The Hard Work Of Real Forgiveness

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.  Psalm 147:3

The Hard Work Of True Forgiveness 

This past Sunday Pastor Jim spoke on verse 12 of Matthew 6 - And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12; Mark 

Forgiving is love’s toughest work and love’s biggest risk. It can be especially tricky when we are not ready to forgive, or someone has hurt us so badly we feel we cannot do it. Not forgiving someone who has wronged us or hurt us can lead to a life of agony and bitterness, not for them, but for us.  Dealing with the hurt and anger you may feel deep inside is necessary in order for true forgiveness to happen.  

Jesus expects forgiveness from his people. It is evidence of a relationship with Him and that his forgiveness is evident in our lives. The grace of God is evident in us when we forgive and that same grace will bring forgiveness to us when we need it in the future. 

Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Ephesians 4:31-32

I have realized there are some people that I probably have not truly forgiven. I say it that way because I believe that maybe a lot of us think we have forgiven someone, or we want to believe we have, but really we have just tucked it away in a corner of our heart because we don’t want to face it. If we face it, we have to acknowledge it – the pain, the betrayal, the hurt. You cannot forgive something you don’t even acknowledge. 

Christians are supposed to forgive – Jesus called us to forgive others as we have been forgiven, so I am a Christian –Of course I have forgiven them. Right? It is what I am supposed to do. We don’t have to talk about it – it is not even a thing. 

I believed that it is an automatic response because I am a Christian. I automatically forgive you, no matter what, because I am a child of God, and I have been forgiven so much. I don’t need to think about it, and I don’t want to think about it. The truth is I don’t want to feel it. If I can go right from the shock of realizing what has actually happened, tuck it away quickly, and on to automatic false forgiveness, I don’t have to actually feel the pain of what has happened to me. This process of automatic forgiveness happens most often when the pain is so overwhelming that we can’t bear the thought of processing it – and we cannot on our own. 

How can we ever face the magnitude of such great pain, acknowledge it to work through it, heal, and forgive? There is no way we can walk through such pain alone. There are counselors and therapists that are trained to help and sometimes we need a professional to help work through the deep hurt we carry. There are pastors and ministry leaders that can help us. The most important person to help us through our hurt is Jesus. No one loves us or cares about us more. He has been with us and seen everything we have been through. He binds our would and heals our hearts like no one can, and in a way we never thought possible again. 

Are you carrying the weight of deep hurt and unforgiveness?

Perhaps you are carrying some deep hurt tucked way down in your heart?

 Maybe you believe you have forgiven them, but you have not done the work of forgiveness? 

The hard work of forgiveness is your work to do for you. It may involve the person that hurt you at some point because there is healing in offering forgiveness – even for someone who does not care or want it. Forgiveness is for you because the weight of unforgiveness will crush you and you don’t even realize it is happening. 

Acknowledge the hurt. Say it out loud, but you need to be prepared because this will affect you in a way you might not expect. It can be overwhelming to say out loud what hurt you. You can’t heal what you won’t face and naming what happened and how it affected you is a helpful step to release it.

With your open hands, release that pain to Jesus. Let him take it from you and carry it for you. It doesn’t mean you will never feel the pain again, but it means you have brought Jesus into your healing and trusted him to be with you. 

You have just ripped a band aid off, but it is the beginning of healing and true forgiveness. The hard work of forgiveness is, well, hard, and it is a process. Lean into God’s bountiful grace and be kind and patient with yourself. He is with you and will give you what you need to make it through. 

Finding God's Forgiveness, Mercy, and Grace

Monday, October 27, 2025

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12

This week Pastor Jim continued the series on The Lord’s Prayer, titled “Pray Like This,” with verse 12 of the Lord’s Prayer, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12  The Lord’s prayer is a model Jesus gave us to help us pray in the right way – a way that will help us live and look more and more like him every day. Our key truth for this series is, “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

What is a proper understanding of our sin and how we can be reconciled with God and others?

Sin is rebellion against God and when we have sin in our hearts our relationship with him is broken and forgiveness from God is the way it is mended. Asking God for forgiveness requires us to first acknowledge that we are sinners. We must realize that we need his forgiveness because of our sin.  

