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Archive for the ‘Faith’ Category

Extraordinary Becoming The Ordinary

Posted in Desperation, Faith, God, Joy, tagged , , on September 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The children of Israel also wept … We remember the fish, … the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but now … there is nothing at all save this manna” — Numbers 11:4-6 (NASB)

God provided a miracle — food for 600 thousand people in a harsh environment. He kept their clothes from wearing out, personally guided them with a cloud by day and flame by night.

Everything God did for them was extraordinary yet instead of being grateful they complained, “We don’t have anything to eat but this manna!!

I’ve never seen the things they saw, how could they treat something so extraordinary as so ordinary, mundane, even loathed?

They took their eyes off their God and their future. Bad News!! When we do that life turns sour!

Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?” Wise folks don’t ask questions like that. – Ecclesiastes 7:10 (Message Bible)

We have a wonderful future, an enduring hope, a kind savior.

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; – Hebrews 12:1b-2a

Keeping Jesus and our future in focus keeps us living in the wonder of his grace.

— fritz@langgang.com

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The Bigger Picture

Posted in Belief, Explanations, Faith, tagged , , on September 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

[Lot] and his two daughters … lived in a cave. The older daughter said to her sister, Our father is getting old, and there are no men in the whole world to marry us so that we can have children … let’s … have children by him” – Genesis 19:30-32 (Good News Translation)

A lesson should be learned from Lot’s oldest daughter’s comment.

Having just endured a horrific event and personal loss she and her sister made poor choices, spawning two people groups that negatively afflicted God’s people for centuries, simply because they could not see the bigger picture. The world was much larger than their little cave and there were certainly many potential husbands.

The tendency to make poor choices because of a lack of scope is still there! Many don’t believe God heals today because neither they nor anyone they trust have recognized God’s touch. Many think the church is only as mighty as their denomination or group. Some, tragically, think life is over when it has hardly begun.

“I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.” — Psalm 121:1-2 (Message Bible)

God’s call is to look up and know He is stronger for us than anything we see.

  1. God is even now working all things to their good for those who love and follow him, even though that good can’t immediately be seen;
  2. God’s Church is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15), even though some institutions have turned from it to become cold and lifeless;
  3. Each follower of Christ has a purpose, a plan, and place in God’s kingdom, even though the preparation time seems long and fruitless;
  4. Jesus is with each who call on him for help, even in apparent isolation.

— fritz@langgang.com

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Missing Part of Faith’s Message

Posted in Action, Explanations, Faith, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, tagged , on September 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe…” — John 11:14-15a (Message Bible)

Jesus made a passing comment we should not pass over.

Lazarus became sick and eventually died while his closest friend, Jesus, purposely delayed. Why? Jesus told his disciples he was glad, for their sake, he wasn’t there because he wanted them to believe — implying had he been there they would not have believed — probably because Lazarus would still have died.

The often missing part of Faith’s message is that while having it enables mountains to move and the impossible to occur, it is a gift from God. It can’t be worked up, earned by personal holiness, or manipulated for our personal desires — Jesus said,

“I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. — John 5:19 (Message Bible)

So when you are told if you had faith you could be healed, it may be technically true but God gives the faith, not you.

Your responsibility is to present yourself to Him, present your need and/or the needs of others, look to him for faith, and act on the faith he provides.

That’s what Jesus did.

— fritz@langgang.com

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