Forged By Faith

Psalm 112:4 NIV I'm thankful for hope. It's this constant in life that nothing we face can ever really take away. It's this idea that something better is still ahead even in the midst of the worst, most uncomfortable, and unfortunate circumstances. It's knowing that God is still on the throne, and that as long as our hearts are set on Him, His plans and promises cannot be undone or taken away. That's something that's easy to forget in this place. It's easy to forget that something better is still to come because it seems like so many bad things keep happening. It's hard to imagine that everything is going to work out when it seems that everything is falling apart. It's hard to fathom how all these problems we're seeing and experiencing can be fixed when it seems like so few are willing to try to fix them. It's hard to understand how so much bad can lead to anything but more bad. We're surrounded by so much darkness, so much negativity tha...

Exodus 14:14 NIV Stillness almost has this sense of passivity that we're not comfortable with. We think we need to always be on the front lines charging the enemy with as much passion and ferocity as we can muster. Sitting on the sidelines and watching life unfold isn't always an easy thing for us to do. It forces us to relinquish the sense of control that we enjoy thinking we have. The thought of not doing something and just being still goes against this hard-charging, pride-chasing, and glory-seeking mindset that we've been taught to carry with us. But sometimes in life, being still is the best thing we can do. Sometimes taking a step back, catching our breath, and allowing our faith to overtake our ego is more important than continuing to try to force life to submit to our desires. The simple truth is that we don't have much control over how life goes. We can fight and push and wear ourselves out but if it's not meant to be then it's not going to be. We have ...

Romans 8:28 NIV This is one of those crucial verses that I think we all just have to lean on from time to time. Life gets a little crazy. We've seen that fact with our own eyes countless times so far. Things go contrary to what we're hoping and praying for. People betray us and let us down when we've trusted them. The world around us is dead-set on glorifying sin and living carefree. And here we are in the middle of it just trying to do the best we can. It can all seriously start to weigh heavy on our shoulders. That constant barrage of wickedness, confusion, surprise, and uncertainty makes it so hard to keep our heads above the surface sometimes. It's like no matter how hard we're trying to do what's right and keep going in the right direction, someone or something around us is trying even harder to trip us up and knock us off course. As soon as we manage to get through one trial or temptation the next is lying in wait to spring up and do its best to rattle us ...

Joshua 21:45 NIV It's almost our natural reaction to start losing hope whenever we become focused on our circumstances. As we talked about yesterday, we give our current situations the power to drag us into feeling miserable. We look at the discomfort and inconvenience of what we're going through and that quickly becomes all we can see. We don't see the lessons that God is trying to teach us. We don't see the opportunities to grow because of the trials. We only see how much we don't like it and that keeps us from finding any kind of good that we can take away. As I was reading through Joshua last night this verse really just clicked. The people just finished dividing up the land that God had promised them. They had cleared out all the other people and nations that had been living in that land. They had taken on armies bigger and stronger than they were. They had managed to fight through the hard side of God's promises and now they were staring at the fulfillment...

Philippians 1:6 NIV Like we talked about yesterday, the best is still ahead. Not because life is going to suddenly smooth out. Not because everyone will stop being mean and nasty to one another. Not because peace is likely to be found in this world. No, the best is still ahead because God is still at work. That's another one of those facts that is all too easy to forget when we're focused on the state of the world around us. We see so much bad all the time that we can start wondering where God is in all of it. But He's there. He's still working in the hearts and souls of those who are willing to follow Him rather than the ways of this place. He's still guiding His people to the plans and promises that He has for them. He is still working miracles and healing those who are lost and suffering. He is still unfolding His will every single day. The problem is that it often gets lost behind other things. It gets overshadowed by the downfall. We get used to hearing and see...

Colossians 3:4 NIV The best is yet to come! That's the promise that we have in Christ. We step into a brand new life when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior and devote our lives to following Him and growing in our faith. The old lives that we once lived according to the world's priorities are dead and gone. He carried them to the cross and then to the grave where He left them behind. In doing so He set us free from everything we once did, everything we once knew, everything we once feared. There's a kind of total freedom in Christ that is truly unlike anything else! We've been talking about how jacked up this world is and all of the frightening things that we're seeing unfold around us. Pandemics. Humanitarian crises. Continued hatred and division. Wickedness in countless forms. There seems to be an almost endless list of bad things in this place. And as we've discussed, it weighs on us. It's impossible to not notice what's happening and it's impos...

John 16:33 NIV I think this may be the biggest misconception when it comes to Christianity. Some people think that this road is easy. They think that following Christ is all sunshine and happiness. Apparently some believe that choosing to follow Christ will bring about everything we want to find. I have no idea where any of that comes from because this ain't about us! There is nothing in the Bible that says that our lives will be easy. Nothing. In fact, it tells us several times in several ways that a life of faith is quite the opposite! So if you're looking for a comfortable and easy life by following Christ then you're going to be seriously disappointed. This isn't easy! This isn't comfortable. Faith doesn't bring worldly acceptance or the comfort that comes from the masses telling you that you're doing good. It doesn't lead us away from trials and challenges. It doesn't smooth out the road or move the mountains out of the way. It doesn't check...

