I trust that you are doing well as you read this blog post today! I pray that you will be inspired in your faith and rooted more fully in the love of God for you by the end of this post. That is my never-ending goal, for you to experience a deep and vibrant faith that positions you into the knowledge of God’s good and perfect will for your life!!
I am looking forward to hearing a Sanctuary full of God’s children sing out the truths of the songs that we have on the set list for this Sunday (7/18/21) at Eagleville Bible Church! There is so much joy that comes from hearing that sound and experiencing the tangible presence of God whenever we meet together for worship. It is awesome! Here are the songs and the corresponding Scriptures that go with them:
- Stand in Your Love, (YouTube Link)
- 1 John 4:18,
- Rom 8:11,
- Ps 18:2,31,46 (ESV),
- 2 Cor 5:17,
- Ps 55:22 (NIV),
- Eph 1:17-21,
- You Will Never Run, (YouTube Link)
- Heb 13:5 (b),
- Deut 31:8,
- 2 Cor 6:13,
- Matt 23:2,5-6,
- Isa 42:6,
- Eph 3:16-19,
- Ps 108:4,
- Believe For It, (YouTube Link)
- Jer 10:6 (ESV),
- Mark 9:23,
- Matt 19:26,
- Rom 15:13,
- Matt 17:20,
- Matt 21:22,
- John 14:6,
- Do It Again, (YouTube Link)
- Heb 11:30,
- Heb 13:5 (b),
- Deut 31:8,
- Isa 40:8,
- Jude 1:21,
- Lam 3:22-24 (ESV),
- How Great Thou Art, (YouTube Link)
- Gen 1:1,
- Col 1:15-16,
- Ps 103:1,
- Ps 146:1,
- Isa 53:4-5,
- Eph 5:2,
- 1 John 3:5,
Devotional Thought
In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul offers a wonderful prayer that the believers there would remain rooted and established upon the love of God. He prayed that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith, and that through that faith and grounding in the love of God they would be able to comprehend the incomprehensible knowledge of God’s never-ending love! Sounds like an oxidation-moron doesn’t it, comprehend the incomprehensible love of God? Let me explain how that works.
It only works through experience! It is something that goes beyond all of the best academics out there! It has to come from a heart-changing experience that leads you to know that there is actually a God our there that knows you! Once this revelation impacts you by experience, you will never want to leave that place of encountering the active work of God in your life! It is the most profound and blessed feeling you will ever have in your life!
In 2011 I was working in Pennsylvania in an office, and my wife and I were having some financial problems. I remember my wife calling me and crying that we were overdraft in the bank account again. I felt completely hopeless and defeated, but I had been trying to live my life by faith in the Son of God who I asked to be my Lord in 2007. So, I decided that I was going to skip my lunch, fast, and pray about the situation. I went out and sat on a log, away from everyone else, and I wept before the Lord asking Him to be God in that situation. I confessed that I was struggling to believe that He was with us and working in this situation. I confessed our utter dependance upon Him to change our financial situation! We needed a Divine intervention!
When I got home that evening, I seen a truck in my driveway. As I walked up to it I noticed that I recognized the man, and he said, “Are you Mark Hostetler?”. I responded, “yes.”. He then asked again, and then again. I said that I recognized him but didn’t remember from where, and he said that he was from an oil company that I had signed a lease through 6 months earlier (one of those deals that you hope will benefit you but don’t think it will ever happen). He said that it was the last day of the lease contract, and that they were running behind on their payments, then handed me an envelope. I opened it and the first thing I seen was a check for $1, then I seen another check for over $23,000!
I started crying and my wife (who was standing on the porch while all of this was happening) asked what was going on. I told her, she started crying, and we held each other praising the Lord together! I told the man that I don’t care if he is a believer or not, but that he was an agent of the Lord’s that day communicating His faithfulness and love to us!
In that situation we experienced the joy of knowing that God knew us!! Like Hagar, we knew El Roi (the God who sees) that day had His eyes on us and desired to show Himself faithful to us as we stayed grounded in faith, believing Him to deliver us from the pit that we were in! I learned more in those 5 – 7hrs than I had in the previous 4 – 5 years of God’s faithfulness and love towards me and my family! I only needed to stand firm on the promises of God, seek Him by faith, and trust the results to Him as I worshiped Him!
I pray that through this testimony of God’s goodness you too will seek to see Him at work in your time of need. Don’t try to take control of it, don’t fill your mind with anxious thoughts, don’t look to anyone but God for the solution. He will provide, either through supernatural ways or through wisdom, our God will provide for you!
Unfortunately, we live in a culture of abandonment. Way too many people are experiencing hurt and mistrust from parents who abandoned and mistreated them. This explains why so many have a hard time relying upon the Lord to be there through the hard times with them. I don’t know what pain you have had to endure throughout your life from being rejected, abandoned, and/or mistreated by someone you looked to and trusted, but I want you to know that the God of the Bible – the One true God – WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR ABANDON YOU (see Heb 13:5, John 14:8, Deut 31:6,8, Isa 43:2,5(a))! He will never run when things get hard. He will never reject your calls for help! He is always faithful to those who look to Him for deliverance. Do not let your experience with fallen humanity define your experience with a perfect Father! He loves you. No, wait, listen…..GOD LOVES YOU CHILD! Stand firm in that love, please!
Whatever trials you are facing right now, I want you to believe God for the solution. I want you to call upon Him and trust Him for the results as you worship Him! Create a rhythm of worship in your life that helps you to communicate your need to Him regularly, and to release your anxieties through song and prayer! Form a habit where time in the Word of God is a daily occurrence, in order to store up those promises found within its pages especially for you! The stories that you see in the Bible are examples of God’s faithfulness throughout history to His children, and I want you to know that He is looking for the person who by faith is crying out to Him to do it again in their unique situation! God desires to bless your life! Believe Him for it!
Have a blessed day!