SWHW Bible Reading Plan: July 2021Sample

Top Takeaway from Malinda Fuller: 

Most of us have no problem admitting the miracles of the Bible: the provision and multiplication of food, the rain, the fire, and the physical healings. When Jesus raised someone from the dead, it was not a new concept because Elijah had done the same thing hundreds of years before.

And after we read about the most epic of miracles, Jesus coming back from death, Romans 4 serves as a reminder that this isn't just something He did--it's a promise of what He does. God is in the business of filling dead things with life.

The odds are good you have witnessed some type of resurrection. Maybe it was a houseplant you tenderly coaxed back to health, or atrophied muscles you rehabilitated, or a relationship that was estranged but is now thriving. These are all examples of things now living yet were once dead. 

We might not want to consider these miracles because there was the effort we exerted on our part; we weren't sitting idly but tending faithfully to the issue before us. And I believe someone reading this right now needs to be reminded: God is faithfully tending to your circumstance, too. He wants to stir up your faith today and remind you of the promise He spoke to your heart.

Romans 4, verses 18-21, describe Abrahams's steadfast spirit. 

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’"

Against all hope--maybe that sounds familiar?

"Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead” (verse 19).

What facts are you facing? What death is staring you in the face? Is your faith weakening or remaining steadfast?

"Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God” (verse 20).

Are you giving glory to God even as you wait for your promise to be fulfilled? Are you wavering or being strengthened in your faith?

"...being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (verse 21).

Are you fully persuaded of God's ability? Do you believe He has the power to do what He promised?

Most of us, if we are honest, are waiting on God to fulfill a promise. 

For wombs to be opened and bodies to be made whole.



For spirits and hearts and minds to be healed.



For prodigal children to come home and broken relationships to be restored.



For destinies to unfold and futures to be made bright again. 

And the reminder from Romans Chapter 4 is that God is the one who "calls into existence the things that do not exist” (verse 17, ESV). 

God does the work. We don't. God is the One who makes it happen. We sit and believe. He does the heavy lifting. We trust. It seems counterproductive to sit and wait. To trust and surrender and let go. But that's what He wants.  

• What is it you are believing in God to do?  


• What dead thing are you waiting for God to revive?  


• What have you stopped believing for because you've heard it so many times, yet nothing has materialized?  


• Where do you feel like a 99-year-old Abraham who is still holding out for the promise of "new life from a dead body?"  


• What if you found out you'd have your promise in a year--or less?  


• Do you need to "strengthen yourself in your faith and give glory to God" even as you continue to wait?

Father, thank You for Your promises: that what You begin, You carry to completion, that You are good, and You do good, and You have good things for Your kids. Thank You for sustaining us in seasons of waiting, for staying with us and not leaving us, for pouring out Your strength and grace during difficult seasons. Give us eyes to see You in the waiting, and stir up our faith to believe for life to come from dead things.  Amen.