You Must Survive The Test



We have been studying faith for over a month now.  There are so many things going on around us that we must have faith to survive.  Faith is the ingredient that you have to have to please God.  We want to please God in spite of what happens around us.  Every day won't bring sunshine.  In fact, some days will bring fire!
When I read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3ch) being thrown in the fiery furnace, I was upset. When I was fourteen years old, I had a problem with God.  I asked God, "Now why would you even put them in there in the first place?  Why would you allow them to suffer?" I thought he was teasing them.  It just didn't make sense that he allowed them to go through those problems, but as I got older, I realized that we have to survive the test!

Have you ever asked God why he let your heart be broken? Or why did he let your health fail? God needs us to move from drinking milk to chewing meat.  We have to grow up so we can help others reach their faith potential. If we are all still in the crib, who will go out and tell a dying world that Jesus saves? I think we limit God when we think everything that happens is about us, first.  We have the order incorrect.
Surviving the test isn't just about you.  When you read the story of the three Hebrew boys, you will see that it was not until after the fiery furnace, that the king proclaimed their God to be God!
Whatever test you are going through today, know that God is going to use it for his glory first! And what I love about God is that he isn't just doing it for himself.  He is allowing you an opportunity to know him better.  To be closer to him.

When you come out of the fire, your mind will be new. Your attitude will be changed. Most importantly, your faith will be elevated. You will not only survive the test, but you will conquer yourself. When we activate our faith by expressing our belief in the abilities of God, we become a different individual in the eyesight of God. Our vocabulary reflects his dominion in our lives. We affirm that God can do anything but fail. We walk and commune with him when we speak Godly language and we survive the test!

Reaching the lost at any cost,
Pastor Odie Kennedy

Featured Image Credit: Vidal Velazco

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Atleast Say Thank You!

Image
I give honor to God today. I thank him for my life, health, and strength.  I thank him for the activities of my limbs,   I thank him for bringing me over the dangerous highways. I thank him for  keeping me from dangers seen and unseen. I'm saved, sanctified,  and filled with the precious Holy Ghost, and that with a mighty burning fire. And I do speak in tongues as the spirit gives utterance!  As a young girl growing up, I thought that was a cute little speech that you had to say when you stood before the people in church.  I used to think it was a rehearsed cliché that the mothers testified to each other.  Looking back now, it seems like every Sunday we went to altar and "got saved"! It was just something the young people did- either on our own, because our friends went, or because Mama said so.   When I got saved for real, the Lord did a good job! He showed me a better way to live and offered me his love. As I serv...
Read more

Prayer Is Essential

Image
Essential is defined as being absolutely necessary and extremely important. I cannot think of anything more essential to the spiritual health of the believer than prayer. As the year comes to close, I look back at the tragedies some of us narrowly escaped, the tests we endured, and the pain we suffered. This glance back isn't global or even national. We only have to look as far as our own front doors.  Even our houses of worship have been subject to trials. It is only through the grace of God that we are not consumed. And it is essential that we pray, and we give thanks. Prayer can sometimes be seen as powerful when the verbiage is great, and the tone is loud. For me, it has been in my quietest moments that I have seen the power of prayer manifest miracles. Though I may be surrounded by chaos, prayer allows me to come humbly before my God and find his peace. As followers of Jesus, we must take heed to his divine example. In the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:29), while facing the...
Read more

Search and Surrender

Image
This is the time when so many are evaluating their lives and declaring change.  You know the season.  When the new year rolls in, we start looking for a new person to emerge in the mirror.  This can be an effective motivation for some.  They begin the weight loss journey and soon begin to see results. That accomplishment becomes a drug that keeps them running back to the gym.   I could possibly make some declarations of my own, but this year I am asking God to do a new thing in me. It would be nice to be slimmer, richer, and all of that, but it's more important for this child of God to be spiritually made new.  I'm not talking about a new shout or dance, but I want God to transform me from the inside out.  This time of year is also a time of consecration.  We turn down our plates and lift up our hearts in prayer. We take our devotion to the next level by denying this flesh. I know you're saying that we should be doing that all of the time....
Read more