Forged By Faith

Luke 14:33 NIV A faith that costs nothing, offers nothing. But sadly, that fact has become all but lost in all this modern religion we’ve taken it upon ourselves to create. It's an afterthought that falls behind this relentless focus on rules and regulations and expectations and social appeasements. It's been allowed to become buried underneath our adamant attempts to find some way to satisfy our selfish desires. And, as a result, what we find is a whole bunch of folks claiming a title they've given absolutely nothing to have the right to have. The problem with religion and our fascination with it is that it is built upon mere human rules that are put into place in this effort to allow ourselves to appear holy without actually requiring us to set aside our lesser human desires and instincts in exchange for an ongoing effort to kill off the selfishness that just seems so magnetic to our worldly sense of understanding. Let me clean that up a bit for you: man created religion ...

Galatians 1:6 NIV The rapidity with which we humans bounce from one perspective, one priority, one prize onto the next is absolutely mind-blowing. And yet we wonder why it is that peace and fulfillment seem so hard to find in life. Could it be that contentment is never given a chance to take hold in hearts constantly on the run toward the next best thing. And in this world of seemingly endless possibilities and offerings, I reckon it's no wonder that we tend to find our hearts wandering violently away from Christ in search of something more immediate. If we were to boil all the possible reasons and excuses down into the most simplified underlying truth as to why we're so quick to allow ourselves to become distracted, I think it's largely because we still struggle to believe in that which is unseen. We still have a hard time fully embracing this truth that leads to a distant promise when surrounded by more instant gratification. In simple terms, when our hearts are allowed t...

Psalm 139:24 NIV I think we’re afraid. Scratch that. I know we’re afraid. Afraid of letting go. Afraid of being wrong. Afraid of this violent clash with a truth we’ve long attempted to pretend didn’t exist. I’m certain that fear drives nearly the entirety of all that’s foundational to our ego. And I believe that because we do so much, go to such great lengths to protect our pride and remain convinced of its legitimacy. And all of this conceited effort spent in the attempt to protect our vanity has instilled many deceptions that are in fact offensive to God. And, granted, every so often we do notice the stumble. We do feel the bounce off of rock bottom. We do notice the errors committed along the path of prideful pursuits. And in those exceedingly rare moments of noticing our fallen nature, we do experience moments of sorrow and regret and shame. But as we discussed yesterday, that sorrow and regret and shame are often a result of how we feel rather than what we’ve done that caused us t...

2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV Seems there's always been this mixed bag of emotions when it comes to these posts I get to share. I reckon it comes from this awareness in that I find that I tend see things from a quite different perspective than most. And while I personally find that to be an invaluable blessing, I also know that it's likely not always seen as the most conducive perspective to what many would consider encouraging and inspirational. Often times I fear that a post may come off as a bit harsh, a little brash, perhaps a bit too bold. And knowing the general consensus made clear within this society, I know that people won't always listen to or read or entertain anything that's not appeasing and gentle and almost obnoxiously upbeat. It's this inclination instilled from this world in which we live that tells us to tread softly, smooth the rougher edges, and even water something down if need be in order to avoid the risk of hurting someone's feelings or saying s...

Romans 11:32 NIV Why is there so much sin in the world? That’s a question we hear asked all the time from both those outside as well as those within the body of Christ. Why, if God is so good, so righteous, so loving and kind, why does sin and evil exist? Why do so many unfortunate things happen to so many? Why does there always seem to be this negativity in life from which it seems impossible to escape? And honestly, I’ve even found myself wondering lately why it is that I seem to discuss it so often in these daily Bible posts. Why this ongoing focus on sin? Well, I feel the need to kind of clear some air. To provide a reason. To explain a mindset. To hopefully expound upon the tone and temperament of these daily posts that I share. As I'll assume you've noticed, these daily posts aren't always the happy, upbeat, excitedly encouraging messages that you find across many, if not most, faith-based social media platforms and pages. Instead, and for reasons I'll attempt to ...

Ephesians 2:3 NIV That we've been well-acquainted with the ways and standards of this world is a dire understatement. Rather, each of us have been in every way a carbon copy of this sinful place in which we've grown and learned and lived. We have adopted all the habits, followed all the paths, embraced all the expectations and conformed to all the commonalities. And in doing so, we've become the very enemies of God as we've settled for doing all that's sinful. Simply put, sin is the choice to go against God. It's an offense against His moral expectations. It's a transgression of His divine law. It's a violation of His expected form of behavior and belief. Make no mistake, sin is in no way as light-hearted and harmless as much of humanity has, is, and will continue to make it out to be. Sin is death as if it goes against the desires of the Author of life, it simply deserves His divine wrath. Now, I know that much of humanity doesn't hold to the belief...

1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV If we’re learning the wrong lessons from the wrong teachers, we are heading the wrong direction. To assume that everyone around us is genuinely looking out for our best interests is an extremely common belief. But in reality, in this place, it's an assumption we should not be willing to lean upon. Because when things start falling apart, and they most certainly will, if we're left to fall into that assumption that nobody led us in the wrong direction, we'll likely find ourselves sadly mistaken as we're suddenly proven horribly wrong. Should it be that way? No. But this society we're in clearly doesn't hold much concern about the ways in which things should be done. Instead, what we find is a people impressively focused on self and almost entirely uninterested in and unwilling to legitimately care about anyone else. Truth be told, so many are so happily lost that they'd just as soon have everyone else join them in their depraved debauc...