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

  I often have found myself looking at my parents and trying to see what about me resembles them; my eyes are like Mom, my lashes like Dad.  I would take such pride in finding them in me.  It made me feel like I was a part of them and they a part of me. Others around me also took joy in arguing who they think spit me out.  "You look just like your daddy!" some person would say while another next to them would readily disagree.   Other times I would get "Wow you look like your mom!"  to which others would roll their eyes in disagreement.  People can't quite seem to agree.  Maybe its because my parents have been together for so long that they have started to look alike. I suppose building a life together tends to do that to people.  You start to resemble who/what you have spent the most time connecting with.  Now I sit down and think about how I might resemble Christ.  Is my heart shaped like his?  Does my patience stre...

 I have talked with so many Christians who feels trapped.  Some fell into a trap while others made their own with their decisions.  I have felt this way too, and even recently.   When I got home with my youngest child after being in the hospital for almost two months, I found that I almost immediately needed to start  packing because our lease was expiring.  I talked to a friend about it who said, "I thought you had another year."  I did too and so it was unsettling that I had overlooked such a huge thing as housing!  We had one hope for a little house in the area, but when I went to see it I was heavily disappointed.  Even the foundation was cracking.  We found a housing program which seemed like a great opportunity, but then they told us that we made too much money to qualify.   So my lease ended and my rent was bumped up significantly where we were with no possibility of extending our lease because we didn't receive the...

 I've donated blood before.  I remember being scared, but knowing that what I was doing was worth the discomfort.  I was a little dizzy and the needle stung.  It was faster than I thought it would be, and when I was done, I felt so proud that I was able to help someone.  I don't know who got that blood and they won't ever know that it was me.  My blood could have saved a life.  That is amazing to me. I know someone whose donated blood is guaranteed to save whoever accepts it.  This blood doesn't have a type, and it doesn't run out.  Anyone who gets this donation is healed from the worst disease to ever hit mankind.  This donation is the blood of Jesus, the only begotten son of God.  The disease the one that we are all born with is depravity.  It is the deadly sin nature.  We are all born wrong.  We are selfish, we hate, we envy, we lust after things that we can not and should not have.  We go chasing after false ...

  2 Peter 1:2-4 2  Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. We are not helpless and we are not weak.  This scripture declares that God has given us everything that we need to succeed and dominate in this life and in his Kingdom.  Our power is a result of our knowledge of who God is.  When we come to know and accept who God is through the person of Jesus Christ, we become a reckoning force to any evil that might come against us in this life. (see James 4:7)  If you feel weak, spend time in your Bible and prayer to get to know who God is better...

 There are varying levels of acceptance in churches for shouting (yelling, screaming, dancing, running in response to a word from God or move of God).  I have found that it is a part of how I communicate with God.  Just like doing the wave at basketball games, stomping at football games, or yelling "charge" at baseball games.  Sometimes I just have to shout because it is the only adequate way that I can express who God is to me, what God has said ,or what he has done in that moment for my life.   I mentioned in another post that I once found myself shouting in my son's hospital room.  That was two months ago.  My youngest son was hospitalized for 6 weeks after waking up paralyzed suddenly by a condition called transverse Myelitis.  Nothing that he did or we did caused it.  It just happened, and my bouncing baby boy stopped walking, talking, and even crying because his muscles were too weak.  An MRI showed swelling on his spine....

Put your hands up.  The bible gives us many examples of lifted hands.  In my search for spiritual and social meaning in everyday life, I have found myself thinking about what it means to put my hands up.  People put their hands up at concerts or sporting events; when an officer is about to make an arrest they tell the suspect to put their hands up. There are even songs telling us to put our hands up. Church people put their hands up too.   I even saw my one year old putting his hands up last week while listening to some good preaching online.  Here is why and when I put my hands up.  Worship:  noun reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred. formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage: They attended worship this morning.   (dictionary.com June 24,2020)   Worship requires a recognized, permanent, and direct imbalance of power. One is above and one is below by a defini...

Many people would say that "not yet" means "no". It sounds like it.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard or said "not yet".  I can tell you that MOST of the time it has been met with complaining, and even yelling or crying. Society's desire to have everything right away has given us a negative response to waiting.  You can see evidence of this in any place where there are groups of people; the DMV (department of motor vehicles) is a prime example.  If we think about it logically though, "not yet" really means that something is on its way or that we are on our way.   "Are we there yet?"  If you were ever in a car for an extended period of time with children, then you may know the sheer annoyance of this question.  If we are still driving we obviously haven't arrived yet. My relationship with God is a lot like a father and daughter traveling the world together. Sometimes God gives me the wheel, but if I am not careful...