Tank Time Take Two

Ahem.  An important announcement.

I JUST LOVE MY NEPHEW!

That is all.

Okay, for real now; just check out this cuteness!  What's not to love?

Faith pt. 4

As I learn to wait on the LORD for even the smallest things in life, I'm amazed by His provision!  As He puts sweet ministry opportunities in my path, my excitement only grows further to what He has in store for me next!  Great is the faithfulness of our God!

Because of the LORD's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassion never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!  I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:22-27

Where You lead, Papa, I will follow.

Faith pt. 3

When I was in elementary school, the children's choir at my church put on a play entitled "The Christmas Family Tree".  One of the songs in the musical was called "F-A-I-T-H", using the word as a acronym for its meaning.  Here's the chorus of the song:

"Faith! For all I trust Him.  Faith! For all I trust Him.  For all I need, the Father will provide.  Faith! For all I trust Him.   Faith! For all I trust Him.  That's the way my faith can be described."

Lately God's been reminding me of the truths of this simply song.  Faith means trusting God for ALL things, big or small.  Ironically, it's easier for me to trust God with the big things than the small.  Far too often I deem aspects of my life as being too insignificant for God's attention and thus assume I must fend for myself; leave the big stuff to God and take care of the little details on my own, right?

Thankfully, God is graciously breaking me of this mindset.  Gently He's assuring me that no detail is too small for His concern, tenderly He's encouraging me to bring every little concern to Him, trusting Him to care for them instead of relying on self-protection.  He's asking me to surrender and trust all, every last minor detail, to Him.

Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from the will of the Father.  Even the hairs on your head are numbered!  Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Faith: for ALL I trust HIM

Faith pt. 2

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.

 ³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

 ⁴ By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

 ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 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.

 ⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

 ⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

 ¹¹ By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he^[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

 ¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

 ¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring^[b] will be reckoned.”^[c] 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

 ²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

 ²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

 ²² By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

 ²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

 ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

 ²⁹ By faith the people passed through the Red Sea^[d] as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

 ³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

 ³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[e]

 ³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. ³⁷ They were stoned^[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

 ³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. ⁴⁰ God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

I've been meditating on this chapter for the last week or so.  It amazes me how every time I read it, God reveals to me something new about His character and His work throughout humanity.  May you be encouraged through these words this day.

Faith pt. 1

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

Faith has definitely been a theme in my life lately (more on that later), thus, I thought it only appropriate to post a song that's chorus so perfectly to the faith that I've experienced.  For I have seen dreams that move mountains, not literal mountains, but God-sized dreams that completely transform and empower people to do things that can only be explained by the power of God at work in their lives.  I've seen hope that refuses to quit, hope that won't end even when circumstances come crashing down all around.  I've seen lives fall apart until all that the person has to cling to is God, and thus they're grip becomes remarkably strong.  I've seen miracles just happen: circumstances that defy logic and science and human knowledge, children alive against all medical odds, personalities do a 180 with only the catalyst of the Holy Spirit, perseverance greater than human capacity.  I've witnessed the power of silent prayers offered in hope, of lives transformed by the request of one prostrate before God, miles away, physically or relationally or spiritually, a life changed, not through the pleading and persuading between humans but through pleading and persuading before God.  I've seen the restoration of hearts that have been tattered, people transformed in life's hardest circumstances by the hope of God.  That, my friends, is what faith can do.

Utter Acceptance

That's the answer.

The answer to the shame that Christians generally feel as we fail to measure up time and time again.  We try to live holy lives for God, yet we fail miserably.

And that's okay.  We don't seek holiness in order to gain acceptance; our acceptance has been guaranteed in Christ.  Rather, love motivates us to live a life pleasing and honoring to the One who utterly accepts us flaws and all.  God is never surprised by our sins; He knows each one that we will make.  And yet He loves and accepts us unconditionally.

"True significance and security are available to only the Christian, one who is trusting Christ's perfect life and substitionary death as his sole basis of acceptability before a holy God." ~Larry Crabb