Forged By Faith

Isaiah 30:21 NIV To eyes fixed upon some fabricated finish line we believe to be waiting somewhere up ahead, to look behind sounds a relinquishment of the prize we’ve chased too long to risk letting go. We don't have time to look behind us as everything we still feel we need, still know we want is only up in front, where our hearts still yearn to go. We mustn't consider letting ourselves look nor listen to anything beckoning us to that which is behind us. Why look back? Why think back? Why risk going back when we've already grown bored with all that's back there? Been there, done that, had that, want more. Need more. So why does His voice speak up from behind us if it’s meant to guide us in the way we should go? Seems counterintuitive considering our intuition has our eyes and hearts and minds so clearly pointed only ahead. Why does He speak behind us, calling our attention into the direction we’ve already been? Might it be that we've not truly gleaned all there was...

Proverbs 1:33 NIV Whoever has ears, let them hear. That's one of those messages that you'll find all over the Bible. It's found nearly ten times in the Gospels alone! As one of my college professors always used to say, "If I say something more than once, it's probably something you should remember." That's where our modern world has gone off course. There's plenty of messages. There are plenty of people who love to talk. There are no shortage of folks who are willing to share whatever's on their mind. But we don't listen. In a society like we've built, all the talking just drowns itself out. People talk over one another. One message gets shared louder and more frequently than another. People only pay attention to things they already agree with and completely tune out everything that goes against their opinions or comes from a different perspective. So we've gotten to this place where it almost doesn't matter what you say or how badl...

Matthew 13:9 NIV Thinking more about yesterday's verse and this world's rejection of the Gospel, and really, it's not surprising at all. Somewhere along the line, we humans got it in our mind that we know it all. We know what's right. We know what's wrong. We know what's important. We know what's worthless. We know what we want. We know what keeps us from getting our way. We know what we want to hear. And we know what we simply won't listen to. That right there is quite possibly the biggest hurdle, or stumbling block, or challenge, or whatever you want to call it when it comes to sharing the Gospel around here. People have ears, but they don't always use them. They listen to something right up to the point that it becomes something that they don't want to hear. They will pay attention until they lose interest. They'll stay interested until they hear something that goes against the comfort and complacency that they crave. And that's why th...

James 1:19 NIV What's the first thing someone does when you tell them to not look down. They look down! Our world has pretty much done the same thing with the message of this verse. We've gone the opposite way. Not really sure why we do the opposite of what we're asked to do, but when it comes to this one, it's undoubtedly caused far more problems than solutions. These days far too many are extremely quick to be angry. They're triggered by anything they don't agree with. It's as if they actively go looking for things to be offended by just so they can scream and yell some more. Not many are slow to speak. Most never stop speaking. I guess they think that the way to prove their point or win some foolish battle is to say more or say it louder. And as for listening, well, there's little hope of that period. And yet we wonder why things aren't getting better? Why do we still have so much strife and division? Why haven't we figured out a way to calm t...