Forged By Faith

John 16:33 NIV The place of peace Oddly enough it’s not a place at all but rather a person, not that it would matter much either way as, well, neither is welcome here in this place in which we are for still yet another day that’s likely to prove much the same as all the others that we’ve endured thus far. And indeed, life of late does seem a matter meant of endurance, of enduring, of our having to endure that which by no means seeks to endear itself to us nor probably expects our to endear ourselves to it. Rather it’s quite clear that life here is turning quite violent, quite silent, quite pliant to the wants of whims of them who continue to measure that which matters in life as only that which is had here where all of us are and many for some reason wish to stay. A mindset that I find I’m failing more and more all the time to understand. Because, from where I stand, I just about can’t stand being here anymore. And while there’s nothing at all that I can do about that seeing as how I h...

Psalm 62:9 NIV But a lie Such is this life in which we live in what is a land in where there are always those who’ve what we don’t as is seen as what we need for us to be what they are which is where we aren’t in what are lives better than ours as is seen inside the things that they have not that we still do. And it’s this lie that is this life that we live in which we die that’s left us dead in what is a dread of sleeping in peace in what is the bed that we have made of what has been gave from inside a grave that seems still to say that we need nothing more than what He who calls still has in store. And yet, such rest we let slip right through our hands as we seek to hold to this idea that some are better and we are worse. But even then only in terms of perceived wealth and never as measured in wrong. For none of us do anything wrong. Rather all of us are but miniature models as made of misunderstanding and make believe making for us to see, again, that there is this endless hierarchi...

Proverbs 28:13 NIV It’s like we’re in a world hiding from hope. Because many find it foolish to lay one's transgressions upon the wide open for all to see as they stand as evidence of our imperfections. And it's those imperfections which we know will immediately undermine the image we've fought to set forth for all the world to see. We've sold such a yarn that we can't bear the burden of backtracking back to the truth of the matter, so we hide from it. We’ve built ourselves into the constant hero, so to prove ourselves only the villain erases everything we've tried to gain, so we pretend we’re not the bad guy. That's why most find our faith to be foolishness. It doesn't merely stop at politely requesting our honesty. Doesn't cease its demand at the demand of our confession. Doesn't only ask that we consider making that confession. No, this faith simply cannot work until we've truly died to all we've been living for in this wasted life try...

Hebrews 4:12 NIV Lost within our affinity for appeasement is the priceless kindness of the gentle guidance of our good Father. We’re losing the ability to see that love is meant for edification, not the settlement of affirmation to which this world’s striven to weld it. Yes, that God's Word is both entirely divisive and firmly offensive is obviously a great challenge posed by this faith. But that we can't see the beauty in His willingness to separate us from all that's enslaved us is a tragedy of untold magnitude. The surgical accuracy of God's truth is truly undeniably divisive amongst a people largely lost in a land of lies. Yet, though it does indeed wound often, for us to be anything other than appreciative is to display yet again a wanton disregard for anything or anyone other than ourselves. We should be entirely grateful for the division His truth brings and the often-unseen benefit it offers. His Word, as He did, draws a line in the sand which gives everyone eve...

Matthew 7:27 NIV To assume the status quo will continue onward in perpetuity is not only foolish, but it is the most assured way to find ourselves crumbling along with our ideals when reality one day proves unavoidable. It seems that fact has become one of the more common themes shared within these daily posts. I think it's because as we go along through life and learn more through our willingness to pay attention, we eventually stumble upon these indisputable truths that always seem applicable and apparent. And this truth is one that I have found unrelenting in all of my thinking about faith and the truth that it's built upon: Things will change, sometimes drastically, and if we tend to slide through life never stopping to ensure a solid foundation remains under us, we may very well find ourselves wholly unprepared when God’s design sweeps us off our feet into His divine presence. Humanity has a very real problem that's leading to a very real danger with very deadly conseq...

Revelation 3:17 NIV I don't know that I've ever had a thought come from so far out in left field as this one. I was awoken in the middle of the night by something that I had in no way whatsoever been thinking about before. And that is seriously strange as I do so much thinking every minute of every day that I'm not used to a thought surprising me! But it just felt like something I was supposed to think about, supposed to talk about. So here we go... Why is it that we value that which is worthless and devalue everything that actually matters? See what I mean? We've been talking about love, honesty, truth, the calling to share the Gospel despite the world's insistence that we don't. Where did that come from? But, oddly enough, it actually does fit. Recently we've been discussing fear and vanity and worry and this constant pressure from the world around us to sit down and be quiet about our faith. And for the most part, we see a people more than willing to play...