Guaranteed Success | Wednesday Bible Study

Today's Bible study topic is on trust. We may remember Gideon as a mighty man of valor. We may remember he was the head of the army that God used, only 300 men, to defeat a mighty army that waged war against them. We remember the triumph and the favor, but Gideon was not always a champion. When God called him from under an oak tree, Gideon was insecure and doubtful that God could ever use a man like him. We may not be able to understand what it looks like to have success and favor on our lives like Gideon, but can we relate to feeling like we are not smart enough, strong enough, or good enough to be used to do mighty things for God? I certainly can. I have battled insecurities for years, but God has been teaching me that I don't need to have confidence in myself and my abilities. I need to have confidence in God and what He can do through me. Let's read the text.

JUDGES 6:11-24 (11)And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. (12)And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. (13)And Gideon said unto Him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. (14)And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? (15)And he said unto Him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. (16)And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. (17)And he said unto Him, If now I have found grace in Thy sight, then shew me a sign that Thou talkest with me. (18)Depart not hence, I pray Thee, until I come unto Thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before Thee. And He said, I will tarry until thou come again. (19)And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto Him under the oak, and presented it. (20)And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. (21)Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. (22)And when Gideon perceived that He was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. (23)And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. (24)Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezerites.

The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. This chapter opens up telling us that the children of Israel were not concerned about God, but now that they are suffering the consequences of turning their back on God and they do not like it. Now they need Him! The Bible tells us in verse six of that same chapter that Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites. Because of their circumstances, they cried unto the LORD to deliver them from the bondage. 

The first thing we see in this passage is the angel of the LORD sits under an oak tree. He sees Gideon. He does not announce His presence with a trumpet or loud fanfare. He sits beneath the oak and observes Gideon hiding out by the wine press, trying not to be noticed by the enemy: the Midianites. He has a job to do, but he cannot do it in the open. He is hiding. 

The angel of the LORD appears to Gideon. Note the greeting Gideon gets. "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!" He was greeted in the way God saw him. Gideon had no medals, no shiny armor, no big following. God called him a mighty man of valor. The salutation is that "God is with you, Gideon." I am here to tell you that God is with you today, mighty man or woman of valor! It does not matter who you think you are, God is with you and with me. He calls us men and women of valor.

What is valor? It means to have great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle. Gideon did not feel like a brave man in the face of adversity. We may not feel brave either, but God called Joshua to be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might and He put the same call on Gideon and on you and me. (Joshua 1:9)

Gideon's jaw must have hit the ground! He no doubt turned and looked behind him. He couldn't believe that he was the one being addressed. He was no war hero. He was no one special. At least those are the lies the enemy planted in his mind.  And immediately insecurity rears its ugly head and makes him doubt. Friends, do not doubt your worth and potential inside of you. If you are a child of the Most High God you are a child of THEE CHAMPION and you have no other choice but to be victorious! It's in your bloodline!

God gives a declaration of power and truth to Gideon and he is so beat down by the enemy, so oppressed by his circumstances, he cannot receive it. He says the same thing many ask today when things get hard. "Where is God?" He says, "If God is really with us then why are we suffering?" Are you looking at your situation and your circumstances and asking, "Where is God in all of this? If God is with us why are we in this pandemic? If God is really with me then why am I sick? Why did he let my loved ones die?" Gideon said, "Our parents and grandparents told us that God performed miracles and freed us from slavery before when we were in Egypt. But now God has forsaken us and we are at the mercy of these awful Midianites."

Do you remember what God has done for you in the past? What about in January this year? What did God do for you in January? Can you look back and see God's hands all over your life and how He delivered you from addiction and bondage and slavery to sin? Maybe like Gideon you can see great in the rear-view mirror but when you look out the windshield of your life you don't see Him anywhere. You see the roadblocks, the dead-ends, the danger and the despair. God already answered this question when He greeted Gideon. He said, "The LORD is with thee." That is the same answer He is telling you and me today. God is with us!

