other traumas that have been occurring). I just couldn’t find anything I liked. I can be pretty picky I’ve been told.

I got up on Wednesday morning and I decided to do my devotions by the river, because I have not spent much time outdoors this summer because of my research and then not feeling well and stuff. It was at the river that the Holy Spirit ministered to me.

“You’ve been doing this on your own. Tell me when you’re ready for my help”.

Realizing that I had let the spirit of Pride in yet again, and became Ms Independent, I prayed. The Holy Spirit then asked me what it was that I really wanted in this house and what I wanted to pay. At the time I didn’t have the job, but I pulled up a number. And then I made a list. I wanted this apartment to be:

In a quiet, quaint area. I didn’t want white walls. I don’t want to live in this particular city anymore, but I want to be close enough to my church. I wanted a large kitchen with two sinks! (I don’t get why some apartments only have one sink). I wanted my stove and fridge to match. And I needed a large countertop for when I am cooking. Oh. I wanted a sunroom. Because I like an area where I can do my devotions when it’s not cold. I wanted to be close to a river or lake….

I went on and on. At one point I felt bad for wanting so much. But i deserved it. And whether I had money or not, I know that my Father knew I deserved it and it was time.

Well whadduya know?!! The Holy Spirit became my Real Estate Agent. Once I was done yapping, I heard Him say,

“Okay I will let you know when I’ve found that. It’s probably not in this city though.”

As soon as I got back from the lake, I heard Him tell me to look at Kijiji in the next city. And it was like BAM. The first house that popped up on Kijiji had everything I had ask for at the price I had wanted! Even the Sunroom!!!

How awesome is our God? Just totally!!!

So my friend and I went to see the place and I immediately fell in love with it. It was just God’s perfect will. The owner actually told me that she had only put it up on Kijiji because she was only able to do all the cleaning that weekend.

I’m telling you, God answers prayers. And if we let Him take the lead and guide us, He will perfect that which concerns us. He’s just good like that. He literally became my real estate agent and He directed me to the right place at the right time. He gives the DESIRES OF YOUR HEART. But we have to believe Him and rely totally on Him and we have to tell Him what we want! He knows, but He wants us to tell Him.

So yea, I got my perfect place! And oh yea, all the financial details were taken care of miraculously.

I believe that He will do something miraculously for you too!

Posted by schadah in How Great is our God, Thanksgiving Tags: believe, Christianity, faith, giving thanks, God, House, jesus, p, peace, real estate, trusting god

1 comment

Testimony #3: The state of the economy has nothing to do with me.

August 9, 2012

I’ve been waiting for a while to actually have this testimony. But now I finally have it.

Being a grad student, I had the privilege of being a teaching assistant while I studied, which enabled me to earn a few bucks to help with cost of living. However, realizing that I needed to finish my thesis and really get out of the school environment for a while, I opted to not take another teaching assistantship and just focus on righting my paper. (I am not sure if I would have gotten the job anyway, because the University tends to prefer new incoming grads than older ones when it comes to giving those positions. In any case it was a four month contract

I didn’t renew my contract in faith that I would find a job. And unlike the times before, I wanted a full time job. But I needed to take my chances. I was going to trust God for a job.

Of course you can anticipate the outcome of this testimony. But I want to put the variables and the doubts that I had.

It’s a bad economy. Everyone’s complaining about that. And my field is Political Science with a concentration in Econ Development. I can’t tell you how many ‘career experts’ have said to me “there’s no jobs for your field right now”.
People are laying off not taking on more people.
I have no skills in Mcdonalds, retail, waitressing, etc. So some jobs, while I don’t mind working them, just wasn’t going to work for me.
Money was running low….really………..low.

