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Category Archives: Faith

Baptism and Faith

08 Feb
Baptism and Faith

In my last post, we looked at the sin package. Remember. It’s not just evil, but any departure from God’s best. Now we’ll see how we handle sin as we live in Christ.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Romans 6:1-3

At the end of chapter 5, Paul wrote that when sin increases, grace increases even more. That could lead to a false conclusion. The apostle brings this argument to light.

If grace increases to cover my sin, then I can continue in sin to get more grace. That’s what some would get from this verse.

As a matter of fact, this is the fear that some have about preaching a message of grace. Some teachers think that if they talk too much about God’s grace then people will use it as a doormat. Play all day in the mud of worldliness and wipe your feet off on God’s grace.

Paul makes it clear, that’s not the purpose of grace. The goal is to live free from sin. Sin is part of the death package, and death is the enemy.

Paul gives us a great truth – in Christ we’ve died to sin. In the waters of baptism we’ve identified ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. So, we shouldn’t want to live according to our old life.

But, by the very question he asks, he implies that it’s possible to live in sin even though we died to it. How can we get the victory over this sin?

It all starts with our water baptism. This is where we identify with Christ. This is where we begin the process of removing the old man. Peter agrees with Paul’s assessment.

…and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…
1 Peter 3:21

The word pledge in the above verse means the asking, desire or demand. When we allow ourselves to be baptized in water, we’re placing a demand on God for a good conscience.

Because we desire to live rightly before Him, we take this step. It’s how we start down the road to remove the old sin nature.

It’s unfortunate, but there are many believers who look at baptism as purely a tradition of the church. They think that if you want to join the church, then you need to be baptized in water.

Paul explains it.

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:3

The original Greek of this verse is very interesting. Paul says that all of us who were immersed into Christ Jesus were immersed into His death. That sounds like a spiritual work to me. As we continue through this chapter, we’ll see that baptism is a spiritual work of God that we need to attach our faith to.

Question: Were you baptized in water? How was your faith released during your water baptism?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on February 8, 2021 in Faith, Legalism, Spiritual Walk, The Gospel

 

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The Two Gifts

29 Jan
The Two Gifts

We’re continuing our walk through the book of Romans. Paul has been explaining to us, the reign of death that has taken the earth because of Adam’s sin.

Now he wants us to understand what Christ has done to overcome this.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

Romans 5:15-16

This is an amazing passage of Scripture. However, if we’re going to fully understand it, we need to know a little Greek.

The reason for this, is that there are two different Greek words for gift used in this section. They are charisma and dorema. While they both mean a gift or a present, they have slightly different uses.

The word, dorema, is a gift that I give you with no strings attached. It’s given free and clear. Charisma, on the other hand, is a gift that the giver retains the right to tell you how you’ll use it.

For example, if I give you a fifty dollar bill for your birthday, that’s a dorema. You can do whatever you want with it. If I give you a fifty dollar gift card to Starbucks, that a charisma, because you can only use it where I want you to use it.

Usually in Scripture, when someone gives an offering, it’s dorema because we’re giving with no strings attached. But, when talking about the gifts of God, it’s usually charisma because God is very clear how He wants us to operate in these giftings.

So, this passage is saying that the gift God gives (charisma) is not like what happened because of Adams sin. Now through Christ we can receive God’s grace. It also literally says that the gift (dorema) that overflows to many people is in the grace.

The way the original Greek puts it in the second half is that the one sin gave us the gift (dorema) of judgment. But now, after many sins have been done on the earth, Christ came, and through His obedience, brings us the gift (charisma) of spiritual life.

This is a wonderful truth. Death and judgment was given to the entire world through Adam. But now, as a result of the cross, we can receive everlasting life through the Lord Jesus Christ.

This opens the door to a whole new way for us to live.

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:17

This is Good News! When I come to Christ I receive God’s grace and the gift (dorema) of righteousness with no strings attached. This gives me a new outlook on life.

Formerly death reigned over everything because of sin. Now, because I’m in Christ, I can reign in life. I don’t have to walk in fear of anything that’s happening around me. I can walk in the authority of Christ as I submit to Him.

Too many believers walk around with bad attitudes. You would think that serving God was the hardest thing they could ever imagine. Their faces usually reflect fear and frustration. That’s not how the Lord wants us to live.

We have to realize that Christ places us over all the situations in our lives. We may not know exactly how things will turn out, but we know that it will be for our best and for God’s glory. What more could we ask for?