As believers we all still sin at times because we are human and will always be battling our sin nature. Satan tempts us to sin against God. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Make no mistake – he is on the prowl doing whatever he can to take our focus off of God. He twists God’s very words. He knows what our desires are and what will entice us. We have to be vigilant to guard our hearts and minds. 

Sin is an idolatry problem within our hearts. If we are chasing someone or something other than God it will be reflected in our actions. Our actions and deeds are the outcome of our attitudes and thoughts. When God is not the core and center of what we worship it will be reflected to those around us. Whatever we are worshiping will be evident in how we live out our lives.

Thankfully, we need forgiveness, and God is willing to forgive. Sin requires a payment. It is a debt we owe and the price tag goes up with every sin we commit. God is a just God, requiring payment, but God is also a merciful and gracious God who forgives. 

Mercy – God shows  mercy when we deserve punishment, and he doesn’t punish us.

Grace – God’s grace is unmerited, undeserved favor from him, that we could never earn.

God has mercy on us by withholding the punishment we do deserve and sending Jesus to die in our place so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life with him. Grace given to us freely as a gift but bought with the highest price – the shed blood of Jesus. 

Just as we are forgiven, Jesus expects us to forgive others. When we forgive, his grace is evident in our lives and that grace will bring us forgiveness in the future. Knowing how much we have been forgiven, how could we not forgive others? True freedom comes when we forgive others instead of holding on to unforgiveness. 

This is also true when it comes to forgiving ourselves, which can be harder than forgiving others. We are harder on ourselves and often our own worst enemy.  If we can’t forgive ourselves then we have made an idol of ourselves because our approval means more than God’s. If God can forgive us, we can forgive ourselves and others. 

Pastor Jim asked these questions yesterday at the end of the service: 

Have you acknowledged your sinfulness before God?

Do you realize the separation it has caused?

If not, will you acknowledge your need for God today? 

The good news is that forgiveness is for everyone who will come to him acknowledging their sin and asking for his forgiveness. Will you call out to him today? 

Pray Like This... “And Forgive Us..."

Pray Like This...
“And Forgive Us..."
Matthew 6:9-13; 14-15 (CSB)

 

- Prayer - “Prayer is a personal conversation with a holy and loving God that reorients our reality and makes all things possible.”

- Key Truth - “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

Main Question: What is a proper understanding of our sin and how we can be reconciled with God and others?

 

1.        We need forgiveness. 

- "The essence of sin is not just a performance problem but a worship problem.”- Timothy Keller

2.        God is willing to forgive.

3.        We are to offer forgiveness.

 

After the Message: 
Participate in the NSBC 70 days of prayer. Download the NSBC App and turn on notifications to receive daily prayer prompts.

When God Is Silent

Friday, October 24, 2025

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24

When God Is Silent

Have you ever thought that the unanswered text or email of a friend or loved one must mean that they are mad at you? Or maybe a misinterpreted gesture that you are sure means that they don’t like you, or they don’t respect you? Later, when talking to that friend, you find out that your friend wasn’t thinking any of those things at all. When our mind gets the better of us, we can actually regress into an elementary mindset!

Just as we can misinterpret a friend’s silence, we can also misinterpret God’s silence. If you have ever prayed, chances are you have experienced His silence at some point. God does not usually answer our prayers instantly, and whether you have experienced a moment of silence or a season of silence, it can feel like a lifetime in a desolate, barren wasteland. We pray and pray, desperate heartfelt prayers, and yet it seems like God is ignoring us. Our minds can totally knock us off the rails, usually the work of Satan. In the silence, thoughts roar inside our heads that can lead us to feel despair, lose hope, and believe God has completely abandoned us. Nothing is happening, or maybe things even get worse. 

Satan loves to get into our heads - to whisper these lies and try to make us believe them. He wants to try to take our faith away and leave us powerless in his grasp. When we have been praying desperately about something, and absolutely nothing is happening, these lies can overwhelm us if we are not on guard.

God is sometimes silent, but He is never absent, no matter how alone you feel. Satan would 

have us misinterpret His silence for abandonment. God is always at work and sometimes 

the work is waiting in faith. His timing is perfect, and He is working while you are waiting.

