Stepping Out in Faith

Anyone who has talked to someone in the band about us going full time has probably heard the phrase, “We’re out of the boat now.” We all left our jobs back in June 2015 so that we could always be available to go wherever God opens the door for us. We stepped out on faith that God would provide our needs to go where He needs us to be. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do at first, but the more we have relied on Him the more He has blessed us. We are living proof that God will do what He says and will take care of His children.

When we stepped out we learned just what it meant to fully rely on God and trust Him in all things. In doing that God used it as a way to weed out those who weren’t ready to really go into full time ministry like He did with Gideon and his army in Judges 7. God told Gideon that he had too many men in his army and that if they won then the people would be boastful and say that they won and they wouldn't give God any of the glory. So first He had Gideon tell the men that anyone who was afraid should leave and 22,000 men left. Then God said there were still too many men and He told Gideon how to test them. He had Gideon take the men to the river for a drink and God said that anyone who put their head into the river to drink like a dog would needed to be told to leave, but those who used their hand to cup the water and bring it to their face to drink while they kept watch was to stay. Gideon was left with just 300 men. Think about that for a second. He went from having over 22,000 men to 300. Through Gideon’s obedience God was able to use just 300 men to defeat the entire Midianite army and deliver the Israelites.

When we started the band we had 14 members between those in the band and the family members that traveled with us. We are now down to just 8. God knew the hearts of the people and knew who was ready to travel and who wasn’t ready. He slowly pulled people from the ministry and replaced others till we had just the right group to go out and do His work.

Sometimes it feels like every time we would start to doubt what God is doing and second guess ourselves God just does something so amazing as if to say, “Don’t you get it yet? I got it!” He did that to Gideon too. He asked God for 3 different signs of confirmation before believing the God wanted him to lead the army and every time God gave it to him. Every time we say, “God are you sure?” He shows us that we are exactly where He wants us right now. When our singer left just 2 weeks before we were supposed to leave for a month long tour God gave us a new singer the NEXT DAY. The need was filled before we could even try to do anything about it.

If God calls you to step out in faith you can believe that He will carry you the whole way through. He will mark and guide you steps the whole way through. One of my favorite phases is "God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." Meaning you don't need to have it all to do Gods work. If He calls you to do something He will give you all the tools you need to do the job.



If you would like to read more about Gideon and what God did through him you can read his story in Judges starting in chapter 6.


Closing question:
What areas in your life has God asked you to step out in faith? Did you listen? What blessings do you think you either received or missed out on?

The Chains Holding You Down

"Break the Chains" has become the calling card for Never Forsaken. Everywhere we go Jim gives a brief testimony about himself and the whole team about the chains that God has broken in the lives of each of the band members. Those things that weigh us down, hold us back and that the enemy likes to use against us when we're weak. Everyone has a story and has chains that hold them in place instead of being able to grow in Gods plan. God broke Jim's (ministry leader/lead guitarist) chains of alcoholism with no program or rehab. His wife Lois (bassist) was freed from regretting things that she had done in her past before she was saved. Doug (drummer) stopped holding grudges against people who had wronged him. Gage (tech crew) was freed from an addiction to heroin.  Cristabelle (lead vocalist) was released from fear. Bob (sound engineer) stopped being quick to anger.

Myself? I had to think hard about that. It wasn't that I didn't think God was moving in my life, but because I didn't feel like I had such clear cut answer like everyone else did. And since I wasn't on stage with the band actually dropping the chains and sharing, I stopped trying to think of one. No one really talked to me about it anyway, so no big deal right? Well then Jim started calling me out in the crowed and telling people they could talk to me about my chains. Now I had to think of something. A few shows went by and still nothing came to me for what to say. I started to worry every night that someone would ask me and I'd have nothing to say. I really had to dig in and spend some one-on-one with God to figure this one out.

Finally He showed me. God has broken my chains of taking my self worth from other people rather than Him. I had always relied on my family, friends and people around me for my self-esteem and to tell me who I was. I would change my personality to fit the people I was around so that I would be accepted and people would like me. I realized that the reason why it took so long for me to see that was because it was a gradual change. It didn't happen all at once, it took some time. I really couldn't even say how long it took or when the last bits of that chain fell. I just know that changing how I saw myself and how I felt about myself was not something that I could do on my own. That was all God.

For some people, God helped them bust through their chains like an ax on the chopping block, mine took some more time with a saw working its way through the metal. I thought for a while that because I couldn't identify my struggle right away that maybe I couldn't say that God broke any of my chains. That just wasn't the case. It just took some time for me to realize that God doesn't always have to come though like a wrecking ball. Sometimes our chains are wrapped so tight around who we think we are that He has to work a little slower so that we don't get hurt in the process.

We would love to know what chains God has broken in you life! Leave a comment for us with your praise reports!