Question: How have you experienced the grace of God at work in you?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2021 in Encouragement, Faith, Spiritual Walk

 

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The Great Exchange

20 Jan
The Great Exchange

In my last post, I talked about the fact that we’re saved from God’s wrath by the blood of Christ. That’s an incredible blessing, but God’s work doesn’t stop there.

I want to review the passage of Scripture that I ended with last time.

For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11

It’s unfortunate that some people make it sound like it’s harder to stay saved than to get saved. It’s as if they think that we’re saved by faith in Christ, but we stay saved by our good works, trying our best to be perfect.

This passage of Scripture uses a word three times to convey an important point to us. That’s the word, reconciled. Paul repeats this word three times, so it must be important. Let me explain to you just what it means.

This word literally means to change mutually. It comes from a Greek root word that means to exchange. It’s actually used in the Gospels to describe the “money-changers”, who Jesus turned the tables on.

That tells me that in Christ we’ve received an exchange. Understanding this, I need to take that knowledge over into the spiritual. Let me describe it to you.

I’ve had the privilege of going to another country on missions trips. I brought with me United States dollars which had value to me. I’m used to them, I know how they work.

The problem is that these US dollars don’t work in the new country that I find myself in. I have to exchange what I have for the money of this place.

That’s what God does for us in the spirit. I’m used to being in the world. But what works in the world, doesn’t work in God’s kingdom. I have to exchange what I have for what God has.

I was out of favor with God, now I have His favor through Christ and His death. In the world, I get ahead by accumulating money, power, influence, and connections. In God’s kingdom, it’s all about faith working through love. I was used to the old currency, now I have to learn the new way of doing things.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

What a great verse! The word, ministry, actually means service. Now that we’ve received His life, Christ has given us the service of this exchange. It’s now our job to show others how they can exchange their meaningless striving for the favor of God.

That’s what life in Christ is all about. We’ve exchanged death for life, random chance for God’s will, and an unknown future for a destiny with Christ.

I can’t imagine a better way to live.

Question: What are some things that you’ve experienced in this great exchange?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 20, 2021 in Faith, Legalism, Missions, Spiritual Walk

 

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The Joy of Salvation

18 Jan
The Joy of Salvation

We’re continuing through our study of Paul’s letter to the Roman church. We’ve seen the love of God being manifest in us because of the work of righteousness. This is all initiated by our turning to the Lord in faith.

Paul continues this teaching.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Romans 5:9-10

This verse brings us to the next great blessing of our salvation. Now that we’ve been made righteous and justified by His blood, we’ve also been saved from His wrath.

This word, saved or sozo in the Greek language, is huge in regard to our faith. Our salvation means more than just being saved from a future in hell.

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

Matthew 9:20-22

The word that’s translated healed in this verse is the word sozo. Our salvation also includes being saved from sickness.

Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.

Luke 8:36

Again, the word translated as cured, is the word sozo. Salvation also includes deliverance and protection from the enemy.

There’s so much that’s included in that word. Everything Christ purchased on the cross is all wrapped up in our salvation package.

So, when Scripture says that we’re saved from God’s wrath, it’s a powerful statement. I don’t ever have to be afraid that God’s mad at me. His love for me is unbreakable.

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Thessalonians 5:9

As Paul continues his teaching, he shows us the foolishness is thinking that God is mad at us.

For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11

Too many people, believers included, think that God is sitting in Heaven just waiting for us to slip up. They’re afraid that one little mistake will take away all the blessings that the Lord has for them.

Paul shows that this kind of thinking is foolish. If Christ treated us this way when we were His enemies – He died for us – how could He ever treat us worse now that we’re reconciled?

He’s looking to impart His life into us. That life brings the total package of salvation He wants us to receive.

Furthermore, it’s something to rejoice about. We should live in an attitude of rejoicing because we serve a God who only wants the best for us.

Question: What can you rejoice about in the salvation you’ve received from the Lord?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 18, 2021 in Faith, God's Provision, Healing, Spiritual Walk, The Gospel

 

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God’s Love at the Right Time

15 Jan
God’s Love at the Right Time

We’re going through the book of Romans together.  Here in chapter 5, Paul is still getting us acquainted with his teaching on the Christian walk.

We’ve seen the progression of how God wants to bring us into the manifestation of His love.  The Lord wants this love to empower us in our work for Him.

Now Paul is getting to the heart of the matter.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

This Scripture is clear.  God did His greatest work while we were still without strength.

