The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
In a world filled with a lot of talk, we want to have meaningful, biblical conversations with those God has entrusted to us. Join Tosha Williams and the Family Disciple Me ministry for Devotion Driven Discipleship conversation starters that will encourage you to "Seek Him Speak Him" in your own life.
Family Disciple Me is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Christian ministry dedicated to catalyzing Devotion Driven Discipleship in our own lives and homes as well as around the world.
For more information, visit familydiscipleme.org
The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
I WILLS TO INSTILL: I Will Trust God // Letting Trust Change Your Perspective About Your Story
Life is filled with uncertainty, yet, whatever a new year brings, we can find strength and even joy through trust in God. This latest podcast episode talks about the determined decision to trust Him no matter what happens in life. Let's look at biblical insights from Isaiah 12:2 - - - continuing our "I WILLS to INSTILL" conversations. Listen in on this episode, then spend a few moments in personal devotions with this conversation guide.
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“I WILLS TO INSTILL” - Convo #2: I Will Trust God
“Indeed, God is my salvation; I will trust him and not be afraid, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 CSB
SEEK HIM: Devotion is Meeting with God in Our Own Lives! A new year is filled with knowns and unknowns. And, while we can make plans, we can’t choose everything about our lives. What we can choose is our mindset for living. Let's see how Isaiah 12:2 encourages us to say “I Will Trust God.”
WHAT: What is God saying through this Scripture? This verse is about at least two things: God’s character and our response. God tells us He is entirely capable of being our salvation, strength and song. He won't force these gifts upon us, though. Instead He lets us choose what we will do with all He offers us. ~ Have you accepted God’s gift of salvation? If so, are you living by His strength or your own?
WHY: Why does this Scripture matter? We have a daily choice: to live with fear and anxiety, or to trust God with our lives. God’s Word promises, “The one who trusts in the Lord will be happy,” (Proverbs 16:20b). You can know if you’re trusting God by examining whether stress or a song is echoing through your heart. ~ What do you need to trust God about today? How can trusting God lead to happiness? When you experience an unhelpful thought or emotion, how can you trust God with it?
HOW: How does God want us to respond to this truth? Trusting God means that, no matter what happens, we choose to rely on His character and promises. This determined decision echoes the verse, “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.” (Psalm 56:4 CSB). ~ How can you praise God when you’re going through something hard? How are you actively letting go of fear so you can hold onto trusting God’s character and promises?
SPEAK HIM: Discipleship is Making God Known to Others! A person who really, truly trusts God won’t be afraid to speak up about it. Jesus said, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises. And again, ‘I will put my trust in him.’” (Hebrews 2:12-13a NIV). We can follow Jesus’ example and “Speak Him” to all those watching our lives. Who is watching you, and will you speak about your trust in Him today?
© 2024 Tosha Lamdin Williams
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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.
Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org
As you're beginning this new year, how's it going for you? Have your plans worked out the way you've wanted them to so far? How are those I wills going, your New Year's resolutions, your goals or your decisions about how you're going to live? What about the things that you put on your calendar, the plans you made, the meetings you had on the schedule, the work responsibilities that you were planning to do once the new year hit? If you're like me, some things are working out pretty well, and then other things are already completely off track.
Speaker 1:The truth is a new year well, it's a partially blank slate. It's filled with well, some knowns, some plans, but it's also filled with so many more unknowns. The reality is that we can definitely make some plans, some really great plans, but we can't choose everything about our lives. We get so many interruptions the dishwasher quits, the sink starts leaking, the dryer stops working, the dog throws up, the baby gets sick, unexpected guests arrive. There are so many X factors in our lives. We don't get to choose everything about every day, but what we can choose is our mindset for living, including, and maybe even especially, who we will trust.
Speaker 1:Today, let's continue in our conversations through Isaiah, chapter 12. Today we come to verse 2. I love this verse and I actually think it's not just a good one to meditate on. This is a great one to memorize. So let's take a few moments and talk about the second truth of I wills. To instill this truth about I will trust God With what's going on in your life today. Maybe this will be encouraging for you as much as it has been for me.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but in making my plans for this year, if I could have everything the way that I want it to be, this is one thing that would be true. I want to be happy. I want this to be a good year. I want this to be a great year. I want this to be a year that is overflowing with happiness and joy. Do you know how to make that happen? If you could bottle that up as a recipe, you could sell it and retire tomorrow as a billionaire. Everybody wants to be happy.
