Archives for March 2016

The Beauty of Friendship and How Jesus Shaped Mine

03.29.2016 by Tracy Stella //

This month the Facets of Faith triad explores friendship from each of our perspective. Like a prism every angle shines light into the beauty we behold as our eyes feast on friendship and what if offers.

It is in community that our light shines brightest. We reflect hope and the love of Christ as we authentically engage with one another. I (Tracy) pray you are surrounded with a group of radiant friends who love you for who you are—imperfections and all.

True friendship sees past our blemishes and looks for the beauty God places within us. Grace given one girlfriend to another as she chooses to see the good God made, not the gunk. She could look for what is tarnished. Instead, she sees the light within. She helps us to shine ever brighter as she walks alongside us in prayer, encouragement, and love. For her we are grateful.

Sometimes God uses friendships to buff our blemishes in a loving fashion, so our imperfections inhibit us less. It is in the context of loving and caring friendship we can hear words that challenge. When we know her heart is for us, ours remains soft and pliable to what our “sister” has to say. Friends have earned trust and the right to speak truth in love to us.

Anyone can have a conversation based on fluff. Friendship helps us share what is real in our hearts, lives, dreams, and hopes … and sometimes hurts. I’m grateful for real friends who get to see the real me and choose to love me well. Friends don’t have to. I think that’s what makes friendship so special. Friendship is a choice.

Healthy friendship isn’t black and white. It’s vibrant and full of color. Like a rainbow the sum of all the colorful relationships bless me. If I were to pull out only the blue, or perhaps only the yellow, they would be lovely colors in and of themselves. But it’s the compilation of friendships that bring life to light and help me to live fully alive.

I am fortunate to have a rainbow of friends—a color extravaganza—who radiate Christ’s light. Individual relationships eclectic, but equally important, in the way they bless me. The cumulative impact diversity of friendships offer: they delight every nook and cranny of my heart. Some tickle my funny bone. Some scratch my cerebellum. Some sit sister-to-sister in prayer. All beautiful, their beauty seen most when you look into their hearts. One thing each of them has in common—they love Jesus.

That leads me to the question: How has a relationship with Jesus helped shape my friendships?

#1 Sometimes we need to separate from certain people. I remember feeling exceptionally lonely when I first became a believer in Christ. God separated me (at least for a season) from certain relationships. That severing had less to do with them and more to do with me. He needed to remove me from my sinful behavior. And because of that, God pulled me away from everything and everyone that would have reminded me of who I used to be, not who God was making me new to be.

#2 We are all worthy of Christian fellowship. God doesn’t have a ranking system – this one better than that. At first, I didn’t feel worthy of Christian friendship. I deemed myself ineligible because of my sin. Not good enough to be with “God people”. But He was gracious to put me in a small group who helped me early on in my journey. They were wonderful and patient, accepting me exactly how I entered the group—pretty broken. But in walking alongside me, they helped me not to stay there.

As my confidence grew and my former feelings of shame diminished, God brought mighty women of God into my life. It boggles my brain—this amazing group of women God surrounded me with. Where once I would have been intimidated, I am now secure because I am secure in whom I am in Christ. Out of that security better relationships form.

#3 God sees what we cannot. It is best to let Him choose our friendships. I am blessed beyond measure by the beautiful relationships God has brought forth. Like a diamond, He excavated each one. He saw things I didn’t see; connections beneath the surface. Contributions I would need. Contributions I could make. God knows our past, present, and future and that of our friends’ past, present, and future. Let Him hand select what your rainbow of friends looks like. With Creator God crafting your friendships, they are bound to be equally vibrant.

#4 My relationship with Jesus reveals the importance of godly friendships. I now see the significance of my closest friendships being with those who also have a close relationship with Christ. Not in some exclusive club fashion. No. Anyone can join Club Jesus. (Say “yes” to Him and you are a member.) But in order for friendships to have significant influence in my life, I need to know they are also influenced by Christ. It’s important for my ongoing spiritual health.

