Fresh Faith

This book by Pastor Jim Cymbala talks a lot about faith, obviously. Here are my highlights from Chapter 1 titled Stolen Property:
No matter how low you get, no matter what collapses around you, no matter who rejects you or slanders you-God is able to encourage you. He will help you get through. He will strengthen you deep within your heart in a place no one else can reach.AMEN!

David and his men came to a moment when they chose to get up and go after stolen property.

The moment must come for you and me when we say, "Wait a minute-am I just going to keep sitting here feeling bad for myself? In the name of the Lord, my daughter, my son, my grandchild is going to be reclaimed. In the name of the Lord, I am not going to give up on my calling, my potential in life. Satan, you're going to give back that property! I come against you and resist you in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord."

Remember, we are not wrestling against flesh and blood. We are engaged in spiritual warfare.

Satan wants to snatch this [vibrant heart-faith and childlike trust in the risen, supernatural Christ-the kind of faith that changes the way you live, talk, and feel] more than anything else, for he knows "the righteous will live by faith" (Romans 1:17). He knows that "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). He knows that real faith is our lifeline to God's grace and power. If he can sever the faith connection, he has gained a tremendous victory. He knows that without a living faith, prayer as a force in our lives will be extinguished. We will soon be just mechanically going through the outward forms of religion while experiencing nothing of God's power.

Sometimes I just need to be reminded of all these things. I'm so thankful for books that hold these incredible thoughts. I don't have to rely on my horrible, fading memory. I can just pull them off the shelf and look for yellow!

It's Saturday and we did an extra work day today. I'm pooped! I've got to make dinner before a counseling session at 6:30. Have a blessed, sunny, breezy, Saturday evening.

Private or Personal?

I was reminded of an event from the past this morning. Many years ago two couples from our church had a falling out and as a result, one couple left. I wasn't particularly close to either couple but would often think of the couple that left and be concerned about them. One day I emailed a pastor and asked if they were doing okay. The response I received was "If you want to know, ask them." At the time I remember feeling shoved away. I wasn't asking for details about what happened, I wasn't a gossip and have never been part of a gossip circle. I just wanted peace about them or to know if I should be praying for them. At the time I was a fairly new Christian and trusted this was the appropriate response. In some ways it was. The pastor was trying to stay out of the situation and send me directly to them. However, I didn't know them well enough to call them out of the blue and didn't want an awkward situation. I also wasn't looking for anything more than if they were okay. Yes or no. Communication was definitely lacking on both our parts. If I had been asked why I wanted to know, or if I had explained why I wanted to know, I trust I would have received a more appropriate response.

The situation reminded me of the question, "Is our faith private or personal? Our relationship with God is as individualized as we are. How we came to know Him, our experiences with Him, how much we choose to grow, are all personalized to us. Is our faith private? Absolutely not. We are called to fellowship, called to be ready to share our testimonies, called to bear one another's burdens and joys. And how can we do these things if we keep everything bottled up inside us? In a true community of faith, things are shared in a healthy way. Not to destroy someone's reputation, but to lift them up in prayer and with encouragement. I truly believe a tone must be set from up front and often about the sin of gossip, but the flip side must also be taught, to feel safe and free to share in order to lean on each other in our time of need.

I remember going through some unsure physical ailment a few years ago and Greg asked if I minded if he shared it with some people. My attitude was, "Sure, the more people that know about it, the more people will be praying for me."

Let's not hide our difficulties from one another. God may use it to give us hope and peace from someone who already went through it or use us to give hope and peace to someone going through it after us. Let's not miss an opportunity to be blessed or to be a blessing. And let's not let life's past hurts influence our todays and tomorrows. Life's too short.

Shrinking Back

I read this little verse in my Wide Awake book by Erwin McManus and it begged me to read it over and over again.

Hebrews 10:38: "But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back."

God calls us to a life of faith. How can he use us, call us, stretch us, if we are unwilling to trust Him and take steps requiring faith? Every person from the Bible who was involved in something extraordinary, trusted God and took a step of faith and God honored it. He stretched them. Were they afraid? Maybe. Did they doubt? Probably. Did they obey? Definitely. Did they see the very hand of God in the situation? Absolutely.

God is looking all over this earth for people who are willing to be used by God, no matter the cost. Will his eyes land on you? Or will you be passed over? Are you fully surrendered to the will of God for your life? You have accepted Him as Savior, but have you accepted Him as Lord?

This verse says God takes no pleasure in the one who shrinks back. No pleasure. Don't you want God to take pleasure in you? I know I do. Don't be afraid. Trust in the one who loves you more than anyone else. As God stretches out His hand to you, place your hand confidently in His and let Him lead you on. A great adventure awaits you, if you will just trust Him and obey. Blessings on this cloudy, breezy, cool wonderful Monday.

The Chicken or the Egg

As I was reading The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson last night, I read of a situation that intrigued me. They were at the point in their ministry where they needed a building to house the youth and staff. David was flying all over the country talking in churches and sharing what God was doing in these kids' lives. The money he raised was enough for the rent on the office space he had, but he wasn't able to raise a chunk of money to buy a house for permanent residency.

