Monday, December 12, 2011

Faith in action.........

Good morning! I pray that you and your family are well. I am home with a sick little boy today. Luke has been running a fever and has an awful cough. So, we are hanging out today. I would like to share a little about what is going on in our lives lately concerning church. About three weeks ago our church was contacted by another church in the area that was closing their doors for good. They asked us if we would be in prayerful consideration about purchasing their land and buildings. So, our pastor went into the prayer closet along with all the leaders of the church. Then it was announced to the church about the land and stuff. Well, God laid it on our pastors heart for us to meet at their facilities that next Sunday. We were able to go from two services back to one. That first Sunday, we had almost 350 people attend! Yesterday was our second service there and God showed up and showed out. It was electric in the sanctuary! You could feel the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way. Then I had youth there last night. Another powerful night with God in the house.

I must tell you that when it was first brought up. I was kind of unsure about moving. It is a huge step. Not only financially but, spiritually too. There is a lot of work that will need to be done. Well, here is the thing. We should never make any big decisions without thoroughly bathing it in prayer. I must tell you that I haven't prayed this hard in awhile. I was praying for my pastor to have wisdom from above and the leaders of the church to make God's decision and not theirs. I was praying that the church would be behind it 100%! God has showed me over the past week a lot while I was in prayer and in His Word. I want to share some with you. Let's dig into some of the good stuff.........

Bible Verse: Exodus 2:1-4 "But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him."

I need to set up this Scripture for you. See this was a time when the Pharaoh was worried about too many Hebrews in his land. So, he issued an awful decree. All Hebrew baby boys under the age of two were to be taken from their families and thrown into the Nile river to drown.

This is the time when a great woman of faith by the name of Jochebed was desperate for a solution. I am sure she was crying out to God for help. So, she does a somewhat crazy thing. She coats a basket and floats her son down the river! A clear act of faith. Like she was saying to God "I don't see any solutions here, and I am desperate. I am going to take this crazy step of faith and BELIEVE that you are going to do something with it." She put her FAITH into ACTION!!!! Guy's, this is all God wants from us. He wants us to put our faith into action. Get up and do something. Let's quit making plans or making committee's to vote on it. Let's get to work.

Let me paraphrase the rest of the story for you about Jochebed. She took the step, kind of crazy step of faith and the basket was seen by the Pharaoh's daughter. She had one of her maids retrieve it. They found a crying young Hebrew boy in the basket. At that time, the boys sister came down to the Pharaoh's daughter and asked if she should go fetch the Hebrew nursemaid. The Pharaoh's daughter said "Yes"! Well, who does the boys daughter go get to nurse the baby??? His own mother! Jochebed came down and her little baby boy was back in her arms within minutes with a twist. The Pharaoh's daughter told Jochebed that she would be paid wages to take care of the boy. Jochebed got paid to take care of her own son! 

This great woman of faith took an amazing step of faith. She put her faith in God into action and God showed up and showed out. How many of us are stepping up or out in faith lately? Is your faith in action? Or, is it on the bench? Check this out Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Maybe, we need to start believing the scripture that we read! Maybe, we need to start living our faith. By the way, if you didn't know that baby boy was Moses!!! Have a great and blessed day!