Chapter Nine; The Faith for Daily Life

Eliminate stress?

Enjoy Daily Life?

Sounds good but is it possible?  By developing the faith habit, we can learn to learn to turn our troubles over to God and find joy in all circumstance.  By developing the “faith” habit we can slowly eliminate the “worry” habit.

Joyce tells us to verbalize our faith.  Say frequently “I trust God” or “I believe God is working in my life & circumstances right now.”

In the daily devotional of the Jesus Calling, January 4^th start out with the following:

“I want you to learn a new habit.  Try saying “I trust You Jesus” in response to whatever happens to you.”

By verbalizing our beliefs and hearing them out loud, we will start believing what we say.  We can stop those lies that tell us "we can’t" or "we are not good enough" by replacing those negative thoughts with the truths found in God’s word.

God tells us that we do not have to have this huge, enormous faith.

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20

God is bigger that any problem or mountain that stands in our way.

Turn the page to January 5 of Jesus Calling and it says:

“You can achieve the victorious life through living in deep dependence on Me.”

God does not want us to live life depending on our own strength and only calling Him when all else fails.  He wants to be included in every part of our life.  Walking with & trusting in Him each step of the way.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

As I think about faith and developing the daily faith habit, I am reminded how important finding a few minutes each morning to get in God’s word sets the tone for how my day will go.   Not long ago I had a really bad day that started by waking up late and continually went down hill from there.  I was discussing my day with my son and how I was physically & emotionally drained.  He asked me if I had my quiet time that morning.  He knows I like to get up and spend time with the Lord while drinking my coffee.  Well that morning I did not get my quiet time in.   Even if I only have a few minutes, I need to make time to read and pray.  Sometimes I will only have 10 minutes in the morning and can dig deeper at lunch but that 10 minutes is key for me to develop the right attitude.

Today was another perfect example.  I started a new exercise video this morning but did not allow enough time for my quiet time.  I thought I will get to work early & type my blog and look up some bible verses then.  Well as you know, I left the blog I had written at home.  My morning ended up a scattered mess and I just did not feel quite right.  Luckily this afternoon after spending some time in the bible and re-creating this blog message, I do feel better.

How do you start your day?  Before getting out of bed each morning, I try to say a simple prayer.  “Lord Jesus, I love you”  “Thank you, Jesus for today.”   If I want Jesus to be an active part in my day, I have to invite Him into my day.

I like this simple prayer based on Ephesians 3:17-19

“Lord, make your home in my heart through faith today. I open my heart to you. Make my heart your home a little more today. Dear Lord, make your home in every room of my heart.” - See more at: http://holdingtotruth.com/2012/08/16/10-prayers-every-morning/#sthash.9wnU3Ajg.dpuf

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:17-19

Jesus doesn’t need the daily reminder but He knows I do.  He is there waiting for me to make the choice to include Him each & every second of the day.  What do you choose today?

Father God, thank you for the gift of today.  Thank you for loving us with a love that surpasses all knowledge.  Help us to live in deep dependence on You, fully trusting You for our every need.  Be with each family represented by the women participating in this study.   Calm our hearts and fill us with your peace.  Let us find joy in all circumstances and giving thanks to You.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Until next week, much love,
Melanie