I began to pray to God for the job. And you know what? I’d be honest. I had my doubts. It was like everyone that I prayed for got a job. Two for some people! And so I began to doubt myself. Not my faith in God. But I began to doubt whether I had done something to offend HIm. You know what I mean? That;s when the enemy puts you on a guilt trip to tell you there’s something you’ve done wrong. And that’s why God wasn’t coming through for you.
So from January to August 1st, I prayed. I cried. I also applied for jobs all over the world. But I got so many rejection notices, it just made me feel really bad and unqualified. In the mean time, life went from bad to worse financially. Like really, really bad. Like account in overdraft position-can’t use credit cards- emergency funds low—-bad. And it seems as if the bills just kept coming in, despite the fact that I had no income coming in.

In the back of my head though. I had some thoughts. And it was these thoughts that I held onto for dear life.

I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread. Psalm 37:25
He knows my name. He knows my desires.
What father gives his child a stone when he asks for bread? Matt 7:9
God loves me. I don’t understand why things have to come to rock bottom. But I trust that He loves me. John 3:16
God has always provided a job for me in the past. Since I returned to Canada, I have never been without a job. He’s given me so much favour with man, that jobs were created just for me when I needed them.

I continued to do some other things too. Because faith without works is really dead.

I continued to tithe. No matter how small it was. My tax refunds, a small gift from someone. mysterious money appearing in my account. I tithed.
I continued to give and sow into other people’s lives.
i continued to give thanks (hence the 21 days of gratitude fast)
I continued to trust Him no matter how difficult.
I kept smiling

Then I told God my Father, what I want:

I said I want to stay in THIS city or close by, because I want to be connected to my church. That’s where i am fed. I also believe that this is where I need to be right now. (Mind you, Windsor ON, has the worst unemployment rate in the country)
I want a job based on my qualifications. What you have called me to do.
I want a job that is full time, and that will pay me a decent salary so that I can give back to your work (PS: When God gives you favour, you use it for your glory. I didn’t want a job to make myself look prettier. I wanted it to increase His Kingdom).

Well, God provided a job for me. It’s not just any job. It’s a launching pad to the start of my career, because it’s in my field and it’s exactly what I’ve been called to do.The economy may be bad, but OUR GOD is ALWAYS GOOD. All the times when I compared, myself to people that had been given jobs, I actually got a position that is in my field. I didn’t settle. I didn’t get desperate.

In His own time, people, He makes everything right. And I know it doesn’t seem that way right now for you. But you keep believing, you keep trusting God and you will have what you’ve prayed for. God is preparing something so great for you, that it will blow your socks off. Don’t give up. When He presents it to you, you will have no other choice but to say,

“this is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in my eyes”- Psalm 118:23

Posted by schadah in How Great is our God, Uncategorized Tags: believe, Christianity, economy, encouragement, faith, favour, finances, giving thanks, goodness, gratitude, hard times, jobs, prayer, trusting god

1 comment

Day 16: Everything’s gonna be alright.

July 19, 2012

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11

This is one of my favourite scriptures, and yet I often don’t remember it when I need to. But isn’t it amazing that God has plans for us? And what kind of plans are they? He said that they are plans to give us hope and a future.

Today I want to thank God that everything is going to be alright.

You may be thinking “why would you want to do that?”. And 3 years ago, a year ago, six months ago, I would have thought the same. I remember waking up a long time ago and wondering what kind of future I would have. In fact, when I closed my eyes to imagine my future, I couldn’t see anything except darkness. I couldn’t imagine my future being anywhere close to alright.

You may know what I mean. It’s the thought that you have when you lose your job, your husband/wife walks out on you, you’ve lost a child, you just figured out that you’ve been pursuing the wrong thing for 20 years.

But even though the place where we stand may seem as if we’ve reached the end of the world, God always has a plan for our future. We may not see it, but He has the blueprint, and He’s smiling because the outcome is good.

That’s the thing with blueprints. Nobody really gets them except the Architect who design them. But if you trust your architect, then you know that His finished product is going to be great.

