Faith

 

 Faith is one of the hardest things for us to do.  It is hard sometimes to have faith in things you can't see, or don't know will happen. I was recently listening to Royal Tailor's song 'Give Me Faith'.  I want you to read the lyrics in the song (But I can't write down the lyrics so you'll have to look them up).

   Time and time again people in the Bible had to have faith in God, that his promises would come through. How many times do we NOT put money in offering, because we think we don't have enough money? Sometimes we just have to put the money in the offering and have FAITH that God will provide for us.
 
  Have you ever been fired or let go from a job, and you had no idea what your next job will be or when the next time you will get paid? In tough times you have to trust that God will help you though it. It might not be exactly when you want it, but it WILL be when HE wants it.
   One of the lines in the song, talks about when Peter walked on water.

   Peter, ordinary man, walked on water.

   That is the perfect example of faith.

Matthew 14:22-36 (NIV) Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

   In the beginning of this story Peter had faith and was walking on water. But even the littlest distraction can make you take your eyes off God and start doubting again. And that's what happened to Peter. He saw wind, instead of Jesus and he started to sink.
   We so easily start doubting and fearing things, that we start to sink just like Peter did. But if we fix our eyes back to God and have faith in him, He'll catch us before we sink.

   Till next time,
    LiveTheTruth :)

  

Happy Endings

 

Once apon a time, in a far away land lived...
 
   This is how most 'fairy tales' start. But is this how our lives are?

    No, not really.
 
   But can this be how our lives are? Probably not, but we can make the world better. We can change how we act around people, even if we don't like them.

    Matthew 5:43-44 (NIV) “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor  and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,     

   Luke 6:27-28 (NIV) “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you

 
   If you want to read the the whole part on loving your enemies they are: Matthew 5: 43-48 and Luke 6:27-36.
 
   Loving your enemies seems like a pretty big ask of us. I mean how are we supposed to love the bully at school? The boss that always yells at you? Or the group of people that think they are better than you and make fun of you?
   You're probably thinking, 'yeah I can't love them they're mean to me'.

   But we're wrong.

   We are to love them. Why do you think they act this way? People are not just mean to be mean. Normally they are doing this to hide their own problems.
   Like their parents fight all the time, they were bullied growing up, people make fun of them, or they're going through a divorce. There are a lot of possibilities for why they act this way.  But that does not mean we should not love them. Maybe being their friend is the only good thing that's happened to them that day.  
   And by doing this we can change our once not so 'fairy tale' lives into...

   ...And they all lived happily ever after.


   Till next time,
     LiveTheTruth :)