God loves us and He does hear our prayers. He cares about us even when it seems He doesn’t. He sees our tears, He hears our cries, He knows the burdens. His words to us are:

Even when you don’t feel My power…

Even when you don’t feel My presence…

Even when your prayers are not answered immediately or in the way you want them to be answered… 

Even when you think you are unworthy and undeserving of my love and help…

I am working everything for your good. You are my child and I love you and care about you.

The silence does not mean he has turned His back on us. It does not mean He doesn’t love us or He thinks we are unworthy. In the silence, He is working. In the silence, He is answering – in one way or another. It may be different from what you expect, but It will be the very best answer for you. Sit with Him in the silence and let Him fill you and drown out the lies. Trust Him and lay it at His feet. Leave it with Him and know that He cares for you.

Manna For Today

Thursday, October 23, 2025

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Exodus 16:2-3

Manna For Today

The children of Israel fled Egypt to escape Pharaoh and the terrible treatment they were getting as slaves. They fled Egypt, escaped through the Red Sea as God parted it miraculously and landed in the wilderness. They brought some food with them, but eventually that ran out and they were looking to Moses asking where their next meal was going to come from. God said He would provide, and He did. He provided manna from Heaven, just enough for each day. The Israelites grumbled and told Moses that they wanted to go back to Egypt because at least they had “pots of meat” there.  

They had forgotten about the bad things that happened to them there, the way they were mistreated. They just remembered that it was way easier than being in the wilderness and not knowing where the next day’s food would come from – having to trust God for everything. They couldn’t see the way through the wilderness, and they were only given enough food for each day. They worried and grumbled about what would happen tomorrow. They tried to gather up extra mana when Moses told them to only get enough for that day.  And when they took too much, God caused maggots to grow in the extra mana they were taking and storing. They had forgotten. They wanted to do it their way instead of trusting God.  

Are you worried about tomorrow or the next step, trying to solve the problem yourself? When God delivers us from “Egypt”, He doesn’t expect us to go running back. He wants us to go forward through the wilderness with Him. He wants us to depend on Him for the very food that sustains us and the very next step we are supposed to take.  He doesn’t want us to run back to abuse or back into a situation where we are mistreated because at least there is a meal plan. It sounds crazy but its easy to do if that’s all you’ve ever known. In a twisted way it is even comfortable and secure. When you have never had security in your life, you take whatever you can find. But God has so much more to offer us, even in the barren wilderness. He provides what we need, and it is always enough. His security is eternal, and it doesn’t come with the price tag of abuse. His security comes free to all with love and provision to sustain us through every wilderness of our lives.  

What a beautiful picture for us of God's faithfulness. Not only did he deliver them from bondage but he provided everything they needed, exactly when they needed it. Even in the rebelliousness the manna was still there every morning. The wilderness is hard, but beautiful, because in the wilderness we are transformed. The wilderness helps us learn to trust God more than ever. In the wilderness we learn that our way is the wrong way. During the pandemic we witnessed, and participated in, people panicking and buying way more than enough of everything. Some of us may still have supplies from five years ago. God gives us our daily bread. He gives us enough - what we need. We struggle to feel like it is enough and we struggle to believe he will do it again and again but God is faithful. He has proven it over and over - everyday and he is worthy of our trust. 

Are you trusting God for to meet your needs everyday? 

Do you struggle to be content with what God has provided for this moment? 

Is Enough Enough?

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

 

I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4: 11-13

 

Is Enough Enough?

 

Are you happy with what God provides or do you find yourself constantly wanting more?  In studying the Lord’s Prayer, we know Jesus modeled for us to ask God for our daily bread, which refers to basic needs such as food, and also to our spiritual, emotional, and mental needs. God does provide the daily bread we need for our bodies, heart, and mind, but often we think we need something more. Instead of letting God be enough for our emotional needs we reject his provision and begin to look to other people and things that we think can meet our needs. Eventually we find out that the earthly abundance we think we need is empty. 

 

Paul knew what it meant to have riches, and what it meant to be in need. He had been both wealthy and financially in need and he learned that true contentment does not come from earthly abundance. He knew that true contentment comes from the abundant life we have as believers in a growing relationship with Jesus.