Sometimes, I imagine God singing Bob Marley’s “Everything’s gonna be alright” (And no. Let’s not debate about the song. It’s a positive confession). Why would he sing that, because He already knows how the end is going to be: Great! So we need to asked ourselves, “If God has the blueprint for my life, and He’s smiling… why should I frown?” We already know that

1. No good thing shall He withhold from those who love Him

2. All things work together for good to them that love Him

3. He gives us the desires of our heart when we delight in Him.

4. He is a good God.

(PS: Those are all scriptural texts).

So even though things may not be the way we want them to be right now, we need to thank Him anyway because His plans for our future is amazing.

So these days, i find myself daydreaming when the present circumstances around me seem hopeless. I think of my future home, and my children, I think of the husband that I will have, and all the great family trips that we’ll take. I think of my career, and all the great things that I will be doing for God. Do I have any of those things right now? Nope. But I am going to thank God for them anyway. Because His plan for me is great and it will include every good thing that I need.

Don’t look at where you are, look at where you’re going…And thank God that everything is going to be alright.

Posted by schadah in Thanksgiving, Tidbits for the weary Tags: Christianity, content, depression, encouragement, faith, giving thanks, God, gratitude, hope, peace

Day 12: I’m Making It

July 13, 2012

As I was doing some long overdue chores this morning, and worshipping at the same time, I began to think about…things…(I think a lot. lol).

I thought of the days when I thought I would never get out of bed. But somehow I did. And the times I thought I would never live again…But somehow I did.

Today, I want to thank God that I am making it.

Someone used to tell me that “I’m so much stronger than most people.” As a matter of fact, many people when they hear some of the things that I have gone through, or that I deal with regularly, they say that. The truth is I don’t always feel strong. And many a day, I get up wondering “God how am I going to make it through this day?”.

Do you know what I mean? Have you ever had a moment when you thought, “God how am I going to get through this?” And it’s not that you didn’t believe that He was able to bring you out. It’s just that you didn’t believe you had the strength to even lift yourself out of “it”, whatever “it” is. It may have been the loss of a loved one, the breaking away of a friendship, a lay off, a car accident… .We all have times in our lives when we feel as if we are not going to make it.

Whenever I ask God questions like that, I don’t always wait for the answer. But I believe that God always answers back “you’re going to make it…with Me”.

I want to talk to the young woman feeling as if what just took place in her life was basically the end; The woman who just lost a baby; The man who is wondering if life will ever be normal…and all the others reading this:

Look at your life… You are making it. The enemy told you that you wouldn’t be able to survive, but God has shamed him yet again, showing in His great mercy, that He is a sustaining God. Ten minutes ago, 3 days ago, 2 years ago, a decade ago, something happened and you thought that you would never be able to stand. But by the grace of God, you got up, day after day, putting one foot in front of the other, and you fought defeat. You’re making it.

Thank God for that!

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know. ”⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

Posted by schadah in Thanksgiving, Tidbits for Relationships, Tidbits for the weary Tags: Christianity, content, depression, discouraged, encouragement, faith, giving thanks, God, gratitude

3 comments

Day 2: Food

June 29, 2012

There is a song that I woke up with this morning:

“Jehovah Jireh, my Provider, Your grace is sufficient for me.

Jehovah Jireh, my Provider, Your grace is sufficient for me.

The Lord shall supply all my needs, according to His riches in glory,
He will give His angels charge over me,

Jehovah Jireh cares for me.

Today I’m giving God thanks for food. Yes, food.

I used to know someone who would always stop to give God thanks for food. It didn’t matter where, it didn’t matter who he was with, he would just bow his head and give thanks for food. I am not sure if this was a ‘religious’ practice, or just a truly grateful gesture, but I thought of him this morning, and how important it is to give thanks for the things we have in our fridges, closets, pantries, etc.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity of talking to someone in Guyana, who had to ‘borrow’ a 1/2 pound of beef to cook, and needed the equivalent of $0.20 cents to buy some kerosene to cook the food with (kerosene is the fuel that people in Guyana use when they cannot afford to buy a propane gas bottle for $25 CAN). I don’t want to get into all that was discussed, but it broke my heart to know that she was going around door to door to ask people for $.20 cents.

