All in faith
We have all began a sentence with the words “What if” at some point in our lives.
The last couple of weeks “What if” statements have been rolling through my mind pertaining to those of use who call ourselves Believers. The statements have been powerful, convicting, thought provoking, and fueling a passion and fire within my soul. (Click to read full post)
WHAT IF…
Monday morning during my quiet time, this verse came to mind. It is a simple verse. Nothing complicated, but straight to the point.
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Are our minds set on eternal things or temporal? Are we consumed with things that are fleeting and things that will pass away? Or are we so focused on the Great Commission in spreading and living the Word of God, which should fuel every fiber of our being? Are we the salt and light into a dark world? (Click to read full post)
For the last 5 days my mind has been consumed with the state of everything that has taken place in our State, Country, and World. And in all transparency, I hate it. I hate that my thoughts have been consumed with things that I typically do not think about or dwell on. The last 5 days I have frustrated myself with allowing my thoughts to be consumed with things that, in the light of eternity, do not matter. But instead, how I react, how I portray the love of Christ, how I live out His commands to live a life worthy of Him DOES matter, and that begins with my thoughts.
Last spring we decided to expand our garden and make it bigger. We spent hours cutting back the sod, leveling out the ground and prepping it. Our neighbors were even getting rid of garden bricks and I look them up on their offer to take some of them off their hands. Fast forward to now, the spring of 2020, and the garden is finally starting to look like a healthy place to grow fruits and veggies after more hours of shoveling and spreading healthy new garden soil.
At the end of March, Washington State received news from Governor Inslee that he would be extending the “stay at home” order through the entire month of April. I would be lying if I said my stomach didn’t drop. But It did. My next reaction was: “This will not take hold of me.” (Click to read full post)
Over the last few weeks the word “wilderness” has come to mind over and over again and what the wilderness signifies. A dry and weary land… (Click to read full post)
The tomb was closed. The grave was shut. The cross was empty. Jesus was dead.
I cannot imagine what this day, Saturday, must have felt like for the Disciples and followers of Jesus in the 1st Century. Their friend and Messiah was dead.
I looked back on the last time I shared a post and it was back on February 28th. Just before the craziness of COVID19 hit the fan here in Washington State. I have had so many things running through my mind on what I want to write about, but have found little time to just sit down and write until today.
I know these days find uncertainty for many. Uncertainty in health, jobs, finances, etc… So I pray the continuation of the Fierce Faith talks give you peace and comfort!
Tired. Burdened. Worried. Weary… These are all things every human being has experienced or is currently experiencing.
This morning I woke up particularly tired and not thrilled about doing much of the same again. Then this verse came to my mind, “Come to Me… and I will give you rest.”
I enjoy cooking at times. Actually, I enjoy baking: bread, cookies, bread, more bread. It’s my jam. Or rather, butter. I like butter better. Especially salted butter. Yummmm! Anyways, my point is, I enjoy creating things in the kitchen and then consuming them. Which is why I workout. But that’s not what this post is about. I digress.
As I sat down for my quiet time yesterday, a little melancholied at the thought of getting back into the grind of our daily “to do’s,” I began to write down some of the blessings that took place this past decade. Remembering, writing, and thanking God for every single one of those moments. Because in true reality, when I look back, these things that took place were NOT my doing at all, but God’s prompting and our listening and following His guidance.
I love me some Hallmark Movies! They are predictable, the storyline is typically the EXACT SAME in EVERY movie. The houses are decorated with so much garland and Christmas decor (even in the bachelor’s house) that it looks like elves vomited glitter everywhere. Oh! And Hallmark Movies ALWAYS end with a kiss. Although, spoiler alert, they’ve been switching things up a bit. I KNOW! Exciting times! Haha!
When you think of having a quiet time with God, which would would you choose? Duty or Desire?
Too often we look at spending time with Jesus as a “duty to Christian living.” We start creating legalistic “to do’s” to check off to make us feel as though we are meeting requirements. However, God doesn’t want duty, He doesn’t want fake worship. He doesn’t want us to worship Him out of obligation.
Comfort.
Wouldn’t you say most of us seek comfort? I know I do.
It is what we are told we must seek on the daily. Discomfort just seems ungodly. We want to live comfortable lives. Live in a comfortable house. We don’t want our boat rocked too much. And God forbid we deal with anything big…
“Stop.”
“Don’t touch that.”
“You’re clumping them altogether.”
“Slow down.”
“Spread the ornaments out more.”
“I want it to look nice.”
Bing Crosby played in the background, the fire place created a lovely glow and added to the ambiance, and I sounded like an obsessive compulsive person sucking the fun out of the room.
In 2010 Jerry came home from Men’s Bible Study with something upon his heart. Pastor Nate, our former lead Pastor and now District Executive Minister for Converge World Wide, had recently returned with his family from Thailand and Cambodia for their sabbatical. While Nate was on the trip he not only heard about a massive need to help rehabilitate lives from sex trafficking, but saw it first hand. This lead him to commit Cascade Church to the construction of a portion of a building to help rehabilitate lives, but he had no clue where the money would come from. He chose to step out in faith, obeying God’s prompting in his heart knowing God would provide. And this obedience would forever change our lives.
Tomorrow many of us will gather around tables with friends, family, or even strangers. The day will be filled with preparations, food, festivities, and maybe even some football. And even on a day that we have dedicated to giving thanks, there may be thanksgiving through pain of missing loved ones, thanksgiving through tears, thanksgiving through hardships. But whatever the circumstances, give thanks.
And so the holidays begin.
The holidays can bring about a lot of mixed emotions. They can be filled with happiness and sadness. Even at the same exact time.
I sat down to write a blog post on being thankful, of which this absolutely is. But it’s more than just being thankful in the good times, in times of celebration... It is about being thankful in EVERY circumstance. Good and bad.
When I was younger, faith was an idea of wishing and hoping. If I wished and hoped hard enough, kind of like rubbing a lamp, then what I wanted would happen. And if that thing I was wishing and hoping for didn’t happen, well, apparently I did not have enough faith.
I also treated my faith like many of the books I have on my shelves. When I needed it, needed something, or had a problem, I would grab my faith off the shelf, thumb through it, wish upon a star, then put it back where it originally was. On the shelf. Not in use.
“Call to Me and I will answer you…”
The cares of this world are many.
The desires of our hearts are many.
The answers we want about life are many.
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
God in all His majesty and glory is waiting for us to call on Him.
