April is the month of a 30 day challenge for our online Bible Study group in Hello Mornings, meaning it is open to our choice of study. This week, we started our journey of Brave Faith, using the book by Mary Geisen as a guide.  Our hope is to  journey closer towards brave faith as we take one brave step at a time.

Our first week of study brought these five observations on the topic of brave faith:

1. God truly does make us stronger than we ever think we can be. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). It is an exchange – we hand over our spirit of fear and He hands us His spirit of courage and strength. It is not a 1X and done deal. No, we need to continue to hand fear over to Him throughout the course of our lives. Don’t hold onto it. Don’t think you alone can conquer it.
2. We must fight as we follow Him. “Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12, NLT). As we follow the way He shows us, we will be given joy. There is joy in doing the hard things He calls us to do. 1 Timothy 6:12 reminds us we need to fight and hold tightly as we follow Him. Why do we think that in following Him we will not need to fight? No, we need to fight all the harder as the challenges will be great.
3. Today, and each day, has already been laid out for us. “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16, NLT). If today, this moment, has been laid out and God fully knows and sees where we each are, then we can live today fully. We are ready for today. And tomorrow, we will be ready for tomorrow. Each day He will prepare and equip us for that day.
4. We are brave in His Presence. “But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” (Matthew 14:27, NLT). There were times Jesus was in the boat with the disciples and other times, like this one, they were in the boat alone. In this passage, He says, “I am here!” (NLT). Wherever we are, as long as we are with Him, we can take courage. We can do the brave thing He calls us to do. We need to desire to be where He is, in the midst of what He is doing, and doing what He calls us to do.
   
5. Our spiritual development is an ever and on-going process. “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding” (Hebrews 6:1, NLT).  We must stay focused on His Word and how He is guiding us. Life will seek to pull us in a direction other than where He would have us to go. Let God be in charge of your days.

Over the next three weeks, I’ll be sharing the lessons learned from this devotional each week. I hope you will return next week for more on this topic. And in the meantime, you can read more about the book on the author’s website HERE .

Today I am joining … #DreamTogether and Inspire Me Monday .