Colossians 2:15 NIV There's a power found in our faith, in our God that we can't begin to understand. It's the power to flip the script and overturn whatever messed up version of things this world has come up with. It's the power to overcome anything and everything that stands in the way of His purposes. It's the power to redeem, to save, to heal, to free. And friends, that power is available to every single person who believes in Him. I haven't the foggiest idea why anyone wouldn't want that! Christ is the ultimate 180. He turns darkness into light. He trades our pasts for His promises. He can take the worst that this world can dish out and use it for good. There is nothing that He can't fix, overcome, or help us work through. He literally took the worst, most humiliating form of punishment that our world could offer and used to show His mercy, love, compassion, and forgiveness! He took what was meant to bring shame and used it to bring salvation. This ...

John 19:30 NIV I'm pretty sure I share this exact verse every Good Friday. To me, it's just the most impactful thought that I can think of when it comes to the meaning and celebration of Easter. Those three little words sum up so much of what our faith is built upon. It's beautiful, humbling, haunting, exciting, powerful. "It is finished." Looking up the verse this morning and I stumbled across the Greek translation of what Christ said before breathing His last breath. Tetelestai comes from the Greek verb teleo which means "to bring to an end, to complete, to accomplish." But the verb tense refers to something which has been completed in the past with results continuing in the present. So it's more than over and done. Jesus said that He accomplished what He came to do and the results will continue on! That's exactly why we're still celebrating His selfless gift on that cross 2,000 years later. What He did then still applies today. The victory...

Psalm 18:32 NIV It's all for God through God. So many times we try to live our lives for us and what we want. We've been talking about how we don't need to earn God's love or forgiveness. We don't need to conform to what others want us to be to find our worth. We don't need spend our lives focused on our pride or comfort. None of this will ever be about us! We are here to serve Christ by carrying His message of restoration to the world around us. It's about helping others learn about what He did for them. It's showing the world that there is a better way to live life. Spreading love and kindness will always mean more than storing up treasures for ourselves or striving for some kind of earthly acclaim. We need to ditch the selfish side of living and aim much higher. Living our lives for us will only impact us. That's it! Which is why He calls us to lay everything at the foot of the cross and follow His example. Where He is leading us there just isn...

John 16:33 NIV I woke up today to find that my mom is feeling completely horrible again. I hate seeing people not feel well, especially when they just look done and ready to throw in the towel because it's so miserable. There's been a lot of that for most us lately. Pain, illness, being worn out by everything that we're dealing with. Life is this constant series of ups and downs. But over the past year or so it seems that the downs are more frequent and longer lasting. So it got me to thinking about how rough life can become. That's not some huge secret or surprise to anyone. Every one of us have faced plenty of situations that have helped us see that fact. But what do we do about it? Do we roll over and give up the ghost? Do we whine and complain all the time? Do we let the hard days get us down so far that no amount of good days can lift us back up? Well, all of those are options I guess but not one of them will help us in any way. What will always help though is lean...

Hebrews 13:8 NIV My family and I are in one of those seasons of constant change. We like to kind of joke about it saying that something new is changing every day but that's pretty much the truth of it. What we manage to figure out or work our way through today might not apply or matter tomorrow. It's one of those periods where we never know what's coming and there's really no way to prepare for it. That kind of uncertainty can easily bring about stress, worry, doubt, and confusion. The lack of understanding and ability to figure out what's coming next is a pretty uneasy feeling. But I woke up today and one of the first things that crossed my mind is that Christ isn't changing. No matter how crazy things may be in life at any given moment, He is still the same King that He's always been! So while life brings us uncertainty, He gives us solidity. Our circumstances may be completely out of control as far as we can see, but He still has everything figured out. W...

Psalm 48:14 NIV Yesterday we talked about how our God is unstoppable. Each of us are a small part in this humongous masterpiece that He's drawn. Nothing can stop what He has planned. Nothing can change His will for our lives. Nothing we face is without purpose or reason. We simply need to learn to trust in Him above and beyond anything else. He is our God! You know, I look back at all these little plans and dreams that I've had in my life. Some worked out and went how I imagined. Most didn't even come close to happening at all. But what I see mostly now is that it all went according to God's plans. While I may have not gotten what I thought I wanted, I get exactly what I needed. While it definitely hasn't all been easy or understandable, it all made sense to Him. That's what matters. We have no guarantee that our lives will go how we want them to go. And as weird as it may sound that's an incredible blessing! We don't know what's best. We don't k...

