In the US we practice our faith in relative safety and peace. Sure it may cost us a ‘friend’ here or there or an invite to the ‘big’ party. But it is pretty unlikely that we’ll see scores of girls kidnapped from the local Christian school or that militiamen will attack our church one Sunday morning. Yet many around the world face these or similar dangers and still practice their faith because they know the ultimate reward that God has in store.
Could we live such a brave faith? Willing in any and all circumstances to do what God is calling us to do? Could we bravely walk into the cafeteria or break room and share our faith with whoever is sitting there? Could we give a little more than is comfortable to help a person in need? Yes we can and great is our reward too. Through our actions and words we can bring hope. We can be the light and love the world so desperately needs.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. We can both live out from these words and help others to come to know the truth of these words in their lives. May we live a brave faith.
Tag Archives: faith
Peaceful Trust
What is the largest crowd you have ever actually been a part of? Was it at a big arena concert or maybe at a game? For me it was several years ago in Washington, DC, when I went to be a part of Promise Keeper’s ‘Million Man March’. I was just one of about a million people gathered there that day. It was incredible to look out at the sea of humanity and to realize that I was just one part of it. When I think about that huge group, it pales in comparison to how many people inhabit the earth. There are now 7,000 people for every one of those million men gathered that day in DC.
Yet God knows, cares for, and loves each of those 7 billion people on the earth. Do they all love Him back? No, but that doesn’t matter to God. He loves them all equally because they are all His creation. He loves them all.
It is hard to fathom that despite the fact that we are each just one of seven billion, God loves each and every one of us. Yes He does! What a mighty God we serve.
It is because of this great love that we can trust Him with our lives. His plan for us is so much better than any plan we could muster. Because God’s steadfast love endures forever, we can trust Him to always have the best in mind for us. Because His love never fails, we can trust that He will see us through the valleys and will bring us up the other side. We can trust into God and into Jesus’ words: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Kinda Exciting Out Here
I kinda like being comfortable. I like it when things are ordered and moving along as planned. It is nice when things move along smoothly. Do you like it when things are comfortable and ordered and all seems good?
Yet it is dangerous to live on cruise control. When we are just cruising down the rut it is sometimes hard to see what is going on outside of our little trench. And isn’t a little excitement OK sometimes? Isn’t it invigorating to feel the tension of the unknown or the “what if”?
In John 14 Jesus states that He is the way, the truth, and the life. To know Jesus is to know God. It raises the question in my mind: how well do I know Jesus? Do I really know enough of Him? Or am I on cruise in my relationship with Jesus? Or do I read the Word with questions? How will I know Him better today? How will this word cause me to grow? To trust Him more?
No one is ” there” yet. All of us have room to grow, to know Him better, to trust Him more. To seek these things brings us to the edge of the unknown. Step out – it’s kinda exciting out here.
Sharing the News
Stephen was the first of many to die for his faith in Jesus Christ. Many more have died in the name of Jesus over the centuries. Some will die today, some will die tomorrow, and so on. It even happens on a rare occasion here in America. There are Christians out there willing to die for their faith today.
Relatively speaking, we live in a country where it is pretty safe to share our faith. Certainly in the public arena the worst things we face are rejection, scorn, and maybe a helping of ridicule. In some work environments the subject of faith is ‘taboo’ and to talk about our faith may risk our job. In some settings we may find ourselves ostracized or unwelcome anymore because we chose to speak about our faith.
Yet despite the relative safety we generally don’t like sharing our faith. Maybe we will share our faith in just the right setting with just the right person at just the right moment. There are definitely these times and it is joyful to God when we take these opportunities. But most of us are not an “anytime, anyplace, anyone” type of person when it comes to sharing our faith. It is my prayer that my mighty God and amazing Savior fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit and empower me to share my faith with any and all that I meet to the end of my days. Will you make this your prayer too?
A Heavenly Gasp
Does your family have any unique practices or traditions – a special dish at the holiday season, a quirky birthday celebration, something you do every Easter…? Maybe you don’t understand it or even understand where it came from, but you go along because that is what is expected. Then at some point, someone says something like, “Hey, this year instead…” and you gasp! Or sometimes the tradition or practice fades because you moved away and one Easter morning you realize you don’t ‘x’ anymore and you feel like something is suddenly missing. As a Christian family we get our traditions and practices from Christ. He is our firm foundation, our Cornerstone. We are called to be His “living stones” – to live our lives in a way that brings Christ to the world. Like our family traditions, we find our identity in Christ. Sadly, like some of our own family traditions, sometimes we don’t always fully understand or even like some of the Christian traditions and practices that we are called to. Sometimes we fail to live them out. For example, do we always embrace tolerance and practice respect? Do we always love our neighbors as ourselves? Sadly, not always. At these points the gasp does not come from us. But the good news is that we are precious to Jesus. Despite our human limitations, He continues to build us into His holy nation, a people called to God. We belong to Him. Our journey is simply growing more and more like Jesus every day. And despite ourselves, we do. It is through Jesus. Thank you Lord!!
From the Heart
What one word would you use to sum up who Jesus was and is? Would it be messiah or savior or healer or king? True, He is all of these. For me, the word would be love.
