Welcome to Motivational Mondays!
First things first, what is Motivational Mondays?
Just like it sounds, to motivate, to empower, and to encourage you on the first day of a fresh week. I don't know about you but Mondays can be a drag for me, so sometimes words of encouragement and positivity are helpful to start my day off right.
Motivational Monday's topic is:
Help My Unbelief!
If you need God to work in your life and on your behalf then please, please, please, don't let your unbelief get in the way. At some point in our lives, we hit a "faith checkpoint", a point where we either decide to take on the problem by ourselves or give it to God completely, because only he has authority over it anyhow.
For me, I have tiptoed on both sides. I've worked in my own time because I didn't think God would be able to handle it right then, so I took it upon myself to intervene. 10 times out of 10, I should have just prayed about it and let God handle it because I was only making matters worse in the end.
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20
If we can move mountains with faith the size of a mustard seed then what will happen if we don't have any faith at all? What could we be capable of if we had an overabundance of faith?
If you don't know how small a mustard seed is please go to Google and look one up. They're tiny, so if that baby faith can move mountains then what would happen if we grew our baby faith to Active Faith?
One scripture that I had in mind about having faith and doubt is none other than Mark 9: 23-24. If you're not familiar with this passage, no worries I’ll summarize it for you but when you get a chance check it out for yourself by reading Mark 9: 1-29.
In this passage, we find Jesus descending down the mountain of transfiguration when he encounters a large crowd. Jesus then asked what's with the commotion and his disciples explained that they tried to cast a demon out of a man’s son and were unsuccessful. Jesus replied, “O fruitless generation, how long shall I be with you? Bring him to me” (Mark 9:19). They brought the boy to Jesus and when the spirit saw Jesus the spirit threw the boy on the ground into convulsions, where he was foaming at the mouth and rolling on the ground (Mark 9:20). The father of the boy asks Jesus “if you can do anything then please help him”. Jesus assured the father saying, “if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believe” (Mark 9:23) Then immediately the boy's father said to Jesus “ Lord I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Jesus then spoke to the spirit in the boy and cast it out of him permanently.
The moral of this message is to check our faith and our doubt at the door. We, myself included, cannot have doubt and faith at the same time, it’s one or the other. Where our doubt rests is where our faith should be. I noticed a lot of good moments and great talking points when reading this passage. Like the boy's father saying,” But IF you can do anything, have compassion over us and help us”. Can you imagine the insult of this boy’s father saying words like “If you can” to Jesus, the Son of God, like of course he can!
Don’t let your unbelief cause you to doubt everything.
Let’s get real and talk about unbelief and the coronavirus pandemic. I know many of you felt just like I did, total shock and fear when the CDC and the Government released statements last year stating that the entire world was in a pandemic. My unbelief and coronavirus anxiety shot to new heights making even the simplest of tasks difficult to do. I didn’t want any visitors, I didn’t want to go anywhere, and anytime I had to go anywhere I was paralyzed with fear and apprehension. Then it didn’t make matters any easier seeing the number of new cases fluctuate daily, and deaths on top having to be on lockdown.
A year passes and we are now having to choose between getting the vaccine that has been out less than a year or not, AND as if that isn’t enough you can add on the new possibilities of catching a new variant of the virus. There is so much doubt and fear over the uncertain, so much going on in the world that it makes it so difficult to tune it out and trust or have faith that things will get better. I have had some serious unbelief but let me share with you what changed my perspective.
“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me”
Mark 9:19
If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
Psalm 91:9-12
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
These scriptures really put a lot in perspective for me. The bible is saying that if we truly have the faith that we claim we do, and if we truly trust in God and believe that he is with us always then we have nothing to fear. We spend so much time trying to handle things ourselves that we end up making more trouble than need be. The bible says that if we truly make God our refuge and shelter under him nothing will harm us, no sickness shall come upon us, no plague will come near us. Remember the Word is of God, and God is the truth and the light. He is the Almighty, the omnipotent, omniscient, and is omnipresent. Nothing is possible without him.
God tells us in the bible that if we will humble ourselves and just pray earnestly to him and ask him to heal the land he will hear our cries from heaven and make things whole. We as a generation are so stubborn, and money-driven that we forget about God, we forget about having faith, we forget that God can do anything with just a snap of his fingers. I truly believe that this pandemic is a test and we have failed miserably, myself included! We have allowed the adversary, and the government to stir up so much fear, anxiety, depression, and sorrow over the past year alone that we have neglected God. God has told us how to fix the problem and yet so many of us are so stubborn that we won’t bring ourselves to do what he has asked of us. We have to remember that there will be trials, tests, and tribulations, but they have come to empower us, strengthen our endurance, and promote spiritual growth.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6
If there is anything that this pandemic has taught me about myself it’s that I have a lot of work to do on myself. I have let my anxiety, and fear rule me instead of giving control over to God. God will do what he says he will do, we just have to stand by his Word and have faith and believe in him 100 percent. Believing and having faith in God means that you can’t say “If God…” saying if equates to doubt and doubt turns to unbelief. When referring to God we have to know without a shadow of a doubt that he can do all things. God needs no help from us in that department, but what he does need is for us to depend on him and trust in him.
Do you trust in God?
Do you have faith?
Are you willing to put your pride aside to allow him to move on your behalf?
Do you believe that he will guide you and protect you?
Do you seek God as your refuge?
What has this pandemic taught you?
Does your fear and unbelief cloud your faith in God?
Have you passed the test or did the test pass you?
What do you believe?
I encourage you to write a list of the top 5 things that you want God to do in your life. These things could be, developing a prayer life, financial freedom, helping your unbelief, or seeking God more by reading the Word. Once you have your list, pray over them and make your prayers and supplications known to God.
**I hope everyone has a safe and blessed week and I will see you all on Saturday for our Weekly Topic Saturdays**
~Just Breathe...A Golden Dream~
Amen.
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