 

Not only did Paul understand what contentment was, but he wrote the verses above from prison. He was probably in the worst circumstances of his whole life and yet he could say that he learned the secret of being content – the strength of Christ. He speaks to his ability to be content in all things through the strength of Christ. 

 

In today’s world it is a struggle to not constantly want more. Social media is a nightmare for anyone trying to be content with what they have. We are constantly bombarded with ads and influencers trying on beautiful clothes, shoes, skincare products, fitness plans, nutritional products, life coaches, etc… The struggle is overwhelming to not be tempted to think that your life is lacking and there is something else you can get to make it better. The truth is that most of the time it only creates more lack in our hearts. 

 

We can learn to be content like Paul if we press into Jesus instead of the world. Spiritual maturity is being content with what a sovereign God gives and knowing that he knows what we need and provides for those needs. He gives us our “daily bread” with intention, love, wisdom and sufficiency.  In a world that constantly wants us to want more , choosing contentment in Christ is believing that what I have is enough because it is from God. This doesn’t mean we ignore our desires or needs, but we surrender them to a God who sees the full picture when we can only see a part. He wants us to have the desires of our heart – the good ones that honor him. 

 

True contentment is found in Christ—not in circumstances, things, or even people. It’s the deep assurance that God will provide for us. This contentment stirs gratitude, opening our eyes to the blessings he has given — our daily bread, relationships, the breath in our lungs, and the mercy that meets us every morning.

 

At some point we have to decide if Jesus is enough. Is he enough for our satisfaction? Is it enough that our needs are met and we have daily bread? Will we let him satisfy the longings of our heart? If you have not asked yourself this question, I challenge you to ask it now. Until you let Jesus be everything, you will never be fulfilled or satisfied. You will continually feel the void and seek to fill it with something. 

Everything I Need

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

 

The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing… Psalm 23:1

 

Psalm 23 is a familiar Psalm to many. It talks about how Jesus is our Good Shepherd. 

Shepherds have a very important job.  Sheep are completely defenseless in the face of an attack.  They have no sharp teeth or claws, and they certainly cannot outrun a predator, so when a wolf comes after them, they are going to lose.  They are totally dependent on the shepherd to protect and lead them.  He watches for danger and uses the crook of his staff to pull them back into the fold when they start to wander outside the bounds of protection. He provides for their every need from food and water to protection. The sheep know their shepherd, and they will listen to the shepherd and follow where the shepherd leads.   

 

The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. When we become his, he is our Shepherd, and we lack absolutely nothing. There is nothing that we need or want that he cannot provide. The beautiful thing about this shepherd is that he doesn’t just give us everything we need, he is everything we need. If we are hungry, he is the Bread of Life. If we are thirsty, he is the Living Water. If we are in the dark, he is the Light of the World. If we are lost, he is the Way. If we need it, he has it. If he doesn’t have it, we don’t need it. 

 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:2-6

 

We have a Shepherd - a Savior - who gives us all good things. He meets all our needs, but he also meets all our wants if we let him. We may try to get our wants fulfilled in other places, but we never will be able to find that satisfaction anywhere else. He provides us with the rest we need because we can rest IN him when we cannot find rest anywhere else. We will only find green pastures in him. 

 

He gives us the peace we yearn for because he is our still waters in a rushing world chaos and disorder. He restores our soul. When he restores us, he doesn’t just restore in part, he restores our whole being. The shepherd knows there must be a restoration for our journey in life and provides that opportunity. He provides the peace and restoration we need.

 

When we wander from Jesus, who gives us everything we need, we will find nothing we need. We lack nothing in him but without him, we lack everything. When we stray from him, we cannot find our way back without his grace. In his marvelous grace, he makes us alive in him and restores our soul.   

He leads us on paths of righteousness. Our paths in life are determined by our destination. When we have a relationship with God, his glory should be our goal – our destination.  So whatever path he puts us on, the destination is his glory and our good.  It is through Gods restoration of grace that he leads us to the right paths. His grace restores us, puts us on the right path, keeps us on the right path, sustains us, and strengthens us. In the darkest valleys he comforts us.

 

How have you felt the presence of your Good Shepherd in your life, meeting all your needs?

How Can We Know That God Will Meet Our Daily Needs?

