Forged By Faith

Matthew 15:8 NIV This is one of those verses that just sounds scary. It's one of those statements that I don't ever want to hear Him say to me. Kind of like, "I never knew you." Can't really think of anything more terrifying than hearing our God say something like that. It seriously lights this fire to do the very best I can do to be the best person I can possibly be! It really goes along with my post yesterday about focusing on the rules but forgetting the relationship part. Our hearts need to be glued to God. They need to be completely set on following His plans, living His will, studying His word, and cutting loose anything that keeps us from doing so. There are so many things that distract us in life. But when you think about the horror of being told to leave because He didn't know us, it really helps put into focus what truly matters! Our minds and mouths are powerful things. They can spin things in just the right way to convince ourselves and others that...

Hosea 6:6 NIV This is one that I tend to think about quite often. And since it goes with what we've been talking about the last few days I figured we'd toss this one out there as well. Our world is all about the rules. If you do this, say that, check that box then you're doing right. If you miss something or don't get something just right then you're messed up and judged for being imperfect. Here's the thing, we're all imperfect! None of us will ever be perfect. If we could attain perfection then Christ wouldn't have needed to die on that cross to set us free from the grip of sin. But He did because none of us are capable of coming anywhere close to being perfect. But what we seem to often forget is that the rules aren't the most important part. It's our relationship with God. One of my favorite lines in music says, "You paid for freedom, but we built religion." He carried our sin and shame to the cross to eliminate that barrier between...

Luke 13:14 NIV People will judge others for literally anything they don't agree with, even healing others. I read through Luke 13 last night and this one stuck out. I've been thinking a lot about how we're here to help those around us. I know that each of us have chances to do good in this world. And that's exactly what we need to do, no matter who likes it or who doesn't! It's really weird to think that someone might be angry with us for doing good. I reckon it's a matter of everyone having their own idea of what's right and true these days. Everyone's taken it upon themselves to decide their own ideals and is ready to fight and argue with anyone and everyone who thinks differently. Kind of easy to see why we're all on edge and dealing with so many issues. Our duty is to help those around us and be the good that Christ calls us to be in this world. No questions asked. No worrying about who agrees. If our goal is to please others then we're d...

Romans 14:13 NIV Yesterday's verse talked about how we need to be finding ways to work together even though we're all different. Sadly our society is going the opposite way for the most part. We're letting too many things get in our way that prevent us from working to make things better for everyone. Too many stumbling blocks! That's an idea that I personally think about quite often. Causing others to stumble by my actions. Everyone is dealing with something that we may not know anything about. Everyone is trying to make improvements in their lives. Who am I to do or say something that would keep them from that? It's like you have this friend who's trying to get healthier and you show up with a couple dozen donuts and a car full of junk food. Not really helping is it? We're all here to be helpful. We're here to do good things that God created us to do in this place. We're supposed to be loving others the way that Christ so selflessly loves us. We...

1 Corinthians 12:12 NIV Sitting here in the quiet watching the snow fall softly outside the window. I've always loved winter. It just seems like a more peaceful time of the year. Everything just slows down a bit. Plus you get to celebrate some pretty great holidays and enjoy the simple things like snow falling. To me it's always been refreshing and easily one of my favorite seasons. But I also realize that there are some who don't like winter. Probably some that don't like snow. Definitely some that don't like calm and quiet. And that's okay. We're all different. We all have different interests. We have different perspectives. We each have a very specific calling from God and different tools to help us do what He put us here to do. Being unique and created to be slightly different than anyone else is a good thing! Sadly I think we've forgotten that somewhere along the way. These days we use differences as these reasons to judge others. We see our differe...

Luke 10:16 NIV I think we all need little reminders like this one to keep us both humble and hungry. It's so easy to start thinking that we're supposed to play a bigger part in this story. But in truth it has always and will always be about pointing others to Christ. He's the one that does the saving part, we're just the ones that tell people where to look. It can easily become discouraging when we look around and see so little change in the world around us. There are so many problems and we have the answer to every challenge we're facing right now. But we can't force people to listen. We can't force people to turn to Christ. We can't force anyone to do anything. All we can do is share the truth that we've been given to share and pray that it's received with open ears, minds, and hearts. I know that I've been guilty of this one myself. We take it personally whenever someone disagrees with us or doesn't care to listen to what we have to sa...

