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Courage is simply what we do when we love someone or something more than we love ourselves. When we love someone or something more than we love ourselves we do courageous stuff! And courage is closely related to undaunted faith, right?

In this episode, I'm going to teach you a few Hebrew words, words like tiqvah and ezer. And in the end, I'll ask you if you are an ezer, a life-saver. Like Rahab, are you an ezer?

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Among the people of northern Natal in South Africa, the most common greeting, like hello in English, is the expression: Sawu Bona. It literally means, I see you. You are seen. If I don't see you, far more importantly, God does. In fact, as I read this chapter, I kept sensing that God simply wanted me to tell you, he sees you. You are seen. Isn't that one of the results of that common promise, "I will be with you."

When we wonder, God do you see me? Isaiah 43:1-3 is God's answer, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."

He sees you. He knows you. And He loves you. Let that grow your faith!

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Hey what voices are getting your ears right now? Or what influencers are getting your scrolling eyes right now? There are voices out there that some of you have listened to all your life. Some of them were bad voices; made you feel like you had nothing to offer the world, no one will ever love you and you can't be fixed. Some of you on the other hand, have had some great voices speaking into your life through the years; words of affirmation, words of courage, words of love, words of wisdom. Those words have made a significant difference in your life and sometime this week, you need to tell God and those people thank you.

But whether the voices of the people in your life have been good or bad. There is one voice above all others that we need to hear. That's the voice that will give you an undaunted faith! Who is getting your ears?

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In this episode, we are going to talk about the most common command in the Bible and the most common promise. The two of them go together, (God's most common command and God's most common promise) to give birth to an undaunted faith. If you are interested in knowing what either one is...give a listen!

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Can I tell you what I believe, what I've experienced... there's a desire, a deep desire in each of us, it goes deeper than our hearts, it's woven into the very fabric of our souls. We were born with it, created for it. On this side of heaven, it's never fully
satisfied and it will never die. In fact, our identity, our purpose for living is wrapped up in this desire, our desire for life. Real life. Sometimes we miss it, sometimes we ignore it, sometimes we grow weary and wonder if it is time to abandon the journey. But that nagging desire, St. Augustine called it a "holy longing" never quite goes away.

I think that every heart-longing we have, is actually the longing of our soul for Jesus. And no one else can bring you life like Jesus!

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When Joshua and Caleb came back from the land of promise with 10 others, having spied out the land, one thing they all agreed upon was that there giants in the land. But where they differed was that 10 thought the giants were too much for them, but two thought God with them was greater than the giants in the land.

It made me start thinking about the giants in my life. What are the giants in your life? Whatever they are, God is greater than your giants!

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In Hebrews chapter 11, the author is describing a faith, hall of fame and he writes these words in verse 6: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

I know there are many reasons why people don't come to God and I know that there are those who do not believe there is a God. But over the course of my life, I have developed a growing conviction that when it comes to faith, most of us
falter in the second arena of faith. We don't believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. We don't believe that seeking God, and following Christ, will bring us our best life.

But what if all it takes is another step or two in His direction? What is your step of faith?

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Isaiah 64:1-8 is a corporate prayer. It's a corporate lament for the presence of God from a people who were missing God. They want more God. But that corporate lament ends with hope, when Isaiah prays, "And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand." Do you hear the shift? Isaiah goes from asking the nation-scaring God to rend the heavens with fearsome fireworks to asking the Father God to put his hands on our hearts and shape us there.

The picture of the Father as potter and his people as the clay breaks this lament wide-open. It's the New Covenant leaking into the Old Testament. It's relationship. Rather than God bursting forth, God is invited in. Rather than nations trembling and mountains quaking the Father is shaping our hearts. You are not alone nor are you left alone. The Fingerprints of God Are All Over You.

It's not so bad to be clay, if God is the potter!