faith perspective

When We Fall

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We will all encounter moments when we fall down while on our faith journey.   This was true for the most familiar names in the bible…Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Joseph etc.

We all fall down along the way…the key is not the fall or why we fall, what is most important is how we respond when we do fall down.  Do not turn away from God in shame…turn towards God, pray, confess and get back up again.  He knows our struggles and He will always be with us.  Psalm 51:1-17 is a great place to begin to get back up, here is a sample from that passage.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Psalm 51:10-12

The New Has Come…

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It is a new day, a new month and a new year.  Be transformed…love God, love who he has made you to be and share His love with others.

Paul writes…

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Be Open to Spirit Living

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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Colossians 3:12-14

It is Starting to Sink in…

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This is really happening…in two days we are leaving to take our first born, our daughter, to college for her freshman year.  Does she have everything she needs?  Have we taught her all the lessons she needs to survive?  Who will she be able to trust?  Maybe she’s not ready, or worse…maybe we are not ready?

There are moments in every life where we are faced with choices.  The roots of these choices are usually found in a few words.  Faith or fear…Courage or hesitation…Trust or control.

This is one of those moments for our family.  I have mainly positive thoughts and expectations for our daughter…my own college experience was one of the greatest periods of growth in my young life.  My faith journey gives me confidence that no matter what God will be with her, he will be watching over her.  The same worrisome things that could happen there could happen here in our hometown.

The biggest change may be the one taking place in our own home.  We are a very close family and one of the four of us will be gone on a day to day basis.  This will be a big change for us.  It is most important for us and our faith to focus on what God is asking us to do with our lives.  For so many years the message has been teach your children to love the Lord, to provide an example of an adult who loves God…that still doesn’t change.  We still have our son at home with 4 years of high school ahead of him and we still can show our daughter how to love the Lord through Faith, Courage and Trust as an adult.  This is why it is called a faith journey…there may be several stops or points of achievement along the way but as long as there is life the journey continues.  We must continue to seek Him and help others to know Him.

I pray as we go into and through this change in our family we will focus on…

Faith in God the Creator and our Father who loves us

Courage to face the challenges just as Jesus faced challenges on earth

Trust in the Holy Spirit to guide us each day

Whenever a choice is approaching your life or the life of someone you love look to God the Father, Jesus his Son and the Holy Spirit.  Look to them with Faith, Courage and Trust and you will find peace.

Light The Way

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We often stumble as we wander through life in this world.  So much darkness can surround us and tempt us.  In my experiences the one place I have found as a refuge is the Word of God.  The above photo was taken on a recent road trip and this cross and roadside chapel is the only thing around for a few miles…it is a beacon of hope for travelers.  I can imagine at night the lights at the base illuminate this cross as the only thing lit in a large area of darkness…a light showing all of us the way of peace and hope.  Let God lead the way in your life.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

                                                                                Psalm 119:105

Peace be with you.

We All Have A Choice

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We can choose either side of every issue that comes before us in the world…we can use words to tear down others or we can choose to stay focused on the Son.  You have a choice…it comes down to your Attitude…

Attitude

by Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company … a church … a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Peace be with you.

It is not about you…

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It’s not about you…I have seen and read this message many times while reading a devotional or some other faith based writing.  When I was reading this morning it struck me differently…it spoke to me about sowing a seed with the hope of changing a life.  It made me think…how have I been blessed and how can I share that with others?  I know that God created me…I know that God has given me certain gifts.  My job is to discover my gifts and use them to help others…and it is the same for you.

Today as I was reading from a daily devotional written by John C Maxwell the words that struck me hard and fast were these…a quote from entertainer Danny Thomas…”All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why.  Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself.  It’s what you do for others.”

It doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it to be in our heads…start today…start focusing on your gifts and start using them to help others.  If you are unsure of what your gifts are then ask God in prayer to help you identify those gifts so you can begin to sow seeds in your daily life.

It’s not about you…it’s about how you have been blessed and how you can use those blessings to help others.

Peace be with you.