Monday, October 20, 2025

 

This week in our series on The Lord’s Prayer, titled “Pray Like This,” Pastor Jim preached on verse 11 of the Lord’s Prayer, Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 The Lord’s prayer is a model Jesus gave us to help us pray in the right way – a way that will help us live and look more and more like him every day. Our key truth for this series is, “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

 

When we have a personal, growing relationship with Jesus, we can understand how prayer makes all things possible. Jesus taught that God will meet our daily needs. Prayer makes all things possible in the life of a believer so there are no impossible prayers. Whatever feels impossible to us is never impossible in God’s eyes. We often get caught up in our “big” prayer requests, forgetting about asking God to provide for the daily needs we have until it is an emergency. But God wants us to come to him every day for our needs – all our needs. He provides basic needs, but he also provides the “daily bread” we need for our hearts and minds. 

 

Before we believe God will give us our “daily bread,” we have to know why we can depend on him and the beginning of this model prayer tells us:

Our Father in heaven (He is our heavenly father), 

Your name be honored as holy. (He is holy) 
Your kingdom come. (The reign and rule of Jesus over all the earth and in our lives)
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (When we surrender to His will for our lives, it will be done)
Jesus said we should open our prayer declaring who God is and remembering why we can trust him. This helps us grasp the reality of God’s goodness and faithfulness in our own personal lives. He calls us to go to God alone for our daily needs and we know we can trust him because he is trustworthy, faithful, and sovereign. 

 

How are we to have a proper understanding of asking God to meet our daily needs? 

 

God wants us to depend on him. For every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a 

thousand hills. Psalm 50:10 God has infinite resources and as his children, those resources are for us. There is not a need we will have that he cannot meet, and he does not want us to depend on anything or anyone else. When we pray asking him to meet our daily needs, it is an honest declaration of our dependence on him, and we can depend on him always.  James 1:17 says Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. This means he doesn’t provide one day and decide he doesn’t want to the next day. He is the same, never changing and giving perfect gifts to his children always. 

 

God wants us to humble ourselves to come before him every day. We are to come to God humbly to ask him to meet our needs. Wouldn’t we like it if we could just ask God to give us our “daily bread” for the rest of our lives so we wouldn’t worry or have to ask again every day? But would we talk to him if we didn’t need him? Needing him keeps us humble and reminds us of who he is. He keeps us tethered to him with our need for him and what only he can supply. He wants us to depend on him every moment of every day because this builds our relationship with him. He never holds blessings back and he never refuses to meet our needs but in his sovereignty, he gives exactly what he knows we need and only when he knows we need it. Dependence on him is the process through which we are formed to look more like him. 

 

God wants us to completely trust in him to meet our needs. Faith in God is based on truth - his word and his faithfulness in our lives. We trust him for every daily need. We trust what he gives and give thanks because he gives what is for his glory and our good. We can trust him because his ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts – they are much higher.  He is omniscient, meaning he knows everything – past, present, and future. Nothing surprises him and he knows our deepest needs before we even tell him. He knows our needs before we know them, and no person or thing can ever do that for us. Only God can do what only God can do. Read that again. He is the only one we can trust to meet our needs in the best way for us.

 

When we understand and remember who God is and what he has done, we have faith to humbly come before him, depending on him and trusting he will meet our daily needs.  

 

How has God provided for you this week? Write it down and put it where will see it often to be reminded of the truth of God’s faithfulness. 

 

What is your greatest need today? Humbly take it to him, knowing you have a heavenly father you can depend on and trust to meet all your needs.

Pray Like This... “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread..."

 

Pray Like This...
“Give Us Today Our Daily Bread..."
Matthew 6:9-13 (CSB)

 

- Prayer - “Prayer is a personal conversation with a holy and loving God that reorients our reality and makes all things possible.”

- Key Truth - “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

Main Question: How are we to have a proper understanding of asking God to meet our daily needs? 

1.        We are a dependent people. 

 

2.        We are to be a humble people.

3.         We are to be a trusting people.

 

After the Message: 
Participate in the NSBC 70 days of prayer. Download the NSBC App and turn on notifications to receive daily prayer prompts.

