Something Borrowed

Yesterday afternoon I finished reading "In His Steps" by Charles Sheldon, and I started thinking about modern Christianity. It seems that so many of us Christians today borrow our faith. And by that I mean, we use the faith of someone else, or the faith that we used to have, to cover up the gaps in our present faith. We have so much knowledge today about how to be a great Christian, how to walk as Christ walked, and how to talk as He talked, and yet there is a surprising shortage of people who actually do. I'm guilty of this myself! I know all the right words to say and the all the proper things to do, but I often don't allow my heart to be changed by the wisdom that I glean from others. I substitute a passion for Christ, with a shallow excitement for the thrilling aspect of doing things for Him. And the knowledge that I have of God, comes not from intense hours spent in His presence, but information I have obtained from other peoples experience of Him. While it is good to hear and be inspired by what other people have to say, it is wrong to substitute their words, for the words of the Father. So the question I have is this: What if we as Christians began laying aside the words of others, and learned to listen to the words of our King, applying them to our lives, without thought to the personal cost? That question may never be answered until we ourselves muster the courage to know Christ, and stop borrowing our faith.

Treasures

                              Treasures
                        Martha Snell Nicholson

                     One by one He took them from me,
                     All the things I valued most,
                     Until I was empty-handed;
                     Every glittering toy was lost,

                     And I walked earth's highways, grieving,
                     In my rags and poverty,        
                     Till I heard His voice inviting,
                    "Lift your empty hands to Me!"

                     So I held my hands toward heaven,
                     And He filled them with a store,
                     Of His own transcendent riches,
                     Till they could contain no more.

                     And at last I comprehended,
                     With my stupid mind and dull,
                     That God COULD not pour His riches
                     Into hands already full!

Our Hope

                 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
                                                                               -Jeremiah 17:7

The events surrounding the predicted rapture this weekend have been disturbing to say the least. But I think the thing that got to me most in all of this madness, was the reports of mothers killing their own children and then committing suicide. I couldn't fathom the kind of fear that would drive people to this extreme, but then I realized that its the fear of those who have no hope. Its the fear of those without the Lord. I am so blessed to live in a family that has grounded me in the Christ and has taught me of salvation so that I don't have to live in this fear. But what of the others? The ones who live with out hope, without truth? What chance do they have to live in peace, and to have the ability to laugh at the days to come? Absolutely none, unless we tell them the Truth. As I thought about this, I began to wonder what part Christians played in all this. Could we have prevented this senseless loss of lives? I believe that we could have. I believe that if more of us had been bolder in our stand, and told others of the Truth, not as many would have believed the lie. Maybe not all would  have accepted, but more might have had the chance. We have been given the most incredible gift in the world, the gift of life, the gift of hope, the gift of peace, and we do wrong to hide this gift! Matthew 5:15 says:"Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." Oh, let us not hide our hope, but let us set it out for all the world to see!

Further up and Further In

I have been thinking lately about beginning a blog, because for one I love to write, and for two, I want to have a place to share what God is doing in my life. I've held off because of various reasons, until today, when I went to a Christian writers conference where they shared the benefits of having a blog. This in conjunction with several other recent events has led me to believe that I needed to start this blog. I am naturally a very closed off person, I don't share my inner thoughts and feelings, with anyone easily, even close friends. But lately I've been feeling God calling me out of my comfort zone. Calling me to live in His strength and His will, without the protection and safety of my shell. I have been especially timid in my sharing of Him and His word, and what He means in my life, and I see this blog as a way to proclaim, with boldness to the world, that Christ is my everything. Song of Solomon 8:6 says: "Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame." (Can you tell this is where I got the name for my blog?) So, this is exactly what I plan to do, and I want you to join me. Join me on this journey of discovering God's will for my life, and pray that we may be an encouragement to each other, to be always going further up and further into God's perfect plan.