First off- all glory and honor through this blog is due to Jesus. I can do nothing without Him and with Him all things are possible. :)
Our lives seems pretty stable, for the moment anyway. Yet sometimes the ground we walk on is shaken, broken. While we can physically see the evidence that we are alive and living, there is an ever-present purpose knocking at our heart's door. Why are you here? Why do believe? Who are you really? The questions and beckoning that stay just where we hide them. They are quiet at times. Then, when the ground beneath you quivers, they scream loudly and beg for attention. My belief is challenged everyday. My trust in the Bible, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and all aspects of my faith are shaken from time to time. Even the disciples had trouble seeing Jesus. They could touch Him, hear Him, and yet they still questioned. It takes something more than evidence to hold on to a belief. In marriage, or any sort of relationship, someone may profess their love or commitment to you. If it is ever questioned, how can you be sure that you KNOW that person does love you? What if that person acted rudely to you or hurt your feelings? Do you still believe the person loves you? Why? If you have a feelilng that someone loves you, that feeling may go away under pressure. If you BELIEVE and trust that someone loves you, you can hold on through tough times. The same is true with our faith. I have turned my back on my faith in God countless times. I have declared my trust in Him, studied the truths laid out in His word and yet still lived as though those words had no effect on me. I let lies intrude my thinking. I allowed other's opinions to override my wisdom. I have willingly let Satan influence the way I talk and behave. All this while I claim to know Christ. Why is this? I don't have that answer. The Bible, however, does. The Bible, the living Word of God, tells me the story of how man fell away from the image we were fashioned after. We have the mark of creation, of God, written all over us. But the illusion of evil caught our attention. In our sinful nature, we became prey to the tempting wiles of the Father of Lies. Is this the end of us? Does this mean we are hopeless and have no way out? Our loving creator made a way. He sent Jesus to bear our burden. Our faith in Him alone is the answer, the way. Our works will never make us clean. Our good deeds will never outshine the work Jesus did on the cross. How can we truly believe that? How, with all the other ideas and beliefs and quick fixes, can we truly hold tight to Biblical answers? There is only one way. FAITH. It means to " be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" ( Heb 11:1 NIV) C.S. Lewis says: "We must not encourage in ourselves or others any tendency to work up a subjective state which, if we succeeded, we should describe as "faith", with the idea that this will somehow insure the granting of our prayer.... The state of mind which desperate desire working on a strong imagination can manufacture is not faith in the Christian sense. It is a feat of psychological gymnastics." We can not make faith work. We can not do anything to get it. We must simply, yet at times it feels far from simple, believe. The above scripture says that we need to be "sure" and "certain". I'll admit, that is not easy when we have been subject to a world where we are taught to be skeptics. I am all for freedom. I do not approve of mindless folks following each other nowhere. That is why I am writing. I want to share with whoever will read, I have been there. I find myself there from time to time still. One thing has changed over the years. Instead of having questions and just allowing their bottomless pit of despair to overwhelm me, I look for the answers. I become certain. I talk to God, read His word and allow the truths I encounter to encourage me. He always answers. He may not do it right then. He may use someone else's life to give me the answer. He may make me wait for the answer and then give me one I did not really want. Nevertheless, He always answers. Of this I am sure. There is a song that describes the feeling of searching, looking, trying to find the answer and failing. But then the song reveals the same truth that I have found. I have found no better answer to life, love, or purpose. I choose everday to believe. When it is hard, I believe. When it is easy, when people mock me, when I hear other ways that sound good for the moment, when I see lifestyles that appear to be more "fun", when I just want to stop, take a break, give in... I believe. I believe in the scripture, the God-head, the relationship and the love my Father has given. He has never let me down. He has tested me. He has tried my patience. He has shaped me. He has broken my heart and healed it simultaneously. Always making me better than I was. He has never forsaken me, and I have always run back to Him when I have doubted. He is the only answer that has ever made sense. :)
I hope that this might encourage you, I hope you might believe- and when your faith is shaken, shake with it on your knees.- Hey that was pretty good, just might have to make that into a song ;)
Your Love by Brandon Heath
I felt it first when I was younger
A strange connection to the light
I tried to satisfy the hunger
I never got it right
I never got it right
So I climbed a mountain and I built an altar
Looked out as far as I could see
And everyday I’m getting older
I’m running outta dreams
I’m running outta dreams
But Your love
Your love
The only the thing that matters is Your love
Your love is all I have to give
Your love is enough to light up the darkness
It’s Your love
Your love
all I ever needed is Your love
You know the effort I have given
And you know exactly what it cost
And though my innocence was taken
Not everything is lost
Not everything is lost nooooo
God Bless YOU!
Heather Michelle