Responding to God's Will For Our Lives

 Friday, October 17, 2025

Your Will Be Done… Matthew 6:10b

When praying the prayer Your will be done, do you believe that saying those words is all that is required of you? Following God’s will requires more than just saying a few words. Following God’s will requires obedience on our part. Discipline, effort, and accountability are all essential. Following God’s will doesn’t just happen naturally after we are saved. It is a choice we make. It is a decision to choose to obey. It is often a battle between choosing what we want and what we know is the right thing. His will always will be accomplished whether we choose to join in or not. He gave us both an invitation and the free will to choose what we will do. 

The battle of the will is a battle we will be in for our whole lives.  Pastor Jim told us Sunday that the human will is where stimuli (internal/external) is dissected through wisdom or folly, and chosen or not chosen, to be acted upon. The battle we will constantly fight is the battle of what we want versus what we need and choosing to be obedient to God’s will or not. Even when we know his will is far better for us than our own desires, we still fight it. Even when we are in the process of being formed to look like him, we still battle him. 

This past Sunday Pastor Jim gave us four steps to help us transform our thoughts so that they will help us align our actions in obedience to the will of God for our lives. 

Mind – This is where it all begins, and this is where is has to end if it not holy and God honoring. It might be an image or thought that pops into our minds. If it is not glorifying to God we take it captive immediately and stop the process. If we dwell on it, it can move on to permeate our desires, will, and actions. This is why it is so important to take every thought captive. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4b-5

Desires – What are you longing for? If our desires do not honor God, they easily become idols. Our desires are the impulses or longings that flow from thoughts and are felt emotionally or intellectually. They act as the primary motivator for action, driving us to seek satisfaction or fulfillment – which means creating idols if we do not seek satisfaction or fulfillment from the Lord. 

Will – Am I going to choose what I want or what I need.  We make decisions based on our thoughts and desires. These decisions lead to action or inaction. 

Actions - (Practice, Habits, Character) Pastor Jim said our actions change us for the better or worse. We can decide to live different. We can start acting in wisdom.  

Following God’s will (or not) is always an obedience issue. As above, sometimes it is about what we want versus what we need. Sometimes it is about fear. Following God’s will requires discipline, effort, and accountability, but also requires faith. His will always aligns with his nature and his promises. When we know who God is and remember what he has done in our lives – how he has proven himself faithful time and time again. In those moments when we are so uncertain about everything and taking the next step feels like stepping on a thin sheet of ice covering a deep lake, our faith in what we know to be true about God helps us follow his will for our lives. We know we can trust a God who has proven his love and care for us, in the giving of his own son for our forgiveness and eternal life, and in every uncertain moment of our lives. He may not always resolve situations the way we want him to but we know we can trust him because he knows our tomorrows and wants the very best for us.

God is sovereign over all. Because we know and believe this, it should be easier for us to surrender and be obedient. to his commands. But we are human and do not relinquish control easily. We want to be in control of our own lives. When we do surrender and be obedient, we will be walking in his perfect will for our lives.

Trusting God In The Wilderness

Tuesday October 14, 2025

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur.  They went three days into the wilderness and found no water.  Exodus 15:22

The wilderness can be a beautiful place when you are prepared and headed there on purpose for an adventure.  Some wildernesses have life – plants and animals and water. Some are barren and dry like a dessert.  The wildernesses in life are usually dry, desolate, and lonely. Our time in the Wilderness can be devastating but it can also be transforming. 

The Wilderness Can Cause Hopelessness

Every direction you look is the same and the path that leads you to freedom is completely buried in the sands of hopelessness.  There is no water for a scorched and withered body and soul.  No way out.  No hope for survival because you cannot possibly go on.  

Only God Can Bring Hope to the Wilderness 

God can provide hope in the wilderness, but it will probably not be in the direction you are looking.  He provided manna for the Children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness after their escape from Egypt.  But it came from the sky, dropping like raindrops. He provided them with water too, but not from a beautiful clear stream.  It came from a rock when He commanded Moses to strike the rock with his staff.  I am sure no one expected that.  The bible tells us in Isaiah For my thoughts are not your thoughts,  neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  Isaiah 55:8 God’s ways are not our ways.  He always knows the best way of doing everything, and often it is nothing like we have imagined. Do not let those examples of His sovereignty be wasted.  Recognize that God is in control even in the wilderness, when it feels like He is not near. He is always with us, watching us, and bringing us hope if we are willing to see it. 

