In Other Words: Simple Faith

“Prayers arising from my needs are preparations for future mercies; Help me to honour thee by believing before I feel, for great is the sin if I make feeling a cause of faith.” from the book “The Valley of Vision” a collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions.

Simple prayers uttered with concrete faith please the Lord. Following the example of King David in Psalm 23 we can see how to voice our faith in expectation of God's action on our behalf.

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

1) Acknowledge that God keeps His promises.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. ~Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.

2) Remember the times He has brought peace to you in the past.

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. ~Psalm 40 NKJV

He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.

3) Learn to recognize the character of the Lord as evidenced in your life.

Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. ~Isaiah 45:24b NKJV

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

4) Realize that trials and tests are for molding your life into a reflection of His lovely Son, Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ~James 1:12 NKJV

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.

5) Rejoice in the small, everyday blessings that are little touches of grace to be appreciated regardless of circumstances.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ~James 1:17 NKJV

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

6) Claim the most important Promise!

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may day, he shall live.

And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." ~John 11:25-27 NKJV

Now pray for those needs, fully knowing that what you receive is His good will!

Karen at In Love W.I.T.H. Jesus is hosting In Other Words.
Visit her to read more and to share your own thoughts on today's quote.

In Other Words: Simple Faith

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2010/05/in-other-words-simple-faith.html

IOW: Fog on Mt. Moriah

Loni is hosting In Other Words today. Please visit her at Writing Canvas to share your thoughts and to read what others have posted.

“I learned that faith isn't tested by how often God answers prayers with a yes, but by my willingness to continue serving Him and thanking Him even when I don't have a clue as to what He is doing.”

~Gary House, Seeking the Face of God:
The Path to a More Intimate Relationship with Him

Driving down Interstate 77 from Virginia into North Carolina can be a spectacular drive, particularly when the sun is shining from the west and you arrive at the point where you can see the valley into North Carolina all the way to Mt. Airy. This drive can also be treacherous even on the best of days. The grade is at 4-1/2 percent and there is an elevation change of 1500 feet. All along the route there are escape ramps for tractor trailers that loose their brakes.

As long as the driver of the car or truck has kept up maintenance on his or her vehicle and obeys the traffic rules, including suggested speeds--not just speed limits, the trip can be accomplished in safety and enjoyment. Until something out of the driver's control appears...like fog.

Driving in fog changes the environment from friendly to dangerous instantly. On that particular stretch of I-77 the fog settles all around your car and it is impossible to see anything ahead or behind you. Turning on your headlights is a necessity, but increasing their brightness by using your high beams is a mistake as the fog seems brighter and closer to your car. You have to be satisfied with driving slowly and cautiously seeing just a few feet in front of your car, always being on the lookout for other vehicles suddenly appearing right in front of you.

No matter how many times you have made that trip, the danger of the fog never becomes safer. Being familiar with the route helps only in that you can anticipate where the road will curve next. You have no control over what is around that curve and little time to prepare for obstacles.

I wonder if Abraham felt like he was in a blinding fog as he obeyed God and headed to Mt. Moriah with his son Isaac. He knew the route, he packed enough provisions for the trip. He also packed the supplies for a sacrifice. These things were easily identified, so the entire community probably knew Abraham and Isaac were going to the mountains to worship the Lord with a sacrifice. The three day trip must have seemed so short to Abraham as he thought over the Lord's directive:

"Abraham! Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you." Genesis 22:1-2 MSG

This boy Abraham loved was the child of promise given to him in his old age. He had waited 25 years for Isaac to be born. Just the wait for the child was a test of faith in itself. Abraham passed that test with only a few bumps along the way. But now Abraham had to be questioning God...since He had been clear that His promise to make Abraham a great nation would be accomplished though Isaac.

At the point Abraham and Isaac took the supplies for the sacrifice and turned up the mountain to hike to the top of Mt. Moriah, Isaac noticed a vital part of the sacrificial ritual was missing. Isaac was probably not the small child that popular picture Bibles depict. Likely he was a teenager and in their culture, already considered an adult. I suspect Isaac was aware of the possibilities when he questioned his father.

"My father! We have flint and wood, but where's the sheep for the burnt offering?" Genesis 22:7 MSG

The fog must have seemed really thick at this point. Abraham didn't know what God was going to do. He just knew that the God he had acknowledged at Beersheba (Genesis 21:33-34) as El Olam, the Eternal God, would keep His promise to use Isaac as the seed for a great nation. But Abraham understood the ritual of sacrifice. It involved binding the sacrifice, cutting it's throat, letting the blood coat the altar, then burning it. He intended to follow through with what he knew to do even though you know he was in agony at the thought of doing those things to his son.

Yet Abraham answered Isaac's question with quiet faith.

"God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." Genesis 22:8 NASB

Without understanding why God was requiring this sacrifice, Abraham did as he was told.

They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son. Genesis 22:9-10 MSG

I love how Mrs. L.B. Cowman includes the conclusion of this story in Streams in the Desert: May 9 devotion.

