Please consider how much our understanding of faith would change if we began to think of faith as the means to get what God wants for us, and not what we want for ourselves. When we believe that we have the innate ability to decide what is right for us and for others, we start down a road of misguided faith. When we pursue what we want without any accountability to God, we head off in a direction that is not in our best interest. When we have no accountability to God, but just do what we think is best, then stupid stuff happens. I know this runs contrary to the way Christianity is presented today, at least here in the United States. But just consider the Biblical evidence—when people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes, as recorded in Judges chapters 17 and 21
A song that will draw you closer to the heart of God. That you “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:18-19
For such a long time, we have thought about faith as a tool to get what we want from God. And it takes some real mental gymnastics to think of faith as a tool for relationship. Yes, He does reward those who diligently seek Him. But have you ever considered the possibility that He is the reward—He is the reward and not His goodies?
This video jam titled "The Chastening of the Lord" comes from a sermon preached by Vincent A. Artese "Therefore I Hope In Him".
This is a prayer to the LORD by the prophet Jeremiah as he reflects upon the destruction of Jerusalem. His reflection leads him to humble himself under the mighty hand of God. There is no better place to be during a time of trial or affliction than to be humbled before the LORD under His mighty hand looking to see what He wills to show you through the situation. It has all taken place in response to sin and rebellion of the people. The entire calamity caused their hope and their strength to perish. It is from this place of humility and lack of strength that Jeremiah finds hope. Jeremiah sees that all of this has come about not for their destruction but for their salvation! God is merciful and compassionate! God has an end and a purpose for the entire situation! The end intended by the LORD is the salvation of the people. This leads Jeremiah to wait on the LORD and seek Him! God chastises those He loves for the sake of their refinement and their sanctification. During times of chastisement we must submit to God by faith. God’s chastisement produces righteousness, holiness, and eternal life. We must submit, surrender, and consecrate ourselves to His ends and His purposes! He is worthy of our trust because He is perfectly just! He will never act contrary to His attributes! And God is Holy Love!
I enjoy creating things. But I don't enjoy maintaining things. So I always create with minimal maintenance in mind. When I build something—no matter what the size or the purpose—I build it to function with minimal maintenance (or no maintenance, if at all possible). Don't get me wrong, I do maintain things—but not always with the best attitude. I would rather move on to the next project. Are we the same in our relationship with God? Do we just maintain, at a bare minimum, our relationship with Him—and not always with the best attitude? Would we rather move on to something else? These are critical questions in our study of faith. So let me ask another question: What if faith is not what we think it is?
Did you know that YOU are in every chapter of the HOLY Bible? Whether you are a Christian, or still trying to find your way back to God, the Bible is about YOU. From Genesis to Revelation, every chapter is about YOU & how much our Almighty God loves you.
To build something new in the place of something already existing, the existing structure has to be demolished. Without doing a complete demolition we are tempted to modify the new to accommodate the old. But when we do so, we put the integrity of the entire project at risk. Whatever kind of existing structure you have built around your concept of the word “faith,” I encourage you to tear that structure down. Or, at the least for the time being, call it something other than faith. And allow God to build His own kind of faith within you. Jesus warns us against trying to incorporate the new into the old. The new‐covenant way of living is not the same as the old‐covenant way of living.
What do you do when you still have to see your ex after a break up? ....at work, school, church, same friend circles. Do you talk to them? Do you avoid them? Do you still go to events you know they'll be at?
I heard this song by Danny Gokey on the radio the other day. Iigured it was a new song, since I had never heard it before. But actually it's a song from Danny's 2014 album "Hope In Front Of Me." It's also been recorded by Phillips, Craig, and Dean (Randy Phillips co-wrote the song along with Bernie Herms and Matthew West), but PCD's version is sort of bland compared to Danny's version. Wonderful song about hope and renewal and looking forward rather than looking back.
Celebrate the Resurrection through the eyes of a child. Take your children's ministry on a journey through the Passion story as its never been told before!
Picture yourself showing up, on a day in 1880, to work for some guy with a funny name who hired you to paint animals in various degrees of motion around the edges of a glass discs. And you do this day after day after day. Boring? Well it certainly would be unless you could see into the future. It would be boring if you thought you were just painting animals on glass discs. But it would be something different if you knew you were a part of pioneering the motion picture industry. There's a certain amount of drudgework to every great achievement. But it doesn't seem like drudgery if you're focused on the end result. There's a certain amount of drudge-work in developing your faith in God. But it doesn't seem like drudgery if you're focused on the end result.
When I was a boy on the farm, a strange thing happened as I went back and forth in the field, from one end to the other. Although Dad taught me everything I knew about farming, I would lose sight of the fact that he knew the job better than I did. When he sent me to the field to work, I somehow would forget that he was the expert and that I was the apprentice. It was as if he knew nothing about what I was going through—the heat, the boredom, the dirt, the itching, the noise. It was as if he was off doing the “Dad” thing and had just forgotten about me. I even began to make up my own rules. I would run the tractor at a higher rpm or in a higher gear. I wouldn't overlap soil tillage as much as he did. I wasn't outright rebellious, but I took plenty of liberties just so I could get done quicker. In my relationship with God it has been easy to forget that He not only knows everything that I know, but He is the source of everything I know. I can't just say to Him, “You take care of the “God” stuff and I'll take care of my stuff.” There is no “my” stuff. I can't do anything without Him (see John 15:5). It's easy to have faith in God for the big stuff—the stuff that's impossibly big for us to handle. But it's not so easy to have faith in God for those things we think we can handle—even if barely.
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