Faith Archives - FollowingJesusUS.com

Expecting God to Answer!

A good friend of mine sent this, just had to share 🙂

“Once upon a time, as a drought continued for what seemed an eternity, a small community of farmers were in a dilemma as to what to do. Rain was important to keep their crops healthy and sustain the way of life of the townspeople. As the problem became worse, a local pastor called a prayer meeting to ask for rain. Many people arrived. The pastor greeted most of them as they filed in. As he walked to the front of the church to officially begin the meeting, he noticed most people were chatting across the aisle and socializing with friends. When he reached the front his thoughts were on quieting the attendees and starting the meeting. His eyes looked over the crowd as he asked for quiet. He noticed an eleven-year-old girl, sitting quietly in the front row. Her face was beaming with excitement. Next to her, poised and ready for use, was a bright red umbrella! The little girl’s appearance and innocence made the pastor smile, as he realized how much faith she possessed. No one else in the congregation had brought an umbrella. All came to pray for rain, but the little girl had come expecting God to answer!

When you go to your Heavenly Father in prayer, that His Will be done for your request, are you coming to Him expecting an answer? Faith IS that His Answer will be for His Best for you – to Complete His Will and Purpose in your life! Will it always be what you think you should receive? Probably NOT. Why? Simply because you are unable to see the future impacts to your life and for those He Will cross your path with. God knows EXACTLY what you need for Him and others, before being called Home. Normally, it IS SO easy to kick and scream – be bitter when you do not think His Answer IS correct for you. Thank God that He Loves and Cares for you SO much, that His Mercy and Grace covers you, even when you complain about it! Please remember to thank God for ALL He does for you! Thank Him for ALL His Answers!

My thoughts and prayers are that you have faith in God, Truly Trusting in Him to give you His Best. Trials and tribulations, that you encounter on earth, are also seen by others – of what your actions are regarding them. These are greater opportunities to be His Witness and Example – far more than you can imagine! In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.”

Keep Praying 🙂

Faith Over Fear

Faith over fear: what does that mean exactly?

It does not mean that bad things will never happen to us. After all, we know that here on earth, bad things happen to good people. Just as we know that Jesus told us that in this world, “we would have troubles”.

However, one thing that it does mean is that if we Follow Jesus -in the end – we will go to Heaven where there will be only Joy and Peace for all eternity 🙂

Faith over Fear does mean that we do the right thing, even when we are afraid.

Faith over Fear also means that when we are afraid, we turn to God in prayer and ask for His Help, for “our Help comes from the Lord” always. And there is no situation on this earth that God is not able to handle 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Never Stop Praying!

A great friend of mine wrote this and sent it to me. It was so good; I just had to share 🙂

NEVER Stop Praying!!

“Fervent prayer IS a very important part of spiritual warfare. In fact, it IS the Lifeblood of those who seek to be Victorious in Jesus Christ. That’s why the evil one would like nothing better than to keep you from praying, so he sends distractions, delays, and disappointment (he is a master at these fiery darts). If for instance, you have two productive days of watchful prayer, the evil one might let you believe that you have finally mastered the discipline of prayer. Then, on the third day when you fail, he will tell you that you’re an utter failure, that you’ve completely blown it, and that there’s no use trying any further. If you miss one day in fruitful prayer, he will try to convince you that you are beyond help and hope – that you need not try again. Do NOT believe these lies!! The Good News IS, there’s a secret to overcoming this deception. As with any other area of spiritual life, if you fail, the thing to do IS begin again – Renewed and Refreshed by the Holy Spirit! There is NO permanent failure in learning to be a faithful disciple of Jesus. If you have a bad day in your prayer life – do NOT give in to the evil one’s tactics that are designed to keep you from praying. NEVER stop praying!!!”

“The enemy wants to keep you from developing a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which he knows will bring Joy and Peace to you. SO, by the Mercy and Grace of your Heavenly Father, you need to commit to keep on praying! Only in the process of praying, will you find the meaning of life: a Dynamic, Personal Relationship with the Creator, the Living Lord, the Babe of Bethlehem, the Savior of the cross, the Resurrection-morning Victor, the Only One who IS Life to you. A well-known Billy Graham story is about a woman who wrote that she had pleaded in prayer for ten years, for the conversion of her husband, but that he was more hardened than ever. Mr. Graham advised her to keep on praying. One day he received another letter. The husband had been gloriously saved. “Suppose she had stopped after only ten years,” said the evangelist. Then he added, “NEVER stop praying – not matter how dark and hopeless your case may seem.”

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Do Not Fear!

“I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me”-Psalm 118:5-6

This is so True! However, we tend to pray this verse when we have “large” troubles. But the Truth is, we can also pray this verse when we have “small” troubles. Perhaps we are exhausted, at the end of our rope, worried about our children or the future…

Whatever is “distressing” us, God will lift us up 🙂 For the “large place” is with God. And we need “not fear” for God will understand and have compassion no matter what our trouble is

We just need to call on Him. For it is God who can give us the Peace that only He can give 🙂

When there is trouble of any size, run to our Lord 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

We Can Share Our Faith Right Where We Are :)

“How each of us can identify with Jonah! We have been told to “go ” also and speak to the world about the great wickedness that that has come before God. We may identify with the prophet, but God forbid that we sh0uld imitate him. He fled “from the presence of the Lord”. A fish would do better to try and flee from the presence of the ocean…God is omnipresent.”- Author Unknown

Less than two percent of believers in this country ever share their faith in Christ with others.” – Dr. Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade

To “go” for God does not necessarily mean we have to go somewhere as missionaries do. We can also be a “missionary” right where we are. We can “bloom where we are planted” and we can share our faith in Jesus right where we are. Just as we can warn those around us of the “great wickedness that has come before God.” And if we haven’t done that, we can start today 🙂

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready!