The One Who Truly Loves Us By Cassandra Burgess

        

            Valentine's Day is almost here and you know what that means. It is the time that we really focus on those we love and have in your lives. There are so many different kinds of love we can feel for others. For instance love for our family, friends, a spouse, our children or even co-workers is acknowledged and sometimes celebrated. For me, when I worked at a preschool, I had love for a group of kids that weren’t mine. But above all, there is the love for our Father in Heaven and the love He has for us the surpasses any kind of love we could ever feel here on earth.

        Whether a person has been a Christian their whole life or just became a Christian recently, they usually know the scripture John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that who ever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

In one verse, the great amount of God’s love for us is summed up. It doesn’t just say that God loves us more than anything in the world. It says that God loves us so much that He was willing to give up His own son to come down to this sinful world to die for us and give us a chance to live in Heaven with Him for eternity. Even though I am not a mom yet, I can’t even begin to imagine giving up my only child to die for a fallen world knowing that there would still be people who wouldn’t believe that it ever even happened.

        But isn’t that the wonderful thing about God? He sent Jesus for the whole world! He didn’t send Jesus just for those who already believed, but also for those who didn’t and still don’t believe. The bible says in Luke 5:31:

Jesus answered them [the Pharisees] saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

That was the whole reason for Him to come down to the earth, to call the lost to the Father who loves each and every one of us.
    Love is a choice. God sets this example for us by sending Jesus. It wasn’t that He felt like it, He chose it. He chose to love us enough to send Jesus to the cross to die for our sins. We have to choose every day who we will show love to. On those days that my husband is really getting on my nerves and I am having a hard time liking him, I have to choose to still love him in those times of frustration. I choose to show him the grace that God shows to me every time I mess up.

Love is also an action. It’s doing things for those you love, not just saying that you love them. It’s knowing how to show to a loved one that you care by doing something for them according to their own Love Language. For those who don’t know, there are 5 different love languages; words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, quality time and acts of service. Everyone has a love language and that is how that person shows and receives love with others. I have to say that knowing my husbands love language is something that I am so grateful for knowing from premarital counseling. We are almost polar opposites when it comes to how we show and receive love. If I didn’t know that going in, things would have been a lot harder in our first year. But in knowing how God wired him, I am able to show him love in a way that he will understand even though it isn’t how I would want him to show me love.

In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 the Bible tells us all that love is:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

I wish I could actually give credit for this next part because it was not my idea, but something I saw online that was shared a few times and I’m not sure where it started. This father was talking with his young daughter about a boy she liked in school. He told her to take this scripture and put the boys name where the word love is and see if it fit the boy's personality. When she realized that most of it contradicted his actions she started to rethink her feelings. Her father then told her to do the same with her name and think about her actions toward others. To me, this is our Heavenly Father giving us a reminder of how we should treat those around us.

Lastly, God is love. He is filled with love for us overflowing into our lives to share with others. He is the perfect example of love and the one that we should always look to. He’s love for us is the reason that we are even still here and can live with Him forever.

If you would like to learn more about love languages and finding out which one you have, here is a link with more information and a quiz you could take. http://www.5lovelanguages.com/

Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us

I John 4:9-12
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

John 15:12
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Psalm 36:5
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds

Psalm 26:3
For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.

Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

New Year… New Me…! By Cassie Burgess

Isn’t that what we always say? “It’s a new year so it’s going to be a new me!” We always make new resolutions to improve on ourselves and make this year “the best one ever!” Let’s list the typical ones shall we.

I will…

• Eat healthier
• Go to the gym more

• Lose weight

• Organize my living space
• Be an all around better person

    While all of these and other resolutions are just fine, how many of us really stick to them? I will be the first to admit that I have all of these high expectations of what I will do at the beginning of the year and then fail to keep up with them. I last a few weeks and then old habits creep back in and the excuses start. “Oh I’ll get to that tomorrow’” and when tomorrow comes there is something else in the way, more important or, let’s be honest, we just too tired that day to do anything after work.

Sometimes I feel as though people put too many unrealistic expectations on themselves with their resolutions wanting everything to change and be easy and done by February. Then, when it’s harder than they realized, they give up. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with putting expectations on ourselves, that’s how we make and reach goals and move forward in our lives. However, when our expectations are too high and almost unreachable we are just setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment.

That is not how we are supposed to live our lives. God will always put challenges in our paths and push us to cling onto Him more, but He will never put an expectation on our lives that we will never be able to reach. He wants to see us grow and improve on our lives according to His plan for us. I will admit, this is a hard lesson for me. I have been working on for a while with setting goals for myself that I can really achieve instead of just setting goal after goal that I will never reach.

So here is my challenge for everyone, and for myself. Instead of making a list of resolutions, start with one or two and when you reach one then set another. For me, I’m going to do a long term resolution for this year.  I’m going to try to dig into the Word more and read every day, and I’ll admit I’ve slipped already, but it’s a new habit that I am working on.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you" Declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."