God did not repeat that phrase to Gideon. He did not put His arm around Gideon's shoulder and tell him how important and special he was to Him. No, God gives him a job to do. He reveals Gideon's mission. We do not need a pep talk. We need to know what our assignment is. What are we here for? God tells Gideon to "go in your own strength and save Israel. Am I not sending you?" He is telling us the same thing. Use the strength and the energy you have and you will be successful in the thing I am calling you to do because I AM sending you! I AM is sending you and I AM is sending me. We have been told to go and do the thing that God has put in our hearts to do. What is He telling you to do?

Gideon did not grab his weapons of war and rush off to the battle. He did not stand a bit taller and throw his shoulders back, ready to face the Midian army. He did what you and I often do when we are asked to do something we don't think we can handle. He made excuses. He talked about his flaws and shortcomings. He asked God, "How can I save Israel? I am from a poor family and even in my family I am the weakest, the youngest, the least important person. Why would You choose me to do something so important? I will fail." Don't we do that too? Our first reaction is to check our toolbox and see if we have what it takes to do the job. When we see the toolbox is empty or full of things we don't see value in, we shrink back in fear. We tell God, the creator of heaven and earth, that He is wrong! He picked the wrong person. We have the audacity to argue with the King of kings and Lord of lords and tell His Majesty that He is asking the wrong person to do this job.

God is telling each of us to do something right now. It might be to talk with a friend or neighbor. Maybe it's to forgive someone who hurt us a long time ago and we are still hanging on to and nursing old wounds because we cannot forget. God might be asking us to use our skills and abilities to help someone else. Maybe it's to go on a mission trip, or give some money to an organization that desperately needs it. Maybe it's to help someone by writing a book, creating a video, starting a blog, doing the podcast, hosting a Zoom meeting. What is God telling you to do? Do not look at what you have and think you are inadequate. He told Gideon to go in his own strength and if he goes in obedience then God is going to give him the victory. It is guaranteed success. The same powerful promise is ours if we will just pick up the pen, dial the number, drive to the house, write the check, turn on the mic! God will guarantee us success. We will reach who He wants us to reach and we will not fail!

God responds to Gideon's list of Reasons I Cannot Do It by reminding Gideon that he is not alone. He promises him success. God said, "Surely I will go with you. I am not sending you alone. You are not doing this by yourself." He is telling us the same thing. "Go but do not think I am saying go alone!" God said, "Without question I am going with you!" Do you hear the heart of the Father in this? He wants to partner with us on a major undertaking to further His Kingdom on this earth. He says to us that He is going with us. We are not going to face this by ourselves.

He tells Gideon that he will defeat the massive army as if it were only one man, one opponent. God is telling us that the spirit of fear we face is our opponent and we are going to overcome fear because God did not give us that spirit. He gave us power, love, and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) We have everything we need to succeed. God just wants us to be willing and obedient.

Let's recap for just a moment. God came down to talk to Gideon and He manifests His presence to him. He declares who He sees Gideon as. He gives him a big task that Gideon would never have thought of doing. After listening to Gideon's fears and excuses of why God should find someone else to do the job, He encourages Gideon. He promises to be with him and to give him success. Now Gideon says to God, "Show me a sign You really are talking to me." He actually said that to God. He said in essence, "This is all too incredible for me to believe. Can You please show me a sign that this is really from You God? Can You please just give me proof that You are actually picking me?"

It's easy to pick on Gideon for doing that, but don't we have tendencies to do the same thing? Holy Spirit drops an idea into our heart and we think about it and we dream about it and it seems impossible and scary but exciting at the same time. Then we start asking God to prove that He really is the author of this big idea. When in reality we could never think it up for ourselves. So then Gideon tells God not to leave so he can give Him a gift and our Heavenly Father is so patient with His children that He says to Gideon, and to us, "I will wait."

Gideon comes back with some meat and unleavened bread and broth and takes it to God under the oak tree. God tells Gideon what to do and he immediately obeys. God tells Gideon to set the gifts on the rock. That is so important. When we are bringing our gifts we need to display them on the Rock - that is Jesus. We need to make sure our gifts are on that sure foundation! And when the LORD touched the gift with the staff in His hand, on the sure foundation of the Rock, the fire was ignited! Fire out of the rock! It consumed the gift. We need to make sure the Holy Ghost fire of God consumes our gift. We must do exactly what He tells us to do with our gift. If we drop the gift on the ground it is no good. If we forget the broth or spill it before we can pour it, we are missing the mark. We must carefully follow God's leading with our gifts and that will ignite His power within us and  consume us!