I am not going to compare rich vs poor, third world vs first world politics. But I examined my own refridgerator. And even though I am still a student, on any given day I have food in my fridge. In the past, I have always complained ”oh I have nothing to eat!” or “I don’t know what to eat”. But that’s really not true. There’s enough Kraft Mac and cheese and tuna for me to do a million things. I’m serious! And there’s always flour (I’m from the South. We always have flour around). I can make about 10 dishes, different dishes from those three things. And then throw some veggies near it, and I will have a scrumptious meal.

I also recall visiting my siblings, and they too always had food. Sometimes the fridge didn’t even have space to hold some take out.

And that’s another thing, we are privileged to go to Wendy’s, Mcdonald’s, the Whopper people (Can’t remember what it’s called). And we can pick up a sandwich at any point in the day and a large Coke for just 2$, to keep us going. How amazing is that?

Some of us have so much food, that we should really throw a get together once a while and just bless people who don’t have as much.

When Jesus was teaching the five thousand, he received a report that the people were hungry. And the only food around was 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. The math didn’t make sense. But if you haven’t gotten the revelation, what caused it to multiply, was the fact that he raised it to his Father, and blessed it. Now, there’s a lot more to the story, but I believe every time you give thanks for food, God multiplies it. It seems so crazy, but He does. I can’t tell you of all the times when people just brought cooked food to my house when I needed it the most. Or when someone just popped in from out of town and took me out to dinner or lunch. All of those opportunities are blessings to me. And at times I get really ‘puffed’ up when people try to help (God is working on me ), but God always slaps me, reminding me that it’s Him providing. So between the whole wheat pasta, the left over pizza, and cook up rice that my friend made for me before he left, the rotis, the left over curry, the 1/2 tomato and the frozen veggies, the $1 soft serve ice cream vendor on my street, Mickey D’s, Toonie Tuesday, 3$ subs from Subway, an abundance of water, Tang juice mix with which I can make a mean iced tea, and the ravens that God sends,…I am pretty good. lol.

So, Lord I thank You!!! Thank you for the food that you provide day, after day, after day. I know I am not any different from a lot of people in the world, regardless of my status, but you have always, always provided food for me. I can’t take that for granted. Thank you for providing food.

How about you? How much food do you have in your house? Take inventory. Isn’t God good? Isn’t He faithful? Then don’t complain about what you don’t have in the kitchen. Give thanks for the food you do have.

PS: If you ever have a hard time figuring out what to cook with what you got, go here or here. or just hit me up! I’ll tell ya!

Posted by schadah in How He Loves Me, Thanksgiving Tags: Christian, content, discouraged, faith, giving thanks, God, gratitude, happiness

Hearing God. The Sum of it all

May 17, 2012

So far we’ve looked at a few ways to hear from God:

Build a relationship
Spend time meditating in His word
Look for signs of internal peace
Spend time in prayer
Charge your spirit man by speaking in tongues, doing a ‘clean sweep’ and fasting
Dreams
Visions
Prophecies

When I first started looking at this topic, it was because there are little random moments I feel that God’s not the one that is talking. You may have had them: A voice tells you to go apologize to someone, when you feel like you’re the one that needs to be apologized to; a voice telling you to call someone in the dead of the night; the TV shouting your name telling you to make the bed. Stuff like that.

When random events happen, it’s so important that we discern the voice of God in our lives. Trust me, it can save us a ton of trouble, heartache and wrong doing. On the other hand it can build faith in us that God is real and He is well able to talk to us.

One thing that really stands out to me is that God wants to communicate with us. That is partially why we were made in His image and likeness- so that we can communicate with Him.

Last thing I wanna say is this: There are many ‘soothsayers’ around. Many. I don’t mean to criticize, but from personal experience and by observation, many have taken the wrong paths because ‘someone else said’ or ‘someone else dreamt’. I have been there.