Once Abraham's faith had victoriously endured its greatest test, the Angel of the Lord--the Lord Jesus, Jehovah, and He in whom the "many promises God has made..."--spoke to him and said, "Now I know that you fear God" (Genesis 22:12). The Lord said to him, in effect, "Because you have trusted me through this great trial, I will trust you, and you will forever be 'my friend' (Isaiah 41:8)." The Lord promised Abraham, "I will surely bless you...and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me" (Genesis 22:17-18).

Do you think that fog Abraham had been walking in just melted away, burned off by the radiance of God's mercy and blessing?

God is faithful to His own, even when we are clueless as to His purpose. Not being able to see the end of the road (or more than a few feet in front of us) should cause us to move closer to God, holding on to Him tightly as we wait for Him to show us the way.

"Faith, when walking through the dark with God, only asks Him to hold his hand more tightly." ~ Phillips Brooks, Episcopal minister and author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

IOW: Fog on Mt. Moriah

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/05/iow-fog-on-mt-moriah.html

In Other Words: REAL LIVING

Nina is hosting In Other Words at Mama'a Little Treasures. Visit her to read more IOW posts and to link your own.

You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not live in a world but a world lives in you.

Frederick Buechner
Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale

Our families and friends influence us in ways in which we may not even be aware. Habits and preferences are formed as much through interaction and observation as through instruction.

An example I've heard told many times is about two sisters and the holiday ham. Each time the sisters baked a ham, they cut the end of it off. This practice continued for years until one sister's new daughter-in-law asked, "Why?" The woman replied, "That's how my mother did it." Again the daughter-in-law asked, "Why?" The woman called her sister and asked her why she also cut the end of the ham off. The other sister's reply: "That's how Mother always did it." Curiosity peaked, the sisters called their mother to ask why. Their mother's response: "When you were growing up, my roasting pan was too small to fit the whole ham, so I cut the end off."

So many of our adult responses come from our background - unfortunately even negative ones. I think that is partially why Jesus said

If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26 NASB)

My Bible has a polite little side note for the word hate: "i.e., by comparison of his love for me." While I agree with this idea, I have to think it perhaps is a bit mild and in the case of our quote today, not as descriptive as it needs to be.

...Because not all of the influences from our family and friends is based on what was (or is) best for us.

Amazingly enough, an abused child still loves his father. Yet that relationship tends to color his perception of God the Father once he becomes a believer in Christ. Let's get real here: How often have we thought, "OK, God... When are you going to zap me? When do I have to pay for that awful thing I did, or said, or thought back x years (minutes) ago?"

Or if we've had a wonderful life to this point and God calls us to step out into unknown territory... Do we cling to our "good life" - parents, children, job, home - hesitating to put a foot in the raging waters of change?

What does hesitation or holding on to the influences of our families and friends benefit when God calls our name?

Do you remember the story of the woman with the alabaster box of costly perfume?

This woman with the damaged past (Luke calls her a sinner or an immoral woman) takes this box and pours it over Jesus' feet where it mingles with her tears. She then dries his feet with her hair. The disciples - the very friends of Jesus and supposedly the leaders of the new believers - grumble in indignation saying

Why this waste? (Matthew 26:8)

What does Jesus say about this woman giving her best to him, and doing it in an attitude of complete abandon and submission to the Lord regardless of what the other believers think of her?

She has done Me a good deed.

Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her. (Matthew 26:10b, 13 NASB)

How can we be like this woman with the alabaster box?

Can we walk away from the consuming influence of our world? The absorption in pleasing everyone around us?

Can we focus on doing whatever it takes to please our Lord...even if it means sacrificing our best?

And beyond that, can we push past the fear of losing what only God truly holds and step out into the raging waters to gain the promises and blessing God has on the other side of the river for us as we live REAL LIVES of devotion to Jesus Christ?

When you come to the edge of the waters...you shall stand still in the [raging waters].

When...the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), which were flowing down from above the waters stood up and rose in one heap.

And the priests who carried the ark of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground. (Joshua 5:8b, 16-17 NASB)

It is one simple step to just dip our feet into the water, it becomes complicated when we look at that big wall of our families and friends opinions and needs but still choose to stand firm. If we can focus on Jesus, our heads bowed in complete submission to Him...seeing only Him, listening only to His voice, our lives of worship and service become REAL.

Look what the priest faith did for Israel: Everyone crossed the flooding river in safety. Look what the woman with the alabaster's box did for us: We yearn to worship like she did and God increases our love and desire for Him when we read her story.

How will our REAL LIVES in Him bless our families and friends we give up to His care as we follow Him obediently?

Father, Hold tight to my hand as I step into my faith walk, trusting you to care for my family, my friends, all my other concerns...so that I can follow my heart for You and serve Your Son with complete abandon.

