Tag: strength

First Trinity, Random

God’s Word is Strong!

Rebekah Freed

One of the most common reasons some people struggle to believe Christianity and/or Jesus is true comes down to a simple game of “telephone”.

You’ve all played the game before: One person starts with a phrase and whispers it to the next person. That person whispers it to another and so on, until it gets to the last person. What makes this “telephone” game fun is the fact that by the time the last person receives the message, “The cow jumped over the moon” somehow mysteriously turns into “My cat escaped from the zoo.” We see this in real life too, right? We called it gossip or the rumor mill. The truth gets twisted in 16 different ways as it moves from person to person.

Because much of the Bible was passed on orally for many years before it was written down, people just assume that somehow the message must have changed along the way. If “The cow jumped over the moon” can’t pass through 6 people accurately sitting in the same room, how can we trust that whole Biblical accounts could be passed on from generation to generation to generation and still be 100% without fault?

Well, the answer is quite simple:
GOD’S WORD IS STRONG!

I got to see this in action this past Sunday when I had a chance to play an extreme game of “telephone” while leading the children’s message in worship. I started out sharing a message with a few of the kids and then asked them to go share it 3-4 other people out in the congregation. Then, each of the people who heard the message were to pass it along until everyone in the sanctuary had heard the message. Here’s where the risk came in: I then asked the whole congregation, on the count of 3, to say what they heard.

The possibility for disaster was great and I was dreading trying to make the connection with the theme that needed to be made if the message came back all mixed up. But it was time to see the results and when “3” came around, the message echoed clearly through the sanctuary:

“Jesus is alive and He loves you!”

At first I was amazed that it actually worked! (Especially since some of my first messengers where only a few years old!). Then it was relief that I could finish my message as planned. But as I walked back from up front, I remembered:

God’s Word is strong!

It has power unlike anything else! It’s indestructible. In Matthew 24:35 we read:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away”

And we see these verses in Isaiah:

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (40:8)

“[My Word] will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (55:11)

I’m so thankful for things like “risky” children’s messages that God can use to remind me of simple, but POWERFUL truths about who He is and the beautiful gift He’s given us in His Word!

So whatever joy or struggle you’re in the midst of, remember this: God’s Word is strong and powerful and God longs for that strength and power to be unleashed in our lives each and every day!

(Oh and P.S. Jesus is alive and He LOVES you! … Now go tell a friend!)

20130430-221346.jpg

Bekah's Heart

One of THOSE days

Rebekah Freed

Have you ever had one of THOSE days… I think you know the kind I’m talking about:

Those days when nothing bad really happens, but from the moment your feet hit the floor (and perhaps before) you realize everything is going to be a battle.

Those days when it seems Satan got a head start on the day… on your heart.
Where every lie, distraction, or frustration possible makes it in, and God’s request for us to “guard your heart” (Prov 4:23) becomes harder with each passing moment.
Oh you want to believe the truth: you are beautiful, you are enough, you are Mine! But each truth seems to be countered with a million lies.

Those days when you’re in the Word and you’re in prayer but the battle still just feels too big.

Those days when you long for the comfort and care of another human being and God says, “look to me” Yet we fight against that, telling God, “that’s not good enough.”

Those days when God shows up in amazing, perhaps even miraculous ways, and our response is all too often… “Thanks, God, BUT…”

Those days when the only way to describe yourself is as “in a funk”… unsure of what that means, how you got there, nor when or how it will end.

Those days when finally, you turn to God and say, “I JUST CAN’T FIGHT ANYMORE!”
And He simply replies, “I will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Ex 14:14)

 

Slowly, THAT truth is one you can hold onto, one you can trust, one you can rest and wait in until the funk passes…

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-30)

 

And the paradox rings true in Christ: our strength builds in giving up.

The battle is too big … for me to fight alone. But our God is the everlasting God, the Creator of the earth… nothing is too big for Him.

