The best party invitation we ever received featured a picture of a little boy wearing funny yellow sunglasses. His smile extended from ear to ear. It was a photo of my son’s playmate, and the text read: “Please join us for Daniel’s first birthday.” Every time I glanced at that invitation, I felt a twinge of joy. Recently, I had the same heartwarming response when I read a series of divine invitations from Jesus, who repeatedly invited people to have faith in Him.
The first call to trust Him came after a terrible storm at sea. You might recall how Jesus quieted the chaos. But then Jesus asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25). Embedded in His question was this invitation: Have faith in Me; I am more powerful than the storm raging around you.
A few verses later, a woman who had struggled with an incurable disease for more than a decade dared to brush her fingers across a few fibers of Jesus’ robe. Instantly, her illness disappeared. Jesus’ response? “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (Luke 8:48). What an encouraging invitation to the onlookers: Have faith in Me; I can change long-term hopeless situations.
On the heels of this amazing healing, a man named Jairus learned that his daughter had just died. He had wanted Jesus to cure her, but time had run out. When Jesus heard what had happened, He told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith and she will be healed” (Luke 8:50). In essence: Have faith in Me; I have power over life and death.
Centuries later, Jesus’ divine invitation is extended to you and me. Are you living in chaos? Are you hopeless? Are you walking the line between life and death? Affirm your faith in His ability to help you by simply telling Him, “I trust You.”
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Jeremiah 1:1-9
More:
Read Hebrews 11:32-40 to learn what faith in the life of a believer can accomplish. Read 1 Peter 1:6-7 to learn about the relationship between faith and trials.
Next:
What are some enemies of faith? Why is it sometimes difficult to trust in Jesus when it comes to “little things,” even though we’ve trusted Him to take care of our souls for eternity?
eppistle on May 24, 2011 at 5:47 am
If you want to accept His invitation, but you have trouble believing it’s for real, pray “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
alegria on May 24, 2011 at 6:39 am
Wonderful devo. Along with Eppistle, I would suggest keeping a journal with a record of every time the Lord answers your prayers. Then every time you’re in a difficult situation and tempted to doubt, you have a record of God’s personal faithfulness to you.
jennifer benson schuldt on May 24, 2011 at 9:20 pm
Thank you! Keeping a record of answered prayer is so important. While in a women’s Bible study several years ago, we did this. It was amazing to see how God answered our specific prayers. Keeping a journal is a great way to track answered prayers. You can even go digital–when I first met my husband, he kept a spreadsheet of prayer requests and answers!
loananna on May 24, 2011 at 8:47 am
This devo comes at a great time, my faith is being tried now…Our church has just annouced a split over half being calvinistic and half being not..I love and respect both pastors but am now having to choose between the two. I don’t understand Calvinism…Please left me in prayer as this confusion I know must not be from God. I have always believed that a Bible believing church and one that reads from scripture was the best, must I now dwelve into how much the 2nd dary issues play? Do they really affect my salvation? why must church splits on things like this??? Please father help strengthen my faith to continue..I don’t understand…
winn collier on May 24, 2011 at 8:25 pm
loananna, these grievous moments make us weary, I know. Questions. Disillusionment. Perhaps take Jennifer’s cue and see all this tragedy as an invitation from Jesus to find deep rest and hope in his love and his kindness over you.
jennifer benson schuldt on May 24, 2011 at 10:16 pm
loananna,
I just prayed for you. I am so sorry that this division is causing pain and confusion. May you have the wisdom and discernment to make good choices in this situation. As much as possible, let your decisions rest on God’s Word. There are many churches with members who have different views on the subject of Calvinism and related topics.
loananna on May 26, 2011 at 10:07 am
Thank you and Winn, yes I have been keeping it in prayer and talking with my pastor. I now realize I need to grow and learn from this, the Lord will keep me and give me the grace to go forward. Thanks so much for your prayers and response! God Bless
sowharvest on May 24, 2011 at 11:45 am
Thanks so much for this devotional. I know that I know that the HOLY SPIRIT was ministering to my spirit. I was feeling so much despair and just plain tired of no breakthrough coming for my family. What an awesome reminder that GOD is still GOD even with death, attacks, physical infirmities– GOD has overcome all these things. Praise be to GOD.
jennifer benson schuldt on May 24, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Yes! Your comment reminded me of what Jesus said in John 16:33: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” I pray that God will meet the needs of your family.
daisymarygoldr on May 24, 2011 at 2:15 pm
True, faith is given to us from God by divine invitation. But just because Jesus invites us to trust Him, does not mean that we are all able to trust Him. In order to trust someone, I must first know Him personally. Hence, it is important to individually accept the invitation and place my personal faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
Personal faith is analogous to life functions of breathing and moving. When our baby was born the first vital sign of life was that he was able to breathe on his own. When we are born again as God’s children, we must be able to exercise the faith we received as a gift from God. Living faith is demonstrated in the outward display of works, or else it is a dead faith.
Many Christians struggle to trust God because they are trying to follow Jesus blindly based on traditional faith taught by the church or their parents. Without a personal encounter with Jesus we cannot survive for long on hand-me-down faith. Also, there are no faith genes that we can inherit from our parents or grandparents. Each person has to receive and be able to grow in their own faith in Christ.
In order to grow I must abide in Christ. To abide requires that I surrender, submit and obey everything He tells me to do. That is how I trust God even if He slays me. Faith therefore, is the fruit of the Spirit. Fear, doubts, anxiety, and worry make it difficult to trust God. It chokes and smothers the seed of faith that has been planted in our hearts when we first accepted the engrafted Word. Personally for me, the main enemy that hinders my faith is my smart human reasoning. Thanks Jennifer and all for this timely exhortation!
And loaanna, I am like you. I don’t understand Calvinism. As a matter of fact I do not understand any of the “isms” proposed by men—be it Arminius, Luther, Augustine, or Wesley. Sadly, the Church today is blindly following men and their doctrines rather than Jesus Christ. Jesus did not mince words when he rebuked the religious leaders of His time, who taught man-made ideas as doctrinal truth of God (Matt 15:9). Today, it is nothing different about leaders who mislead the lay congregation with one-sided theologies to promote schisms within the Body of Christ. Have faith and continue to trust in His Word. You are in my prayers…
jennifer benson schuldt on May 24, 2011 at 10:48 pm
daisymarygoldr,
Thanks for being transparent about the main thing that hinders your faith in God–human reasoning. There may be many people out there who can relate to your comment. We also may struggle with faith because of fear. When we fear other people, circumstances or future events, we take our eyes off of Jesus (as Peter did literally Matthew 14:24-31) and our faith falters. It’s worth thinking through: what tends to block our faith, and how does Jesus want us to respond?
chewy on June 7, 2011 at 8:57 pm
keeping track of answered prayers sounds good… i’d like to make one for myself…especially when times are challenging, it will remind me how God is good to me all the days of my life..
one answered prayer that I distinctly remembered, it was Christmas eve, I enumerated to God all the qualities that I want for a husband. But above all, I prayed that he is a God-fearing man. Now, my husband and I, we’ve been together since 2004 and got married in 2007. He is instrumental in leading me to have a personal relationship with Christ. I thank God for that man.
Recently, God is so good to me because I am completely healed. Throughout my journey when I was sick, I said to myself why is this happening. I tried my best to take care of myself but still I got sick. Through prayers and love of my husband, God lead us to the right doctor and step by step, my healing became complete. Thank you God!