Lessons from the Wilderness:

• TRUST HIM – you will never know trust until you have to trust Him in the wilderness!  The Children of Israel did not trust, and they stayed in the wilderness a much longer time because of it.  We may never feel more out of control of our lives than in the wilderness, where wild is the norm.  Total reliance on Him is required for every step along the way. 
• Rain is a Gift -Or Perspective is Everything.  The healing rain of Jesus on your dried-out life will feel amazing.  Rain can be a little thing you have taken for granted but in and after the wilderness, you will see rain differently, extra appreciative of it, as well as the tress, grass, mountaintops, and green pastures. The wilderness will change your perspective.
• It Refines You – Reveals your true identity.  Time in the wilderness will wear you down.  Stress, hopelessness, despair, it will all wear you down.  But if you keep going, you will be left with your true identity.  We tend to see who we really are and what we are really made of when we get worn down in the wilderness. We see what is really underneath and we emerge with a new identity.

The Children of Israel were in the wilderness a long time but on the other side of the wilderness – the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  The only way to the Promised Land is through the wilderness. Would we ever choose the wilderness?  No. But God will meet us there, transform us there, and lead us through if we will trust him. He is sovereign on the mountain tops and in the valleys. He makes a way out of the wilderness when the path is gone.

Behold, I will do something new.  Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?  I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:19 

Praying Your will be done...

Monday, October 13, 2025

Your will be done… Matthew 6:10b

Praying Your will be done...

We are currently in a series on The Lord’s Prayer, titled “Pray Like This.” The Lord’s prayer is a model Jesus gave us to help us pray in the right way – a way that will help us live and look more and more like him every day. Our key truth for this series is, “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

As Pastor Jim pointed out yesterday, Your will be done, is often the most difficult prayer we will ever pray. We like to be in control and we like to dictate to God how we expect him to answer our prayers instead of trusting in sovereignty. He made us. He knows us inside and out, and as we learn more about him in our relationship with him we understand that he is a promise keeping God who desires the very best for his children. Knowing and understanding his characteristics makes that easier. 

As Christians we talk a lot about trusting God. We sing songs about it. We wear shirts about it. We decorate our homes with it. But many of us struggle greatly with complete trust in God for the most important things and people in our lives. To help us fully trust God we need to understand God’s will of decree and God’s will of desire. 

God’s Will of Decree: God is sovereign over all things and that means that nothing happens apart from his will. We cannot ruin or mess up God’s plans. No person, circumstance, or Satan can stop it. His will of decree will always line up with his perfect nature and promises. He is wise, just, loving, and trustworthy. He always fulfills his promises. When we know and understand this about God we know we can fully trust him. 

God’s Will of Desire: God wants us to be obedient. He desires his followers to be like him. But he has given us free will to choose in every situation whether we will be obedient to him or choose disobedience. He desires us to make the right choice every time but gives us the freedom to choose, meaning his desire is not always lived out. 

How do we pray for God’s will to be done and what is the result? 

Praying Your will be done means surrender. Full and complete surrender is open handed, surrender to his sovereign control. We can trust his sovereign control. It is praying for a heart that desires what is pure and aligns with his commands. He invites us into his eternal plan and when we choose obedience we are choosing to step into that plan with him. It is truly meaning it when we say Your will be done, being willing to accept his good and perfect will for your life. It is laying down your own desires and sin nature to do what is right and pleasing to him. When we respond to God’s will with surrender and obedience, we are his hands and feet on this earth, taking the Kingdom of God to others. 

 

Are you praying for God’s will to be done in your life? 

If not, will you begin to pray for his will in your life today?

Pray Like This... “Your Will Be Done..."

 

Pray Like This...
“Your Will Be Done..."
Matthew 6:9-13 (CSB)

 

- Prayer - “Prayer is a personal conversation with a holy and loving God that reorients our reality and makes all things possible.”

- Key Truth - “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

Main Question: How do we pray for God’s will to be done and what is the result? 

 

1.        God’s will of decree. 

a.         God’s perfect will aligns with His perfect nature.

b.        God’s perfect will aligns with His promises.

2.        God’s will of desire.

3.        Our response to God’s will.

 

After the Message: 
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