Hope Unstoppable: 31 Day Devotional, Page 3

  In Jesus’ name,

  Amen

  Day 10

  Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

  And lean not on your own understanding;

  In all your ways acknowledge Him,

  And He shall direct your paths.

  —Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

  Crawling out of a dark pit sometimes needs to be done blindly. The Lord certainly invites us to do so following only the sound of His voice through His written Word. He asks for blind faith, trust without borders, an infinite amount of confidence placed in what we cannot physically see.

  People of this world are impressed with many things, ranging from houses, cars, clothes, and expensive jewelry. Even the latest and greatest phone can raise a brow of approval. But God isn’t impressed with any of those. If you want to impress God, show up with copious amounts of unstoppable faith.

  Jesus, Himself, was impressed with the Centurion commander who assured Jesus He needn’t waste His time in traveling to heal his servant, simply His Word would do. We need to show up with the faith of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13) and wow Jesus with our faith in what He is capable of. And since He is capable of doing far more than we can ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20), we need to take the lid off our expectations, shoot our goals and dreams through the stratosphere, and acknowledge that even that isn’t enough. God can bless us beyond our wildest dreams, beyond the reaches of our finite imaginations. Put your hope in Him, rest in faith, and trust Him with your life. You’ve already seen what you can do. Now let’s see where He directs your paths. Give Him all the praise and glory by acknowledging Him at every turn. Your life might be the epitome of a hellish mess. You might be in a perfect storm of chaos, but know that the one who controls the weather, who controls the circumstances of your very life, is merciful.

  Trust in Him.

  He will direct your path and get you where you need to be no matter how badly battered the boat you’re in may be.

  Lord, praise Your holy name. Thank you for wrapping Your loving arms around us and reminding us that You have a perfect path for us to take—that You are indeed directing our steps upon it. We trust You. Help increase our faith and make it perfect. We lean not on our own understanding. We have exasperated ourselves and lost who we are in this state of confusion. You created us out of dust. You breathed life into our bodies. You sent Your Son to die for us. Thank you for assuring us we are Your children. Thank you for pointing us to Your precious Son, who we put our faith in.

  In Jesus’ name,

  Amen

  Day 11

  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

  —Colossians 1:13-17 (NIV)

  The word rescue invokes so much powerful, yet tragic, imagery for me. A child dangling from a rooftop, people trapped in a burning building, an oncoming car and the inevitable crash of steel hitting steel. There are times in everyone’s life when they are in need of rescue. The Lord not only realizes this, He has already sent the rescuer.

  Are you familiar with the peril of needing immediate assistance? I sure am. I had proverbially set the building of my life on fire. The blaze was burning out of control and I was choking on the smoke. Jesus was my only hope, and if not for his immediate response, I would have spiritually burned down with it.

  God is interested in your everyday life. He’s very interested in your spiritual walk with Him as well. It’s often the moments of severe unrest in our lives that work as a spiritual vacuum, landing us before the throne of the living God, bringing us to our knees in an instant. God is not far from His children who are in distress.

  “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18 NIV) You are His child and He is with you in this mess. The enemy would love for you to believe that He has abandoned you—that He relishes in punishing you. The truth is far from it. He’s not only close to you, He is willing to help you. Indeed, He will rescue you. You are never too far gone, too much of a lost cause, too much of a special case. God had His rescue plan ready and raring to go long before you cried out to Him. So often our go-to inclination during times of great distress is panic.

  Imagine the feverish cries of a frustrated child. Red-faced, out of breath, repeatedly crying out in agony. That’s a pretty accurate description of how I landed at the Lord’s feet once embroiled in the biggest mess of my life. I hovered over my Bible as if it were a direct line to God. I prayed on my knees, on my belly, facedown, tears pooling in the carpet. I had God’s promises on speed dial, soaking them in, drinking them down like medicine. I was desperate for God. I had known Him before that. I thought I was in a great place with Him. But I had drifted and I felt it. Deep down in my bones, I missed that intimacy I once had with Him. I was on the hamster wheel of life and had no idea how to get off. God had an idea. It piggybacked off my not-so-good idea that landed me in the mess to begin with. My mess led to a dark place, darker than the blackest night. Only the bright light of God’s love was left in my world. It turned out, it was all that I needed. Nothing else mattered. All I could do to survive was eat and breathe Jesus. God was rescuing me from the dominion of darkness, realigning my compass until it pointed straight back at Him. He rebuilt my spirit one day at a time, changed my circumstances, changed my perspective. But the real spiritual growth, the breaking down of strongholds came not when I was red-faced and screaming like an unruly toddler, but when I quieted my spirit, sat at the feet of Jesus, and opened my heart and mind to Him.