Life Lessons Learned in the Kitchen

A Need to Be Kneaded

Rebekah Freed

After my post about making bread last night, I decided to investigate WHY bread needs to be kneaded.  As I did a google search and read what www.wisegeek.com had to say about it, I was amazed at how God was STILL speaking to me through the simple act of baking bread.

 

Check out one of the reason behind kneading:

“One of the most important things that takes place during the kneading process is the development of gluten. As the flour that makes up the dough is moistened and stirred, the gluten begins to form and also gains in strength as the dough is subjecting to the kneading process. Gluten can be thought of as the binding agent within the dough, allowing the loaf to take on a cohesive texture that will allow the substance to not fall apart during baking.”

Do you see it?  Do you see the connections?!?

 

Yesterday in my post I was talking about God kneading truth into my life.  As this happens… I get stronger. 

 

As I submit to the kneading process… something that would probably be labeled as “weak” in this world… I actually gain strength. 

 

That truth works with the other ingredients that make up everyday life and becomes the binding agent that holds my life together and allows me to not fall apart when the tough times occur.

 

Bread of Life, knead Your truth into my life every moment of everyday!  Remind me to submit to this process, that I may gain strength to face whatever comes my way.

Bekah's Heart, Devotional, Joy

Joyfullyblessed… with HOPE!

Rebekah Freed

Hope.  We use this word so often that I think it has lost some of it’s meaning. 
“I hope it doesn’t rain today.”
“I hope ‘such-n-such’ sports team wins their game.”
”I hope I did okay on my test/work project/etc.”

 

But truly, hope is a much greater concept.   When we really look at hope, we realize that often it is all we have… and that is is more than enough… that is, when our hope is found in something bigger than if someone notices our new outfit or we succeed in whatever we do today.

 

To not have hope is truly a horrible thing… a scary thing… a DANGEROUS thing.  BUT to have true hope, is beautiful beyond words.

“God did this so that… we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. …” (Hebrews 6:18-19a)

An anchor.  Something stable.  Isn’t that what we all really want in life… isn’t that what we all really need.  HOPE.  And not just some flimsy half-hope as if wishing for something that probably won’t happen.  In this crazy, chaotic, painful, confusing world, we need hope that anchors us to the Unchangeable, Immovable, ROCK… Jesus.

“… [Hope] enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf….” (Hebrews 6:19b-20a) 

Just as an anchor on a ship holds the boat firm in the wind and the waves, this anchor, hope, settles in to the deep love of Jesus and holds us firm and secure no matter what life brings.  What a beautiful picture to know that we can set our hope in Jesus.

 

I could end here but my heart yearns to go further… what about those who have no hope or have tried to place that anchor in things other than Jesus.

 

Have you ever known such a person?  I have.  The darkness in their souls goes so deep.  Their pain becomes unbearable and hope is “lost”.  Maybe you not only know that person, maybe you ARE that person.  And I guess the question begs itself… how is hope restored?

 

And strangely enough, on this chilly October day, my thoughts shift to a well-known Christmas carol, “O Holy Night”:

Long lay the world In sin and error pining,
‘Til He appear’d And the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.

Pining.  Longing.  Yearning. To hunger.  To ache.

 

I believe this really describes that person who has “lost” hope.  I believe this really describes each and every one of us at one point in time or another as we are caught in our “sin and error”… we’re left longing for more.

‘TIL HE APPEAR’D! 

 

That’s the key… THAT’S the transition… that’s… the HOPE!

 

Only when we see Jesus can our soul feel its worth.  “I’m worth something.”  That’s what the the hopeless soul needs to be reminded of.  Suddenly a thrill of hope appears and not just hope… but JOY as well… suddenly breaking through the deep shadows of a soul comes a newness… restoration… LIFE.

 

Hope is restored when we set our eyes back on Jesus… when we admit that we’re not in control… when we realize our weariness … when we recognize that self-effort just doesn’t cut it.

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives STRENGTH TO THE WEARY and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall;

but those who HOPE in the Lord will renew their strength.

  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

~ Isaiah 40:28-31 ~

 

DSCF6823