4 Verses to Build Your Faith

I did something in January that I can’t stop telling people about. No, it wasn’t Whole30. It was actually only 3 days. Nope, not a cleanse, or a miracle detox. Although I have been on a “warm-lemon-water-with-himalayan-sea-salt-&-coconut-oil-1st-thing-in-the-a.m.-kick.” So there’s that.

BUT…I digress.

It was a bible study. A 3 day-er and it is game changing. More on that in just a minute.

Many times when we walk through something difficult, (you can read our story here) we tend to believe the reality of our circumstances over the truth of the Word of God. We make our experiences gospel. They become the standard of truth for which our thoughts and actions revolve around. (Be sure to check out Chris’ post last week for more on that!) So many times the truth of the word of God, which as Christians should be our standard, seems to stand in stark opposition to the way we feel or perceive things.  And because of that, it’s unbelievably easy to become emotionally driven instead of Spirit led.

Our flesh can take a long time to catch up with our Spirit sometimes can’t it?  And this is especially true if:

 1. You grew up saturated in Christian culture whereas the Bible became a textbook

OR

 2. You’ve walked through something that shook your faith.

Now, raise your hand if you’ve experienced both.

If your hand is currently in the upright position then high 5 me like it’s 1989 because I’m with you.

Walking through a trial of any kind can shake your faith. It can reshape your view of God. Especially if you were praying and believing in earnest for a different outcome than you experienced. But here’s the good news:  the Lord’s big enough to handle it.

All of it.

All of the doubts and questions. All of the fears and pain.  And He’s loving and gracious enough to gently lead you back to truth. And that’s our hope here friend, to help be a conductor of some of that truth to your No Small Life today.

Before we jump into a few truth’s that we’re standing on, here’s the 3-day Bible Study I was telling you about:

“Words to live by” by Craig Groeschel. And if you have the YouVersion app which I HIGHLY recommend, you can access it there as well.

If you are either walking or have walked through something that is causing you to lose faith, I want to share a few key verses with you that I continuously use to bring me back to truth.

 1. Romans 8:1-2 MSG

Romans 8 has long been one of my absolute favorite passages of scripture, but when I read Romans 8 in the message version for the 1st time, it became alive to me all over again.  When life gets hard and dark, remembering that you “no longer have to live under a continuous low-lying dark cloud,” reminds you of the freedom that’s already yours. “There’s a new power in operation,” when you make Jesus Lord of your life.” You don’t have to live under the lies of condemnation any longer. The next time you feel the weight of negativity bearing down on you, remind yourself that you don’t have to live under that any more.  There’s a new power in operation when you’re in Christ.

 2. Habakkuk 3:19 (AMPC)

When you’re lacking the courage to keep going, speak this one over yourself, over your family, over your circumstances. This verse reminds you that you serve a God who is already victorious. And in through Him, you can do anything.

 3. Isaiah 41:10 (AMPC)

Last year I had something on the horizon that felt daunting. The kind of thing that puts a pit in your stomach if you dwell on it. You know the type.

A friend of mine shared this verse with me and it became my anthem in that season.  This one little verse contains 5 promises from the Lord. 5 in one verse! Pretty sure Jesus just dropped the mic.

I love the way the the AMPC puts it, “I will strengthen & harden you to difficulties.” Think about that. How counter-cultural is that? The Lord’s strength doesn’t cause us to become tough or jaded because of the difficulties. The way His strength works is that He hardens us to the difficulties. We can walk through difficult things but because of Him and His strength, they won’t penetrate us.

 4. 1 Peter 5:7

This is one of those verses that you probably memorized in Sunday school. But I can’t even tell you how much more it impacted me when I read it in these 2 translations:

“Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.” (MSG)

“casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully.]” (AMP)

When worry and anxiety are creeping at your door, you can confidently declare that you can cast all your concerns, once & for all onto the Lord. You can live CAREFREE before Him because He watches over you with the deepest of affection and is most careful with you.

Let that sink in and turn the lights of freedom on in your soul.

Do you have a favorite verse(s) that always brings you back to truth? Leave it in the comments so we can keep on encouraging each other.

Until next time,

Meg

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