Faith|Fiction

uppphotos.net "But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward- to Jesus. I'm off and running and I'm not turning back " (Philippians 3:18, MSG). Do you see the determination in this verse? It was the first thing that stuck out to me when I read this in the Message Translation. I'd been looking back at my journal and memories from the last few months of having wonderful communion with the Lord, and wondered why my time with Him now didn't look like it had. It was something I'd been praying about this for awhile but hadn't really gotten an answer, just a little Scripture about the past that I shook off. I didn't want Scripture's answer, I wanted His. And I got Him. Not just an answer- Him. Comforting arms and all. I read this ve...

iheartinspiration.com Hello! I just wanted to encourage those of you who are going through something super tough. God's mercies are new each morning, and especially for those of us that are using our faith muscles. Know this:  we need to be renewed. We need to be reminded. We need a WORD from Him, letting us know that we are truly in the palm of His hand. I'm sort of in this place where a Word from God starts to get clouded in by doubt, and today, I realized that I needed my strength, everyday, from the Lord to get through the day. Are you in the same place? Did the Lord tell you something that, as time passes by, seem to get clouded by doubt? Let me share something He put in my heart today: "22  Then came the Festival of Dedication [ b ]  at Jerusalem. It was winter,   23  and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.   24  The Jews  who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? ...

sharecovers.com If you're avidly seeking God and you make a mistake...don't forget- you're human. No matter how much we love and want to please the Lord, we will make mistakes as long as we're here on earth, unfortunately. If I had it my way, I'd love it if I could please Jesus every time, but we both know I'm human and that's just not going to happen. My experience is this: If you make Jesus your life and you try to do everything to please Him and you make a mistake or a series of them, and even after repenting you've still got a nagging feeling pulling your heart down- that my friend is condemnation. It's something all believers are tempted to feel, but if you stand on Him and let Him strengthen you, you don't have to fall into that trap. Jesus told me this today: "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings." --Hosea 6:8 (NIV) I'm not that hard to please. If you're tr...

soverigngraceministries.org Out of all the courtship and purity books I've read (and hounded in my room, haha), this is one I didn't have a particular liking for. It was kind of...blah. Mr. Harris writes on a subject I fully support and am practicing in my own life, the principal of keeping yourself and letting God keep you clean in both your soul and your physical body, not only for marriage but for life. He writes on the importance of taking an interest in why you date and urges us as readers to take on a new attitude of selflessness and loving with Christ's love as we embark on a romantic relationship that starts first with friendship and then to marriage. I have no doubt in my mind that this book was written out of the Lord's will and the message spoken was His, but I felt in my spirit that this particular book was not for me. I could see his message but couldn't get into it, couldn't get connected to it. Although I identified greatly with the pur...

blogs.cisco.com Today, the word celebration  is on my heart. Think about it: how many times a year do we just take time to celebrate ourselves and where we are in our journey with Jesus? As I was thinking about it yesterday I realized the answer was a whopping no. I've never taken time to just celebrate where I am and where He's taken me and the things I've been able to do because of Him. How sad this was to discover that I wasn't taking the time to appreciate how far He's taken me from where I was and how He is changing me everyday. This summer I took a month-long trip to Switzerland and in spite of the beauty landscape and my welcoming family, Jesus held my hand as I walked through a trial. There was almost nothing I could do! I set out to protect my heart from anything that could wrench me from my Savior and into the hands of the world (read: avoiding secular music, television...etc.) and apart from reading the Bible and listening to Christian music and wa...

dougaddison.com Last month, I had an amazing experience at a Joan Hunter Ministries Conference. I'd gotten a letter in the mail concerning it, but do to scheduling, I didn't think I'd be able to attend. I prayed about it, begging God to open the schedule, but it didn't look like it would happen. Lo and behold, that very day there was a breach in my schedule that allowed me to go. Problem was, I didn't feel like it. I was in a nasty mood, didn't 'feel' like worshiping God, and I was letting all types of demonic thoughts rule me. "Oh well, we're already late." "What if God doesn't let me feel His love like He did before?" "I don't even feel like worshiping right now, my heart is too closed off." But as we drove into the 4 Corners Conference Center, a tiny seed of hope flared inside of me. Maybe this is where I'll feel that agape love [agape is a Hebrew word for strong love- it defines that overflowing...

"The headlights of your car going down a dark winding road on a dark night let you see only a few feet ahead. You cannot see the entire road, so you must respond to each corner and each curve as you come to it. On the side of each curve, there is a steel guardrail, placed their by you and your Savior to keep you from the real damage off the road. The Christian life is much the same. God rarely lets us see what He wants for our life- only what He wants us to do now. He asks us for obedience- and if, we happen to stray off the road, the guardrails you've established earlier will keep us from crashing. He asks for obedience for what He's asked of us today...and like a car's headlight...He'll show us where to go." -Life Change