Are you Ready for a Great Journey?

God has called us to be a part of His story. If we want to be part of God’s story, then we must begin with a journey of faith.

Jesus said “Because of your faith, it will happen.” (Matt. 9:29).

Faith is like a muscle – it has to be developed. You strengthen it by using it. Did you ever have a broken arm? If so, you most likely had a cast on your arm for a month or more. Remember when you had the cast removed and surprised that your arm was actually smaller? Because of their lack of use, the muscles in your arm lost their size and strength.

Faith is like that… if you don’t use your faith; it loses its power and scope of influence.

God tells us that without faith we cannot please Him. (Heb. 11:6)

So what is faith? It is choosing to believe God. It is having confidence in God. And just as important, it is acting on that belief and confidence. God’s word tells us that faith – (that belief and confidence in God) – without works - (our action) is dead. In other words, without acting on our faith, we will have no impact.

God has placed a dream into the heart of Gateway. It is our dream to connect with the people of our community so that they have the opportunity to experience LIFE in Christ.

Rick Warren taught me the six phases of a journey of faith.

1. God always starts with a DREAM.
2. You have to make a DECISION to do something about the DREAM.
3. God will DELAY the DREAM in order to test and grow your faith. God operates on his timetable, not yours.
4. While your DREAM is DELAYED, you can expect DIFFICULTY. If you don’t have critics, you are not doing anything.
5. God will even allow you to reach a DEAD END while pursuing your DREAM.
   
   Read what Paul said when he reached a dead end:
   We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
   
   
6. Once Paul stopped relying on himself, God brought DELIVERANCE. God does things in such a way that everyone will know that he did it!
   
   Our Journey of Faith in Ballentine began as a dream. We made a decision as a family to act on that dream in faith. We faced delays. We have encountered difficulties and we encounter difficulties even now. We have a choice of either experiencing a dead end or responding to God and relying on Him for deliverance. As the Gateway family, let us “rely” only on God!

What are you afraid of?

If you need a good shot of encouragement, find the verses where the Bible says “Don’t be afraid…” Here is one of my favorite:

Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” Matthew 14:22-27 (NLT)

Jesus first told them what to do. Then he told them why they should do it. He told his disciples to get rid of their fear. Did he tell them that there was no danger? No, the scripture states that they “were in trouble.” Did he tell them safety is not far away? No, they were “far away from land.” Did he tell them the storm was not a big deal? No, it was a big something… strong wind and heavy waves.

The disciples were already doing something. They were in survival mode. They were working the problem – “they were fighting heavy waves.”

Jesus said “Don’t be afraid. Take courage. I am here.”

Jesus told his disciples to let go of their fear and replace it with courage. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is moving forward in spite of the fear.

But here is the key to this passage. Jesus did not tell them “the storm will soon stop.” He did not say, “Land and safety is much closer now.” He told them to take courage. Why? Because of one thing. Himself! “I AM HERE!”

John MacArthur says it well: “We will never find ourselves in a place where Christ cannot find us; and no storm is too severe for Him to save us from it. He protects His own, whom He will never fail or forsake. Life is often stormy and painful, often threatening and frightening. Some believers suffer more than others, but all suffer at some time and in some way. In spite of that, the storm is never so severe, the night never so black, and the boat never so frail that we risk danger beyond our Father’s care.”[1]

For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5b (NLT)

[1]MacArthur, J. (1989). Matthew (442). Chicago: Moody Press.