Now Gideon's supernatural eyes are open! He sees that it is God. And then instead of remembering this is the sign he asked for, fear grips his heart again. He thinks he will now die because he has seen an angel of the LORD face to face. But God has not come to kill Gideon. God has called him to do a mighty, valiant work for Him. In the love of our Heavenly Father, He says to Gideon, "Peace be unto you. Do not be afraid. You will not die." God gave Gideon peace and He gives us that peace, too. He is saying to us, "Do not be afraid. Here is My peace. I am giving it to you. You will not die. You will not fail. I am going to do big things through you!"

Gideon named the place Jehovah-shalom. Literally it means The LORD Is Peace. That is true, too. God is love. God is light. God is peace. I cry out to Jehovah-Shalom when I need peace and He has NEVER failed to give it to me. Friends, let's go back to where we first felt our inferiority, our anxiety, our fear, our failures. Let's go back to that awful place and let's rename it, THE LORD IS PEACE. Let's receive the gift of Jehovah-Shalom as He offers us His peace and quiets our fears. And instead of listing all our flaws, let's rename ourselves a mighty man or woman of valor. Declare today, "I have great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle!" Then suit up according to the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20. God is with us. We will not fail. He is going with us. We will not go alone. We must go in our own strength and trust God to give us the victory because we know we cannot do it alone. We cannot succeed in our own strength, but when we have done all we know to do, we must stand and see God work!

I pray that something I have shared in this week's Bible study post today, has given you strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Blessings For You | Fuel For The Weekend

God told me to share my faith on Fridays and call it Fuel For The Weekend. It's my desire that the posts I put up on Fridays will give you something to think about, ponder, consider, and reflect on throughout the weekend.

I was always intrigued in the Bible by the formal blessing a father would give his son before dying. It is so special to have those last words engraved in our hearts. Sometimes death parts us from our loved ones and no kind words were last spoken. That is heart-breaking; makes the tragedy even more sad. Regardless of whether we had a good father on earth or not, all God's children have a wonderful Heavenly Father. He is the perfect parent and He blessed the children of Israel with a very special blessing. 

My son recently stood in my bedroom door when we still lived in Alabama and he said, "Mom, I think God wants me to read this to you." I was not expecting that and honestly I was silently battling some things and I really needed the encouragement. "Go ahead. You can read it to me." And so he began:

NUMBERS 6:24-26 (24)The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: (25)The LORD make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: (26)The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

What a sweet moment. I had tears well up in my eyes. My heart filled to overflowing. I thanked my 13 year old son for being sensitive to Holy Spirit and obeying. I thanked God for giving me such a sweet boy to share that with me. I thanked God for sharing with me the blessing He told Moses to tell Aaron to tell the children of Israel.

Each verse is special and significant. May God bless and keep us. Keep us free from what? Danger, peril, famine, sickness, financial ruin, natural disasters, pestilence, flood.... from anything that would harm us. We know He does those things every single day for every one of His children.

I love the part that reads May the LORD make His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. What an intimate way to express the love of our Father. He doesn't turn away from us. He looks us straight into our faces and is gracious to us. Instead of justice and judgment, He offers grace and mercy and forgiveness.

The peace of God that transcends all understanding is a part of this precious blessing. As He looks us in the spiritual eyes He is giving us His peace. He promises to do that when we keep our minds stayed upon Him. He is trading our feelings of guilt and shame and turmoil, feelings of fear and dread and He is giving us His sweet peace! What a great and loving Father we have!

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

ISAIAH 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.

I am so thankful that we serve a wonderful risen Savior. He loves us so much He died for our sins. If we have decided to follow Jesus, let's daily take up our cross to follow where He leads us. (Matthew 16:24) Let's gaze into the eyes of the Heavenly Father and thank Him for His precious promise. He has blessed us with so many good and perfect gifts. Take the time this weekend to reflect on where God has taken you this month. What things have you done? What ways has He blessed you unexpectedly? I have enough to fill a large novel just from what He has done for me this month!