Lamentations 3:22 NIV Forgiveness is one of the most powerful gifts anyone could ever give someone else. Have you ever really taken the time to consider how much God loves us? Each of us have made so many mistakes in life up until now. Countless times we've failed, stumbled, and let Him down. Yet He still chooses to love us, to forgive us, and to give us new opportunities to try again every single day. I can't possibly remember how many mistakes I've made but I know that number is massive. I still mess things up all the time. As my mom puts it, I'm not a very good person. I try to be. I want to be. I will never stop working to do better. But in the end I am a sinner that has made far more bad choices than I've ever made good ones. So to think that He's not done with me is mind-blowing! As this verse reminds us, His compassion never fails. His love never ends. His kindness and forgiveness are bigger than our ability to be dumb. Thankfully! To be honest, we should...

Hebrews 10:23 NIV We've been talking about growing toward Christ and strengthening our faith in Him. Yesterday we discusses how He gives us everything we need to grow and mature in our faith so that we can do the things that He put us here to do. But so often worldly concerns sprout up and choke out the hope that we have in our Father. So many things distract us and lead to forget just how faithful He's always been. Trust me, I get it! There are things that we go through that are scary. We all face times of uncertainty and confusion. My family and I are literally walking that out as I write this. The changes that come in life aren't always easy to face. And sometimes they're pretty much impossible to understand. Not seeing something coming or being wrap our minds around how we can possibly make it through is definitely unsettling. But our faith isn't something that helps us through the easy times. We don't need to be courageous to face the days where everything ...

Luke 8:15 NIV Here's one from last night's reading that goes pretty well with everything we've been talking about lately. The truth is that each of us can grow into something amazing through Christ. We can gain wisdom and strength from Him that will equip us to do the good things He put us here to do. We really can make a difference. But only if we take in everything we possibly can from Him and His word. The opportunity for growth in our faith is endless. There's always something we can improve, always something we can learn, and always room to move closer to God. That pursuit should be our main focus and priority in life. It should be the thing that we chase after more than anything else because it's the only purpose that can lead us to being who we were created to be. Unfortunately, as Jesus says in the verses just before this one, too many things go wrong that keep that faith from taking root in our lives. Earthly passions and desires, popular goals and ideals, ...

Ephesians 4:22 NIV A bit of a continuation of yesterday's post. I woke up this morning thinking about Casting Crowns song Start Right Here. That has to be one of the most appropriate and timely songs that I've heard in a while. Been thinking about change and how recent events have filled many with hope of better days ahead. But is has to start with us. It has to start in our hearts. If we don't change and leave our old broken ways behind then our ability to grow and improve will be severely limited. If we aren't willing to change the ways we think and behave then our capacity to effect change will be hindered. If we can't operate from a base of love and mercy for others then why should expect anyone else to do so? Big changes always start with small actions. Massive, world-shaking movements are started with one person who's willing to do something differently. I firmly believe we can change things for the better. But if we want those positive changes in our worl...

James 4:17 NIV Yesterday we inaugurated a new leader for our country. It seems like everyone is either really excited or really angry. It's one of those times that fills many with the hope of a new leader and hopefully positive changes ahead. But now that all the fanfare and excitement is over I think it's important to remind everyone that we have to do our part to make things better. If the past several weeks or months have shown us one thing it's that we shouldn't be placing our trust in some political leader to do everything or fix everything for us. We have to get our hands dirty and do our part to fix things as well. As sad as it is, we simply cannot count on everyone to do the right thing. Unfortunately many people simply won't. That's why it's even more important that we do! The simple fact is that all of us know what we ought to do when it comes to right and wrong. Even if you don't believe in Christ or consider yourself a religious person, you s...

1 Peter 2:17 NIV Looking for a good verse to share while listening to the beginning of the inauguration, and well, this one just nails what needs to be said. This has been one of the weirdest elections during one of the weirdest times in our country. It's left a lot of division, uncertainty, anger, and even fear in the hearts and minds of many. But still we must move forward and make the most of whatever lies ahead. There's no doubting that there are a ton of issues to be worked on. There's a whole bunch of healing that is desperately needed. There are questions and concerns to be addressed. But there is no reason to think that our best days aren't still ahead of us. Looking back over the past year and all that's happened, it pretty much can only get better from here. But in order for those better days to come we must work together. We need to set aside the politics. We need to put our staunch opinions back on the shelf and allow cooler heads to prevail. We need to ...