But that brings us to an important point.  God brought this about at just the right time.  That literally means Christ died at the appointed time.

This is something that we frequently get hung up on.  I have a problem differentiating between God’s appointed time vs. when I think God should have answered.  I assume God is late or ignoring my problem.  Of course, that’s foolish thinking.

For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:2

I’ve learned that God is always on time.  In my limited understanding, I think that there’s no way out.  God, however, shows up at the right time and the right place to show Himself strong in my life.

The fact is that Jesus Christ gave His life for us.  He’s not going to ignore us now.  He wants the best for us.

According to the first passage above, He died for the irreverent.  That means those with no spiritual aptitude.

It’s hard enough, difficult enough, to die for someone we consider good.  I’m glad to say that this isn’t how God demonstrates His love.

That word, demonstrates, is a Greek word that means to introduce.  This is how God introduces His love.  While we were still actively missing the mark, Christ died for us.

In writing this letter to the Romans, Paul was addressing a people to whom this was very true.  When Christ died, the people of Rome were totally clueless to what was happening in Jerusalem.

Their salvation was being purchased at a great cost.  Yet, it would be years before they would hear the Good News.  It’s good to know that I didn’t need to see this work being done in order to receive the benefits of it.

As a Pharisee living in Jerusalem, Paul may have met Jesus or heard Him speak.  Paul might have even been one of those at the foot of the cross, ridiculing the Lord.  But at Paul’s worse, Jesus was dying for this Pharisee’s salvation.

How could we ever think that God would abandon us now?  Put your trust and hope in the love of God.  Never let the cares and problems of life overwhelm your knowledge of His great love, concern, and care for you.

Question: How have you experienced God’s loving concern for you?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 15, 2021 in Encouragement, Faith, The Gospel

 

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Love Pressure

13 Jan
Love Pressure

In my last few posts about the book of Romans, I’ve been talking about the power of God at work in us.  We’ve seen that there’s a process that begins when it’s initiated by our faith in God.  It brings us from faith to an experience of God’s glory.

Paul continues this thought.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5:5

Paul now brings us to the greatest power in the universe – love.  That’s the place the Holy Spirit is bringing us to.  His desire for every believer is for us to walk in love.

Love is the spiritual pressure placed upon us to produce change.  It was what compelled Christ to minister the way He did.

Actually, I can’t think of any more powerful force in all of life other than love.  For the love of God, or another person, we’ll do things that we might never have done under ordinary circumstances.  Love is a driving force in many of the things we do.

God’s love that He pours into our hearts is the source of our spiritual power.  The same love that drove Christ forward is now placed within us.  When we had no power, God saved us by the death and resurrection of Christ.  He has plugged us into His power source.  The very love that pressures Him can now drive us forward to bless others.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

It’s Christ’s love that should empower everything that we do.  We need to take inventory of what drives and motivates us.

Do you feel a pressure that drives you to reach out to the lost?  Does love compel you to be a blessing to those around you even when you don’t feel like it?  Do you have a compassion for those who are in need?  If not, then you haven’t tapped into the love of Christ.

It’s so easy to say, “I love the lost and I want to see them saved.”  But if there’s little or no pressure to do something about it, then that’s a sign that there’s little or no manifestation of God’s love.  The verdict is simple, no love, no power.

If you want to see this principle in action, just look to the early church in the book of Acts.  They felt the pressure of God’s love to the point where they were willing to die, if necessary, to bring salvation to those around them.

In my last post, I talked about our faith being proved as genuine.  I believe that walking in the love of God is one of the proofs of a genuine faith.

We don’t talk very much about God’s approval of life and ministry.  We seem to think that we can just do what we please and ask God to bless it.  After all, we’re doing it for the Lord.

No.  On the contrary, it’s God’s standards that we need to aspire to.  It’s found again and again in Scripture, if we look for it.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

We must do what it takes to live in intimacy with the Lord.  Only in this way will His love increase in our hearts.

Question: How much of the pressure of Christ’s love do you feel within you?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2021 in Anointing, Faith, Ministry, Spiritual Walk

 

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The Path of Faith

11 Jan
The Path of Faith

We’re continuing our look at Paul’s letter to the Roman church.  At this point he’s talking about the walk of faith.  Let’s review the verses we discussed in my last post.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

It’s important that we see how these all fit together.  Historically, we tend to separate things out when we teach in the church.