  “Be still and know that I am God,” the scripture tells us. (Psalm 40:10 NIV) We need to be still, to trust, to build faith like a muscle. God has a better plan, a better way. He’s leading me down that path. And He’s ready to do it for you, too.

  Lord, thank you from the depths of our soul that You not only rescued us, but that You give us the grace to go through the storm. We are assured by Your perfect Word that You will deliver us safely to the other side. Although the ship sways and falls apart, You will land us where we need to be regardless of our circumstances. Thank You, Jesus, for enveloping us like a vessel. One in which we can dwell in as we go from strength to strength and land on the other side of this life into Your loving arms.

  Praise You, Jesus, in the storm. You control the weather. We have no doubt that You will blow our ships to the destiny that awaits us and lead us calmly into safe harbors.

  May we be bright lights to a dark world for Your glory.

  In Jesus’ name,

  Amen

  Day 12

  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

  —Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

  If you’ve given your life to Christ and come to Him in full repentance, offering your best to obey His commands, you already have it all. But life isn’t so simple, and as we continue this journey, there will be needs to be met—a goal, a dream, financial aid, or anything in between. God cares about your desires no matter if it’s to find a great parking spot at the grocery store or to be healed of a devastating disease. God cares for you, as simple as that. Learning to trust God to meet our needs and guide us on this journey called life, not only do we have to surrender our complete trust in Him, but we have to bring something really big to the table—faith. The very definition of faith is believing or trusting in something or somebody. The Bible defines it this way: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)

  The verse listed above states plainly that it is impossible to please God without
faith. Do you want to please God? Pleasing God is likely at the top of any believer’s spiritual to-do list. This is a point worthy to drive home. It pleases God to show up with massive amounts of faith.

  The second part of the verse speaks a direct blessing to those who earnestly seek God. If you’re speaking with Jesus throughout the day, pouring your heart out, conversing as if He were your friend—and He is!—immersing yourself in His Word, you are indeed earnestly seeking Him. God’s promise in this verse is to reward you for your efforts. A reward from God is better than anything a human can ever offer you. I invite you to earnestly seek Him with me. You will find a loving Father, a Savior who redeems you, and His Holy Spirit to fill your very being with His love. And above and beyond, He will reward you with more of Him.

  Father, thank you for Your wonderful promises. You are above and beyond what we could imagine. Thank you for revealing Yourself to us. Although we are not worthy, You have poured out Your love over us and called us Your children. We seek You earnestly. Not for what Your hand could give us but to see the beauty of Your face. Thank You for the promise of a great reward. You are great indeed.

  In Jesus’ name,

  Amen

  Day 13

  He said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.

  —Matthew 9:24-26 (NIV)

  Are you familiar with the story? Jesus is walking along a crowded street, the masses have come out to adore Him, begging Him for healing, and some like the woman with the bleeding merely touched the hem of his robe for healing. Let me set the scene. Matthew 9 begins by telling us that Jesus just arrived by boat to his hometown. By this time, His fame as a healer was hitting a pinnacle. Not only was He great at gathering a crowd and regaling them with parables, but when He touched the sick and the lame they were as good as new. People realized His power. They wanted it. They came looking for it. They received it.

  Jesus’ day was about to get busy. No sooner did Jesus step off the boat than He healed a paralytic carried over by his friends. (Side note: what great friends to help this man who could not move on his own. No doubt they carried him a great distance in hopes for his miracle.) No sooner did Jesus perform this miracle than He spotted a man named Matthew sitting in a tax collector’s booth and asked Mathew to follow Him, which further infuriated His opposition. After all, tax collectors were generally frowned upon. As if His day wasn’t exciting enough, John’s disciples came and questioned Jesus about the lack of fasting His disciples partook in—and as He was answering, a synagogue leader emerged from the crowd and knelt before Him. The synagogue leader let Jesus know that his daughter was sick and implored Jesus to come with him to lay His hand on her. He had heard and most likely seen what Jesus could do. His daughter was sick. She was dying. He was desperate. He knew his only hope was Jesus. How relieved he must have been to hear the roar of the swelling crowd. It could only mean one thing. Jesus was back in town just in time to heal the sick. He was going to make sure his daughter was one of them. Upon his request, Jesus and his disciples immediately got up and went with him. Just as they were cruising through the crowd, someone came up from behind and touched the hem of Jesus’ robe, a woman with a bleeding issue. Jesus turned around and assured her that her faith had healed her.

  Finally, Matthew 9:23 (NIV) reads: “When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, ‘Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.”