Have a wonderful weekend. Whether you have to work or you don't; whether you go out or stay in; keep your eyes on Jesus. You will never regret it and your weekend will be far better with Him than if you leave Him out! I pray something I shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Way Maker | Thankful Thursday

The LORD impressed on my heart to carve out a section of my blog to share what I am thankful for. I started it on a Thursday and decided to call it "Thankful Thursday." Each week I share what I am thankful for. Come back each week so we can count our blessings together.

I am so glad that before I knew God He knew me. In the book of Jeremiah we read a beautiful passage where God speaks to the prophet about His view of Jeremiah. We can read starting in verse 4 that God knew Jeremiah before his mother conceived him. Isn't that a beautiful picture of God's love, purpose, and plan for each one of us? 

We have so much to be thankful for every single day. God knows everything about us. Before we were formed in the womb, He sanctified us and gave us a purpose. 

JEREMIAH 1:4,5 (4)Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (5)Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. 

My daughter had a very specific plan for her life. She loves to write and she is very good at it. She has always been involved with anything to do with writing. It didn't matter if it was a blog post, something shared on social media, or journaling in her quiet time, she would always share her thoughts in that way. She took classes, workshops, and attended seminars with the goal of becoming a journalist. Her dad and I always encouraged her dream. God had other plans.

Throughout her high school career she worked on yearbooks, newspapers, and other periodicals. It seemed she was headed in the right direction when she was accepted at Alabama State University. It was not long before God showed her and everyone around her that He had very different plans for her life.

She worked as a salesman at a motorsports shop and excelled above her peers who were much older and more experienced than she. She set goals and exceeded them week after week. She enjoyed the friendly banter with her customers. She seemed to have a real gift for closing deals. The commission checks were nice and she thought perhaps she should go to a community college for a business degree. Before she got the chance to pursue that dream, God changed the course of our lives yet again and moved us back to Indiana. 

Kadesia has always been quick to help others. She loves deeply and unconditionally. She can't stand to see others suffer. We had talked many times about the possibility that she might become a nurse like me. She volunteered in the nursing homes and the residents loved her. She became a home health aide and became CPR certified in no time. She felt God calling her into the nursing field and had a strong desire to further her education at a community college here in Indiana. 

I am so thankful that she is independent and strong and desires to do things on her own. She wanted to pay for school herself and while I admire that, God had other plans to help build her faith as she learns to trust in God to supply all her needs. This morning she wanted to pull her hair out when she couldn't get through to the financial department of her school. She had been given some money but it was only a fraction of the down payment. I reminded her that God directed her steps to pursue this degree with this school and He would make the provision. Before 3 o'clock today she had been given the rest of the down payment. It reminds me of what God said to Jeremiah.

JEREMIAH 1:6-10 (6)Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. (7)But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. (8)Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. (9)Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put   My words in thy mouth. (10)See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. 

God's Word tells us that our God will supply our every need. He ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet to many nations before he was ever formed in his mother's womb. When Jeremiah gave God his limitations, God gave His provision. He had already equipped Jeremiah with everything he needed to accomplish his purpose on the earth. 

God has a special plan for all of us. We must seek Him for what He wants to do through us to further His Kingdom. Whatever He tells us to do, like Jeremiah, and like Kadesia, we will find that God equips us and furnishes us with everything we need to fulfill His plan for us. 

PHILIPPIANS 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:8-15 (8)And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (9)(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; He hath given to the poor: His righteousness remaineth for ever. (10)Now He that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seeds sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) (11)Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. (12)For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; (13)Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; (14)And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you (15)Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. 

This Thankful Thursday I am thankful that God supplied my daughter's financial needs for school this semester. I am thankful to have the reminder that God met Jeremiah's needs too. No matter what you're facing, how bleak it looks, encourage yourself with these scriptures. Remember how many times God has come through before. He didn't bring any of us this far to leave us now.  Take hope in knowing that we can tap into unlimited resources from our Heavenly Father who is ready with arms wide open to bless us with everything we need to do what He has called us to do. 

