[Music] I want to ask you a question what's your if if you could do this or if you had made one decision instead of another how many times have you heard someone say something along the lines of I would have started my business if or I could have made it professional if now it's not my place to validate whether or not every if is Justified but what I do want to point out is that every one of us we have a story whereby one thing happened but in hindsight if we had done something else our
story would have been very different some ifs they're hard to swallow right somebody somewhere was so close somebody somewhere was just about to break through and If Only They had continued If Only They had trained harder If Only They had worked smarter the results would have been different yes some of the what if stories we have they're really just painful memories and regrets but let's put aside all those ifs about your job your business your career and let's for just a moment consider our walk with Christ have you ever thought what if Jesus Christ never
died for my sins where would I be what if Jesus Christ wasn't filled with so much compassion with so much kindness so much Mercy really where would I be saints of God this is an exercise that will make you realize just how blessed you are because when you consider the alternative to what God has done when you consider the alternative to what God has promised or to what God can do the alternative is simply destruction and death I mean really think about it what if Jesus Christ never took on our sins on the cross and
said it is finished what if we had to pay the price for our own sins and what if we were the ones to be put on a cross now that's a scary thought what if God's mercies weren't new every morning with the amount of times that I have fallen short I cannot imagine that I want to encourage you count your blessings I want to encourage you to never never take God's goodness for granted ask yourself where would I be if God never loved me unconditionally where would I be if I was never truly forgiven what
would have become of me if God had never saved my life where would I be if the Lord left me alone and in the hands of the enemy if God took away my health my family my life where would I be these are difficult and scary thoughts because if it wasn't for Jesus the truth is I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for the Lord if it wasn't for his grace His Amazing Grace I'd still be blind to his love and his Mercy I'd still be lost so Saints we need to be thankful
thank God that he's a father to the fatherless he's a protector of widows thank the Lord Jesus Christ that he is the friend that sticks closer than a brother he's a savior to those who are lost a Healer to those who are sick a redeemer to those who are condemned now I really believe that from this type of mind mindset a mindset that fully appreciates God's goodness and God's blessings we should move from the Whata ifs that benefit us and look to serve God we should begin to have a desire that says if only I
could lead more people to Jesus Christ if only I could be of service in the body of Christ if only I can walk in the will of God and walk in a way that is pleasing pleasing to him if only I could live a life that glorifies God every day this should be our only if this should be our only desire to live a life that's pleasing to God and to live a life that seeks to serve him you and I are called to trust God now my own perspective on trusting the Lord is that
I don't need to have all the answers because I know the one who knows all the answers I don't need to know what the plan is because I know the planner I don't need to know the why if I know the one I don't need to know the how because I trust him the Bible says in Psalm 37 verses 3-6 trust in the Lord and do good then you will live safely in the land and and prosper take Delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart's desires commit everything you do to the
Lord trust him and he will help you he will make your innocence radiate like the Dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the Noonday Sun I believe that God is pleased when we trust him to such an extent that we can say whatever awaits me in the future I'm facing it with Jesus whatever comes against me I'll be protected by Jesus and here's the thing about faith and trust in the Lord a lot of times you'll have to walk with god without knowing in fact faith can be summed up in the following
way Faith is doing your part which is trusting God to do his part your part is to believe that's all you need to do and then you leave God to do his part your part is to stand on God's word his word says that nothing is impossible with God let me ask you are you doing your part are you believing and standing on God's word faith is not necessarily something tangible it's not something you can put your hands on and control faith is the substance of Hope and the evidence of the Unseen this means to
me that if you can see it it isn't faith if you can explain it or control it it isn't Faith many of us try to orchestrate and control everything in our lives until one day we're faced with things that are outside of our control and the truth is the most important things in life are out of our control you can exercise and diet all you want but disease can still come knocking on your door we can build magnificent buildings and structures but we must still bow to the power of a tornado a hurricane or an
earthquake these things remind us that we are not in control but I want you to understand that it's during Times Like These when we feel out of control that we are REM reminded of the purpose of faith faith enables us to be comfortably out of control even though we cannot control things like disease nature or death we have faith that God has a plan and that God will have the last word and so as we approach the throne of grace let us ask God to help us to move into a space where we are comfortable
without knowing ask him to move us to a place where we can be comfortable not because we have all the answers but because we know who our answer is his name is Jesus my heavenly father we trust in you we trust in you Lord Jesus to sustain and provide for us we trust in you to preserve and protect us to defend us and to Shield us from all evil I pray Lord that in those moments when we are weak strengthen our faith help us holy spirit so that we should not Harden our hearts but help
us to believe help us to believe fully and without reservation in all the promises of God father help me to fearlessly believe in Exodus 14:14 it says the Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace God help us to boldly embrace your word help us to embrace it boldly with no doubt help us to declare and hold on to Isaiah 40: 29-31 he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the week even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength they will soar on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint I pray for strong faith God I pray that I may stand up for Jesus Christ and testify of how he turned my Mourning into dancing give me strong faith Lord so that I may stand on your word in a world that is lost in a world that aims to discourage and drain hope as your children we pray for the faith that will enable us to live in The Authority that we have
been given in Luke 10 verse 19 behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over are all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you give us the Faith Lord Jesus to Walk In This Authority as ambassadors of the most high Lord I Thank You for Your unending love you King Jesus are the Wellspring of our hope so even if life disappoints and Friends turn their backs on us God we're grateful that we can always count count on you to be our Rock and our refuge
John 7:38 says he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water father May the rivers of living water flow from every part of our Lives May your living water flow over our hearts and souls and fill us with Faith Lord I look forward to a future with you I embrace a future that is in your hands one that's filled with love filled with mercy and with goodness as I reach out in prayer and in faith I place my hopes my dreams and plans all in
your hands so as long as you are for me Lord Jesus nothing can stand against me I will continue to place my faith in you because you are a God who has held me up every time I didn't have the strength to stand on my own father I thank you for being so faithful and I bless your holy name it's in the mighty and matchless name of King Jesus our lord that we pray this prayer amen trust in the Lord and do good then you will live safely in the land and prosper take Delight in
the Lord and He will give you your heart's desires commit everything you do to the Lord trust him and he will help you he will make your innocence radiate like the Dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the Noonday sun he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength they will soar on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not
be [Music] faint behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water