He (David) told his wife of the situation and she said, "You're going about it all wrong. You should commit to the house first, then watch God provide the money, not the other way around." He thought that was very wise advice, so he started looking. The organization had $125 in the bank and the houses on the street they felt God calling them to were between $17,000 and $65,000. They went for the $65,000 house and through a series of events, raised $4400, which was the down payment of $4200 and $200 in lawyer fees they needed.

What intrigued me about this was not the amount of faith David and his board exercised in committing to the house first, but just that it seemed backwards to my logical, sensible, conservative, low-risk taking way of thinking. It was almost like going into debt to get something that was out of your price-range. Aren't we taught not to spend beyond our means? But it worked. The book said David realized his wife's advice was actually Biblical. Didn't Moses have to first raise his hands BEFORE the sea parted? Didn't Joshua have to blow the horns BEFORE the walls came down? God seems to often place people in a position of exercising their faith before he provides. Isn't that the way he builds our faith?

Blessings on the gorgeous, sunny Lord's day!

Faith, Hope, and Patience

Have you ever been in a position of waiting for something and there was nothing you could do about it? Feeling trapped, like being under a glass ceiling, you wait, knowing your future is in someone else's hands?

You may feel this in you job, you can't move ahead until those above you are sufficiently impressed. Maybe you feel this in ministry, you have a great idea, but are waiting on approval. Maybe you're waiting for approval on a loan, a federal tax rebate, or some other financial improvement to help you move to the next level or buy that thing that you desperately need. Maybe you're waiting for God to answer a prayer, maybe to heal you or someone you care about, but you're not seeing any improvement. And so you wait . . . patiently?

I was thinking this morning about waiting and what constitutes patience. Is it an attitude deep within our heart? Is it having a sense of peace about a situation? I've found that when I've had the most patience waiting, I've also got a good dose of faith and hope. Faith that God will provide in His perfect timing. He cares for me and wants his best for me. If what I'm waiting for is within His will, then it will all work out. Hope is that thing I look to in the future, that thing my eyes are fixed on, that thing I'm waiting for. I imagine what it will be like when the waiting is over. Flood gates will open up, tension will leave my body, and the river of my life will flow freely again. If I don't have that horizon to look at, I get frustrated instead of patient.

My prayer for you is that faith, hope, and patience become your mode of operation when you have to wait for someone else to act. Blessings today and always.

Nuggets #14

Just a side note about my frozen shoulder. I have two more physical therapy appointments for stretching, then I think I'll be on my own. She thought all the adhesions were broken now, and I just have to stretch the muscles. I'm making more progress and hope in a month or two everything will be back to normal.

An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus
Chapter Seven: Spirit Design Theory

Only in recent years has the church reawakened to the importance of spiritual gifts. One of the great renewals in the last forty years has been the moving away from programs and methods to an emphasis on spiritual gifts. And every one of us who has sought to discover and use our spiritual gifts has begun to experience a more vibrant and fulfilling life. Certainly a program-based church and gift-based church are dramatically different, yet Paul says some things are far more important than spiritual gifts, and those are faith, hope, and love.

The Fuel of a Movement
The Thessalonian church had become a model to all the believers in the region. In many ways it was the first church-growth model to be commended. The Thessalonians' faith in God had become known everywhere, and their growth and impact on the city was not built on letters of transfer but on radical conversions.

They were a church that was ignited and fueled by faith, love, and hope. They would be best described as having a work produced by faith, a labor prompted by love, and a perseverance inspired by hope in Jesus Christ.

Could it be that while we've been searching for innovations and new strategies to effectively engage this radically changing world, the secret to seeing first-century results lies in the first-century church?

Obey Away!
What does it really mean to live by faith? The response of faith is nothing more than obedience. Faith begins with God speaking and materializes when we respond. Somehow we've come to believe that faith removes ambiguity rather than calls us to live in it. The Church tends to live by "the faith" more than it lives by faith. The goal has become to make sure beliefs are doctrinally sound and people have a growing knowledge of the Bible, rather than to live in a dynamic, fluid relationship with God through which we learn to hear the voice of God and move in response to him.

The starting point of living by faith is recognizing that God has revealed so much of his will that we have plenty to live by without ever hearing another word. Some things you simply do not need to pray about. When God has spoken and commanded his people, praying sometimes becomes a way of resiting God's will rather than a way of responding to it.

A Church begins to live by faith when its people move the things God has clearly said into the non optional category.

Faith on the Increase
What took faith yesterday is sight today. When we live by faith, we allow God to take us into new experiences of who he is and how he works. The church cannot live on the faith of the past. The church is called to be the living expression of faith. When a church lives by faith, its people prove that God can be trusted. Faith is the triangle for the cultural architect. It's angles are committed to sharp turns, jagged edges, and extreme redirection.

If you're a faithful reader of this blog, and you enjoy these nuggets that have struck me, I encourage you to go out and get this book. It has become my favorite book of all time. If your heart is also for church leadership or ministry or discipleship, this is an excellent resource for you and your team. I highly recommend it!!!!!