Day After Day

Building your faith

Focus: Noting your progress

Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NKJV) I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Your life has been an interesting collection of circumstances that have all contributed toward making you the unique person you are. The Word of God promises that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

You may feel like what has happened in your past is just ‘stuff’, and it would be better if nobody ever knew what you’ve been through. But there is real value in your experience, if you don’t let it go to waste. Sure, there are things you’d like to forget, and perhaps plenty you have forgotten, but none of it was worthless when you consider what it taught you, that you couldn’t have learned any other way.

Experiencing trials is one of the things that can build your faith, but another powerful exercise in building your faith is recalling what God has done and how far you’ve come from where you once were.

You can sit and sort through things in your mind and get a general picture of how God met you at each point of need, but when you pick up a pen and paper and begin to write…or sit down to the keypad and start tapping out some of the details, you will be amazed at how it might make you feel, to review some of the stories and see the words in print.

From early Bible times, records were kept of genealogies and historical events. The records were passed down from one generation to the next. The Word of God seems to refer to the fact that even God Himself, keeps a book.

The authors of the Bible were people who wrote about the faithfulness of God in good and bad situations. When they were challenged with hard times, they were able to find strength and encouragement from the record of their history as they recalled how God had come to their rescue time and time again.

(Read more below)

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!

They were honest about what they were going through and what they felt. Sometimes they couldn’t see God’s purpose or plan and they said so. Other times, they were overwhelmed by His presence and power.

When we walk and talk with God, we will experience all of those same things in our own lives. It helps to know that other people who walked and talked with God centuries ago, went through the same kinds of things we do, in reference to our faith.

We may be living in the last days—and then again, we may not be. People who wrote the New Testament thought they were living in the last times, too, and that was a very long time ago. So, it’s hard to say for sure when Jesus will return. We might have a lot of time, and we might not have much.

Being receptive to letting the Lord work in your life day by day, and keeping a record of what He does could help you in your own future, and possibly help other people who come after you—if Jesus doesn’t come back as soon as we think He might.

Whatever happens, any effort you can make to record some of your own history would be worth your time, even if you’re the only one who ever reads it.

You might not think of yourself as a writer at all and you may be daunted at the idea of putting any of your thoughts or reflections on paper. You might also be embarrassed at the thought that someday, someone might find what you’ve written and read it.

Try not to think about yourself or other people as you write. A. W. Tozer said, “While we are looking at God, we don’t see ourselves.” So, don’t think about the quality of your writing or whether someone else might read it—just write it for your own healing and the glory of God, and whatever becomes of it is up to Him.

You can do it just like you live life—one day at a time.

Declaration: I will find new strength by being receptive to the ways God has worked in my life and how He might want to use my experience for His glory. I will find healing and encouragement as I take the time to record my thoughts and reflections in some way.

Focus: Noting your progress

Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NKJV) I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Your life has been an interesting collection of circumstances that have all contributed toward making you the unique person you are. The Word of God promises that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

You may feel like what has happened in your past is just ‘stuff’, and it would be better if nobody ever knew what you’ve been through. But there is real value in your experience, if you don’t let it go to waste. Sure, there are things you’d like to forget, and perhaps plenty you have forgotten, but none of it was worthless when you consider what it taught you, that you couldn’t have learned any other way.

Experiencing trials is one of the things that can build your faith, but another powerful exercise in building your faith is recalling what God has done and how far you’ve come from where you once were.

You can sit and sort through things in your mind and get a general picture of how God met you at each point of need, but when you pick up a pen and paper and begin to write…or sit down to the keypad and start tapping out some of the details, you will be amazed at how it might make you feel, to review some of the stories and see the words in print.

From early Bible times, records were kept of genealogies and historical events. The records were passed down from one generation to the next. The Word of God seems to refer to the fact that even God Himself, keeps a book.

The authors of the Bible were people who wrote about the faithfulness of God in good and bad situations. When they were challenged with hard times, they were able to find strength and encouragement from the record of their history as they recalled how God had come to their rescue time and time again.

(Read more below)

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!

They were honest about what they were going through and what they felt. Sometimes they couldn’t see God’s purpose or plan and they said so. Other times, they were overwhelmed by His presence and power.

