Tag Archives: trust god

Joyce Meyer – Overcoming Evil with Good

April 28, 2015 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Has anyone ever hurt your feelings? Maybe you found out somebody lied to you or you didn’t get the raise at work that you deserved, or maybe you were rejected or physically abused. Well, one of the most important things we need to learn is how to trust God and walk by faith when people don’t treat us the way they should. Our natural response is to get angry when we’re mistreated, and feeling angry is not wrong. But God’s Word reminds us that we shouldn’t return evil for evil or anger for anger.

What Good Does Anger Do?

Have you ever noticed that being angry never makes anything better? I know because I used to have a quick temper. In fact, I was angry more than I wasn’t. Sometimes, I voiced my aggression, and sometimes it was just seething on the inside of me. The problem is, if we have unresolved anger, we either explode or we implode; we either blow up at somebody or we fall apart on the inside. And a lot of times we take it out on a person who has nothing to do with what we’re angry about. It’s just a miserable way to live.

But getting upset is not the way God wants us to fight our battles. Instead, when somebody hurts us, we can choose to trust God with our pain or injustice and overcome anger with good. Romans 12:17-21 (AMP) says, Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.

What God is saying in those verses is there’s a right and wrong way to respond to injustice. We can get angry and get back at the person who hurt us or we can fight the way God fights, trusting Him to be our Vindicator while we bless our enemies and do good (Psalm 37:1-3). It’s certainly not easy to love our enemies and bless the people who have hurt us (Luke 6:27). In fact, this is probably one of the most difficult scriptures in the Word of God to follow.

I was sexually abused by my father for close to 15 years so I understand how painful and impossible it might seem to believe you could actually love your enemies. I’m not trying to make light of that. But there is true freedom in doing the right thing. And we can choose to do what’s right no matter how we feel. We have to stop being afraid of hard things and press in and trust God because the truth is He will give us the strength and grace to do anything we need to do.

Prayer Brings Peace

It’s so much harder to live with anger than it is to live with God’s peace, love and joy. And we have to take responsibility for our behavior. One of the best things we can do is learn how to pray for the people we’re mad at. The first thing to do when somebody mistreats you is pray, God, this hurts and I’m angry about it, but I know my anger won’t solve the problem or change the person. So I trust You. I’m going to stay sweet and keep being nice. I’m going to keep doing good because that’s what You put me here for. And as I trust You and go about blessing others, I’m going to watch You vindicate me and do what needs to be done in this situation. That is the way to fight and win your battles!

Make a decision today that you’re going to refuse to live angry. Ask God to help you take control of your feelings. And if you do act out in anger, confess it and God will forgive you. There will be a lot of battles in life, but God has an amazing plan for you! As you put your focus on Him as your Vindicator, it becomes easier and easier to conquer angry feelings and walk in peace. And you will be a blessing as you overcome evil with good!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Faith is Trusting God

January 26, 2015 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. —Ephesians 2:8

I like to define faith in a very basic, easy-to-understand way: living with a positive attitude that comes from a deep trust in God. Living by faith is looking at everything in a positive way and trusting in the power of God, Who loves us and wants the best for us. When we have faith, we can say with confidence in our hearts:

“I don’t know what to do, but God does.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on in my life, but God will make a way for me.”

“I don’t know how I can pay my bills this month, but God will provide.”

“This trial I have doesn’t feel good; I don’t like it, but I believe God works all things out for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (see Rom. 8:28).

“I don’t like the situation I’m going through, but what Satan means for my harm, God intends for my good” (see Gen. 50:20).

These statements and the attitudes they represent demonstrate faith. Having faith means always trusting in God’s love and looking beyond where you are to see the end result. Having faith means always being hopeful and refusing to accept defeat. People who live by faith can enjoy every day of their lives.

Trust in Him What are you currently facing that is uncomfortable or that you don’t understand? Choose to have a positive attitude about your situation and trust God to work it out for good.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – God’s Guide to a Victorious Life

April 5, 2014 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

Proverbs 3:5-6

If you were lost in the woods, you’d be very thankful to find a compass in your pocket. Chances are you would not ignore its guidance by following your own hunch about which direction was north.

Like a compass, Scripture provides sure guidance for the Christian life. One particularly helpful passage is Proverbs 3:5-6, because it summarizes four key truths that will keep you heading the right way.

1. Trust God. The Lord deserves your complete confidence because He never changes (Heb. 13:8; James 1:17).

2. Do not rely on your own understanding. Since human minds are finite, comprehension is limited. Only God is omniscient. He sees everything, including thoughts and motives (Heb. 4:13).

3. Acknowledge Him in all your ways. As the Creator of all and the designer of salvation, God has the right to plan every life. He knits each person together in the womb, provides redemption through Jesus Christ, and gives spiritual gifts to be used on His behalf. Just as a child will look to his father for help, believers are to depend upon their heavenly Father. And when successful, they are to acknowledge how the Lord enabled. Otherwise, pride can lead in a harmful direction.