  Jesus did what He set out to do. I’m sure the synagogue leader was beyond happy. His family had been restored. His daughter was alive and healed. Who were these mourners who doubted Jesus? Surely they too must have been exposed to His miraculous powers of healing. But this girl wasn’t in need of healing anymore in their eyes. She had stopped breathing. The color was most likely gone from her skin. They knew what death looked like and they were staring it in the face. In those days it was customary for many to gather after a family experienced a loss and surely losing a child was a big one. Mourners came out, wailing, and funeral music was already blaring into the neighborhood, assuring everyone in the vicinity that the leader’s daughter had passed. I’m sure the synagogue leader heard this as well. But he knew he had a secret weapon with him—no matter how hard the doubts tried to take him down, make him admit defeat. He had something better than a doctor. He had the healer Himself by his side. Jesus was laughed at when he informed the wailers and the musicians to stop their chaos. He informed them that she was merely sleeping and they had a good chuckle over that one. He then threw them out on their rears. No doubt the father of the girl was thrilled to do it, do anything to make the funeral procession that had already begun stop midflight. Once the unbelievers were gone, Jesus did what He always did. He healed her. He took the girl by the hand and she got up. No surgeries, no medicine, no laborious process that involved a year of bedrest. She got up. Simple as that.

  Yes, that was the account of one of His busiest days and He handled it with aplomb. He can handle whatever you give Him. Feel free to interrupt Him. He has no problem with it as outlined in His Word.

  So many of us have problems, issues in our lives that are so far gone they’re as good as dead. We need to have the faith of the synagogue leader. We need to bring Jesus to the nexus of the problem, throw out our doubts, the funeral parade going strong in our minds. No situation is too far gone for our Savior. We simply need his hand to touch it, to tell it to get up. We need Him. Take your impossibilities to Him right now. Pour them out at His beautiful feet and ask for one touch of mercy, His favor, His never-ending grace.

  Lord, thank you that we can bring You our impossibilities. Thank You that You care enough to immediately hear our heart. Thank you that with You nothing is impossible. Praise You for raising a dead girl thousands of years ago and that her miracle still echoes today and gives us hope. Thank you for the resurrection of Your Son Jesus and that His blood still echoes through the ages offering us the forgiveness of sins and an eternity in Your presence. We begin that eternal journey right now in our coats of flesh, as we press in close to You in the time of our troubles. Heal our impossible situations. Speak healing into our lives. Use us as a light to shine for Your Son.

  In Jesus’ name,

  Amen

  Day 14

  My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,

  and do not resent his rebuke,

  because the Lord disciplines those he loves,

  as a father the son he delights in.

  —Proverbs 3:11-12 (NIV)

  It is inevitable that our flesh tries to reason out our pain by pointing the finger at God. But feel free to smother those feelings like the flame of a candle. More often than not, our pain and suffering is a human condition brought on by a human chain of events.

  God’s Word tells us that Jesus died for our sins. If we were not sinners to begin with, embroiled in a heavy cycle of sinning as far as humanity spans through the ages, there would have been no need for it. But those the Lord calls His own He desires to correct as any good father. This does not mean that God is turning His back on you. Rather, God is wooing you back to Him, to His perfect ways, to perfect obedience. He loves you. He wants the best for you. The circumstances that led you into the pit were not the perfect steps He had ordained for you.

  Our response should be uncomplicated: repent, obey, follow His way. But the Lord knows that even that seemingly simple request can be arduously difficult. Through His grace, He has given us Jesus to walk beside, and the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us, whispering His words of encouragement to our hearts. Let’s allow Jesus to walk us out of this storm one step at a time. Truly, ignore the water beneath your feet and keep your eyes on Jesus.

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nbsp; Lord, bless Your Holy name. Through Your infinite love for us, You to show us the way even though we’ve done nothing to deserve it. You call us out of the pit. You lend us a hand to pull us to safety. You show us the bright light of Your love through Jesus. Help us to never forget the love You show us in our darkest hour.

  Thank you.

  In Jesus’ name,

  Amen

  Day 15

  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall apart from the will of your Father.

  —Matthew 10:29 (NIV)

  Jesus spoke the above words. He is making it abundantly clear that God is ultimately in control of our destiny. The next two verses read: “Indeed, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:30-31 NIV)

  God values human life. He values you. He values you so much Jesus Himself came down and became man to serve us, to sacrifice His life for our sins. When life’s unpredictable and grueling challenges come at us full force, and seem to be winning, remember that God is ultimately in control of your destiny. Man may have counted you out, locked you up, and thrown away the key, but remain a prisoner of hope, determined to obey and believe the One who died for you. God is in control of your days. He can turn any situation around with one touch of His favor. He is higher than any man, more powerful than your problems, far stronger than anything that opposes you. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, your healer, your redeemer, your Savior. He is well able to melt the many things that plague us like snow. He is all-powerful. With Him, nothing is impossible. How glorious is it that He cares so much about us? You are special to Him. He is always aware of you. He knows your heart. He is with you even now in the midst of life’s turmoil. He has a good plan for you, and He is leading the way.