Speaker 1:The question is how do we get there? How do we guarantee happiness? There's all sorts of possibilities that the world offers, but God's Word gives us the path toward it. It's not a path that, well, the majority of the world is going to take. It's not even a path that many Christians will take. The question is is this a path that you and I will take, and is it a path that we will encourage those entrusted to us to take? You know, god's Word gives us a secret. It's found in Proverbs, chapter 16, verse 20, and it says this the one who trusts in the Lord will be happy. There it is. That's the secret. The one who trusts in the Lord will be happy. So then, the question is how do we do this? If this is the secret, if this is the path to happiness, if trust is what it takes, then how do we instill this into our lives? Well, I am so glad you asked.
Speaker 1:Isaiah 12, verse 2, has the answer. It says this Indeed, god is my salvation. I will trust him and not be afraid for the Lord. The Lord himself is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. You know, this verse is about two specific things, at least two. It's about God's character and our response. The Lord, god Almighty, the one who set forth the heavens, the one who makes the sun and the stars and the moon, the one who creates the seasons and the snow and the falling leaves and the spring flowers. He says he is entirely capable of being our salvation, our strength and our song. So many of us who walk with Jesus trust him for our salvation. We trust him for eternity, but we're not so sure about today. Thing is just like. God won't force us to receive His salvation. He won't force us to receive His strength or His song either. We can live this new year with fear or anxiety. We can walk and be afraid as we go through our days, or we can commit it to the Lord, ask for His strength. We can commit it to the Lord, ask for His strength, ask for His song along the way and trust Him. This, to me, is one of those things that takes us back to the very foundation of this entire conversation series.
Speaker 1:We live lives full of I can't, I could, I ought, I should, I might, I may, could, I ought, I should, I might, I may. But I've found, whenever I have any of those attitudes in the way I approach God, I don't trust Him. I don't trust God until I determine that I will trust God. This is such a deliberate day in and day out choice. So what about you? What have you decided about how you are going to put your faith in God in this new year? How are you intentionally choosing to trust him? In what areas of your life are you choosing to trust him?
Speaker 1:For me personally, last year was a really great year. I am so grateful, I am so grateful, I am so thankful. The problem with that is that, well, honestly, I'm waiting for the other boot to drop, because the prior year was not a great year, and that makes fear rise up in my heart. It gives me anxiety that something bad just has to happen next, something terrible must be around the corner again. But when I live with that mindset here's the thing I am not a very happy person. Not at all. My happiness is when I choose to trust God.
Speaker 1:Happiness is when I choose to trust God, when I trust God with my family, with my kids, with my grandkids, with my husband, with Vanguard Church, with family disciple me, with my friendships and relationships, with all the circumstances swirling around me. When I deliberately, intentionally choose to trust him, I'm happier. I have more peace, I have more joy, I have more hope, I have more of a song in my life because the God of my salvation for eternity is the God of my strength for today. And with this confidence, with this hope, with this joy, I can look at my calendar, I can open my planner and I can look at the days and the weeks and the months ahead. I can scroll through each of these and say I will trust him here this day. I will trust him here on this week. I will still trust him in this month. I will trust him in that situation. I will keep trusting him in that relationship. I will trust him in this circumstance.
Speaker 1:And since I'm trusting him in all of this that I know, I'm going to trust him in what I don't know, because I know he has me. I know he has all those that he's entrusted to me. There's nothing we're going to walk through in the days ahead that he is not with us. This is what can give us happiness along life's way. So say it with me, I will trust God. I will trust God. Not I might trust God. I could, I ought, I should, but I will trust God. I could, I ought, I should, but I will trust God. And so, with that, let me close with this prayer, this blessing from Romans, chapter 15, verse 13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy, with all peace, as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, friend, trust in Him and go with the joy and the hope and the happiness that he promises to give you when you set your eyes and your faith and your will upon Him and with that, until next time, be encouraged.
Speaker 2:Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode. You can find the matching conversation guide in the show notes To get the latest updates about the Family Disciple Me ministry, as well as word about our soon-to-be-released app, Sign up to be the first to know at familydisciplemeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek Him, speak Him.