What is Faith?

How far do we go within the walls of our comfort to find, challenge, and build our faith. Going to church, hanging out with people from church, praying for things you need are all things that dwell within these safe walls that I find myself. What is actual faith? Do we practice it on a daily basis, or do we just rely on the fact that it is there? We believe that the sun will rise every morning, day in and day out without hesitation. We believe that the ocean will stay contained and not spill out beyond the shore line. We believe in these Universal things because they are consistent and never changing. So why is it that we can have faith in these things and not the God who commands these things? In my life as of right now, I am being forced to have faith in something so small in comparison to it all. I am having to raise a good chunk of cash for my trip in a very small amount of time. At first I doubted that I could even raise that amount in a matter of months. But God knows me all too well.....as I have said before I am a controller, I like to control things, and me not having the money and not knowing where it is coming from, freaks me out a little bit. As I am writing this, I just want to slap myself at how little my faith is. Why can I not seem to trust fully in Christ? I fret, worry, and contemplate about what if I don't get enough, or what if this and that......when remember we serve the God of the Universe! I have found that it simply comes down to faith. We have faith in the smallest things...and yet we can't have faith in the God who commands it all? When we move from being stale faith dwellers to active faith builders, we will see a change. This change will lead us to do things that world does not expect from Christians. It will lead us to dream bigger, go farther, and love greater. A change like this will shock the world because they are used to seeing Christians living on the safe side when it comes to our faith. God is constant and His character has remained the same...there should be no doubt that He is going to do what He says......So have faith! And not just faith....but active faith that shows the world that we are different.

Same Power

Today is a new day.....and something that should keep us thriving for holiness came to my attention. Unlike other religions with gods that are dead and stagnant...I serve a living God! He actually rose from the dead! Who else do you know that came back to life after three days? Think of the power that this instills. He conquered death, which seems to the human mind to be the end of it all. He did something so incredible and unfathomable that to the world it seems ludicrous. But this is the part that should keep us thriving towards holiness.......the same power that conquered the grave lives in us! The same power that broke the chains of death lives and breathes among us. What more can we ask for? Why do we cower away from minor things? Why do we act defeated? Why are we sleeping while the world is dying? Today is a new day......remember this and live differently. 

What would happen?

I was challenged recently to think on a different waive length than most people these days and it blew me away yesterday. I have been praying that God would prepare me for what is ahead and that I would be ready emotionally and spiritually for this journey. I have been reading articles and statistics on human trafficking and it makes me weak at the knees when these numbers showed their colors. To show you what I mean....this industry generates between 10 and 12 billion dollars a year. Every minute two children are being prepared for sexual exploitation. There are between 18,000 and 20,000 people trafficked INTO the United States annually. And this one hurts down to the core.....nearly two million children are in the commercial sex trade. Two million children....this is disgusting and shameful on us who just want to live a cookie cutter life. Well in reading all these numbers, I felt almost defeated at the forefront without hope until I had a discussion with someone a care deeply about. He said what will change these statistics..what will prevent that number from continuing to grow....and I responded, which I feel very strongly about, and that is Education.  I continued to say, "If I could just save one." He stopped me in my words and said, "Why just save one?" And I said because one is better than none. He then said something so full of truth and something that my mind had not thought of. He said, "Think of all the ones that are left if you only save one....look at the God we serve...Why do you dream so small?" Dream as if He is God...dream as if He can." At that moment I was faced with a new truth and something that had always been there, but I had never seen. Why go to save one..go as if the God of the Universe is on your side. Don't dream so small, because we serve a Big God. What would happen if Christians today, dreamed in this way? What would happen to those statistics if people dreamed big enough to save the two million instead of the one? What would happen? God is great enough for all those things and more......we as a people need to step up and stop worrying about the newest and latest video game because the world is dying on our watch. Dream as if the Living God is on our side and dare to ask this question, "What would happen?"

Strength

Strength astounds me and boggles my little human mind beyond understanding. I think about strength and how humans are given the ability to overcome and face situations that are placed upon them and I am amazed. I think of divorced couples who choose to continue to seek after God's plan for their lives regardless of the hardship they have been through. I think of children who have been abandoned and left, who have no one to turn to and yet believe in their heart that everything will be alright. I think of people who have the strength and courage to stand up for what they think is right and honorable which goes against the culture of today. Strength is something that baffles me, and leaves me wishing that I had more of it. There are many different kinds of strength. Some strength is brought about physically. You can walk into a gym and watch buff men lift weights to gain physical strength. But then there is some that is internally driven. That kind of strength is by far more noticeable and more impacting than physical strength. This strength deifies the odds, and leaves people asking, "How?" Today I was talking with someone about my trip explaining everything that we will be doing, and as I was talking about it I realized how dangerous this trip will be. A shear sense of fear crossed over my face, and noticing it she then asked a simple question, "How do you do it?  With everything at stake and all that scary stuff, how do you do it?" Even though the fear of the unknowns began to creep in and take a hold, this was my answer without hesitation, "Strength." This truth hit me in the face when I said it. Up until that moment I didn't really know how I was doing it. But this is true......it is only through the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is definitely not my strength, because I am weak and fragile. How do you think people make it through divorce, or children always seem to have that sense of hope when abandoned, or people stand up for truth.....It is only though strength from our Heavenly Father. Strength from myself would get me as far as getting out of the bed in the morning..but strength from God can lead me to a Nation where I don't know the language, people, or customs. Strength drives us to be different...to not look like the world around. Yes you can survive day by day without this strength, but only through Christ will you thrive when faced with scary unknowns. Strength is baffling and the only answer to that question of "How?"....is through the Living God we serve. 

Beauty

I believe it is time that I blog again...I have missed it so. There is beauty in simple things like morning dew on the grass or that first snowflake of the winter season. There are things that should be cherished like standing up for what you think is right, working hard at something that makes you happy, or crying for the tears and hurts of someone other than yourself. There is beauty in these things that is indescribable. God orchestrates these simple things around us to remind us of what we know, what is promised, and what will come. Looking at life knowing that, will change the way you see the world. It will no longer be about possessions, cars, houses, money, the stock market, or politics. It will be about the Heavenly Father who allows us the wake up and live another day. We need to start living for heavenly things and forgot about how this world has brainwashed our minds and attitudes to be. God is greater and stronger than anything you will ever encounter or create. There is beauty....real beauty that can not be found in a box, masqueraded with make up, or bought. This beauty exists, find it, look for it, and cherish it.