4. God promises to make your paths straight. Spiritually, the direct route is faster and easier to travel. But it is not obstacle-free. As you follow the first three points, the Father will work to overcome barriers along the way. Will you follow God’s compass and trust Him? By rejecting self-reliance and acknowledging dependence on Him, you will stay on the straight path of godliness.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – No Easy Solutions

October 28, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Life turns every person upside down. No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is in an affair. Not the teenager who discovers a night of romance has resulted in a surprise pregnancy.

We’d be foolish to think we’re invulnerable. But we’d be just as foolish to think evil wins the day. The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith; God recycles evil into righteousness.

I don’t have an easy solution or magic wand. But I have found something—or Someone—far better. God Himself. When God gets in the middle of life, evil becomes good. Trust God. No, really trust Him! He will get you through this. Will it be easy or quick? I hope so. But it seldom is. Yet God will make good out of this mess. That’s His job.

From You’ll Get Through This

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Holy Spirit Will Speak

September 29, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry about what to say in your defense. Just say what God tells you to. Then you will not be speaking, but the Holy Spirit will” (Mark 13:11).

Have you even had the experience of trying to say a word for the Lord, just sharing your faith, and breathing a prayer for guidance – then marveling as the Lord Himself, by His indwelling Holy Spirit, put the very words in your mouth that needed to be said?

Such has been my experience – many times. And I marvel and rejoice each time. On some occasions, I have addressed crowds of varying sizes, often not only feeling totally inadequate but also concluding my message of the evening with the feeling that I had been a poor ambassador of Christ. Then, someone had approached me after the service and thanked my for saying just the word he needed at that moment.

We serve a faithful God. That neighbor who needs a word of encouragement – ask the Lord to give you the right words to say to him or her. That correspondent hundreds of miles away – trust God for His message to him or her through you.

Certain conditions must prevail, of course, before the Holy Spirit can speak through us. But they are easily met. I must come with a clean heart, surrendered to the Holy Spirit, with my sins forgiven, having forgiven other people, holding no resentment or ill feeling against anyone. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18, KJV).

Let us trust God and His indwelling Holy Spirit for the very words of counsel we should say to a loved one or friend today.

Bible Reading: Acts 2:1-4

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will trust God and His Holy Spirit to put the very words in my mouth this day that need to be said to others whose lives I touch.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Is this promise from You, Lord?

September 1, 2013 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

You and I will never go wrong by trusting and obeying God. You may be praying and asking God to work in your life and situation. Maybe there is something you long to have or something you want to experience. You want to make sure that you are getting His best and are in step with His will. But how can you be sure that the promises you’re claiming from Scripture are those God intended for you?

When you trust God for promises in His Word and feel as though He has answered, ask yourself the following questions about your choice:

Does this promise meet my personal need or desire?
Sometimes we can want something so badly that we make choices without considering the consequences. But if we wait for God and remain committed to be right in step with His will, we will receive His blessing, and it will be more than we imagined. In fact, it will be the best. We may be right on target and have chosen the right course of action. If this is the case, then God promises that we will hear His voice or at least sense His leading telling us that this is the right way (Isa 30:21).

Have I submitted my desires to His will?
This is a crucial step. I once knew a woman who wanted to marry a man whom she had known for years. It seemed like a perfect match, but I counseled her to get alone with the Father and remind Him of His promises to her and ask Him if this union was His best. “If it is God’s gift to you, He will make sure you keep it. If it is not, you do not want it.” I could tell by the look in her eyes that she really did not want to submit her desires to the Lord. That night, however, she got down on her knees and gave God the relationship. Three weeks later she found out that he was seeing someone else. The Father had protected her from making a terrible mistake. Though it took a long time for her to get over the incident, she is now happily married to a wonderful man who loves her without hindrance. God had something better in mind. Before you make a horrendous mistake, stop and submit your life and situation to Him. You will be very glad you did.

If God answers this promise, will He be glorified?
Often people are more concerned about having their needs met than they are about pleasing God. They forget that if their lives are not in step with His will, then there will be heartache, disappointment, and sorrow. However, if He is our first concern, then the decisions we make will glorify Him and He will be honored. When He is, then others will see His work in our lives and they will want to develop a personal relationship with Him.

Can God fulfill this promise to me without harming or hurting someone else and without interfering with His will for his or her life?
Many times, our requests are “me” centered. We want things that are not necessarily bad, but they may be things that could draw someone else away from the Lord. You cannot just pick a promise out of His Word and claim it as your own or push to achieve it in your life. God has a plan, and He always takes into account your life and the lives of others around you. Therefore you need to pray, “Lord, this is what I want to do, but I want to make sure that it lines up with Your will for my life and that it will not harm anyone else.” God’s promises always bring blessing and hope. They never subtract or take away our emotional strength or faith; they always add and multiply what He has so generously given.