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

 

PSALM 27 | Wednesday Bible Study

I heard in my spirit "Psalm 27" and I was in a rush to get out the door, and making sure my kids were good to go for the day, and my hubby was home sick and I made sure he had all the things and I looked at my Bible. I knew if God was telling me to read this chapter it was going to be worth slowing down and listening. What a great and encouraging chapter it turned out to be for this very season in my life! Of course it is. After all, God the Father has selected it for me to read. So, let's talk about it! It's only 14 verses but what power and encouragement and hope there is in these verses!

This is a Psalm of David. He begins by magnifying God and in doing so all his problems instantly shrink! The LORD is my light and salvation. Yes He is! He shines light on my path so I can see where to walk. He saves me from trouble when I listen to Him. He saved me from eternal separation, and He also saves us from the snares and traps the devil sets for us! So who should we be afraid of? No one has that kind of power and ability but Almighty God! He alone can light up the darkness and shine hope into our souls. Only God can save and set free. There is nothing anyone can say or do to put fear in our hearts when we focus on how good and awesome and marvelous our God is!

How many of us can testify with David, arms raised and say, "Yes! He is the strength of my life! He is our stronghold, our refuge, a mighty fortress we can run to! He is our protector!"?There is no one we need to be afraid of. When we begin to magnify our God and talk about His light and love and salvation and strength, what is left to fear? Nothing!!!

Are there times you have felt surrounded by people who just want to harm you? Maybe you have been in a situation where people are watching you, just hoping you will fail! David knows what that's like. He knows God is on his side, and he says even when others wanted to devour me and wished harm to me, God caused them to stumble and fall! They couldn't do anything to us! They are powerless against God. They tripped and and tumbled. They were the ones eating dirt! I stood firm as I ran to the Mighty Fortress-- our God!

Even if there were so many people we couldn't number against us, we do not have to fear. Our hearts do not have to be fearful. We can stand firm in God's love. Even if war breaks out and it's all around us, we can be confident in this: "There is one desire we have, one thing of the LORD that we will search for, that we may dwell, live, abide, stay, inhabit the house of the LORD every single day of our lives, to look and see the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple. We can search things out in His house. We can look for answers and behold the beauty that is not comparable to any other thing in life and friends that is what my soul longs after. That is what I want more than anything else anyone can offer me.

You may ask why I have this much confidence in God. It is that every single time trouble comes knocking, God answers the door. He hides me in His pavilion. He hides me in the secret of His tabernacle. It makes me so happy and full of joy that I start to sing. I sacrifice a song of praise and joy because I don't feel like singing in the middle of the turmoil. I don't feel like praising in the middle of the bad news and the bad reports, the new diagnosis, the financial struggles, the sickness, the pain, the worry, the torment. I don't feel like throwing up my hands and praising and singing but my God is so worthy that I will sacrifice it. I will praise Him because He is worth it. My circumstances don't dictate when I praise my Savior. He is always worthy!

Isn't verse 7 our heart's cry so often when things are going wrong? Hear us LORD when we lift our voices and cry and have mercy on us. Answer us God because You alone are the answer! You are what we are searching for. You alone fulfill us! You complete us! Not another person, another job, another car, another home, another degree, another material possession. No, LORD, You, and You alone fill our hearts to overflowing and not another.

God when You said to seek Your face, may our hearts say, "Your face God we will seek!" God may we stop running to see what is in Your hand, and just kneel at Your nail-scarred feet and thank You for what You have already done for us! God may we stop short of asking for something else and just pause to reflect on Your goodness and grace. God instead of looking into Your nail-scarred hands for gifts and answers, may we gaze into Your beautiful face and just lock eyes with You and be content to be welcomed into Your presence! God may we run to seek Your face and not Your hands!!

Please don't hide Your face from us. Don't make me leave in Your anger from when I choose the wrong things! You alone God have been my help! You alone are where my help comes from. God may we stop looking at You as though You are our partner and we somehow help You. May we remember we can do NOTHING apart from You God. Please do not leave us or forsake us. Oh, what a beautiful promise that Your Word says You will never leave us nor forsake us, but You will go with us until the end of the world! What a mighty God we serve! What a loving and gracious Master we have! God You are the source of our salvation!

