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The Substance Of Things Hoped For

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Jared Meredith

Deuteronomy 7:9 – Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Psalm 143:1 – Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

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When I begin trying to understand important phrases in the word of God, I try and comprehend the roots of the important pieces that apply in my life. When we think of faith, we think of “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”, right?

In considering the meaning of substance, one would know several relevant definitions: The quality of having a solid basis in reality or fact; The quality of being dependable or stable; The quality of being important, valid, or significant; The most important or essential part of something; the real or essential meaning.

The basis of the beginnings for what I hope for (in faith to God) has to be the most important thing to me. The “substance” or “essence” of what exists to what I believe God for must exist and has to be active within me! A substance is something that exists! This could be: your thoughts in prayer standing in the gap for others, believing God for deliverance for those that are bound, or trusting God for your own trials! All of these different types of things to believe God for begin to be unlocked upon the basis of your faith!

So I ask today, what is the substance that you have in your mind? What are you hoping for in your heart? Are you hoping? Change your frame of mind and set in your mind the hope for what you want to believe God can do, for God has no limits! Do not allow your heart to be broken simply on what you have seen or heard. Set your sights beyond that by seeing through what the word of God has provided you with. Faith!

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Put Into Practice:

One of the hardest things that I ever had to overcome was trusting God to move for my job. I was not happy where I was, and was definitely in a state where I had little faith. For a while there I truly thought I was going to be stuck! However, as we (being me and my wife and other family members) began to bind together for what seemed like months upon months, God moved and opened another opportunity for me!

It could have been easy to have stopped praying and to have stopped being faithful. And if it were easy to be faithful and endure to the end of each trial, everyone would be doing it! So I ask you to find the hard things in your life and begin to dedicate time in prayer and dedicate faith to believing the better outcome and to release yourself from feeling stuck forever!

Finding Clarity Through The Fog

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Jared Meredith

Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

2 Corinthians 12:1 – It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

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One of the easiest things for people to do in the midst of a confusing situation is to simply give up. Giving up is usually followed a by decreased obedience, which in turn leads to a prolonged spiritual death. A spiritual death means that there is no life to you to draw strength from God. In essence, it is like walking through the fog with no vision. We are going only on our sense of what we think is right to do. When you consider that and our rate of failure, it scares me.

It scares me to think that people are going through the motions of life and being a part of it but doing it blindly without any purpose or knowingly what they want from it. You see, the entire basis of belief to God and Jesus Christ is through faith. In the midst of the fog of confusion, my faith is unlocked when I hope upon the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. I may not know where I am at in a trial because it is new or I may be too emotionally connected. What do I know? I do know of what God has already done for me! I have the roads of hope in my life that I have traveled and made it through before!

The only clarity that I can find in the midst of chaos is trusting God and to know that if He has done it before, that He will do it again. God will never leave or forsake His children! You should know that you are not alone and should not be wandering around in life without God. Recognize your guide, and let him lead you! We should not try to take the “grab life by the horns” approach because the latter outcome of this is usually a guaranteed failure. We cannot realize the outcome of any future for any trial. God sees into our tomorrows! Allow God to be the light in the midst of your darkness! Turn the lights on! Find some clarity through the word of God and all the spiritual things that will lift you above the hard times and let you see things for what they truly are!

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Put Into Practice:

When I first began to drive, I always wondered why it was so hard to drive through fog with the lights on the brightest setting. I thought, “You would think the most amount of light would get you through the fog, right?” In all reality, the best solution was to use a dimmer light and to hear the wisdom of others. That is the advice I give you today. When you hear a great God-given word to you, try not to resist it to bad and think your brighter ideas will solve it all. Trust your brothers and sisters in Christ that bring the word of God at your churches to give you the right now word to lead you through tough times! And if you are not getting it there, pray for it!

Efforts Lost Are People Lost

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Jared Meredith

This is a short, but sweet reminder that when we do not begin to pose a strong consistent effort within our services for God, that there are people that are slipping through our fingers and falling through the cracks!

We have to begin to always be dependable in the sense that we are going to be obedient vessels in and out of season, or in other words, whether I feel like it or don’t.

This applies to all aspects of ministry and is the hardest to realize when we are down or discouraged about the fruitfulness of what we are doing.

We have to remember that which we put before God is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Just because people don’t receive you in the carnal mind or body does not mean that by your willingness that God has not moved into their heart with conviction!

Help all that you can in the support of God’s church and all the parts that make it!