Acts 18:9 NIV The power of a dream. Don't know why but that sentence popped in my mind at about 5am this morning. Maybe it was because I had a pretty awesome dream just before then, or maybe it's just because it's something that needs to be shared. Add to it that we just celebrated a guy who's pretty well known for having a dream and I guess we're just gonna roll with this idea! I believe that God gives us these dreams, these visions, these goals to chase. I believe that He uses them to inspire and motivate us to press on toward the goal that He has for us in Christ. I believe that He really does know what's best for us and will do whatever it takes to get us there if we're humble enough to follow Him and never give up, never look back. Can you imagine a life of never wanting more? I'm not talking about being content. Contentment is a very great thing, one of those things that all of us should be focused on finding in our lives. No, I'm talking about...

1 John 2:11 NIV "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." Martin Luther King Jr. has so many amazing quotes that it's hard to pick a favorite. There's just something about this one that really seems just about perfect. There's this weight that hatred has and sadly I don't know that too many people realize what it does to them when they allow hatred to rule in their lives. As this verse in 1 John points out, hatred is darkness. It's this world of negativity that holds us down and keeps us chained in place. It forces us to see the absolute worst in humanity. It asks us to look for the wrongs that others do and find reasons to hate them for it. Hatred is this sickness that infects people without them even realizing it until the damage is done and they're lost inside of its control. Why not choose to see the best in people? I understand that everyone makes mistakes and does stupid stuff. I know that I definitely do! I realize...

Philippians 1:21 NIV We were watching Gladiator the other day and I heard my mom talking about it. It's obviously one of the coolest movies ever, but the message that she shared about it really hit me in a whole new way. "If you know where you're going, they can't hurt you." Wow! I've thought about that a whole bunch of times over the last couple of days and I absolutely love it because it's this ubiquitous truth that fits our faith perfectly! When we're living for something eternal then nothing this world does can hurt us! The opinions don't sting anymore. The threats of violence don't send us running. The fear of being seen as an outcast or weirdo almost takes on this badge of honor. Basically what I'm saying is that when we are born again in Christ then life and everything in it changes and means something completely new. This verse in Philippians is one of those that I always struggled with growing up. To die is gain? How is dying gain?...

Romans 14:1 NIV Yesterday we talked about how opinions have become these weapons that so many use to fight with others. I think many have forgotten our whole purpose here. It's not to win fights. It's not to prove our intelligence by making others look silly. It's not to quarrel and squabble over petty things that just don't matter. It's to help others find Christ and share His Gospel with the world. As I said in yesterday's post, it's hard to reach out a hand to help someone up when our hands are full of stones to throw at them. I don't know when we got this idea in our minds that everyone needs to be just like us, but that’s nonsense. Don't know why we expect others to be perfect when we ourselves are seriously far from it. This verse is reminding us of the duty we have as children of God. It's to be open and accepting of others. After all, He is. He welcomed us with open arms even with our baggage of sin and shame in tow. He is willing to look...

Proverbs 18:2 NIV Probably a long one coming up! "The supply of opinions is starting to exceed the demand." Someone shared that in a Christian group that I'm in here on Facebook this morning. Gotta say, one of the most accurate statements I've seen in a while. Everyone has an opinion, and that's okay. The problem has become that nobody keeps them to themselves anymore. I'll give you a little example that's been rubbing me wrong here lately. I'm a big fan of the Christian band We The Kingdom. They released what I consider to be one of the best Christian records last year called Holy Water. Now here on social media they've been sharing their videos and promoting their new deluxe version of the record. And in the comments there have been people straight up throwing stones. Calling their music questionable. Saying it's based on shaky theology. Even saying that the music videos are provocative and distasteful. Well, some didn't like that David d...