When my parents throw me away, God, You will take me up! When my family abandons me and calls me crazy, You call me Your own! You pick us up God when we are despised by others and left as an outcast. You brush us off and clean us up and welcome us into Your family. You give us Your name and You wipe away our tears. You pour healing salve into our wounds! Who but God can do such things as these!? There is none, LORD. You, alone.

Oh, Heavenly Father, teach us Your ways. Help us to follow hard after Your example. God show us how to live like You want us to. Show and teach us how to please You Father. Lead us in smooth paths because of our enemies. When the bumps in the road, and the potholes threaten to wreck us, God go before us and make our way smooth so we can follow You closer.

Don't let the enemies win. They that come against us and want us to suffer and crash and burn. God don't let them see us fail. False accusers slander us. They say things that are cruel and untrue, they lie and self-promote, and literally breathe out cruelty. God don't let us fall into their traps.

It's so hard God when the pandemic is all around us. I hear so many say they are weary of it LORD. It's so hard when things are not normal and it seems like it may never be. It is hard God when there is so much evil and wickedness in the world, but I am like David. I would have fainted and fallen out by now God if I had not seen the goodness of You LORD in the land of the living! God if I couldn't find a cloud of witnesses I would have given up! If I had not been encouraged by what I see You doing in our lives every day it would have been too much! 

Teach us to wait upon You Father God. Help us to be strengthened and have good courage. Give us bravery in our hearts to face this world head on. Give strength to Your people Father as we wait upon You.

I cannot tell you all how much God caused my spirit to soar over this Word today! If you read my blog today in conjunction with each of those verses I hope it will spark a fire in your hearts too. God is busy! He is working! He is on the move. He is unstoppable. He is doing amazing new things. He is building. He is causing things to bloom, grow, and flourish. We are not surviving this life...no we are thriving! We are more than conquerors! Hold your head up high! We are sons and daughters of the King of kings and LORD of lords. He is magnificent in all of His ways! Don't you love Him? I just cannot stop thinking about Him. I cannot get enough of His Word. I cannot get my day started without Him and then we commune all day long. He is my everything, my all-in-all.

I pray something I have shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Seeing Father God | Fuel For The Weekend

God told me to share my faith on Fridays and call it Fuel For The Weekend. It's my desire that the posts I put up on Fridays will give you something to think about, ponder, consider, and reflect on throughout the weekend.

I have had an incredible time with God this morning. He has given sweet peace to me. I am full of His love and His Word and His joy! What a beautiful way to end the work week and start on the weekend: in His presence!

In my quiet time the LORD directed me to today's verse. I read it, then read it again, and underlined it. It is so beautiful and this one verse is packed full of insight, encouragement, and hope. If you need any of those things, then I invite you to sit at the table with me as we break the Bread together!

ZEPHANIAH 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.

Isn't that a beautiful verse? God is in the midst of us. In the middle of our struggles, in the middle of our pain, in the middle of our loss, in the middle of our sickness, God is in the middle of it and He is mighty! He is powerful. He is not weak. He is not scared. He is not concerned. He is not frantically searching for answers on how to handle our problems. He is in control. He is mighty! He is the solution to every problem we face. He knows what to do! Sit in that knowledge for just a moment.

What are you facing right now? What hardship are you going through? You may be struggling with difficulties and maybe you thought this year would be better. It may have started off worse than last year started. There is hope! If you are a child of God, He is with you in the middle of the suffering and He is mighty! He is powerful! He is extraordinary!

