TRUSTING GOD WITH THE BIG THINGS

This month the Christian Writers are sharing thoughts about the theme “nurture” in honor of Mother’s Day. Please click on their links to the right on the appropriate days.

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Tragedy. Heartbreak. Confusion. Direction.

Those are big, tough things in our lives.

How do you trust God with the big things when they feel so big you can’t even lift them high enough to hand them over? You start by trusting God with the little things.

Contemporary Christian music was one of God’s greatest creations. And some of the trance remixes are even better. I love the idea that, like David, I can lift my hands in praise and dance in God’s presence. I’m nearly as bad a dancer as David was. God still loves my dancing as much as He loved David’s; regardless of how graceful I am not.

Let’s face it though; it’s pretty hard to dance to the old hymns my parents loved. But some of those good old hymns had some pretty good messages. I often find myself singing the hymn, “My Faith is Built.” The part I like best is:

My faith is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.


There’s a lot in those two lines about Jesus’ sacrifice and the perfect life he lived. But, what speaks to me is the recognition that our faith is built. Once we accept Jesus’ gift of salvation, we don’t suddenly have all the faith we’ll ever have, or ever need.


Rather, our faith is built.

Christ is the foundation, but our faith builds over time. Each time we trust God with one more little thing, another solid brick is mortared into place in our solid wall of trusting Him. Made stronger for the times it needs to hold us up higher and more securely.

Remember what Paul told his friends in Corinth? “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it”. (1 Corinthians 3:2) Peter also used milk to indicate our growth in faith: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good”. (1 Peter 2: 2-3)

Paul and Peter both had personal encounters with Jesus. But even they recognized that our faith is built, by learning to surrender and trust God first with little things, and over time to trust Him with more and more. God is trustworthy and worthy of our trust. Allow God to show how to trust by:

• asking God to show you His glory
• praising Him for the beauty you see
• whispering moment-by-moment prayers of “stay with me, Jesus” and releasing one stressful second to Him at a time
• understanding that faith doesn’t mean having all the answers to all your questions right now
• building your faith happens a little bit at a time.

Our faith is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

PRAYER: Jesus please help us stop dancing on our own. Help us remember to take your hand and let you lead us in the dancing--even during the spins and dips of life. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What's your favorite hymn?

This is a reposting from www.WeUsed2BU.com 9/8/2011

SEEDS OF FAITH

One day back when Mom was Mommy, a golden chain winked at me from the corner of her jewelry box. As I lifted it into the air, a glass locket, set free from the velvet cushion came to rest in my small hand. A tiny yellow seed rested inside, so out of place nestled amid my mother’s sparkling treasures.

“What is this?” I asked.

Mom took me onto her knee, sharing the locket between our hands. “It’s a mustard seed.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Like in the big yellow bottle?”

Mother laughed. “Grandma gave me this necklace to remind me of Jesus. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds,” she said. “But it becomes one of the largest plants in a garden.”

My eyes widened.

“Jesus said that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed,” Mom continued, “we can tell the mountain to move and it will.”

That seemed like a lot of power in a little faith.

The necklace has been lost. But my mother brought Jesus’ parable to life that day. Even when my faith feels small, it is enough.

…if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please take my seed of faith and grow it into a great big plant with branches, leaves, fruit and deep, deep roots. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How can you nourish your seed of faith today?

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This month the Christian Writers are sharing thoughts about the theme “nurture” in honor of Mother’s Day. Please click on their links to the right on the appropriate days and read what they have to say.

I wrote this post to honor my mother and the way her faith has nurtured my own.

DO NOT WITHER OR FALL

Remembering the fragile poppy from Monday’s post, meditate on Isaiah 40:6-8

“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

PRAYER: Lord, help us not wither or fall in our faithfulness. Remind us of your word and help us live it today. Amen.

SPIRITUAL TRUTHS I LEARNED IN SWIM CLASS

I learned a few things about Jesus in swim class. And, when you think about it, that’s really not such a stretch for a parable about faith. After all, Jesus is the living water. And, we all remember that amazing walk he took out on the lake.

So here are three spiritual truths I learned in swimming class.

1. Don’t panic.

When my swim teacher made me jump into the deep end of the pool for the first time, I did what came natural: I panicked. Suddenly the concrete beneath my feet was gone. I couldn’t touch the bottom of the pool no matter how hard I stretched my toes. Surely I was a goner as soon as gravity took effect.

But gravity isn’t the only force at work in the pool. A pool also has water that pushes up. If the density of the object (me) is less than the density of the water, I will float. The deep water pushed me up and kept me mostly at the surface of the pool.

If I panic and curl up into a ball though, the entire mass of my body is spread out over a small surface. The water can’t keep me afloat. What will save me is to lie on my back and make my body as big as possible. The total mass of my body is then spread out over a larger area of water. The amount of water underneath each of my body parts is enough to keep me afloat.

Just like the best thing to do in the swimming pool is trust the water, so the best thing to do in life is to trust Jesus. Jesus is the living water beneath me; he will keep me afloat.

2. The deeper the water, the better I float.

Have you noticed that floating in three feet of water is much harder than floating in six feet? You have to really concentrate to keep your derrière from sinking when you’re in the shallow end.