John 1:5 NIV I woke up this morning thinking about this one. And it kind of goes along with yesterday's post pretty much perfectly. To me it's one of those messages that helps us find hope no matter what may be happening around us. Nothing will ever be able to put out the light of Christ. Now to me, considering how crazy life often gets, that's a pretty amazing thing to think about! There is nothing that can happen in this world that can possibly change who He is or what He has planned. Nothing at all! His light will always be shining for anyone who's willing to look for it. Personally, I think we should all be looking for it every single day. No matter what we're facing or how we're feeling, we need that hope that He brings into our lives. You see, the amazing thing about light is that it keeps shining no matter the circumstances. Even if a concrete bunker were built around it, that light will still be shining inside even if we can't see it on the outside. ...

Philippians 4:8 NIV It's amazing how easy it is to get pulled into worry and fear these days. Every time we turn on the news or log into our social media accounts we're met with all sorts of stories about the world crumbling. Now I'm definitely not saying that there aren't some big things going on, some of them quite bad in fact. But no matter how bad things are made to seem, we can't forget that there is still a whole lot of good too! This is one that I've had to remind myself of here lately. There's a big difference between being informed and being consumed. It's a good thing to stay informed about the things that are going on around us. But we can't allow that to begin to consume us and lead us to fear that things are spinning out of control. Because the truth is that no matter how crazy life down here seems to us, God is still in control up there and He ain't surprised by any of this. So if He's not surprised or worried, then we probably ...

Matthew 25:13 NIV Sitting here last night getting ready to call it a day and something hit me out of nowhere. If the Lord comes back tonight, is it worth worrying about whatever we've been worrying about? Are the things that we're doing, saying, or thinking worth the time we spend doing it? Are we wasting time worrying about things that actually do not matter whatsoever? At some point, which nobody knows, our lives are up. No more tomorrows to worry about. No more trying to figure out the future that lies before us. Just moving on to the next step of this journey. The point is that if something isn't going to matter when we're out of tomorrows, should it matter that much today? I think so many people spend so much time worrying about so many things that simply do not matter. We imagine the worst possible circumstances and create these problems that we will probably never even face. Our minds are powerful tools, but they can sure bring on some unneeded stress when we all...

Luke 6:27-28 NIV It's so easy to take on a rather dim view of life or this world we're living in. After all, things aren't always great down here. In fact, some things are pretty far from even being decent. So it's easy to see all the negative junk and start losing sight of the good that's often overshadowed. But we can't afford to lose that because it's where our hope resides. Like we talked about yesterday, we have a duty to be kind and help those around us. Not always easy. Seems like these days there are so many sides being drawn that we never really know who's for us or who's against us. Thing is that doesn't really matter. Worrying about who likes us or who hates us should never enter picture. It simply doesn't matter to this equation. Christ calls us to love others. Even our enemies. Even those that hate us. Even those that don't agree with what we believe or think is right. He points out that very thing toward the end of Matthew c...

Ephesians 4:29 NIV Building up. Is that becoming a forgotten idea in our world these days? While it seems that many are set on tearing down and causing harm, it falls on us to focus even more on being the good that Christ calls us to be. We just can't afford to let the darkness win because there is far too much at stake. It might seem weird, but I've found myself feeling hopeful here lately. You would think that in the shadow of yet another weird and dark time of violence and chaos that hope could be found, but it's the truth. It's the truth because everything that's happened lately has reminded me that our hope is in Christ alone. Not in any man or man-made thing. That right there is the message that we need to be sharing with those around us. Not what side of the newest fence we're on. Not who we ourselves think is right or who we feel is wrong. Not even every little problem that we see in our world lately. Everyone sees the problems, they're far too big t...

Colossians 3:2 NIV In the world, not of the world. That's pretty much the best way to sum up this past week or so worth of posts. I reckon the main point that I've been getting to is something that I know I've said before. Life is a reflection of what we choose to focus on. If we only pay attention to the bad then we're always going to be pulled away from the joy and happiness we're looking for. So we need to focus on the good instead. It's so easy to get dragged into the muck this world creates. As we've seen, there are bad things happening all the time. Then you add all the arguing and other negativity on top of it all and you're left with this big mess that sucks people in and leaves them miserable. It's easy to get upset and discouraged when there's so much nonsense in the news and on social media. We're surrounded by it every day! The way I see it, the good and bad will both always be there. It's up to us to choose to pay attention t...