He will save. Are you saved? Are your loved ones? Your friends? Your coworkers? I have a list of people I am asking God to save. It breaks my heart when I think they may leave this world without the Blessed Hope of God in Christ Jesus. So many people think if they are good people and do nice things that they don't have to have a relationship with Jesus and they are still going to heaven. That is a lie! The Bible tells us that if we try to go in any other way than through the door of Jesus Christ we are a thief and a robber. (John 10:1) God wants to save you and your loved ones, your friends, your coworkers...and the whole world. He sent Jesus for that purpose. (John 3:16)

I love this next part. He will rejoice over you with joy. When we line up our thoughts and our lives to reflect His ways He rejoices over us with joy. There is great happiness inside God that wells up and He rejoices over His children when they are walking upright before Him. I have an image in my mind of God, our loving Heavenly Father, sitting on the edge of His throne, looking down below, and seeing the ones who struggle and strive but never lose hope, never lose faith in Him and He begins to rejoice. He is happy! It pleases the Father when we obey and do His will. It makes Him glad to see us walking fully in our purpose. He loves us so much and He rejoices over us with joy! He takes great pleasure in us. Isn't that precious? I am holding this scripture so close to my heart this morning.

He will rest in His love. Some translations say He will quiet you with His love. Just as a parent soothes their child with hushed tones and gentle hands, our loving Heavenly Father rushes to us to quiet us with His love. He soothes us. The pain, the torment, the aggravation, the loss... it melts away when we are enveloped in His love. We are soothed and quieted. The storm that rages around us is not as scary in His arms!

Another translation says He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins]. And one other translation says In His love He will no longer rebuke you. Isn't that another beautiful illustration? He loves us so much He will not bring up the things we have done wrong in our past. The things He has already forgiven us for, He forgets. He does not drag up past deeds and sling them in our face. He does not condemn us. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) He loves us so much He would never condemn us for things He has already forgiven us for.

He will joy over us with singing. So many times God brings a song back to my remembrance and Holy Spirit will sing just a few lines from the song to my heart. It comforts me. It blesses me. It encourages me. I have sang over my children silly little songs when they were young and they would giggle. I can imagine God, our Heavenly Father, leaning into His children, getting so close to our faces, and with great happiness and pleasure singing over us. What a beautiful promise!

I don't know what you're going through. I know life is tough and things get tougher by the minute sometimes. I don't know what big obstacles stand in your way, what giants are hovering over you today, but I hope you will read this verse and find hope and strength. I hope you will breathe in this amazing promise God has given us and rest in it today. Let it lift you up. Let it speak to you. May you read this passage today and see our Heavenly Father in a whole new way.

As you get ready for the weekend, take heart! Be encouraged! I hope that something I have shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

21 Day Fast | Thankful Thursday

The LORD impressed on my heart to carve out a section of my blog to share what I am thankful for. I started it on a Thursday and decided to call it "Thankful Thursday." Each week I share what I am thankful for. Come back each week so we can count our blessings together.

I know I say this every week, but I truly have so many things to be thankful for. God is so good to me! I have not shared on my blog that I was on a 21-day fast. I do not like to tell others unless there is a reason they need to know. I want to thank God for getting me through these past 21 days. It was not easy but I have seen the hand of God move in my circumstances and in my life so much! He has answered so many prayers and done so much for my family and me that I just cannot even begin to tell you what all it was in just the past three weeks! It was that much!

Sometimes I look back in my prayer journals and I am amazed at how much He has done for me. Not amazed because I doubt His ability. Amazed because of the sheer volume of things He is able to accomplish in such a short period of time. The incredibly hard things, the big things, the impossible things that only He can do!

This fast was special because my husband, our children, and a very close friend of mine fasted for 21 days. Today is the last day of the fast and we have shared our struggles, prayed for one another, encouraged one another, and just grew closer to one another. I look back to where we all were January 1 and where we are now and my mind is blown! I am so thankful for family and friends to help encourage and strengthen me as I go.

I am thankful for the excitement and creativity He sparked in me just in the past 24 hours. He has been giving me insight and deeper understanding of His Word and that in turn helps me help others. I am learning and growing and gaining strength. There are some BIG things He has asked me to do for Him and it's not going to be easy but I know that I can do them as He strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

I have been getting group texts from my sisters, my niece, my daughter, and my brother. It has been so encouraging and uplifting to receive messages of hope and love and just sweet reminders of how good God is. I am thankful to have this ability to communicate with them because we don't live close to each other and even though it's not far to a couple of their homes, it's not as easy to fellowship with Covid concerns, so it's a true blessing to pick up my phone and get that daily reminder that others are thinking of me and praying for me.

