Faith Archives – Page 35 of 36

How Has God Changed Your Perspective About Yourself?

05.03.2016 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome to May, where hopefully we see far more flowers than we have during April in my (Tracy’s) neck of the woods. We’ve encountered a month full of showers – lots of snow showers. The white fluffy stuff seems like an affront come this time of year. Stealing time, winter keeps the blooms we long for from bursting forth into spring’s first breath.

The season causes our eyes to scan the ground as we look for signs of spring. What is it about those first flowers that delight us so? And how do flowers relate to our topic this month here at FACETS of Faith? How has God changed your perspective about yourself?

It took a few winter seasons to see the significant change and beauty God desired to bring into my life. During those really tough times where I felt frozen, buried beneath the snow, God was doing something significant. He was changing my perspective about me, and in doing so He changed me.

In order for a flower to grow, she needs to be nurtured. Her first baby shoots can’t withstand harsh conditions.

One of the most significant ways God changed my perspective about me was by revealing what His perspective was (and is) of me.

I came from a place where I excelled at internally flogging myself for all my failures. Oh and the list of those was long! How could I have done that? No wonder my life turned out to be such a train wreck. Maybe I deserved to be sitting in a ditch, life destroyed. What happened to me? How could I make so many wrong turns? Look at all the weeds – so many they choke out any hope of a beautiful bloom. You’re not (insert adjective here) enough.

I lacked compassion toward myself. Can you relate?

God heard that self-critical voice in my head. He had something to say about that. Too much was at stake for me to berate myself and believe the belittling words any longer. Future blooms, mine and others, depended upon digging deep into God’s perception of me. In spite of my failures. He knew (and knows) they exist. But eyes of Love saw through those to what I could become on the receiving end of His compassion.

Someone recently asked me how I came to love Jesus so much. I think the root is right here: God’s mercy reached in and nurtured my soul.

Early on, I felt like I was supposed to journal and ask God a question. It was a terrifying question. I wanted to hide from what I might hear. It was not only my voice I was accustomed to hearing harsh words from. There were plenty of humans who had hurled accusations and unkindness my way. My tender shoots couldn’t take any more torturous words from anyone.

I wasn’t sure I could handle what God had to say. I was too ashamed and certainly not feeling brave enough for any more berating. Even so, I felt a nudge. Nudge. Deep breath. Can I take this plunge? Do I want to know what God thinks of me? I don’t think I can. Oh, just jump! Jump already!

I leapt. Words scampered across the page of my journal.

God, what do you think of me?

I waited for the word gauntlet to drop.

No such thing happened. Mercifully, God’s words were the ones I longed to hear my whole life. Tender. Loving. Soft and gentle. In spite of my sin. Yes, He saw it, but those first tender shoots of our time together He said nothing of it. Not one word. Even though He had every right to. And that endeared me to Him FOREVER. Even now, it moves me to tears. How could it not?

What words do you long to hear?

My child, you are enough.

My dear, you are my delight.

You are Mine.

You are dearly and deeply loved.

I have seen all that has happened to you. It is not okay. Let me hold you in my arms.

You are forgiven.

I am not ashamed of you. Hold your head high.

I am proud of you.

You are worthy.

I have a calling hand-selected just for you. Only you can fill it.

That’s the place, the nutrient rich soil of mercy and forgiveness through the sweetest of words, where beauty in every flower emerges. Spring has arrived. And look at her blooms! God’s Word has this to say regarding beauty:

Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.—1 Peter 3:4 NIV

God helped me to see the importance of nurturing my inner self. He led by example. His words of compassion taught me the power of their impact on a person’s spirit. Mine.

The more I thought about His words and how they touched my heart, the more I realized how important the words I spoke over myself (whether silent or aloud) carried weight. I could either be weighed down by my words as the enemy attempted to keep me buried beneath the dirt, or I could choose God’s way. I could tap into the gentle and quiet spirit God was growing in me and speak sweet words over myself.

Timid at first, I began to give it a try.

Now, no word weapon formed against me will ever prosper again. Nope. You see I know whose I am and how much I am loved. I believe in myself enough to fight the spiritual battle and come out victorious.

Old Man Satan not fair keeping our flowers in hibernation when we long for them to burst forth into spring’s first breath. So let’s not let him. We’ll take authority with our words.

For me, I will remember how God sees me and not believe one stinking lie the enemy would like me to believe about myself. I’m too busy trying to bloom. I’m too busy pointing other flowers to smell the sweet intoxicating aroma of the love of Jesus, so they can bloom too. God’s glory bound to be revealed in a beautiful garden of fragrant flowers pointing to the Son.

How has God changed your perspective about yourself (or how does He want to)? 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!