Heaven IS A Place Of Light!

**Heard and Seen while Praying The Rosary**

This is important because our earth will become a place of darkness, but Heaven will remain a Place of Light. And since Heaven is a Place of Light and Heaven is our Home, no matter how dark our lives on earth grow, we will spend eternity in Light 🙂

This is where our Hope IS!

Heaven is more than any of us can imagine. It’s hard to explain Heaven, but think of all of the things you do and now think of them always going well and never having any fear! Imagine a flower touched by light and how beautiful it is! Now imagine flowers touched with God’s Light 🙂

For example, when we pick an apple or buy one. Many of us wash it, in case it has “germs”. And we do this for all the fruit we get, grapes, pears, strawberries, blueberries… But in Heaven, we will not need to wash anything and the fruit warmed by God’s light will taste so amazing :).

The gardens will be more colorful and more fragrant than we have ever seen! The colors of the flowers will be more brilliant; the fragrance will be so beautiful and exactly what we wish for.

In Heaven, we will not have to walk, if we do not wish, to go to the next beautiful site, because we will be able to simply think of it and be there.

The river will be touched by God’s light and the light will dance on it making it astoundingly beautiful! We will be able to drink straight from it with no fear of getting germs or becoming ill.

Sense a pattern here? There are no fears or fatigue or worries or pain or illness in Heaven. When we come Home, we leave all of them behind!

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”-Revelation 21:4

There will be animals in Heaven. Dogs, lions, elephants, horses, zebras…And they will be so happy! We will never need to fear an animal for they shall be happy. And not only that, we will be able to ride any of them 🙂

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” – Isaiah 11:6-9

Heaven is not some misty place where we do nothing. Heaven will be filled with awe inspiring grand adventures! And when we are done for the day (so to speak), there will be a wonderful Home for us to go to 🙂

“In My Father’s house are many mansions;” – (Jesus) John 14:2

We will be able to jump from the highest waterfall to the river with no fear! (Remember how our mother’s always said be careful that the water is deep enough lest we hit our head, lol). That won’t apply anymore, the water will always be just right!

We need never fear death, for death is just the door to Heaven. God will send His Angels to get us or come Himself. Even on our journey Home; we will not be alone!

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

If we truly choose to accept Jesus as our Savior, if we love Jesus and follow Him, we WILL go to Heaven.

We need not fear anything on this earth, for Heaven is our true Home.

When Bad Things Happen.

When bad things happen. When someone we love becomes ill or even dies, when someone who is just so very good, who seemed to do everything right, suffers, it can be a real test of faith.

But it is also when we need our faith the most. And while we are praying so hard for the person we love to be healed; we also need to be praying for ourselves and those we love. We need to Pray that our faith will not fail, but grow. We need to ask Jesus to hold on to us, even if we fail to hold on to Him. And we need to ask God to strengthen our faith and not allow it to weaken. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to Help us. To Comfort us. To lift us out of the pain we are in, if only for a while, so that we can recharge and comfort others.

And we also need to be honest in our prayers. If we don’t understand why these horrific things are happening, it’s okay to tell God that. I do. And it is okay to be angry and sad. But it is also important to end our prayer with “Thy Will Be Done”.

We only know what we want now, but God knows all of our tomorrows. In fact, God knows all of the tomorrows of every single human being and He loves us. We can Trust His love; we need too.

And perhaps most important. Faith is not about how we feel every day, but who we choose to follow. There have been a number of times in my life where I have been on my knees praying, teeth gritted, tears flowing, and forced myself to pray. And that is exactly how we sometimes get through really difficult times with our faith intact. We keep praying, even when we don’t feel like it. And even if God “feels” far away, He is not. He’s right beside us. Holding us up.

This is not Heaven. Bad things happen on earth. God does not stop them all, but He does help us walk through them. And unfortunately, with pain, that is the only way to deal with it. We have to walk through it to the other side. With God holding our hand every step of the way!

Trust God; He loves us and will not let us down. And God will never leave us.

What is “Highly Esteemed Among Men Is Abomination In The Sight Of God”

“And he said to them, You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”-Luke 16:15

There can be no doubt that many Americans, millions even, justify their actions by the approval of other human beings, rather than the approval of God. The problem with that choice (for they choose to do so) is that God does NOT approve!

We need to seek God’s Will for every choice we make in our lives. Daily prayer and the daily reading of G0d’s Word can help us to make more Godly choices. Ending every prayer with a prayer that “God’s Will Be Done” can really help 🙂

All of our choices should be chosen based on what God’s Will is for us, not man’s.

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready!

Do We “Esteem” Jesus Now?

“He is despised andrejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” – Isaiah 53:3

Jesus sacrificed so much for us. Do we esteem Jesus now?

Tag: Faith

Expecting God to Answer!

Faith Over Fear

Never Stop Praying!

Do Not Fear!

We Can Share Our Faith Right Where We Are :)

Heaven IS A Place Of Light!

When Bad Things Happen.

What is “Highly Esteemed Among Men Is Abomination In The Sight Of God”

Do We “Esteem” Jesus Now?

Welcome Vietnam :)