What are the keys to our faith? Is it worship, giving our tithe, serving on a committee, maybe helping with the Youth program? Certainly all of these are means to growing in our faith, but according to Peter, the key is to love one another and to love God.
What if each day we evaluated our faith journey through the question: ‘Am I loving God and neighbor more deeply from the heart?’ Sometimes this is hard to evaluate on a daily basis, but I think if we spent some time thinking on this question, we will find the little ways in which we did love more deeply from the heart.
If we spend hours reading and studying our Bible, are faithful in attending worship and in our giving, and if we serve here or there – we can please God and we may grow in our faith. But if we are doing these things out of duty or obligation but not out of love, we are lost. We are lost because although we may grow in our faith, the love doesn’t spill out for God and into other people’s lives. We must lovingly give ourselves away to truly grow deeper in our faith.
A Family of Faith
One day Peter preached about Jesus, repenting of sin, and being baptized into faith in Christ. Baptism was the sacrament that celebrated the commitment of one’s life to following Christ. On this one day many people heard Peter’s words, felt his passion, and felt that little tug upon their own hearts. 3000 responded and we baptized on that one day. 3000!!
Each of these ‘new’ Christians returned to their homes and daily lives. But they were different because now they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And through this faith and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they were each connected to the larger body of Christ. This commonality allowed them to come together as a community of faith where they could sustain this newfound belief and could begin to grow in this faith. As they gathered they could help and encourage one another. They could practice that love of neighbor that Christ called them to.
Like they, we are also made to be in community. Each of our Christian communities is important to us because it is centered on this love of Christ. To encourage and love and support and pray for each other, we come to know that couple or family or single person that sits down from us in the pew or row. And they come to know us. We notice if they are missing or if something seems different about them. And they notice these things about us. It becomes our family. They become part of our family and we become part of their family. This Sunday, when we gather, may we see ALL as our dearly loved brothers and sisters in Christ, all as part of the family.
Walking Along Our Road
Do you remember when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and entered into a relationship with Him? It may be a moment you can name and date – a ‘born again’ type of experience. It may have been a gradual shift from the stories of Noah and Jonah to coming to know and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins. In either case, from the point of decision forward, one is never the same person again.
Often this prompts the awareness that we need to change and we begin to try and live more and more for Christ. At first we notice and work on the ‘big’ and obvious sins in our lives. These obvious ones usually fall away quickly. And as we grow in our faith, we begin to see the less obvious sins in our lives. Ridding ourselves of these sins can be harder – they often have deeper roots and reside within us where others cannot see them as easily and where we can try to keep them tucked away. Yet there is hope. For in and through Christ, we can begin to conquer these deeper sins as well.
As we live into Christ, we are drawn to share our joy and also to enter into other’s pain. We grow to risk greater for our Lord and Savior. As we risk and step out in faith, we move a little further along our journey of faith and a little deeper in our relationship with Christ deepens. May your walk be good today!!
The Living Word
As Jesus and the disciples walked along the road to Emmaus, he explained to them how he was reveals and came to fulfill the Old Testament scriptures about the Holy One. These were scriptures all good Jews would have known and would have studied and heard preached. Yet on this day the scriptures seemed new to their ears. The living word was made new again in their hearts.
Sometimes when I read a passage that I have read or even studied before, sometimes something new jumps out at me. Does that ever happen to you? The living word is made alive in a new way within us. It may be a passage I ‘know’ but there is this new nugget. We are not who we were when we first read it and we are not the same person after discovering our new nugget. This is why we are on a journey of faith. We never ‘arrive’. In the DEVO today the author wrote of their love for geocaching. It was not in the finding of the cache or in using the technology. The joy came from noticing all of the details in God’s creation as she carefully looked for the cache – things she would never have noticed and found joy in if she were simply on a hike. The Bible can be the word of God or it can be the living word of God. We can read a passage or we can engage a passage. We can be simply reading or we can be seeking to find new nuggets. We can think we have ‘arrived’ or we can be on a journey.
And like the two disciples walking along the road with Jesus, once they allowed the living word to change them, they realized that Emmaus was not their destination anymore. God was leading them somewhere else and they left for Jerusalem. May we too allow God’s living word to speak freshly into our lives and to be the guide that directs our paths and that brings us new growth on our journey.
The Word is Enough
In our society there is often a quest for “more”. People want more money, more prestige, more time off, more friends, more and more. The quest can be consuming and the goal can become their god. But Paul found the secret, how to be content in plenty and in want, hether well fed or hungry. In Philippians 4:13 Paul writes, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Today it seems many cannot be content.
In John 20 it is revealed that there are other words and miracles of Jesus not recorded in his gospel. Should that spur our natural instinct to want more? No! But it does make me wonder. It makes me wonder, would more stories help more people to believe? Sadly, I think not. God led men far wiser than I to make prayerful and divinely inspired decisions about what writings to put in the Bible. Similarly, God led John to write what John wrote, no more, no less.
Our faith rests upon Jesus as risen Lord. He died for our sins. That is really the story we need. True, we want more. And there is value in knowing more. There is much written in the Bible that teaches us how to live a Christ-like life and about the nature and desire of God. If we delve in and study the Word, it is enough. We do not need to know more. God has provided all we need to be content. Continue reading
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