DAY 5 – DEEPEN MY FAITH
By: Neena Ratner
[/nectar_highlighted_text][text-with-icon icon_type=”font_icon” icon=”icon-book” color=”Accent-Color”]SCRIPTURE:
ROMANS 10:17
“So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.”[/text-with-icon][text-with-icon icon_type=”font_icon” icon=”icon-user” color=”Accent-Color”]DEVOTIONAL:
Faith is defined as having “complete trust and confidence in someone or some thing“ (Oxford Dictionary). When navigating through the Christian walk, there’s a moment in every single believers life where they come to have faith in Jesus. Somewhere along their journey to Know God, they will eventually come to a halt, and have a “moment”, a realization that their next step is one solely based on Faith. You can be raised in a strong Christian household, go to Christian school or college, know a ton of facts about Jesus, but you are not saved until you put your complete trust in Him as your Savior.
I love reflecting on the Christmas story and Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel. Check out what she encountered: “And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” -Luke 1:30-31 Mary processed this and said, “Let it be done to me” (Luke 1:38) What faith!! I can only imagine the fear… the unknown… even the shame she would probably go through from outsiders who didn’t understand… but Mary had faith. She trusted the Lord and that He would use her mightily, even to carry the King. Think about this promise in Isaiah 7:14 and now it was coming to fruition centuries later… “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Charles Spurgeon says, “To trust God in the light is nothing, but to trust him in the dark- that is faith.” What is it that you need to trust Him with? Your health? Your children? Your finances? What do you need to completely place in His hands and have confidence that He has a plan already in place and will do what’s best? Perhaps you need to call on Him as your Lord and Savior and completely trust that He is who He says He is.
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→ Start reading through a Gospel to read about the life of Jesus. You can choose between Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Even though you may not always feel like it, reading His Word daily is what is going to fuel your faith or even unleash it. Remember faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word. You may not have all the answers, but you can be sure that you will encounter countless stories of when people’s faith moved them into action and it also moved the heart of Jesus Himself[/text-with-icon][text-with-icon icon_type=”font_icon” icon=”fa fa-hand-paper-o” color=”Accent-Color”]PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of faith. Thank You that You are trustworthy and we can place our full confidence in You. You are who You say You are and Your plan for us is good, pleasing, and perfect. We may not always understand the full picture like Mary, but we can put our yes on the table and trust You to do the rest! In Jesus Name, Amen.[/text-with-icon]
