Hey y'all! I'm here for another edition of Faith Fridays! Most of the time, I let God sort of guide me to write about something that's on His heart for me and the people who will read my blog. Today I decided to do something a little different and God didn't disappoint... He's full of surprises. So I flipped open my Bible and did the "show me what you want to show me Lord" thing and I opened up to a page with only one highlighted verse. It was incredible because it was a verse that was perfect for what I'd been feeling to talk about all morning so I took it as a sign of God's approval ;)
I've been sharing a lot about people who inspire me on previous posts and a lot of the time I'm most inspired by people who are firm in their faith and aren't shaken by the world. It's a tough job a lot of the time but we have to face it with courage, knowing that:
"If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all"
- Isaiah 7:9
This verse says so much in such a short sentence. There is nothing that will make you stand other than standing firm in your faith. Faith is "Being sure in what we hope for and certain of what we don't see" (Hebrews 11:1). Picture this: if the ground that you walk on is shaky and uneven, walking will not only be difficult, but according to this verse, you won't even be able to stand! There is so much that the world tries to throw in our faces to get us away from the word of God, which is the truth that gives us life! People ridicule Christians all the time, and there are no signs of it getting better any time soon. Especially in the adolescent years, you are bombarded by the media who present to you things they say are fact, but which Jesus spent his life speaking against. If you aren't grabbing onto the Lord and being certain of what you don't see, you won't even know what to stand for.
I decided to dig deeper into the notion of standing firm in the Word and found that a lot of my favourite verses mention that phrase. So obviously God thought it was pretty important! We must stand firm in battle, in faith, through opposition and in Christ!
"Stand firm and you will win life" - Luke 21:19
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain"
- 1 Cor. 15:58
"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong"
- 1 Cor. 16:13
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery"
- Galatians 5:1
It is no coincidence that most of these verses are messages to people who were facing opposition for following Christ at that time. We are in their same position! I love to work with imagery so just imagine our time right now where Christians are being placed in the middle of fierce storm. Not standing firm in God's promises to you will have you quickly swept away by that wind. But if we don't let this world shape us into something that God didn't intend for us to become, we will have nothing to fear. Our feet will be crazy glued, duct taped and secured to the ground no matter what hits us - WE WON'T BE MOVED. I remember going into high school honestly being so afraid of how people would react when I said I didn't want to take part in what the "normal" teen population was doing. But I soon learned that holding on tight to God was the best decision I could ever make!
I've come to the conclusion that any doors that are only open to me if I push aside my faith, are ultimately doors I don't want to be walking into anyways! I'm sure that people will try to persuade me to stop following Jesus, but that's not going to happen because I stand firm on the rock of my salvation. It doesn't matter how good the prospect looks - it's not good if you can't have Jesus to celebrate it with you. Don't you let anyone talk you out of standing up for Jesus, ever. Live by this quote: If Jesus died for you, why not live for Him! People who stand firm in their faith are the ones who move mountains and truly impact those around them. Like Corinthians 16 says, be courageous and strong - you'll see that the storm will not move a hair off your head because You. Stand. Firm.
Wishing you an amazing weekend! Thanks for stopping by xo
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