In Other Words: REAL LIVING

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-other-words-giving-him-your.html

Power's Back On: IOW-Faith Steps, WFW, & Thankful Thursday

We've had a weather related disaster week! An outdoor faucet got bumped and the pipe broke clean off at the main line underground. Gushing water in the yard directed us to the problem and after hours of digging and mending in the snow/ice/rain mix, we had water coming out of the tap not the ground. Then the snow/ice/rain mix caused the downing of trees which snapped power lines...and we spent a day huddled in the living room around the fireplace. As a result of all these adventures, my posts this week are combined into this one.




My husband and I take spur of the moment mini-vacations all year long. Most of the trips are just for an afternoon or a single day. Our children got us a Garmin Nuvi for Christmas to make these little trips easier. The Nuvi is a global positioning device that uses signals from satellites to triangulate our location and that of whatever destination we tell it.

The first few days, we input my parents' address (8 miles away), a restaurant's name (15 miles away), and the mall bookstore (25 miles away). We had fun with it and my husband was (and still is) amazed at the technology that could fit in the palm of his hand and has the ability to take us from our home to any destination we told it.

On the Friday after Christmas my husband's aunt died in Akron, Ohio (a five-hour drive away). When we left for the funeral on Monday afternoon, all we took was an overnight bag, our cell phones, the address of the funeral home on a piece of paper, and the Nuvi. We put the address into the Nuvi and set off. We were amazed when, following the turn-by-turn directions, we arrived at the parking lot of the funeral home.

On the way home we encountered the first of several drawbacks to blind faith in technology. As we approached an interstate on-ramp and the Nuvi said, "turn right onto ramp," my husband turned right at the first turn he saw -- a road that ran parallel with the on-ramp. We had gotten accustomed to obeying the Nuvi's directions and momentarily ignored what our own eyes told us. After a trip to Nashville later that week, we finally started keeping our eyes and minds fully engaged in our travels, using the Nuvi as the tool it is meant to be.


Often our steps of faith are just like that week of learning and relearning we had. We have our ulitimate destination assured, but there are many turns and detours along the way. God expects us to be informed followers - not stepping out blindly - while trusting Him as we go. He gives us guidance through His word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Because the destination is already secured, it really isn't the point of the trip. Each step (and/or turn) on the journey is the point. Having faith in God and His leading -- trusting His good purpose because we have studied and understood His map (read the Bible and prayed), growing into the person He has called us to be...that is the point of the journey.

Lord, thank You for Your guidance and the trust You never break. Help my faith be strong and steady for the journey on which You have set me. Let me always look to You for the next step and the next. Amen.

• Denise is the host of In Other Words this week at her blog "Shortybear's Place."
• Amy is the host of Word-filled Wednesday at her blog "The 160-Acre Woods."
• Lori is hosting Thankful Thursday this week at her blog "Lori's Reflections."
  

Power's Back On: IOW-Faith Steps, WFW, & Thankful Thursday

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/01/powers-back-on-iow-faith-steps-wfw.html

IOW: Active Faith

"If God said that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, then the whale swallowed Jonah, and we do not need a scientist to measure the gullet of a whale."

~A. W. Tozer~

Faith is all about believing. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

Popular culture tells us that unless science proves it, a thing (idea, belief) is untrue. The main science building at our local university has these words carved in stone across the entire 4-story front:

Truth is Beauty,
Science is Truth

When I first read that, I batted around in my mind that it was half right. Now I've come to the conclusion that perhaps, using the right perspective, it is entirely right: A Biblical worldview can open our eyes --

Jesus is Truth,
Therefore Truth is Beauty
Honest Scientific study proves Creation
Jesus is Creator
This Science is Truth

But...how much does this kind of proof matter in the whole scheme of things?

Faith pleases God."But without faith it is impossible to please Him" Hebrews 11:6a (NKJV)

My dear husband and I were discussing today's quote over coffee Monday morning. His gifts of wisdom and discernment were evident with his words:

"Our believing in the miracle of the flood shouldn't be dependent
on the ability to fit x-number of animals into the dimensions of the ark."

Faith is an active verb. Belief is not faith, just the seed that grows into it. Without proper care, belief alone leads to death. "Even the demons believe." James 2:19b (NKJV)

In order for belief to become faith, we must get involved our heart, mind, body, and soul:

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 2:1-5 (NIV)

Faith is the real proof and power. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" Romans 1:16-17 (NKJV)

As my husband finished his coffee and walked out of the room, he tossed out this tidbit for me to chew on:

In referring to the flood and ark-
"Those are all minor miracles compared to
the omniscience and omnipresence of God.
That He can be everywhere and know everything is mind-boggling."

The psalmist put it in these words:

"Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, Your are there,
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold You are there,
If I take the wings of morning
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall uphold me."
Psalm 139:7-10 (NKJV)

One final thought. Since salvation from God is revealed "from faith to faith" - our faith shared with another to bring him or her also to faith, how are you going to exercise your faith this week?

Deborah is hosting In Other Words at her site Chocolate and Coffee. If you want to participate, write a blog about the quote in the box above on your site then click on the link to Deborah's blog and leave your URL in the Mr. Linky box. You will also find links for the other participants' blogs.

IOW: Active Faith

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2008/09/iow-active-faith.html