God desires communication with each of us. But He can only speak to us if we open up our spirits. If we don’t have a relationship with him for OURSELVES, it becomes difficult to hear from Him. And that’s when the enemy will come in and use others and even ourselves to give us false information. I realize that I am a pretty candid person (in writing, lol), so I’ll go ahead and say this: Not everyone who professes “Lord. Lord” has a word from the Lord. You must be so sharp spiritually to discern when it’s God’s voice talking and when it is not. It’s a life and death situation. The only way you can do this is to ‘go up to the mountain for yourself’. Also find someone (mature in the spirit), that you feel totally comfortable with. But tread cautiously. What someone else says should be confirmation to God’s witness inside of you and moreover, His Word. What some other person says (no matter how close they are to you) should not be the final word over your life.That’s why God has made it possible for us to talk to Him for ourselves.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.-Heb 4:16

Posted by schadah in Hunger, Uncategorized Tags: faith, false prophets, hearing from God

Fear is not an option.

May 4, 2012

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb 11:6

Blessings from God, or lack thereof are determined by your spiritual position. There are only two roads when it comes to our spirit walk. We’re either walking in faith, or we’re not. The opposite of faith is fear. Why do I say that? 2 Tim 1:7 says

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind.

Have you ever noticed in the bible that every time an angel or God appeared to man, He said “Fear not”. He didn’t say “what’s up?” or “Hey bro how you doin?”. He said “fear not”. God does not operate in the realm of fear but of faith. For us to receive anything He has for us, we have to ‘fear not’.

Fear is not of God. So…if it’s not from God….who do you think it’s from? All the more reason why He doesn’t want us to have it.

It breaks my heart when people say “I’m afraid…” Really. Many of our decisions we make are based on our fear of tomorrow. Fear that we won’t have enough money. Fear that people will laugh at us. Fear that there will be a bad outcome in the future. But God says “don’t be afraid”. In Matthew 6, Jesus says “take no thought for tomorrow”, because He’s got it covered. Therefore, any inclination of fear in our lives is an indication that we don’t fully trust God and that we need a closer relationship with Him.

With Him, fear is not an option. You just can’t afford to live in fear. I thought about what it would be like to always be afraid. If I were always afraid, I would probably not be driving the car I drive (it’s a big car!), not be eating the foods that I eat, not fall in love, not try anything new. But God wants us to be happy and live a life of abundant joy in Him. He doesn’t want us to be afraid of everything, because then we give the devil much more power and credit than he deserves. Instead God wants us to have faith in Him. Can you imagine a life where you totally trusted God? What boldness you would have!

This is what the extent of your faith should be like:

And you shall tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the over of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you- Luke 10:19

DISCLAIMER!!! I am not telling you to go pick up a snake! lol.

But God wants us to be bold and faith filled. He wants us to trust Him as Father in our everyday lives. Faith in Him makes Him proud of and pleased with us. It shows Him that we accept Him as Father.

What areas of your life are you fearful in? Release them to God. Don’t hold onto them. Let fear be replaced by Faith in God.

Posted by schadah in Uncategorized Tags: believe, confidence, encouragement, faith, fear, God, hope, relationships, trusting god

An example of crazy faith

May 3, 2012

Luke8:

⁴³A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. ⁴⁴Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”

⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”⁴⁷When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed.

Have you ever read the story of the woman with the issue of blood? I mean, what would provoke a woman in her condition to go out in the crowd like this to touch a man’s garment fringe? Let me paint the picture of this woman’s case. It’s not like it was just her ‘time of the month’ (sorry guys). Her issue of blood was a prolonged one. Most of you know that when you bleed…from any part of your body, you lose mass and energy and therefore you become very weak. If you lose blood over a few days, its bad enough. But she was losing blood for 12 YEARS!!!! I won’t get into the science of it, but that’s a lot of blood. On top of all that, she had gone to every doctor in town (another account given by one of the other disciples), and spent all of her money. So not only was she sick and weak, but she was also broke! More than that, in her time, as long as you had such an ‘issue’, you were isolated from everyone else. You were not allowed to be around anyone because you were deemed ‘unclean’. So she was sick, weak, broke, and alienated!

