God Bothers My Faith...

THIS WEEK’S FOCUSED SCRIPTURE

Luke 8, Luke 9, Luke 10, Luke 11:1-28 (NLT)

THOUGHTS FROM MOISES‍

Many times, we have no idea what God wants to do in our lives. We do not understand that it is up to us to define if His Word will produce life or if it will simply be something temporary.

The Scriptures lead us to desire His authority and thus be people who pour out on others what we have received from Him.

As I am writing this, it came to my mind the time in which I had the opportunity to be a missionary; it was really fascinating! But at the same time, I was put to the test when we were threatened with death for entering a small town to preach the Word of God. Before entering there, our leader warned us that many Christians had been killed there. It is impressive to realize that it is not enough to say that you love God and all His mighty works, but that the conviction of your relationship with Him must also be real.

The disciples walked with Jesus (Luke 9), palpated with their own hands the wonders of His power; however, they were still wrong. They were still being perfected.

Is it not true that the discomfort of the roads and the needs are always an excuse to tell God that He needs to wait? For what? For nothing really, but we refuse to seek His purpose, His will, His call (Luke 10). We say “no” to the opportunity to make a difference in the world.

I already shared with you that we entered a small town ... many terrible things happened before we got there. It was shocking to see that only one family from that place received us and invited us to eat what they had. When we found out that we were in danger for having preached in the streets and houses, we literally had to get out of there quickly.  We heard there were many people coming to hurt us and they were heading in our direction. Why do I share this? Because I had never experienced such a confrontation. Never had my faith been put to such a test. For the first time, I recognized that I serve a real God.

I also understood that credit and honor belong to God, not to me. Why do I mention it? Luke 10:16-20 says that the disciples were excited that the demons submitted to them, but Jesus mentioned that that was not the most important thing. The important thing is that our relationship with God is legitimate and lasting.

Today I invite you to think. I ask you to reflect on what is in your hands ... to value, from the depths of your heart, your relationship with God. The thousands of responsibilities are no excuse to tell God "I can’t."

Read the following: "I miss the time we spent together, I need to be with you today, but it hurts Me when you say, ‘I can’t.’ You affirm today that you serve Me, but how can you serve Me, if your spirit is empty without Me...” These words come from a song that confronted my spirit and my soul many years ago. It made me return to God. It made me recognize that I was not looking for God anymore.

Meditate on the following this week about the time you spent praying, reading the Word of God, fasting. Meditate on the things that happened ... God wants them to happen again. He wants you to Set Apart time to be with Him again … not only for you to serve Him...