Forged By Faith

1 Corinthians 3:13 NIV That which won’t withstand. Such is what He’s always asking me to understand as being the necessity of what He’s asking me to go ahead and let go before I go to where I’m going as, once there, there’s no more leaving left to find. And so anymore I find that I feel that His helping me to come to see the many things that are still in me that aren’t likely to be found welcome where I hope to be welcomed, again, such is what He's asking me to surrender, to sacrifice, to settle upon seeing as something seen as being as unnecessary as He's always known it's always been. It’s just then that I’ve myself never known many things to have always been as unnecessary as I never imagined they might prove to be. Rather within this life we daily see some new thing, thought or theory that seems so intriguing that we almost can’t help ourselves but to insist ourselves unto the buying wholesale as much as we might in the moment afford. And it’s in fact this worldly afflu...

Matthew 7:16 NIV By their fruit And thus our fruit is us and we’re our fruit as sown and shown inside of all we say and do as done in light of what we’ve let inside as has become that which we’ve left to share before we’ve left for good. For indeed, no man is an island as we’re all surrounded by a sea of faces each feeling the weighing of what is all a collective chaos of moments and mistakes as made in vain seeking to harvest the plain of a life without pain nor pay as preferred for the ease it offers. Leaving us able to each realize the need for pruning what are likely only worries and wants anyway. Alas we live as if we don’t and haven’t really any interest in so trying to this call unto dying to what all’s keeping us dead to life and living as if it’s just not worth it. Indeed, we all exist as if zombified zealots jealous for only those who’ve more of what none of us need than we’ve managed to find or afford. And it’s within all of this such measuring that we continue the mistaking...

John 7:24 NIV Discernment is defined as the ability to judge well. What? Hold up. Wait a minute! STOP RIGHT THERE!! How dare your speak of judgement? Such a dirty word in our world today. This society has grown so fearful of judgement that we seek out any possible way to avoid it, and what better way to avoid it than to condemn it? See, judgement is based on standards, truth, expected behavior, and in a world lacking moral standards, afraid of the truth, and unwilling to uphold any semblance of mature and sensible behavior, well, judgement is simply unwelcome. But that poses a rather interesting predicament when it comes to our faith. How are we supposed to ensure that we’re following the right path if we’re unable to determine what is in fact right? Yesterday we discussed the vast importance of that discernment and what it means in our faith. It's the ability to determine, to weigh, to judge what is good and right and true, and what is none of the above. You see, in this world whe...

Matthew 7:3 NIV This has become a pretty big topic of discussion in our family over the past few weeks. Sadly, it's just one of those messages that our world seems to have missed. There is so much petty judgement in this place, and it doesn't help anything whatsoever. Just driving across town to get lunch and you catch people looking at you weird or even yelling at you while sitting at the stoplight all because you're doing something different than they are. As we've been discussing for a while now, our world has decided that opinions are truth and therefore anyone who doesn't share those opinions is automatically wrong and must be either pressured to fall in line or belittled to the point of making them feel like outcasts on the edge of society. But all that it has really led to is even more judgement, ridicule, hatred, and self-centered righteousness that only blinds people to the good that we could all be doing instead. So many are so busy pointing out what they ...

Matthew 5:11 NIV To be hated. That's definitely not something that people are looking for these days. But I am. I'm not afraid of it. I'm not worried about being judged or ridiculed. This is going to sound weird, it even feels weird to type it: I want to be hated. Let me tell you why. I have lived a life that was dependent upon external validation. I have set my sights on gaining the approval and justification of those around me. And I know how utterly useless and damaging it can be. So I'm headed the other way. I had this thought hit me a while back and it's become one of my personal rules to live by. This world will judge us no matter what we say or do, so give them something to judge. Give them something to hate. You see, it is better to be hated for doing what's right and standing out because of it than to be loved and applauded for going along with the evil around us. That's something that so many have forgotten in our world. People are willing to go al...

Jude 10 NIV I read through the book of Jude last night, and man, it seems like about half of it talks about things that we're seeing around us right now! People mocking faith, blaspheming God's name, running stupid with sin and debauchery, celebrating everything that's wrong and immoral, and talking trash on anyone that has the guts to stand up and say that what people are doing isn't okay. We're passing through a world that truly loves everything that's wrong. Makes it pretty easy to see why they're not going to like anyone who lives for what's right. Yesterday we talked about how this world isn't going to like us because of our faith. And that's a very good thing! This world only likes those who it agrees with, only those who do what everyone else is doing. So we would have to go along with the sinfulness that is controlling so many, and that just ain't good enough! Our goal should never be to fit in with a place that has lowered itself so ...

James 4:12 NIV Yesterday's verse really got me to thinking about all of the judgment that's so prevalent these days. With so many polarizing headlines and situations unfolding around us, it's no surprise that there are so many different lines being drawn. Everyone has picked a side before knowing all the facts and that's a dangerous way to go. As I said a few days ago, when our opinions become our truth then we're in trouble! Our opinions are based on our personal perspective of things. Whatever the matter at hand may be, we form our opinions based on what we think is right and wrong. And at some point, if we're not careful, our opinions can quickly lead us to judging those around us. But as we discussed yesterday, we have no right to judge anyone. As this verse here is reminding us, there is only one judge, God Himself. Everyone has a right to their opinions but I really think we've crossed a line. When we get to the point where our opinions are used as fac...

Romans 14:10 NIV It really is incredible just how pervasive judgement is. Even the most kind and caring person can still fall into that trap. We look around at others and see the differences. We judge the choices that they make. We look at someone else's mistakes and wonder how they could be so foolish. We think that we could never be so weak or make such poor decisions. But the fact is that we're all weak and we all make those bad choices. So none of us have room to judge! It dawned on me the other night that I still do far more judging than I should. It's one of those things that I know isn't okay and I don't want to do it. And it's always for some petty little thing that has no significance at all. But I think we get used to doing something so often that it almost becomes natural. It's one of those sneaky wrongs that all of us get tripped up by. What I think we need to remember is that each of us have plenty of things to work on ourselves. Not a single on...

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...

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...

Matthew 7:3 NIV Most days it's amazing, and some it's even absolutely shocking how we just can't seem to learn from the past and start doing better. I know that our world is SERIOUSLY stuck in its ways, but folks we gotta do better than this. This is one of those messages that just keeps getting ignored. And no matter how truthful and important it is, it'll probably continue to be pushed aside. The level of hypocrisy knows no bounds in this place. People are always ready to point out the flaws or weaknesses in others. It's like we get some kind of morbid satisfaction in letting others know that they're not perfect and that we've seen their problems. How that's supposed to help anyone I have no idea, but it's something that our world just loves doing. Guess it's easier to put others down than to realize we're pretty low on the righteousness ladder ourselves. You'd think that we'd eventually get to the point where we realized that we ha...

James 4:12 NIV Had us a little fracas earlier today. Apparently just something about bringing home groceries that doesn't go smoothly for some reason. Don't understand it. But anyway, it helped me realize something that I think would make a good post to share. It's awful easy to assume the worst in others. We're often so quick to judge that we don't leave any room to remain calm and think things through. Instead, we usually just freak out and lose control for a second. Why do we always, or at least almost always, see the worst in others? Why do we automatically assume the worst? Why do we rush to judgement before even getting close to understanding what's going on? Why do we instantly think that someone else means to hurt us or make us angry before we even stop to consider where they're coming from? Are we just really into fighting all the time? Do we really enjoy the arguments that this kind of thing leads to? Do we just crave a little bit of chaos to help ...