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-whatever they do prospers.—Psalm 1:1-3 NIV

I will be friendly with all, but I will allow godly friendships to be the ones authorized to speak into my life. I want to be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields good fruit. I need good friendships to do that! We all do!

How has a relationship with Jesus shaped your friendships? Join the conversation.

Twelve Minutes to Faith

03.15.2016 by Kim Findlay //

Faith. I don’t know where I (Kim) would be if it weren’t for my faith. Perhaps breath would no longer fill my lungs nor might my life be defined by hope. I certainly would have missed the story of redemption woven throughout the broken threads of my life. Broken threads I never thought would be made whole again, let alone woven into something so breathtakingly intricate and beautiful.

And all it took was twelve minutes. Twelve minutes plus a lifetime.

I remember the day I pulled into my driveway and stared in shock at the sight before me.

Smoke. Pouring from my home.

I’d just returned to retrieve something I needed for work. I was only gone twelve minutes.

Twelve minutes that forever changed my life. Twelve minutes that altered the course of my life, my heart, and my faith.

And somewhere within those twelve minutes, my greatest fear became my most tragic reality as my youngest daughter took her last breath.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11, NLT

I grew up knowing Jesus. I made a decision to follow Jesus when I was eight. I began teaching Sunday School when I was fourteen, and by the time I was twenty-eight I was on staff at a church leading children’s ministry. Faith was not only a way of life, it was my life.

When I was eight, my mom and dad gave me my first Bible. As I entered high school, I graduated from the little kids bible to one specifically designed for students. Written in my mom’s beautifully scripted hand on the inside cover was a verse that guides my life.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV

Trust was crucial for me growing up. I knew I could trust my parents; they were always with me. I knew I could trust God; the Bible told me so. Maybe it was the number of moves we’d done by the time I was eight, or perhaps it was the fear that seemed to follow me everywhere I went, but somehow fear grew bigger than my ability to trust.

Fear of the unknown.

Fear of rejection.

Fear of failure.

Fear of loss.

I’m not exactly sure where the fear first grabbed hold but I often felt its tentacles wrap around my soul, squeezing out any sense of calm, of peace, of comfort.

My biggest fear was death. I remember standing next to my parents’ bed in the middle of the night as a young child, sobbing in fear as remnants of a nightmare slowly trickled away. A nightmare where one of my parents died and left me behind.

As years passed and I became a mom, my fear shifted from losing my parents to that of losing a child. Deep fear. Real fear. Fear that sometimes faded as I learned to trust in the One who is bigger, stronger, and more powerful but sometimes reared its ugly head.

That beautifully scripted verse often came to mind. I thought if I trusted God enough, he would make my path straight. He would keep my family safe and my life free from death and loss.

Right?

Then came that fateful day with those twelve minutes. Twelve minutes where death stormed into my life and snatched away my precious Emma. My greatest fear now became my reality.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1, NIV

Perhaps as you’re reading your own fears are bubbling to the surface. Perhaps it’s not losing a child but losing a spouse, or feeling like you’re not enough and one day you fear someone might agree with you. Perhaps you, too, have stared death in the face through the eyes of your mom or a sibling and you silently scream, “me, too!”

Lean in here, precious one. Lean in close as I whisper this to you . . .

Faith is not about believing God enough so bad things don’t happen. Faith is believing that when those bad things happen, God is enough. He does not change. His love does not end. Neither will His grace or mercy or compassion (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Faith is believing that what Scripture says about God’s character is true, that His ways are higher than we can imagine (Isaiah 55:9), and He will do immeasurably more than we might every imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Good things. Eternity-changing things.

Faith is saying yes to God’s plan even though your heart breaks and life hurts because you believe He is working all things for good (Romans 8:28). Somehow. Someway. Faith is believing nothing separates us from God, from His love or grace or protection (Romans 8:38-39).

That’s what twelve minutes taught me about faith, faith that draws me close to my loving Father no matter what may come my way. Twelve minutes plus a lifetime of faith.