When we walk and talk with God, we will experience all of those same things in our own lives. It helps to know that other people who walked and talked with God centuries ago, went through the same kinds of things we do, in reference to our faith.

We may be living in the last days—and then again, we may not be. People who wrote the New Testament thought they were living in the last times, too, and that was a very long time ago. So, it’s hard to say for sure when Jesus will return. We might have a lot of time, and we might not have much.

Being receptive to letting the Lord work in your life day by day, and keeping a record of what He does could help you in your own future, and possibly help other people who come after you—if Jesus doesn’t come back as soon as we think He might.

Whatever happens, any effort you can make to record some of your own history would be worth your time, even if you’re the only one who ever reads it.

You might not think of yourself as a writer at all and you may be daunted at the idea of putting any of your thoughts or reflections on paper. You might also be embarrassed at the thought that someday, someone might find what you’ve written and read it.

Try not to think about yourself or other people as you write. A. W. Tozer said, “While we are looking at God, we don’t see ourselves.” So, don’t think about the quality of your writing or whether someone else might read it—just write it for your own healing and the glory of God, and whatever becomes of it is up to Him.

You can do it just like you live life—one day at a time.

Declaration: I will find new strength by being receptive to the ways God has worked in my life and how He might want to use my experience for His glory. I will find healing and encouragement as I take the time to record my thoughts and reflections in some way.

Focus: Noting your progress

Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NKJV) I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Your life has been an interesting collection of circumstances that have all contributed toward making you the unique person you are. The Word of God promises that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

You may feel like what has happened in your past is just ‘stuff’, and it would be better if nobody ever knew what you’ve been through. But there is real value in your experience, if you don’t let it go to waste. Sure, there are things you’d like to forget, and perhaps plenty you have forgotten, but none of it was worthless when you consider what it taught you, that you couldn’t have learned any other way.

Experiencing trials is one of the things that can build your faith, but another powerful exercise in building your faith is recalling what God has done and how far you’ve come from where you once were.

You can sit and sort through things in your mind and get a general picture of how God met you at each point of need, but when you pick up a pen and paper and begin to write…or sit down to the keypad and start tapping out some of the details, you will be amazed at how it might make you feel, to review some of the stories and see the words in print.

From early Bible times, records were kept of genealogies and historical events. The records were passed down from one generation to the next. The Word of God seems to refer to the fact that even God Himself, keeps a book.

The authors of the Bible were people who wrote about the faithfulness of God in good and bad situations. When they were challenged with hard times, they were able to find strength and encouragement from the record of their history as they recalled how God had come to their rescue time and time again.

(read more below)

Now, you can listen and/or read!

 

Link to New Strength Devotional, Audio Version

 

They were honest about what they were going through and what they felt. Sometimes they couldn’t see God’s purpose or plan and they said so. Other times, they were overwhelmed by His presence and power.

When we walk and talk with God, we will experience all of those same things in our own lives. It helps to know that other people who walked and talked with God centuries ago, went through the same kinds of things we do, in reference to our faith.

We may be living in the last days—and then again, we may not be. People who wrote the New Testament thought they were living in the last times, too, and that was a very long time ago. So, it’s hard to say for sure when Jesus will return. We might have a lot of time, and we might not have much.

Being receptive to letting the Lord work in your life day by day, and keeping a record of what He does could help you in your own future, and possibly help other people who come after you—if Jesus doesn’t come back as soon as we think He might.

Whatever happens, any effort you can make to record some of your own history would be worth your time, even if you’re the only one who ever reads it.

You might not think of yourself as a writer at all and you may be daunted at the idea of putting any of your thoughts or reflections on paper. You might also be embarrassed at the thought that someday, someone might find what you’ve written and read it.

Try not to think about yourself or other people as you write. A. W. Tozer said, “While we are looking at God, we don’t see ourselves.” So, don’t think about the quality of your writing or whether someone else might read it—just write it for your own healing and the glory of God, and whatever becomes of it is up to Him.

You can do it just like you live life—one day at a time.

Declaration: I will find new strength by being receptive to the ways God has worked in my life and how He might want to use my experience for His glory. I will find healing and encouragement as I take the time to record my thoughts and reflections in some way.

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee as of the date they were written and posted. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog. This material will be published as a book in 2014, by the grace of God. To subscribe to New Strength, select ‘follow’ in the upper left corner of this page.

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