Matthew 2:10 NIV If you don't love this time of the year I don't know what's wrong with you! No matter what's been happening or how weird any year has been, once we get to Christmas time it all just seems more peaceful. And the more that I prioritize faith and focus on growing in Christ the more special all of this feels! Christmas is the fulfillment of a promise. It's the ultimate proof that God is faithful to who He claims to be and all He says He has planned. We're down here going through the day-to-day journey of His will and we can't possibly see the bigger picture. We get to open this thing called life one day at a time. But God sees it all. He knows what's ahead, what's behind, what's happening right now. He knows how we're feeling, what we're struggling with, and what we need to learn and grow into who He made us to be. And the most amazing part is that He will always pull through on His promises for us. We never need to doubt or ...

Psalm 91:1 NIV I love when I wake up with a very specific verse already in my mind. It's like God's trying to help me get focused on something good before the day even begins. Today this verse from Psalm 91 was one of the very first things that I thought of, so I reckon I should share it with you all too! Don't know, just that thought of rest and peace sounds like something all of us are looking for these days. We've been talking a bit about following God and living a life of faith in Him. We've talked about trusting even when we don't see a way through the mess we're in. We've talked about not worrying about what we see or understand as much as staying focused on His will and the hope that it brings. We've talked about letting go of this false sense of control that all of us have. What I think we'll find is that the more we learn to let go of trying to figure things out and stay in control, the more peace we have. The more we place our hope and ...

Philippians 4:19 NIV There is a huge difference between what we want and what we need. Our wants come from this place of selfishness. They're the product of thinking that having certain things or getting things our way will lead us to happiness. But in truth, joy is not found in having everything we want in life. It's only found when we realize that God has always made sure we have everything we need. The problem with focusing too much on what we want is that it will inevitably lead us to disappointment and possibly even anger when it doesn't turn out that way. We should all be well aware of the fact that life doesn't go how we want it to go. We don't always get what we want. But that should never lead us to being upset or frustrated. Getting upset whenever we don't get what we want can easily turn into doubting God's faithfulness. That's definitely not a place we ever want to go. The fact is that God is more faithful than we can comprehend. He has alway...

Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV Today I'm thankful that we're following a God that doesn't get surprised by life. We often do. This year is about the best example of that that I can think of. Uncertainty, doubt, worry, confusion, misunderstandings, all of them are part of life. But God doesn't deal with those things. He knows what's up ahead and He's already ready for it. So what do we have to worry about? I think so many of us try to stay one step ahead of life. We want our ducks in a row before we know how many ducks we have to line up. We want everything organized, planned, and scheduled so that we know what to expect. We think that knowing what comes next is how we find peace in life. But peace isn't about knowing what the future is going to be like. Peace is knowing that the future is in God's hands no matter how it turns out. The main thing that we need to always keep in mind is that God's with us. We might be facing something difficult but He's there...

Proverbs 19:20 NIV Truth is that we need God to help lead us in the right direction because let's be honest, we're seriously bad at finding it on our own! The problem is that His lessons and guidance can sometimes feel like we’re being punished. We like the easy way, the path of least resistance, but God wants better for us than that. He’s willing to lead us to challenges if they make us better. He’s willing to teach us the lessons that help us grow, whether or not like them or think we need them. I know it's a massive hit to our egos but the fact is that we're nowhere near as smart or strong as we like to convince ourselves. We don't have everything figured out. We rarely know what's best. We have a horrible habit of picking the worst possible option. We allow our pride to keep us from admitting our mistakes. And it often just hurts too much to even entertain the idea that we're just plain wrong. But it's okay. It's okay to get things wrong as long ...

Psalm 103:19 NIV Well, I reckon it's a rather big day for our country, and I've been thinking about this one for a few days. I actually woke up this morning with something completely different on my mind but I'll share that one tomorrow. For today, I think this one is just something that we all need to keep in mind considering what we're experiencing these days. There hasn't really been an election like this one that I can personally remember. I guess with all the things going on in our world and all the things that we're facing people just seem to be taking it a little more seriously. There seems to be so many people that are interested this time around because of the truly polarizing topics and concerns that we're dealing with. What I wanted to share is that no matter who wins this thing, Christ is still King. He is seated on the throne of Heaven and no matter what happens down here, that fact will never change. I pray that we don't get so used to worl...

Proverbs 21:30 NIV It's all going to be okay. Actually, it's going to be even better than that! So often we judge outcomes by what we can see. We try to figure out what's going to happen based on our own imaginations. And boy do we cook up some wild ideas! But the fact is that God is and will always be in control. So it doesn't really matter what we face or what we think of it. Look, nothing can change what God has planned. It's going to be what it's going to be. No amount of griping, figuring, planning, debating, or fighting will make any difference. His plans are His plans, and the best part is that His plans are always for the best. So considering that nothing can change His perfect plans, I think it's safe to say we have nothing to worry about! That definitely doesn't stop us though. We have a bad habit of imagining the worst and getting ourselves all worked up over nothing. Doesn't make much sense considering nothing we've ever worried about...