A wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:9

Fulfilling God’s call on our lives elicits a response from the enemy. The devil doesn’t mind when we are blasé about our existence, but when we step up in obedience, there will be opposition.

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. Hebrews 10:35-38

When God opens a door of opportunity, we are often tempted to halt at the door and throw away our confidence. An open door of effective service means hard work and greater responsibility.

But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:39

Get a tenacious attitude and step forward in faith (Romans 1:17). Get your mind activated with the thoughts of God (get in the Word!) to get backbone and vision. Refuse to be an idle dreamer but instead press through the door. There are many souls at stake.

Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

God bless you!
Pastor Jeff Perry
St. Louis Family Church®

Copyright © 2011 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Let that verse steep in your spirit. What God begins, He brings to completion. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Whether your life is humming or you feel fatigued, God is faithful yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8; 1 Corinthians 1:9a; Psalm 33:4).

If you feel unsure of where you are in life right now, the confidence-producing Word of God can lock you back into the purpose for which you’ve been set apart. Cast down the weirdness in your head. Get your mind renewed by searching the Scriptures and finding promises concerning God’s faithfulness to complete the good work in your life.

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:14-15

Get confident when you pray. God hears you and He gets a kick out of answering prayer — so pray huge prayers. Find the promises in the Bible that correspond with the problem and take the situation to God in prayer. His ear is inclined to the upright (Psalm 17:6).

Wherever there has been laziness or sin, repent; wherever there has been unbelief and doubt, get single-minded. Keep presenting your heart on the altar and remember that it’s not your performance that saves you, but it’s God who saves you. As Paul said: “We learn to not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

God is completing the work in you. What He initiates He sustains; what He sustains He brings to completion. Your greatest days haven’t happened yet!

God is faithful,

Pastor Jeff Perry
St. Louis Family Church®

Copyright © 2009 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.