Usually, we only preach about one thing at a time.  We’ll give a sermon on faith, or grace, or justification.  This gives the impression that the Bible contains a series of theological “bubbles”.

The truth of the matter is that everything in our Christian walk is all interconnected.  It all works together to bring growth and change into our lives.

That’s why it blesses me to see a verse like this that shows the flow of anointing through the Holy Spirit.  It shows us the progression starting with faith.  It then flows to justification and righteousness, to grace, to hope, and finally to glory.

I can’t over-stress how important it is to understand this progression.  However, that’s not all there is.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3-4

Paul now brings us to another progressive work in our lives.  He tells us that we can literally boast about our sufferings.  By the way, that word, suffering, means pressure.  It’s about the problems that crowd us on a daily basis.

If we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, these pressures cause us to develop perseverance.  Perseverance means to be able to stay in a situation until it’s completed.

Fortunately, it doesn’t simply end with us persevering away.  There’s another goal.  As we endure the pressure, we develop what this translation calls character.

This word, character, is an important concept for us to understand.  The Greek word used speaks of a proving process.

The best way to describe it is to bring you back to the days of the Gold Rush.  The miners would find what they thought was gold.  So they would bring it to town to the assayer’s office.  It was the assayer’s job to tell the miner if it was fool’s gold or the real thing, and how much it was worth.

The word that’s translated, character, actually means to prove genuine or assay.  So it’s through perseverance that our faith is proved to be genuine and valuable.

Too often we want the proof before we persevere.  We want to know for sure that our faith is going to pay off.  However, that’s not how things work in the spirit.

Finally, once you see that your faith is genuine and can take you through the tough times, it produces hope.  If you remember, hope is that expectancy that God’s plan will prevail in your life.

As I said before, it’s important for us to see how all of these concepts work and flow together.  They’re not a bunch of separate teachings that all work independently.  The Holy Spirit uses all of these to bring about His destiny for your life.

Submit to His plan.  Allow this work to be accomplished in you.

Question: How have you seen the pressures of life result in a good outcome?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 11, 2021 in Encouragement, Faith, Spiritual Walk

 

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The Walk of Peace

08 Jan
The Walk of Peace

As we continue through the book of Romans, we’re now beginning Chapter 5.  Paul has showed us the walk of faith with Abraham as our example.  He now wants to take us deeper into this walk of righteousness by faith.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

This Scripture is jam-packed with truth.  It amazes me to see everything that God includes in our salvation.  It’s not just about being declared righteous and justified, even though they’re definitely the most important parts.

This verse tells us that because we have this righteousness by faith, we hold peace toward God through Jesus Christ.  An understanding of what this peace means is critical to our spiritual health.

The word, peace, in this verse means the opposite of war.  God is no longer our enemy.  It’s the New Testament equivalent of the Hebrew word, Shalom – nothing missing, nothing broken.  We barely understand this kind of peace.

For a full Scriptural explanation of this peace, you can read Ephesians 2:11-22.

When we receive God’s peace, there’s so much that comes with it.

Then he [Jesus] said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Luke 8:48

Peace includes our healing.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Romans 16:20

Peace includes victory over Satan.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Peace with God is the answer to all of our need.  We have nothing to fear or worry about when we’re walking in the peace of God.

On top of all that, we also have (through faith), admission into the grace that we’re now standing in.  Those are the two sides of the blessing.  I have faith towards God.  Then He responds by giving me His grace.

This is the key to all we’ve been given in Christ.  I come to the Lord in faith and I’m granted His peace.  Then, peace with God is my admission ticket to His grace.

Because of faith in God, we’re declared righteous, and we hold peace with God, and we’re granted admission into grace.

I can’t imagine anything greater that God could have provided for us.  Allow this truth to saturate your walk with the Lord.

Question: How has peace with God changed your spiritual life?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2021 in Faith, Healing, Spiritual Walk

 

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Righteousness in My Account

06 Jan
Righteousness in My Account

We’ve been looking at Paul’s letter to the Roman church.  He’s been using Abraham as the example of how we’re to look to God in faith.  We’re to fully trust in His power to accomplish anything that He speaks to us.

Abraham heard from God and believed what he was told.  We’re shown the result of this type of faith.

This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:22

It was because of his faith that God inventoried righteousness into Abraham’s heavenly account.  That was great for Abraham, but what does that mean for us?

The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Romans 4:23-24

So, when Scripture talks about the Lord crediting Abraham with righteousness, it’s for our benefit.  It’s so that we can understand the process.  God wants to put His righteousness in our accounts as well.