When she made a decision to see Jesus, she had to break all of the rules. Rules that were keeping her in bondage.

1. She had to break the physiological rule that said she was sick

2. She had to break the mental rule that said she was too weak to go anywhere.

3. She had to break the financial rule that said she didn’t have money to take a donkey into town.

4. She had to break the social rules that said she was not fit to see this Man.

That’s what I call Crazy Faith. See, all she had was one idea: “If I touch this guy, I’m gonna be fixed for good!”. And she ran with it. She believed with all of her heart, with whatever strength she had left and crawled to touch just the bottom of His clothes. She put aside her pride, how she smelled, the filth of her clothes, what everyone else was saying, what her mind was telling her, what her pocketbook said, and she PRESSED into her Lord with one word that she believed.

Who is it that’s telling you that you can’t be made whole, that God cannot fix it, that you can’t get a job?
Have you been challenged by what your bank account says, or what the economy is saying right now?

Is your body, or mind, or heart telling you that you’re not going to make it?

It’s time for crazy faith. The more the negative comes to attack, you need to muster up all of your energy and say that “God says it is well”.

One thing I am learning is that faith always gets God attention. When she touched Him, no matter how weak she was, she managed to pull virtue out of Him. Enough for Him to say “who touched me?”

You may be facing a situation where all hope seems lost. It couldn’t possibly get any worse than where you are. You cannot afford to listen to the ‘nay-sayers’ in your situation. Press into God. He is moved by your faith.

Posted by schadah in Uncategorized Tags: believe, blood, Christian, Christianity, faith, trusting god, virtue

Faith in Patience

May 2, 2012

If someone asked me what I thought was the one area that I should work on , I would say it is patience. I have a tendency to want things happen when I want them to happen. Often times God sets the record straight by saying, “dudette, it’s only been 3 days!” (and yes, He calls me dudette sometimes).

During my devotion time, I read something similar:

“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it”. Romans 8:25

How many of us can humbly admit that patience is not our strongest quality? We expect microwaveable results where we pray and God pops the blessing!

Having faith in God requires us to be patient. “Patience” here means ‘to wait in continuous expectation’ . For example, have you ever called for a cab and told the service person that you needed a cab at ___am? What do you do then? You prepare and then wait for the cab to show up. right? It’s the same thing with faith. When we pray to God, we must believe that He will come through, but we must also have patience knowing fully that He will come through. So what do we do? We sit and patiently wait (i.e. continually looking for the things we are believing for, with expectation)

So often when we pray, if we don’t see the results according to our own deadline, then we ABORT our faith. NOT COOL!!!! The moment we stop believing God for His promises to us, we tie His hands. Faith is the impetus that stimulates answered prayer. Have you ever considered what would have happened if you had kept believing a little longer for your situation to change? Have you ever stopped to think what would have happened if you didn’t abort the vision or dream God had given you? Sometimes we give up on Him at the brink of our breakthrough. How disappointing eh?!!

So S, how long should I wait for? Cuz I’ve been waiting a long time and nothing has happened.

To be honest, I don’t think God tells us how long we should keep believing. It’s funny, but God doesn’t seem to exist in our small minded understanding of time. His word says one day is like a thousand years in His eyes (2 Peter 3:8). So how long is long enough for God? It certainly isn’t according to our time table. So that means that we believe until we receive. Did God speak? If so, continue to have faith in what He said and be patient about it. It might be 1 day, it might be 50 years. But the strength of your faith is determined on your ability to keep believing in what He promised until He answers.

When God doesn’t answer right away, don’t abort. The longer you wait, recognize that He is trying to teach you something. It’s probably Patience!

Posted by schadah in How He Loves Me, Uncategorized Tags: Christian, Christianity, faith, God, hope, patience, peace