Romans 12:2 NIV I figured I would share one of my personal favorites. Plus it goes right along with all we've been talking about here lately. I literally just saw this post that said, "You can’t walk with both Jesus and this world because they’re going in two different directions." If there's a bigger understatement at the moment I don't know what it could be! It should come as no surprise that our world is going in a different direction than our faith calls us to walk. We've talked about a bunch of the ways that this place is spiraling further and further out of control. I'm sure that if you're reading this then you already know there are plenty of things wrong around here. So no point in going over all the problems and wrongs as we can all see them very clearly. So why not start being different right now? This verse is one of the absolute best reminders that we are made to be different than the world around us. We do not have to lower ourselves to th...

Titus 2:12 NIV We witnessed yet another situation that I never imagined we could see in our country yesterday. The scary part is that seems to be happening more and more frequently these days. In the midst of all the protests, riots, and violence we're seeing our once great nation tear itself apart. And I know that there are probably many wondering how and why it's gotten to this. Well, that's pretty easy actually. We've continued to drift further and further from God. This mindset of American freedom to do or say anything we want has become a ticket to this new free-for-all that we watch unfold on almost a daily basis. The amount of selfish entitlement has grown and consumed so many that it is now the new norm. And as I've said plenty of times before, we continue to accept and even celebrate sinful actions and wicked intents. The past several days we've talked about letting go of our evil ways and learning from God how to live the better lives that He created u...

Colossians 3:5 NIV I don't really know why this idea of new life is on my mind so much lately but I'm loving it! Something about the hope of something new, something better just fires me up. All of us have lived some pretty screwed up lives. Lots of mistakes, too much sin, and a crushing amount of weight because of it all. But thanks to Christ's gift we can move on from those dark days. He died so that we can live! He gave Himself for us so that we could see and understand the cost of our choices. That cross is a tangible representation of our freedom. But to truly experience and enjoy that freedom, well, part of us has to die too. That part that lives for ourselves has to go. The part that longs for worldly things has to be left behind. That part that is comfortable accepting what's okay instead of striving for more has to die. As we talked about yesterday, being like this world and living according to what is good enough in human opinion will never be enough. God crea...

1 Peter 4:2 NIV Yesterday we talked about how learning to think differently can and will change our lives. This right here is one that I am seriously working on myself. Learning to set aside what I may want and find contentment in what God has planned. No matter what I've set out to obtain or accomplish in life, it's all feeble when compared to what God has planned for me. So our tiny selfish goals will always pale in comparison to God's will for us. That's why we need to stop focusing so much on what we want. We might get everything our hearts desire. But even if we do we will still be left wanting because no worldly possession or accomplishment can fill our lives. We may never get some of the things that we would love to have or experience. But when we find the peace and appreciation of God's plans then that's okay. We look at our hopes and plans and see how great they look. They're like these little treasures that we've created in our minds. And that...

1 Peter 4:2 NIV Yesterday we talked about how learning to think differently can and will change our lives. This right here is one that I am seriously working on myself. Learning to set aside what I may want and find contentment in what God has planned. No matter what I've set out to obtain or accomplish in life, it's all feeble when compared to what God has planned for me. So our tiny selfish goals will always pale in comparison to God's will for us. That's why we need to stop focusing so much on what we want. We might get everything our hearts desire. But even if we do we will still be left wanting because no worldly possession or accomplishment can fill our lives. We may never get some of the things that we would love to have or experience. But when we find the peace and appreciation of God's plans then that's okay. We look at our hopes and plans and see how great they look. They're like these little treasures that we've created in our minds. And that...

Ephesians 4:23 NIV This is one that I can say with all honesty that I've lived out the past several years. Learning to think differently is what leads to the lifestyle changes that we sometimes need to make. Just wanting to change or grow is fine, but there has to be more than wanting it. Knowing that we need to stop doing something or do something differently is fine, but we have to do something about it. Resolution season is upon us. We're three days into a new year and a lot of people use this sudden gift of newness to focus on making some changes or improving themselves in some way. Sadly, after a week or two those resolutions are broken and folks slide back into the old patterns that they were trying to break out of. That's because there has to be more than wanting to change or thinking you need to improve. We can never outwork a bad mindset. We can hit the gym everyday, but if we hate going and loathe the idea of working out then we're going to quit and never get ...