Journal of Faith: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12

I don't do negative name calling in my home.  I Believe that to call someone something is either a blessing or a curse depending on how you identify them, and in many cases children become a version of what you call them. When I named my children I considered their names carefully so that each time that I would call them I would be declaring something good about them.  No one that I know of in their right mind likes being called out of their name (being called something that they don't prefer).  Neither does anyone that I know of in their right mind want to be called the bad things that they have done or experienced.  I believe that it is necessary call out events (recognize the truth of situations) and behaviors both positive and negative (recognize the choices that are being made) so that we can grow and/or celebrate, but it is never our job to call out people (make a conclusion concerning their worth). I would even venture to say  that this includes ourselves...

Luke 9 is a thick chapter of scripture full of healing, revelation, and miracles.  In these verses you'll find success and failure, faith and fear.  The thing that sticks in my heart the most is the challenge.  Luke 9:60-62 depicts some quick exchanges with men who were challenged to join Jesus on his journey.  The first man wanted to join Jesus but he wanted to resolve his father's death first, and the second was called by Jesus but wanted to go back home to say goodbye to his family first.  Jesus did not mince words when he said that they were not fit for the kingdom.  Jesus put it this way, " No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" Luke 9:62.   This statement causes me to ask some questions "What does it mean to be fit for the kingdom?"  "What Kingdom?"  "Am I fit for the kingdom?" What does it mean to be fit for the kingdom?  Well, if I look at the example that Jesus gave i...

I have made so many decisions out of fear:  fear of being wrong, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of being hated, fear of being alone, fear of hurting others, fear of being hurt, and so many others.  I have made some bad decisions because of fear, and I have made some good decisions because of fear.  Scripture has a lot to say about fear.  In 2 Timothy 1:7 it says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love, and sound mind.  This places love, power, and wisdom in opposition of fear.  The power of God, the love of God, and the wisdom of God are the tools given us to eradicate our fears.  It is amazing how subjective our view is.  The closer we get to something the bigger it seems and the further away from something we get, the smaller it seems.  In this same fashion the closer we get to God the bigger we see him, and the further we get from our fears the smaller they seem.  As I experience more of God's love, t...

Have you ever done a paint by numbers craft or coloring book and found that things turned out less desirable than you anticipated?  It was probably because you were missing a color or were using the wrong colors.  Even if every line and every curve are in perfect place, color can make the difference between a masterpiece and a disaster.  God has had a plan for his masterpiece of human kind, but the moment we decided to ignore his design, we went from a masterpiece to an sorry display.  God said love and we chose hate. He said "honor" and we chose disrespect.  Now we are all people stained by sin and in need of the artist to scrape away our shame.  The scraping hurts, but it is for our glory. Thank God that he had a plan to lovingly correct us. God sent Jesus his son to restore us with blood red.  It is his blood that washes away our stains and restores us to God the creator. Romans 5 says it well 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have p...

It has been two weeks since my employment was moved to working from home and even longer since I've been able to do my favorite part of my job, which is teaching.  All I saw on the television, internet, and in my email for weeks was more bad news about the virus that is sweeping the world like a plague.  Yesterday and today I got news of family friends who were sick with it.  I heard voices of disbelief on the phone as I listened while they tried to make since of it all and asked me to pray.  What do you say to people when fear is being nurtured all around them and not completely uncalled for?  I said that I would pray and I did, and I am still.  Even as I spoke on the phone with my mother today and she told me of a dear friend that was lost today and two more friends who are hospitalized, the conversation took a turn as it often does with believers in Jesus Christ.  We started out sad and shocked at our first known experience with the plague, but th...

I was watching a video of a praise and worship event, and it was amazing.  The singers were well known names in the gospel music world and they sang with all that they had. I loved the song choice as well.  The song that they sang was an anthem which means to me that it is meant to display the glory and grandeur of God. I have sung this song many times before with my family choir, and in my family we believe in making a joyful AND well sung noise unto the LORD! The people in this video did that! What got my attention, however, about this display was the comments section.  Many of the people were edifying (praising) the singers and musicians while others were expressing disenchantment with what they thought were gaudy displays of skill.  This led me to ask God and myself about a few things surrounding God's gifts to men.  Firstly, is it wrong to take joy in the gifts that God has given through others? Secondly, is it wrong to use our God given gifts to their ...

I am coming out of a rough first couple of weeks in my new year. After pushing through illness for several weeks siting work and family responsibilities as an excuse for poor self-care, I finally went to the doctor.  I had felt all kinds of awful but figured that maybe some of it was just in my head, until I heard my doctor look in my mouth and say, "you've been sick for a while now huh?"  I got some medication to help with my swollen glands, and since the laundry list of side effects were things that I was already experiencing, I started popping the pills as prescribed fretting and praying that I didn't have to miss any more work.   This was not the way that I planned to start this benchmark year, but all things work together for the good of those that love God.  I stayed home for a couple of days and used that time to work on what God put on my heart a while ago.  I eventually stopped whining about the work that I was missing and the housework that wasn...