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We may not always feel God's physical presence, but the bible secures us that God's spirit is within us and with us. Zephaniah prophesied that God rejoices over us and sings over our lives; songs of victory, life, and even purpose. He's not only with you, He's FOR you. We will go through different seasons, and that's okay. But when you are feeling less than strong, when you are doubting if you're able to handle everything you are facing, refuse to let the enemy lead you to believe that the Lord is not there for you. His promise is this: His hand is in every moment, every circumstance, every event and every situation. And beyond that, our God is one step ahead in the moments we haven't even lived yet.
Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
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God's running this race of life, right alongside of you. Don't mistake His invisibility for absence. Many times we have so many "imaginations" about who and what God is, that we miss what He's really doing. He is so with you. You don't have to "find" Him as much as you need to learn how to connect with Him. He's a genuine Savior and he's right within your reach. Love Him for real, speak to Him sincerely, be honest--be who you are and allow Him to transform you into everything He has made you to be. Trust that He is in every moment and start looking and listening out for what He has to say. Life live with Him.
Hebrews 4:15 If Christ is in you, you are everything He is . In Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul says that God puts all of the greatness of His power toward us. You're an investment to the Lord. When we make an investment here on the earth, we value and treasure it because we want to make sure that all we have poured out or saved doesn't go to waste. God doesn't want anything He put into you to go to waste. He wars over you; fights the enemy over you, prays for you. There is a greatness on the inside of you because Christ is there, giving you everything He has to succeed and WIN. Trust that the Lord knows how to get you across the finish line in whatever you do. #greatnessinyou 15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[c] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Ephesians 1:15-21)
I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart. Psalm 119:32 Right there in the middle of the school work, projects, trips and responsibilities that come with your everyday life and routine is the need to be close to and connected to God. He is everything--our source of strength, confidence, wisdom. If you make time to seek Him, you will have what you need to conquer everything else. What are you facing today? He has an answer if you seek Him. When we want to hear His voice, He increases us to be able to do that, so simply ask.
Pray: God help me to take time to seek your voice in my life. I need to hear what you think; I need to understand your will and know your direction for me. You are everything to me, help me not to forget that. In Jesus' name, Amen. Read: 2 Samuel 22: 37 and study Daniel 7 this week. Adia Peterson
Founder, KingdomFive! Student Ministries When I was growing up, I always second guessed myself. Always. It was hard for me to be confident about my decisions, opinions, and beliefs. You name it--I was insecure about it. In Christ we know there is no insecurity, only 100% assurance. YET....doubt seems to show up in our lives whether we want it there or not! As a young person thirsting after God, know that doubt is an enemy of your purpose. It will show up to make sure we are not confident enough to do what God has asked (Jeremiah 1), or we won't move forward unless we have such and such signs from Him that He will be with us. We can learn four key lessons from how the Lord helped Joshua get ready to take the reigns of power after Moses died, to help us battle fear and doubt for good. God is clear about what He wants from you. Joshua 1: 2 Know that God is not doubting. If he gave you a command, he has confidence in you and in the ability He put in you to accomplish that mission. God is not second-guessing His choice about using you.
"No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." Joshua 1:5 "For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua 1:8 But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Jeremiah 1:7 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5 Adia Peterson
Founder, KingdomFive! Student Ministries PERSEVERE Know that a life of you and God together means you will need to learn to persevere and persevere well. Remember that God is a deity, a king, a sovereign and father. He's going to love you and support you, but He will also challenge you, push you to go deeper. You're young, yes. But your youth does not mean God will not require you to be strong. Read Jeremiah 1 for more insight on this. Also check out David's speech to King Saul in 1 Samuel do not say I am a youth... Life is going to throw some curve balls your way--learn to hit them out of the ballpark. The more prepared you are for adversity, the better you become at overcoming it. Don't expect God to erase difficulty; ask Him for the grace to conquer. Ask Him to teach you what it takes to endure, and to win. UNITE Make it a point to work with God in making your life work. Understand His point of view and work at agreeing with Him. When you are bonded with the Lord, you can't miss. Ask God to help you get in sync with His purpose and plan. What can you do to be on the same page? Get the answers you need from Him. There will be times when His will for your life is not so crystal clear. Dig into your word and seek His voice. Find out what you need to do to align yourself with the direction He wants you to take. STRATEGIZE Have a plan when it comes to thriving in your relationship with the Lord. Just like with every other goal you set out to accomplish, having a clear strategy is a key to seeing that goal through. Blanket statements don't work. Instead of saying, "I want to get closer to the Lord this year," be specific. "Every morning I'm going to spend 30 minutes in prayer before my day gets going." The more specific you are, the more you will fight to achieve what you set out to do. Relationships are hard work, period. Your relationship with God is no exception. Mapping out a strategy for how you plan to stay close to Him means you'll always have a blueprint to go by when life starts throwing the unexpected at you. Truth: you're not going to feel excited about what's happening with you and God everyday--some days you will feel impatient, frustrated, stuck! Other times He will say something that challenges you, makes you feel uncomfortable even. Don't retreat. Keep P.U.S.H.ing and work your plan. Faithfulness and diligence go a long way with God. HEAR Be willing to listen and hear what God has to say. To do this, you've got to put yourself in a place, in a posture to receive the Lord's voice concerning your life--to hear His thoughts and intents about you. This is easier said than done because to really hear Him, means you have put aside your opinions 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 Trust has an ugly truth...it's hard to do! Trust requires us to believe that someone else has our best interest at heart. And many times, you have to believe that to the point of taking that person at their word. The reality is, this doesn’t always turn out the way we’d hoped. And yes, people that you trust can let you down. We are human, and that means we don’t always get it right. But there is a trust that is greater than the trust that we place in one another. A trust that God our father in heaven, loved us enough to give, and that Jesus the Son of God, sacrificed His own life to help us keep. When you trust God, you are saying, “I believe you have the best in mind for me so I will let you take the lead, even if I cannot see how what you are doing is going to work…” Sound familiar?? We have all been there–trusting in God can feel like your walking with a blindfold on with no one leading the way. But remember this, seeing isn’t everything. Sometimes, even when our eyes are wide open we can still bump into a wall. We trust the Lord, not because we can see or understand all that He does, but because we believe in what He knows. If you believe without doubt, that He created and fashioned all of our days, then you have to trust that He’s already ahead of you at the next step and wouldn’t steer you the wrong way. The choice to trust is always yours, but trusting in the Lord is a worthy risk. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 There's no such thing as getting too much of God. Everything about Him is extraordinary, amazing, life-changing, immense! We could spend every day of our life here on earth in God's presence and still not have enough time to grasp everything there is to know about who He is. In your relationship with the Lord don't sell yourself short! Press for Him and pursue Him with everything you have. Seek Him for every answer, every wise response, every mystery, every purpose and plan He has for you. The prophet Isaiah knew a little something about pressing the Lord, even harassing Him until He responded: Isaiah 62:7 And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
It's okay to harass the Lord, to never let up on Him. To never get enough of His presence in your life, to refuse to settle for just a part of Him. Go the distance in your relationship with the Lord and never sell yourself short. If you have been praying for a long time about something specific--hold fast. The greatest reward, the greatest answer to prayer is for those that can endure. Read Philippians 3 and 4 for more insight on this and challenge yourself to go after all God has for you this week. |
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