The good news is that having this righteousness in my account is not based upon how good I am.  It’s not how well I read the Bible or pray.  It’s solely based upon my trust in the One who raised Christ from the dead.

Anything else is worthless legalism.  There’s nothing I can do to earn this great blessing.  Paul makes this clear by explaining the process to us.

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 4:25

Two things are happening in this verse to win our accounting of righteousness.  The first, being that Jesus was delivered over.

That literally means the He was surrendered.  The word, “death”, is not in this verse.  Actually, He surrendered himself to more than just death.

He surrendered himself to being born as one of us.  He lived a life as one of us, feeling the same pains, hunger, frustrations, and everything else that life on this planet throws at you.

Why did the Lord do this?  Paul tells us that it was for our sins that He surrendered himself.  The word Paul uses for sin is not the normal one.  This one means a side-slip – it could be something that’s either intentional or unintentional.

It was my sin that brought Him here.  Because of my mistakes, the Lord lived a human life and died a cruel death on the cross.

But, Praise God, that wasn’t the end of it.  He didn’t stay dead.  He was raised back to life again for our justification.

That’s a big word.  Many people don’t understand all of its implications.  Justification means that because of what Jesus Christ did, I’m now declared “Not Guilty.”  And that’s even before I go to trial!

In God’s eyes, because I’m now found in Christ, I’m innocent of all wrongdoing.  Is that fair?  Absolutely not!  But God found a way to save me (and you) through the surrendering of Jesus Christ to all that He went through.

Don’t let it be in vain.  Trust the Lord for the righteousness that only He can give you.

Question: How has the work of Christ changed your life?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2021 in Faith, Legalism, Spiritual Walk, The Gospel

 

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Trusting God’s Word

04 Jan
Trusting God’s Word

As we continue our study of the book of Romans, we’re seeing Abraham as the father and example of our faith.  It’s because of this faith that we receive blessing and righteousness from the Lord.

In my last post, we saw how he trusted God even though all the facts of his situation pointed in the wrong direction.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Romans 4:20-21

The Scripture says that Abraham did not waver through unbelief.  That word, waver, is important for us to understand.

Taken literally, it’s a word that means judgment.  Abraham didn’t try to judge, based upon all of the facts, whether he should believe God or not.

This is something that we, as believers, need to get a grasp on.  God is beyond our finite judgment.  His Word is true no matter what any other facts look like.  It’s not up to me whether God should be believed or not.

Like Abraham, we need to be fully persuaded that God has the power to do whatever He says He’s going to do.  We need to constantly be checking ourselves with these questions.

Do I believe God has the power to do what He said?  Am I fully persuaded that He will accomplish it?  And what exactly does it mean to be fully persuaded?

That phrase has a double meaning in the Greek language.  Yes, it means to be fully persuaded.  But, it also means to be fully carried out.  This explains a lot about Abraham’s walk with God.

Some say that having Ishmael was a lack of faith on Abraham’s part.  Actually, God didn’t see it that way.

Abraham was fully persuaded that God was going to give him a large family.  So, in his limited ability, he was trying to fully carry out God’s plan.

He had been faithful to his wife, Sarah, for 80 years.  It took what he thought was a Word from God to do otherwise.

The Lord did not see that as a weakening of his faith.  God simply came to him again and said, “That’s not how I want to accomplish it.  I’m going to give you a family through Sarah.”

So often we get worried that we’re going to “miss God” if we make a wrong decision.  I’m so grateful that He’s bigger than that.  God is fully able to work in, around, or through our mistakes.

It’s my job to simply be convinced that He’s well able to do what He says he’ll do.  Then I need to walk in any instructions He gives me.  That’s being fully persuaded and ready to carry out God’s plan.

That’s why the reading of Scripture is so important.  The more we know God’s Word, the more persuaded we become of His ability to fulfill it.

I encourage you to make that a daily habit in this New Year.  Read the Scripture each day.

Let me give you a gift to help you accomplish this.  Recently, the Lord took me on a journey through the New Testament.  As a result, I came up with a daily reading plan that takes you through the New Testament in the order that the Holy Spirit revealed it to the church.

If you want a free download of this plan, click here…Download

It’s my prayer that you have a blessed, prosperous, and healthy New Year!

Question: How is your life affected by your Bible reading?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2021 in Faith, Power of God, Word of God

 

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