Help my unbelief!

"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" - Mark 9:24

I do believe

I do trust in You

I do

I do

I do

Yet

sadly

it is

my

unbelief

that

overwhelms

me

and

causes

pain

for

me

and

for

my

Lord

The Lord

rebukes

the wind,

calms

the

sea

"Peace,

Be

Still!"

(Mark 4:39)

Yet

our

unbelief

causes

turmoil

within

and

without

"Why

are you

so fearful?

How

is it

you

have no

faith?"

(Mark 4:40)

Jesus asks us.

And

our answer?

We

are awed, amazed

by All

He is

All

He does

Yet,

Why?!

do we

allow

the affairs

of this world

to pull

us down ...

Please

I pray.

Lord,

help my unbelief!

Help me

To Trust

Always

Only

in You

Help me

To Believe

Always

Only

in You

and

Your Power.

Help me

To Be

Obedient

Always

Only

To You

and

Your Will.

Help me

To Remember

Your Love

for me

Always

Help me

To Remember

I can do

All Things

Through

You ...

... I am

useless

without You.

"Do not be afraid; only believe." Mark 5:36

"... with men it is impossible ... with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27

Remembrance

is fleeting

We trust

We believe

Yet

we still

... fall

away

We still

go back

to former ways

and

former days

Not my will Lord,

but thine.

Help me

To Live These Days

With You

Help my unbelief!

Help me Lord

Keep me Lord

on Your path

The path You have designed for me

Keep me away

from the Enemy

who enters my mind

and works overtime

to convince me Your way is NOT the True Way

Oh Lord

Keep me ever mindful

of

ALL Your promises

ALL Your Truths

ALL Your Love

Help me

To always

Rejoice in You

To

Meditate on Your Word

To

Follow Your Example

To

Revere the majestic beauty

of Your creation that surrounds us

To

Run the race (of life) before me

with endurance

for You are the enabler.

It is Your strength in us

that enables us

to continue on, to endure, to resist

the Devil.

Help me

to seek Your will

every moment

and be Renewed.

Help me

To cast

ALL my burdens

upon you

and

Help me

to Remember

my burden

is light

when upon You

it is carried.

Your rest is all I need.

Help me to live these days with You.

Help me to stay focused on You.

Help my unbelief!

In Your precious and most Holy name,

I make these petitions onto you.

Amen.

Cathy Orrick Luders

4.12.2010

4.16.2010

The Lord calls us to life

The Lord calls us to life, therefore we shouldn't let our struggles, our failures define who we are. Each one of us has a struggle we face. We are, after all, sinners. But when we come to Jesus and accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior, because of His great love for us, we are freed from the bonds, the chains which confine us and overwhelm us and keep us locked up in our minds of what we can't do.

I think there are a great many Christian people who gravitate to this level of thinking. It is disheartening. God tells us, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." (Psalm 32:8) So what do we do?! We listen to others, we talk to ourselves. We think, well God may say that, but its others we have to convince that the reason something is or isn't is because of this and this or that. Bunk!

Where does it say in the Bible that we have to convince others of anything? No one other person is better than another. We have no right to judge another of our shortcomings. We are all sinners, saved by God's grace.

We don't have to convince anyone that because of this you can't do that.

If you are a pastor and think a Bible lesson is boring, why did you present it that way? If it is worthwhile, and Bible study is very worthwhile to my way of thinking, then present it in a way that is exciting. Bring it to life for your listeners. If you think its boring, others will think its boring, and if that's the case, one would think twice about anything to do with God.

Struggles. Failures. Poor choices abound. God brought you out of a past, whether it was 30 years ago or 30 minutes ago. We make mistakes. Past, current, future. We don't have to spend our time talking about them and reliving them. God knows us, inside and out. If we confess our sins, if we truly repent of our sins, God forgives us. We do not need to repeatedly confess our sins to others. We do not need to apologize for our past. God has not condemned us. He has forgiven us.

Perhaps you have not forgiven yourself. Perhaps you think if you explain, then the fear you have of what others will think of you will be less.

God calls each of us to a specific task. Pastoring a church is a noble thing, but it's not the only thing, it's not the top bar on the ladder.

It is not fair to say, I can't because I failed. King David failed. It didn't stop him. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. It would be fairer to say, I can't because I believe my failures prevent me. I can't because I'm scared.

What is your failure? That maybe you truly didn't hear God? Sometimes the road we travel winds this way and that. Sometimes we backtrack.

We listen. God's voice is sometimes in the still of the morning rush, sometimes in the roar of thunder directly overhead.

Do we sometimes think that when God calls it is only to preach and pastor a church? ... that He only calls men? Could He not call us, male and female, to another just as noble position in life?

We are to go forth and serve.

Jesus is our goal, our model. To be like Him in every respect. To carry on, to go forth, to serve, to be. God doesn't make failures. He loves us. He guides us. He does not condemn us. So we shouldn't condemn ourselves either. Start from where you are.

Some people say "I'm sorry" for everything; in a perpetual state of apology for past, present and future shortcomings.

Jesus didn't apologize. He stated fact, lovingly, and moved on.
He was. He is.
We are sinners.
We have been born-again, set free.
Let's live as free, not still enslaved in our past, striving to break free. God wants us to live, not be defeated by something that is no longer.

"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5)