Forged By Faith

Genesis 22:8 NIV We’ve been talking a bit about perspective and perception over the last couple of days. But, so often they're both viewed from only what we want. And when what we want is the priority, as it often is, then having what we want taken or fail to come to fruition will inevitably cause some serious contention within our faith. After all, if all we care about is getting what we want, if all our faith is for is granting our every request and fulfilling our every desire, then our not getting everything we want and not receiving the blessings we desire will lead to a fractured faith. And to put it bluntly, a fractured faith is all but worthless. Because as humans, we instinctively search for any and every reason to doubt so that we can crawl back into the comfort found within not having to trust, or hope, or believe. Those things are all truly difficult, and I think we all know how we all feel about all things difficult. Let’s just say that our clear preference for comfort ...

Genesis 45:5 NIV Sometimes God needs someone to step into the chaos so that He can work through them to accomplish His plans. But simply put, very few of us would readily step into the fray and offer our services amidst the struggle brought about by the storms that lie in the way. So He moves all the parts and pieces around in just the right way and just the right timing to ensure things work out just as He has planned them. And though storms and struggles are a clear and obvious part of this story, the fact that those plans always work out in the end is an undeniable fact that we all know full well. God is always working things for not only our good but also for the good of those around us as well. But often we find that His methods and timings and perspectives are all incredibly different from ours. And it's those differences that have caused a gross degree of dejection among our feeble minds. Our problem is that we expect God to see things the way we see them and to do things in...

Isaiah 43:19 NIV "Missing You in the moment is the nature of sin." I've had that lyric from a song by Jake Hamilton in my mind for days, and I've had absolutely no idea as to why. (Just as an aside, you have to check out his music, some of the best I've ever heard!) I've not even listened it in a few weeks, if not longer. But then I shared yesterday's post about God leading the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years and how they basically fought and complained and whined the whole way. And this morning it finally hit me as to why that line has been on repeat in my head: We do the same thing. All. The. Time. So many times we opt to see ourselves as the good little Christian children who always do as they're told, never talk back to our Father, and simply enjoy every moment of every day as they're all always filled with nothing but joy and comfort and this peaceful easy feeling that leaves only a smile on our faces and an excited hope in o...

Deuteronomy 8:2 NIV It only took one day to get the Israelites out of Egypt. But it took forty years to get Egypt out of the Israelites. I heard that the other day and it's just one of those statements that hits impossibly close to home. It's a reality that each of us can fully understand, because it's one that each of us either have or are currently living out within our own walk. Each of us have fought against God's efforts to lead us toward something better than whatever He asks us to leave behind. Each of us have doubted and debated and tried our best to deny that His plans are better than ours. Each of us have been those stubborn Israelites desperately craving the known comfort of the enslavement that we've always known rather than the trials and testings found along the desert road to what is in our minds only a distant hope that we can't help but question as to whether or not it may be worth the hardships found in finding it. I was thinking about all of t...

Hebrews 11:26 NIV A life spent wandering through the desert living on only hope and a little manna seems mighty silly to a world that loves all the creature comforts offered in this place. After all, this world is filled with things we can gain and treasures we can hunt and false fabrications of fake prosperity that we can hold up and show off to our friends in exchange for their awe-filled agreeance that our lives here are filled with meaning. But behind all the shine there exists an inescapable truth that all that glitters can only hide for so long: It all ends. All the treasures we gain here get left here when we’re called elsewhere. All the trophies won are left to gather dust when we’re no longer around to keep them polished. And all the glory we garner evaporates once our final breath has done the same. And yet, humanity still seems assured of this assumption that there is something of some significance to be found on this soil. Sadly, I think all of us still fall into that assum...

Philippians 3:8 NIV Yesterday marked the 8-year anniversary of the beginning of this little life-long odyssey through Scripture and the joyous opportunities it holds for both personal growth and also the growth of our faith. And in these 8 years of trying to find the words to describe the authoritative power of God's Word, I've learned many lessons I never knew I always needed. And among them is one that has become a foundational belief that I will hold tight to the very end. And that is this: We have no idea of just how much we have to gain in Christ until we've let go of everything else that we've always thought was valuable and important. Because there's a priceless importance held in this opportunity we've been given to both find Christ and then spend the rest of our lives finding more of Him that nothing in this world can possibly rival. But sadly, that fact often remains unrealized as we find ourselves amidst a humanity still almost entirely convinced that...

Galatians 6:14 NIV For eight years I've sat down every day to try and capture the thoughts and ideas and truths held within the many lessons of Scripture. I’ve scratched out these seemingly schizophrenic musings on cell phones from hospital beds and on a laptop sitting on a shoebox in my bedroom closet. I’ve tried to find the words that needed to be shared while hooked up to IV’s and while hurtling down the interstate. I've gotten many things wrong, taken some passages out of context, and failed to do many if not most of them any justice whatsoever. I’ve read and reread, rewritten and sometimes simply erased entire ideas as I knew they were nowhere close to hitting the mark. And I’ve pressed submit praying that they had all gotten close enough to count for something. I’ve proofread to the best of my ability to try and ensure accuracy, and I’ve also failed to perfect the tones and temperaments as I’ve come to acknowledge that perfection is only a passing ideal that only tends to...