I am also thankful for my blog. It's not a fancy blog. I don't get paid to do this. I don't have a big following. It's not about that for me. I do this because I love God and I love His Word and I love to share with others. I want to be an encourager. I hope this blog is encouraging to all who read it. I am thankful for those who read my blog and send me messages to tell me how the posts I share have helped them in some way. What a blessing and an honor to get to do that! I am truly thankful I have this opportunity and I do hope one day more will read these blog posts but only so they can see Jesus in a whole new way. I just want to share my faith with as many as I can!

I know I will have even more to thank God for next week. Do you keep a gratitude journal? It is such a great tool for when the journey gets hard and strength fails. I look back and see the hand of God all over my life and I thank Him for that and it starts to breathe new life into me. I get uplifted and encouraged to read what God has done for me! Reminds me of my memory verse this week: Psalm 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Thy works. Isn't that so good?

Thank you for joining me this week as I count my blessings! Be sure to visit my blog tomorrow when I give you all a little fuel for the weekend!

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Use What You Have | Wednesday Bible Study

I am fired up for tonight's Bible study! It's an exciting time for Christians! God is on the move and I want to be part of whatever He does!! Let's jump into the New Testament between 2 Thessalonians and 2 Timothy. We are going to read a piece of the letter Paul wrote to Timothy. Timothy is a young pastor and faces a heavy burden of responsibility in the church to erase false doctrine, safeguard public worship, and develop mature leadership. Let's see what Paul has to say!

1 TIMOTHY 4:14-16 (14)Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. (15)Meditate upon these things: give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. (16)Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

These three verses are filled with advice for Timothy. He was young and it is hard to be a pastor. There are many responsibilities and requirements that can be daunting when just starting a ministry. I believe these instructions are advice for you and I today, too. 

First of all, Paul tells Timothy to use his gift. We all need to remember the gift we were given from God is not just for our pleasure and enjoyment. We must share the gift with others in our own unique way. Neglect not the gift within us! It is so important to not just shrug it off, but put it to use. It may be singing, writing, dancing, drawing, speaking, teaching..... but we must not save our gift for special occasions. We need to do something with that gift every single day!

Paul tells Timothy, and essentially us... to think about our gifts and callings. How can we use these things for God's glory? How can we minister to others with the gifts God gave us? We need to think of those things as more than a hobby or part-time ministry. We should devote ourselves completely to work in the area we are gifted in. We need to study it, and study others with the same gifts to see what they are doing and who they are reaching for Christ. Encourage others who are using their gifts in a way that honors God. And Paul shares a secret here in verse 15. He says that when we are consistent in these things, we are going to grow and develop the skills and abilities to do more, reach more, and bless more. Others will actually see the change and growth as we mature in the things God has called us to do.

It's great to do things God calls us to do. If He has called us to play the guitar, it's fun! It is a blessing to others, but even when we are alone, we can find great satisfaction in learning a new lick, or playing a song with ease we once struggled with. But there is so much more than pleasure and entertainment to be gained from using our gifts.

Paul warns Timothy in the letter to be mindful of how he conducts his life. There is a responsibility that comes with any gift or calling. We are told to pay attention to the testimony of our life, our silent witness, and to the message we are portraying to the rest of the world. What message are we sending to our family, friends, coworkers, classmates, employers, prayer partners, and acquaintances? The reason we want to think about this is so we can experience salvation and those who hear us and spend time with us will experience it too.

What is God asking us to do? What gifts did He give us? What is He calling us to do? How can we use the skills and abilities God gave us to bless others and share a message of love, hope, and forgiveness? God wants us to use the things He gave us so we can get better at it. As we develop more skills and abilities we can mentor others who are not as far along in their Christian journey and then when they grow and develop into a deeper level, they are able to take others under their wings. And so it goes. On and on, we can continue to lift others and encourage them to keep going and keep doing their best for God all the while we are moving and striving for the same. Let's just help each other make it Home!

God bless yoU!

~Bridgett Owens