Does the Holy Spirit bear witness to my spirit that God is pleased with this promise?
You may want something so desperately that you will go to Scripture, choose a promise, claim it, and then tell others, “This is what God is going to do for me.” But He never does. Each time you remind Him of what you have read in His Word, you sense His quietness of Spirit. He is waiting for you to get in line with His will and stop trying to make something happen that is not His best for your life.

By claiming this promise, am I contradicting God’s Word in any way?
You always want to make sure that what you are asking the Father to do is in alignment with His will for your life. It also needs to be something that is biblically on target. Solomon prayed for wisdom, and this was exactly what he needed and what the Lord had planned to give him. When we study Scripture, we are going to begin to think like He does, gaining His mind about our situation. He may not remove our trials, but He will give us such a strong sense of hope that we will be able to endure to the end with a spirit of victory and reward. God wants us to claim His promises, not just to gain a material blessing, but so that we can understand His truth for our lives. A promise made to us by God emphasizes His greatness, His faithfulness, and His unchanging love for us.

If God answers this promise, will it further my spiritual growth?
The answer to this question should be a flat-out “Yes!” If you have to think about it or try to convince yourself that gaining the answer to your promise will actually be good, then either you have missed the point, or you are off track with God.

By now you probably realize that claiming a promise of God is not a simple matter. It takes faith, obedience, and patience. But even more than these three, gaining the promises of God requires a deep abiding love for Him. Therefore, choose to trust Him, to commit your way to Him, and to delight in His precepts, and you will be able to claim His promises. And you will quickly discover that the goodness God has for you will never end.

Adapted from “10 Principles for Studying Your Bible” by Dr. Charles Stanley, 2008.

Related Resources

Joyce Meyer – Your Breakthrough is On It’s Way

August 12, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. Proverbs 16:9

Our mind plans based on what we know or think, but God often leads us in an entirely different direction. We only know a little and we base our plans on what we know, but God knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning and will always direct our steps in what will ultimately work out for our best, if we will cooperate with Him.

Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death. God’s ways may not always be quick, or according to our desires, but He does have an appointed time, and it will be the right time. In other words, God has an appointment with your circumstance, with your breakthrough, with your answered prayer.

Suppose you make an appointment at the doctor for 11:45 on a certain day. You’ve had that appointment for a long time and been waiting for it. If you show up in the doctor’s office at 9:00 a.m., it wouldn’t matter how frustrated you got, you would still have to wait for your appointment until your appointment time.

In Acts 1:6, 7, some of the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when You will reestablish the kingdom and restore it to Israel?” In other words, they were saying, “Jesus, tell us when You’re going to come back. We want to know when these things are going to happen.”

Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know the appointed time. Only God knows the appointed time.”

So if only God knows the appointed time and if we believe He loves us, then why can’t we believe that at the appointed time we’re going to get our breakthrough? We can prove that we trust God by enjoying our lives and being peaceful while we wait.

Love God Today: God has an appointment with your breakthrough – so be patient while you wait.

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Charles Spurgeon – The God of the aged

May 25, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:4

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 71:1-18

Middle aged man! Listen to what David says, again, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Go on, then, unsheath your sword once more. “The battle is the Lord’s;” leave your declining years to him, and give your present years to him. Live to him now, and he will never cast you away when you are old. Do not lay up for old age and keep back from the cause of God; but rather trust God for the future. Be “diligent in business;” but take care you do not hurt your spirit, by being too diligent, by being grasping and selfish. Remember you will

“Want but little here below, Nor want that little long.”

And lastly, my dear venerable fathers in the faith, and mothers in Israel, take these words for your joy. Do not let the young people catch you indulging in melancholy, sitting in your chimney corner, grumbling and growling, but go about cheerful and happy, and they will think how blessed it is to be a Christian. If you are surly and fretful, they will think the Lord has forsaken you; but keep a smiling countenance, and they will think the promise is fulfilled. “And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Do, I beseech you, my venerable friends, try to be of a happy temperament and cheerful spirit, for a child will run away from a surly old man; but there is not a child in the world who does not love his grandfather if he is cheerful and happy. You can lead us to heaven if you have got heaven’s sunlight on your face.

For meditation: Elderly believers—the Bible tells us about their testimony (Psalm 92:14,15; Proverbs 16:31), their teaching (Titus 2:2,3) and their treatment (1 Timothy 5:1,2).

note: This sermon was substantially repeated at Stambourne, Essex, two days later on the commemoration of the jubilee of Spurgeon’s grandfather, Rev James Spurgeon.

Sermon nos. 81-82

25 May (1856)

DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION