Faith

We as humans, have faith.

All of us have faith.

It is where we place that faith that truly matters.

Think about the sunrise, when we sleep at night, we have faith that it will rise.
We have faith that seasons will come and go.
We have faith, that when rain falls, the temperature will drop.
We even have faith, that when we press the power button on our computers, that it would start.
Believe it or not, opening this web page is also an act of faith.
You believe that the page will load, and that there is something here for you to read.

If you didn't have that faith, you wouldn't have loaded the page in the first place, you would have been worried whenever the rain came, you would have been anxious about pressing the power button on your computer.

Faith in God, is something that we have lost.
Faith, in everything else, we can do without a second thought. In fact, without even a thought.

But when it comes to giving up our lives to God, who loves us, Jesus, who cares for us; that is when we balk.
That is when we start to shiver and be afraid and have a thousand and one thoughts.

Why are we afraid of the Creator who loves us? What is it about Him that makes things so... fearful?

Perhaps it is because we believe that God is someone that takes away everything dear to us.
Or perhaps we simply "lost faith" because of something that happened some time ago.

Where we place our faith, truly, is where it matters.

Some people say that they've lost faith in God.
I ask them, truly, where did they put their faith in, during those times of so-called trust?

In my experience, whenever I say "I have faith that God will do -this-"
I end up forcing my way into a situation, trying to force God to do something, going
"You're not fast enough!"
or maybe
"I want it done -THIS WAY- not -YOUR WAY-"
(Because obviously, we know the best way to handle every situation, right? Wrong.)

That, is faith in the self. That, is faith in the small scope of things that -I- see.
Not faith in my Father-God. The one who sees wider and much farther than I can EVER see.

So today, ask yourself, in your situation right now, in your sickness, in your stress, in your loneliness, in your anger, in your frustration, in your emptiness, in your longing...

With whom or what, are you putting your faith in?

Who is God? - The Choice

There are so many aspects of God that are nearly impossible to cover no matter how long you try. Or how hard you try. Today, I'll start with:

God is love

First and foremost. He sent His only son, Jesus, to die for us. But what does it really mean?

Let me ask you, as a parent, would you ever send your son or daughter to die for a people that could -choose- not to change?

Would you, send that brother, that sister, that wife of yours that you treasure so much, to die for a people who could -choose- not to believe?

Would you sacrifice everything that you have, on a maybe?

That's just a fragment of God's love for us. He KNEW we won't be able to change on our own, so He sent His son to die for us, so that we wouldn't have to pay for our mistakes, for an eternity.

Even then! He GAVE us the freedom to choose whether we wanted to be saved or not.
The door is open, but it is our choices that makes the difference.

Now, remember this, He doesn't actually NEED us!
Even then, He chose to save us human beings. He chose to trust us. He chose to believe in us.

It is difficult, of course; in this day and age. To understand and to know about a true father's true love.
Many of us today don't have fathers. Or mothers.

They may be there physically, but spiritually, emotionally and mentally, there's a father/mother shaped hole, waiting to be filled. Some didn't even have parents physically!

But is all lost?
Have we come so far in life that we've lost the only chances to fill that emptiness?
Some of us are old enough to be fathers of our own!

But no, it is never too late. Ask God, make the time, get down on your knees and cry out to Him.
He hears. He will answer. He knows that you are in need.

He's just waiting for you to choose.

Being Human

Let us, for a moment, step back from talking about being Christ-like.

The very basis, the fundamental, the foundation of being Christian, is by being a human person.

Let us be very honest with ourselves.

People in this era, -most- who are non-Christians, are more Christian than those of us who claim to follow Jesus!

Before we should even consider ourselves followers of Christ (which, by far, is a higher calling), we should start on the basic -human- level.

Charity, generosity, goodwill, joy - these are but a few of the things that we were created with.

Note that I said "with".

All these things that are good, were created with us. In us. It is we ourselves who forgo these things and gladly surrender them to the enemy! The cause of which, is the entrance of things like anger, rage, hatred, desolation, loneliness, emptiness into our lives.

At this point, we must forget about running around declaring "I will serve the Lord 100%!!!!!!!!"

If we do not have the basics of being a good human person, the rest is useless. When the foundation of a building is placed on sand, an ever shifting medium, how can the building stand strong in times of trouble? In fact, if the building were to collapse, what a danger it would be to other dwellers!

Why "be human?" you ask. The word is clear on that matter for "The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son. "-John 1:14 (italicize and bold added)

First and foremost, Jesus came to us as a human being.
Let that sink in, He didn't come as God.
He didn't come on a thundering chariot of lightning and thunder.
He was born in a manger as a human being.

If we claim to follow Jesus, we -must-, without a doubt, start where he started.
By being human.