But when you’re in the deep end, all you have to do is lean back and relax. It’s effortless, because of all that water underneath you, keeping you up.

That’s the second spiritual lesson I learned in swimming class. The deeper the water, the better I float.

In life, we have crises and trials. We have worries and troubles. We can try to float in shallow faith but we’ll often find our bottoms sinking and pulling us down. When we rely on Jesus; when we surrender the situation and our part in it to Him, our faith deepens. We are able to rest in Jesus’ arms as He holds us up and shows how good it is to be in the deep end with Him.

3. Jump In.

I’m one of those wimps who stands at the edge of the pool, thinking about finding a nice lounge chair instead. I usually head for the steps and take them one at a time, shrieking softly with each step as if the generally-warm water were somehow turning my limbs blue. Once in the water, I adjust quite quickly. But I recognize that I’ve lost time I could have spent having fun.

I love watching those brave souls march over to the edge of the pool, pinch their noses and jump. No hesitation. They just jump. And start having fun immediately.

Faith is like that. Non-believers who are “thinking” about this Christ thing, often want all the answers to all their questions before jumping in and believing. They think if they “know” everything, only then can they believe. That’s not a dig. God made us to wonder and to want answers.

But faith isn’t about knowing. First you have faith and then your faith grows. You have to just jump in and believe and then ask God to give you whatever answers He feels you are ready to understand.

And He will answer them. As He wishes. When He wants. In His timing. And to the degree that you are able to understand. That might take a while. But meanwhile, you’ll be in the pool with Him. Being blessed and feeling loved.

By standing at the edge of faith, you’re missing out on all the good stuff. All the growth you could be going through; all the relationship building you could be having with Jesus. All the fun. And just like it is with swimming, once you jump into a relationship of faith, you no longer worry about being cold, afraid or uncertain.

Yep, swim class can teach us a lot about faith. And we don’t have to worry about sunburned skin, chlorine-smelling towels or how we look in last year’s bathing suit. How awesome is that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for this world and the ordered laws of science that you created. Thank you for enabling us to understand how a few of these laws operate. Help us, Jesus, when we hesitate to jump into the water with you. Remind us that you are there to catch us and keep us afloat in your love and care. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Describe your first time in the deep end of the pool.

UP FROM THE GRAVE (Freelance Friday)

Resurrection:

1. Rising from dead

2. Revival of something old or long disused

Synonyms: rebirth, revival, put back into use

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Definitions? Wait a second. Am I at the right blog? This doesn't sound like a "Carol" post.

Well it is. It's actually my first post as part a blog chain with my friends at ChristianWriters.com (see the links to the left and read them all).

Our blog theme for April is "resurrection." Originally, I wrote a very clever post about zombies. Don't worry. I related it back to Jesus. But upon reflection, it occurred to me that zombies as my first Christian Writers post might scare away my blog chain friends. So, here's my grown-up attempt at a more "scholarly" post.

Back to the dictionary.

When thinking about resurrection, I wondered if there was something else besides Jesus’ resurrection; something inherent in the word itself that might be an encouragement to us. I found the following:

Types of Resurrection

Jesus’ physical resurrection is the foundation of our Christian assurance of eternal life with Him. But His physical resurrection is also a metaphor for three types of spiritual resurrections.

Resurrection means “rebirth.” Before we accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation, we were dead to Him. When we believed, Christ raised us to life with Him. It is the underlying meaning of the phrase “born again in Christ.” We were dead spiritually. We are born again. We have been spiritually resurrected.

Resurrection also means “revival.” If life has gotten in the way, worries may have overtaken us. We may have stopped seeking after God. We may no longer be attuned to His leading or feel Him pursuing our hearts. Sometimes Christ needs to raise us BACK to faith. We may need to ask Him to resurrect our faith. And then trust that He will.

Resurrection also means, “to put back into use. “ Perhaps, our faith is strong, but God has something new for us to do. A way He can use us for His purpose. Are we attuned to the leading of the Holy Spirit? Can we sense when God is trying to resurrect us for His purpose?

The Timing of Resurrection

Jesus spent three days in the grave. The God of the universe could have let Jesus die on the cross and then bring him back to life immediately. But He didn’t. Jesus lay dead for three days before his physical resurrection. We don’t know why he lay dead for three days. We don’t need to know why.

What we can apply to our faith is, in addition to trusting God to bring us back to spiritual life, we must also trust in His timing. God is able to spiritually resurrect us immediately. But WE may need time for a divine process to take place within us. God meets us where we are and at whatever level of our faith.

Then He allows us the time we need for the resurrection to occur.

Jesus’ Example of Resurrection

Jesus was our example not only in life. He was also an example to us in His death and resurrection. We are born again in Christ; resurrected from the death of sin. He can resurrect faith that may have faltered.

And Christ can raise us to new life again and again to new use for Him each day.

Rise up and sing praise for His ongoing work of resurrection in us. Up from the grave He arose…

PRAYER: Thank you Jesus for the cross. But not for the cross only, but also for your resurrection, giving us full assurance of your victory over death. Please resurrect our faith when we need it. Please help us be patient for your timing. Please utilize us for new uses that are for your glory. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Have you experienced resurrection in Christ? Have you had your faith renewed? Are you being put to new use by Christ?