Growing Faith: Seasons and Perspectives

03.08.2016 by Jennifer Howe //

I (Jennifer) labored over the topic of faith for this post. I’m not sure how to describe the seasons and my ever-growing understanding of faith. I define it like this—

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. Hebrews 11:1 CSB

Faith can be as easy as sitting in a chair, knowing it will hold the weight; but it can seem as complex as stepping out of the boat onto the waves driven by strong winds (Matthew 14:21-33). How are these two scenarios related? It’s the unknown factor in both. The chair may not hold me. I may not walk on the waves; I might even drown. I’ve yet to suffer a panic attack over a chair, but the waves…those could terrify me.

My faith has been like that. Simple chairs. Crashing waves.

Faith requires following through when we can’t see the path we’ll take or the destination.

My experience of faith is like that. When I first began to live with God, I was happy to trust Jesus with my laundry list of sins. It was long and ugly. I had obviously offended God with my decisions if I just looked at the “Big Ten” in Exodus 20. My Bible showed every kind of proof that Jesus could be trusted with my sin. Through trust in Jesus’ payment at the cross I could have peace with the holy, perfect God.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 CSB (emphasis mine)

But, could I trust the Father with my “somewhere out there eternity” and my life? Life decisions are tiny and moment-by-moment—and they are monumental every so often. Can He be trusted with everything? This is all about the waves!

At the crux of it are two straightforward, difficult decisions: trust Jesus with your sins at the cross for the saving of your life and trust Him with more and more life choices for the direction and course correction of your life.

Having only a vague idea where each decision may land but making the decision based in biblical truth anyway—that’s faith. For some, that’s embarking on an exciting adventure. For others, it’s a frightening look at the waves, wondering if they will bear the weight. Faith is like that.

Something you should know is that I can be happy in the land of obvious, easy black and white. In one season of life I thought my faith was like that: things should fit neatly in the right-wrong or good-bad extreme categories. That feels easy when the discussion is about lying, stealing, and murder. It’s troubling when a beer, a tattoo, or junk food becomes the topic of conversation. I held strong, self-assured opinions, and I forced my perspectives and stark contrasts on others. I’m not proud of it. That had little to do with biblical faith.

And then God did something new.

One of many beautiful, golden threads woven into the fabric of faith is grace. Someone pointed out graceless words flowing from my heart, and I was stunned. Admittedly, my black-white paradigm was often unloving and uncaring when I talked with others.

“As a Christian, you can’t do THAT! You’re sinning!”

I couldn’t argue with the evidence. I had once cherished the grace upon grace I read about in the Bible, but I began to overlook the lovely gracious words to focus on the hard, “no wiggle room” truth. In my eyes, the scales of truth and justice became much larger than the distant, old, wooden cross.

Faith decisions only came out of extremes, rather than asking important questions—What does God have to say about this for me? What true and loving thing does He say about this for the people of God?

That season was longer and sadder than I’d like to admit, but by God’s grace I was drawn back to the Word of God again. Out of that precious time came a little known place in the blogosphere: Fragrant Grace.

That’s when faith, truth, and grace intertwined. So precious!

Then a new season began to take hold—the season I’m waking to and discovering now.

Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Philippians 1:27a

When I remember Jesus’ incredible, loving sacrifice on the cross, it starts to get real. I accept the benefits of the blood of Jesus and His name as my identity confidently now and forever. As a daughter of God something in my heart, mind, words, and actions starts to look different (even if it’s far from perfect!). I’m not doing anything as if I earn points, but I do it because I love the One who assigned infinite value to my life by dying for me. I begin to want to live a life worthy of the God who saved me from myself and my sin. It’s a bit more bold and a little louder. Why? Because rightly placed and understood faith makes an eternal difference for me—and for every single soul on earth. And because I’m not sure the unseen, private faith turns out to be any faith at all.

Thanks for reading! Join the conversation about faith in the comments below. We’d love to hear about your journey toward a vibrant faith. Don’t forget to share FACETS on Facebook and Twitter!