Forged By Faith

John 17:3 NIV What is life? I’m not sure that there’s a more perplexing question that might be asked amongst those living one than that which asks unto the substance and the assurance and insurance and the inspection and the introspection and the perspective and the preference and opinion and outlook and assumption as to what the meaning is of this thing we’re all here living. In truth I don’t know that there ever can be a question considered that’s in any way more demanding, more daunting, more complex, contentious, confusing, even in many ways compounding. For the reality is that it’s both a question we’ve all already answered innumerable times throughout our lives as it’s one we answer every single time that we give our time, our trial, our torment or torture unto the doing or elsewise enduring of anything that we so agree to go along with being done. But too the simple fact is that we’ve all done so much in and with and to our lives that our estimation then of life is something as ...

2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV Blessing misunderstood And that simply because we’ve come to measure everything’s meaning according to what we think it means for us. And sure, I can see where and why and how this has become so common unto us. After all, we’re all down here living what are lives that have each of them needs that thus require certain things that not only make life able to be lived but do indeed make living a life quite better an experience that it might elsewise prove to be. I mean, indeed, if we were all naked and starving and so dehydrated that we couldn’t see clearly then walking this world filled with animal and enemy without neither a shelter in which to steal, yeah, that would be quite the ordeal! Definitely not much fun nor likely all that productive either. But you see, that’s what I think I’m finally starting to realize as to the amazing simplicity to life that all of us are missing one way or a million others. It’s that God does truly provide all that we need from food t...

2 Peter 1:3 NIV Follow by example For it’s only when we agree to so do that we can do anything worth being done, so long as they whom we seek to follow form for us the proper example that we’ll thus too become but mimics of thanks to our having chosen to run within what is the way in which they lead. Yes, we are indeed here to lead by example as this world clearly needs those who are willing to be different, to stand out, to stand up, to stand upon something worth standing on, something able to be stood upon. But even leaders follow the examples of things they’ve seen or heard or elsewise learned from another they once followed. Guess the only difference is that Christians never stop following Christ even despite the chance we’re through Him given to become leaders ourselves. No, there is no graduation process toward which sanctification aims. There’s not some ceremony in which we’ll celebrate our having come to complete our training, our learning, our changing even. Rather in Him all ...

1 Peter 1:13 NIV takes ready’s call For after all, it’s been ringing within the halls of our hearts since long before our lives here got their start or then us our start at living them however we have since then. And it just makes sense then that the same voice sending the same message via the same quiet undertones across what are phones that ring in only a tone that is only known to only our soul must then have something to say that so too hasn’t changed despite all the times we’ve tried to or felt we had to or simply didn’t even realize that we’d begun to. The last being the most common of them all. And that’s all because we’ve all become so entirely affixed to the fixing of our lives in what is a world that sells us both all the lies that tell us all about all the problems, failures, flaws and follies that they think we have and, oddly enough, all the tools and trophies with which to fix them. And, being the hopeless romantics that we are anymore, we’ve all become entirely willing t...

Titus 2:12 NIV learns of a life in “no” Which honestly comes at quite the surprise considering for all our lives we’ve all lived through eyes that knew only of “yes” and “please” and “thank you sir, may I have another?”. Because those are the keys which have always seemed to open every door behind which we’ve learned to believe that all the best of all this life always waited for us to find a desire to feel as though we needed it. That life itself was something that sells upon shelves in stores or is offered on pages in magazines or flashes exciting family scenes on our tv’s telling us all about all the benefits and side-effects of some new something that’s taking the world by storm. Indeed, we’ve all lived our lives one ShamWow and a roll of Flextape away from utter perfection. This is in fact why such infomercials were invented. It’s because the makers of their products sold within them, usually even offered us in payments paid in installments so that we can go ahead and receive the ...