Chose to Believe God

Peace, Joy, and Contentment

Dr. Charles Stanley 

Nehemiah 2:1-8


Discouragement can rob peace, joy, and contentment. But I have great news if you feel disheartened: You’re not stuck!


I’ve known people who appeared to be in an impossible situation. A few years later, however, they were in a terrific place, either in terms of their circumstances or their emotions. The reason? They never gave up. Instead of sulking in self-pity, they chose to believe God, step out in faith, and climb out of the emotional pit.


Nehemiah is a good example. He had every reason to feel defeated, because his people were in trouble. After receiving news that the city wall had been destroyed, this man of God acknowledged profound disappointment and grieved. Though pain flooded his soul, he didn’t allow himself to stay in that low place. Instead, Nehemiah cried out to God, seeking direction.


Sadness in the presence of royalty was punishable by death. But the Lord answered Nehemiah’s prayer with amazing power, prompting the king to notice his servant’s sad countenance and then toask what he could do to help. This miracle led to the rebuilding of the wall and the redemption of God’s people.


The Lord can take an impossible situation—no matter what it is—and move in ways mightier than you can imagine.


Do you live in eager expectation of what the Lord will do? Or have you chosen to linger in the depths of despair? Like Nehemiah, turn your disappointment into a petition for God’s help. He can restore your hope and prevent negative emotions from gaining a stranglehold on your life.


For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.

Real faith dies to doubt...

Real Faith: What It Is—What It’s Not

Pastor Adrian Rogers

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

It’s faith that enables us to live the Christian life. In order to know what faith is, let me tell you what faith is not.

Faith is not a hunch.

Faith is not positive thinking.

Faith is not responding to emotions, feelings, or icicles up and down your spine or miracles, signs and wonders.

Faith is not believing that God can do something.

Faith is knowing that God will. Faith is taking God at His word. Real faith dies to doubt. It is deaf to discouragement. It is blind to impossibilities. Now this is the kind of faith we need.

What kind of faith do you have? Do you have the faith that is small as a mustard seed, but can move a mountain? Ask God for it today.

For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers, please visit http://www.lwf.org/.

TAKE AWAY POINTS TO REMEMBER

For we walk by faith, not by sight.  2 Corinthians 5:7

If we are faithless, he remains faithful--for he cannot deny himself.  2 Timothy 2:13

Faith is reason at rest in God.  Charles Haddon Spurgeon

A man cannot have faith without asking, neither can he ask it without faith.  Edward Marbury

Faith is a gift which can be given or withdrawn; it is something infused into us, not produced by us.  Robert Hugh Benson

It is cynicism and fear that freeze life; it is faith that thaws it out, releases it, sets it free.

Harry Emerson Fosdick

Faith tells us of things we have never seen, and cannot come to know by our natural senses.  St. John of the Cross

The act of faith is more than a bare statement of belief, it is turning to the face of the living God.  Christopher Bryant

The Redeemer

Sometimes I just want to start over

'Cause everything look like a wreck

And I need the courage to carry on

'Cause I can't see what's ahead

And there are places I've wished I could be

Battles I wanted to win

Dreams that have slipped through my hands

I may never get back again

But I'm still a dreamer, a believer

Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things

But I still believe in You

'Cause You can make anything new

Sometimes I just wish we could say

All the things that are easy to hear

Ignore the injustice we see

And explain ever unanswered prayer

But I'd rather speak honestly

And wear a tattered heart on my sleeve

'Cause in the middle of my broken dreams

Redemption is here

And I'm still a dreamer, a believer

Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things

But I still believe in You

'Cause You are the answer, the redeemer

Oh, I've given up on too many things

But I'm not giving up on You

'Cause You can make anything new

I don't have every answer in life

But I'm trusting You one day at a time

'Cause You can make a weak heart

Stay alive forever

This is where Heaven and earth collide

I lift my hands and give my life

This is how my weary heart stays alive