Faith is Just a Leap Away

   I have to admit some of the stuff in the bible does seem pretty far fetched and hard to wrap a puny human mind around. But,through the years and with lots of study, I may not have a full understanding of what the book has to say, but I stand by it as a revelation of the person of God and his magnificent love for us. The bible requires you to think and reason and, yes, sometimes just take a leap of faith.
   When I first came to an awareness of my inadequacies before a holy God and my need for Jesus as my advocate to His father, I thought the bible was just a bunch of stories and pretty sayings. But I heard the truth about my sin nature. I heard about my need to turn from a life ruled by that sin nature. I heard that even though I was a sinner God loved me. I heard that because God loved me Jesus, His son, paid the price of that sin so I could be reconciled to God. I heard that I was now a new creation, a child of God. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
   So how does that happen; that amazing leap from dis-belief to faith? In my case I was obviously open to what I heard, but how did I become open?
   I think that my openness to hearing the gospel was that the ones that were bringing the Word of God to me were doing so mostly with the actions of their lives and not hammering me with what I "needed to do". These people put me at ease by allowing me to be myself, they accepted me for who I was and expressed Gods love for me by their very being and let me "work out my own salvation".
   Most importantly, as they brought the Word of God to me, they were also bringing the Holy Spirit into my life in a new and profound way. As I considered, debated, and wrestled with the Word of God, the Holy Spirit began to reveal himself into that opening heart of mine. So as I heard the Word of God I was also hearing "See how much I love you, see how much you need to come to me. Your way has no map. Follow me."
   Faith does not have to be a big thing at the start, it can be the size of a mustard seed, but with time it will grow. That basic seed of faith is the acceptance of the miracle that God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
   Take the Word of God into the world today with the Holy Spirit as you guide. Be honest, be truly loving; love the way God loves. You are a living letter from God; The Word is in you. Those you come in contact with will have the seed of faith planted in their lives. You may not see it, but have faith. It is there.
   

Alter Call

  
  Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him. (Romans 12:1)

Step 1: Build an alter to God.

Step 2: Put your life on it.

Step 3: Wait and see what God does with it.

  We are a part of something so large, so awesome, as we follow Jesus. Sometimes it's hard to comprehend the full magnitude of what we have signed up for when we asked Jesus into our hearts. It's enough though to realize that we are apart of something large and awesome and that God's hand is guiding it all. We can take comfort that our lives lived, offered up to him as a living sacrifice, is all we need to do to be a part of this miraculous adventure that Jesus leads us in.
  As we take God's love that He's given us, and share it with the world, we can rejoice that the largeness and awesomeness of God is being revealed through us.
  Wow! A kind word, a giving act and there is God in our midst. And these are no small miracles. There are no small miracles. A hand held out to help is as powerful as a hand held out to heal if it is done from a heart of love.
  So as we step out today, take God's love into the world and give it as extravagantly as he did toward us. Let the world see what God is doing with your life. In so doing we invite others to experience the miraculous adventure of living in God's kingdom. 

The Peace of God

Philippians 4:2-9

4:2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
4:3 And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.
4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

What an amazing passage of scripture. In this short and in someways seemingly out of place passage Paul not only gives a teaching that shows the depth of peace we as Christians can have but also how we can achieve it. He shows us how we can have peace with those around us, peace with ourselves, and peace with God.

Peace With Others

Paul, in the letter to the Philippians, focuses on how even in the presence of adversity, even to the point of death, we can have assurance of Christ's ability to impact our lives with a joyful, God given, peace. He then he turns to what seems like a minor civil matter within the Philippian congregation dealing with an un-named friction between two members of the Philippian church.
Every day we will most likely find conflict to some degree with the people around us. The key to dealing with these situations is to recognize the difference between re-acting and responding. In re-acting the conflict most likely escalate to anger, division, mistrust, and maybe even violence. On the other hand if we respond in an imitation of Christ, seeing the big picture of who the other person really is; someone who God loves and only wishes peace and happiness for, then we can move forward toward peace. In the Philippian text Paul encourages these two Christians to find common ground where they can agree, and writes, "I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord".When we are "of the same mind in the Lord": when we follow Jesus, imitate Jesus, dedicate our lives to Jesus, and doing this together, we will be at peace with one another.
But what if the conflict is with someone without an understanding of these spiritual concepts? Then it becomes even more important that we "respond" in a Christ-like manner. Paul wrote in Romans 12:18 "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." As in all situations in life this is a chance to reveal Christ to the world through your actions. 

Peace With Yourself

One of the hardest things it seems for people to do is find peace with ourselves. So many people walk around carrying the baggage of life; worries over family, finances, past sins. burdens that weigh us down, crush us, bury us, but Paul encourages us by writing, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus".
Think about where Paul is as he writes this. He is in prison in Rome awaiting trial; tomorrow could be his last. But in this letter he tells us of his peace. He lets us know that no matter what life throws at us we can have peace with ourselves because Jesus is in our life, we can be in communion with him. We can have fellowship with him no matter what our situation. We have "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding"

Peace With God

 So how do we find peace with God. How do we, when we struggle with finding peace with those around us and war with ourselves to find peace within, find peace with The Almighty God; Paul writes "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you."

Simply said: If it’s not true, then don’t invite it into you life. If it’s not honest, if it’s not just, or pure or lovely or you can' speak well of it or it has no virtue or it is not  praiseworthy, don’t let it take root in your heart. Run your actions, thoughts, and aspirations through this criteria you’ll have peace with God."

Is not, as a whole, this letter a teaching on how to not only find peace but how to live it.