Reflections; Faith Equals WHAT??

Readers,

"If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" Matthew 17:20

Having faith can be hard sometimes when we don't really know what it really is. We can go through life simply praying and hoping for God to show us what it is but knowing what faith truly only comes from believing. It is not some idea that just pops in our heads, it is believing and acting upon what we claim to believe. Let me explain a little further :-).

I believe that we are saved by grace through faith alone but our faith only comes from believing in what we cannot see. If we believe in what we cannot see, doesn't that require us to act upon what we are claiming to believe in? I think it does. Here is an example...

When you walk into your home and notice that you're thirsty, what do you usually do? You turn on the faucet and get yourself some H2O. STOP RIGHT THERE. Think about it for a second, in order for the water to come out, you have to turn the knob on your faucet. BOOM you have just acted upon your faith. Would that faucet have come on without someone turning the knob? I don't think so.

Our faith works the same way, in order for it to work the right way we have to turn the knob on. This means you have to step out and believe that it is actually going to work. So, yes, we are saved by grace through faith but if we do not act, do we really believe? Do we really have faith if we don't act upon what we believe?

Hmm, these are interesting questions to consider, aren't they?

Faith Equals Believing, Believing Equals Acting

Take and eat of what the Lord gives today,

M. E.

Reflections; Loving as we are Loved

Readers,

I have not forgotten my devotional posts, I simply have been seeking God about what to write. Also, I have been quite busy with Vacation Bible School at Church. Boy, are we having fun, but that's another story for another day.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" John 15:12

Loving one another? I wonder what the world would be like if more people loved as Christ does. I think the world would be a better place to live if more people loved like Christ did. I have often said my ministry motto is simply "Love them crazy just like Jesus" This concept has been burning in my heart more and more with every day I am blessed with.

As I write this I am reminded of several scripture verses that speak of loving others, this tells me that loving others is quite important to our walk in Christ. In fact I feel that it is one of the most important actions we are blessed with the ability to do. I believe that we are all called to love one another as Christ has loved us. It can be hard sometimes, but with the strength of the Lord guiding our every step it is always possible.

Our relationship with Christ is not based off of taking the easy way out. We are told in the scriptures that we will face trials. There will always be twists and turns we have to go through in our lives, it can be submitting to authority, working though our problems, meeting the challenges placed before us, facing our past, embracing our future, or even finding the strength to live in the present.

It is what we do when we are faced with those situations that matter most. With all my heart I believe that IN ALL THINGS GOD HAS CALLED US TO LOVE AS WE ARE LOVED.

We need to be faithful to loving one another in every aspect of our lives. Our motivation in life must follow these four steps.

LOVING GOD
LOVING OUR SPOUSE (if you have one of course)
LOVING OUR FAMILY
LOVING OTHERS

Take and eat of what the Lord gives today :-)

M.E.

Reflections; Freedom and Love

Hey Readers,

I have combined yesterday's and today's, simply because I felt like I should. Also, I lost track of time and forgot to read my verse yesterday, LOL...

Here is Day 3 and Day 4 combined...

"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" John 8:38

We can have freedom in Christ. We can trust that because He sacrificed himself, the door was opened for the rest of us to be set free from the sin of this world. If we are willing to repent and ask for it, forgiveness will be given without a second thought given. God is always right there waiting for us to ask for Him to step in and clean us up. Of course we will have to face the consequences for our sins, but they are forgiven and then they are forgotten. If this is the case, why do we often take a step back when we are asked to seek forgiveness? Is it because we are afraid of what we may have to face? Is it because we feel guilty or ashamed to seek it? Trust that God will take care of you.

"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22:37-38

Loving God takes a lot more than simply saying a few words that sound nice. It takes a lifetime commitment and a life long journey of striving to give God everything. We must truly desire to give him all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. Sure we can sing "Lord I Give you my heart, I give you my soul" but without the life long commitment to back it up, whatever we sing or speak is meaningless. If we live life only loving God with just our heart or just our soul and mind, we open the door for material things to take a step forward and force God to take a side step back. We need to live for Him with every breath we take. We need to honor Him in everything in our lives. We need to surrender it all to the desires of His heart and not the desires of our own. They will line up in time :-).

When we give it all to Him, I believe we begin to love Him more and more every moment we are awake. Loving God is the adventure of a lifetime. He can lead you to places you would never even imagine he could lead you to. Embrace His love with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind and you'll see what He can do...

Take and eat of what the Lord has given,

M.E.

Reflections; Infinite Love

Hey Readers,

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" John 3:16

God loves us all more than we will ever be able to fathom. He blesses us with glimpses of this love through our experiences and in our relationships, but to wrap our minds around this love will only be possible once we are with Him in heaven. What is so mind boggling to me is that no matter what we do here on earth His love will always remain and always grow. There is so much more He wants to offer every one of us if we let Him. Love is what I like to call infinite, we may feel as though we have ultimately reached the limit at times but there is always room to make more. God gave up the thing he loved most so we could be forgiven and have that everlasting life; this is infinite love. It doesn't stop there, however. Even after the sacrifice of His son, we still sin and He still forgives us when we ask Him to. This tells me that His love for us grows stronger every day. What a thought to base our life upon. What a love He has for us.

Here's some questions to consider...

How much of this action of Love do we truly embrace in our lives?
Are there areas in our lives in which we fall short of this action of Love?

Take and eat of what the Lord has given you today,

M. E.

Reflections; Confess and Believe

Hey Readers,

This is the first posting for my devotional blog challenge.

"If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

Jesus truly is our Lord and He wants to give us all the blessings of life HE can. Occasionally we can forget that we are called to live life believing in HIM with all our hearts. When the world around us tells us we are doing something that doesn't coincide with its view, we often conform to that belief to keep ourselves from standing out. What is interesting is that our life isn't suppose to be one that blends in, it is suppose to be something more. Jesus sure didn't blend in did he? Just like Jesus, we are meant to stand out and be an example that others can stand by and look to.

Take time in your life to confess openly 'Jesus is Lord' and believe with all your heart what you have just spoken. I guarantee your life will begin to change for the better and that your heart will feel so much better because of it. We have a calling to be set apart so lets simply embrace it.

Blessings,

M.E.

New Vision

Hey Readers,

I haven't posted on this blog in such a long time and I apologize for this, but the Lord has posted something really sweet on my heart. I received this journal from someone that has scripture references at the bottom. I just started writing in the journal today and it turns out that I was actually writing somewhat of a devotional based off the passage that was at the bottom of the first page.

This gave me some inspiration... each day I want to read the passage at the bottom of the page and then write my thoughts about the passage on the lines above it. I hope to do this until the whole book is filled with short devotionals for everyone to read that wants to read them. I hope you all will help me in achieving this little goal. It might even open the door to something more one day, who knows.

I am going to be posting the first one in a few moments, but I want to encourage you who read this to be open minded and open hearted to what this may have to offer you, I know even today's passage and thoughts have been encouraging to me.

Have a Blessed Evening,

M.E.