Next Step--Unknown

"The Lord God...revealeth his secret unto his servants." --Amos 3:7

"I know a God who loves you deeply, madly, unconditionally. He is just waiting for you to turn to Him and say, 'Here, take it. I can't fix what is broken in my life.' He promises to give you rest." --Heather George


"I have a special path for you. I have you on a path which is all your own. It is not My way for anybody else. It will become clear to you only by revelation from Me. I call it the golden path. It is a sacred secret between us. Guard it and keep it, treasure it in the secret places of your soul." --Frances Roberts


"Get used to fear. It's what pushes you into faith. That knot in your stomach isn't untying anytime soon--the only option is to accept it as part of the ride and even dare to enjoy it a bit. Put your arms in the air, feel the rush, and scream your guts out all the way into whatever it is God has for you. Wheee!" --Holley Gerth


"Great faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply taking God at His word and taking the next step." --Joni Eareckson Tada

"Faith is not an effort, a striving, a ceaseless seeking, as so many earnest souls suppose, but rather a letting go, an abandonment, an abiding rest in God that nothing, not even the soul’s shortcomings, can disturb." –Evan

"When we focus on God, the scene changes. He’s in control of our lives; nothing lies outside the realm of His redemptive grace. Even when we make mistakes, fail in relationships, or deliberately make bad choices, God can redeem us." –Penelope J. Stokes

"There is nothing but God’s grace. We walk upon it; we breathe it; we live and die by it; it makes the nails and axles of the universe." –Robert Louis Stevenson

Crazy Faith

With faith, you'll move mountains, Jesus said. With faith, you'll walk on water. With faith, you'll overcome the enemy. With faith...


The Bible asserts over and over that faith is a vital weapon we need, a tool for accomplishing the will of God in our lives. It definitely is.


But I realized something really crazy today. I realized that the purpose of faith--conquering giants, etc--wasn't supposed to be my reason for desiring faith. Why? Because then our perspective can get skewed. If faith is desirable only as a tool for accomplishing specific ends, then I'll discard it (or adapt a different religious faith philosophy) if it doesn't seem to accomplish my desire.


In fact, that's exactly what I did early in my Christian life. But what does the Bible indicate should be our one desire? To please God. And Hebrews 12:6 states explicitly, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God."


I always thought this Scripture referred mainly to faith for salvation, but I believe now that faith for salvation is like a seed that is meant to grow. Faith implants within our souls by the power of the Holy Spirit, yet it isn't meant to remain immature or dormant. Faith grows, it expands, it matures as we nourish ourselves in the water of the Word.


So what do we do when crazy faith humiliates us? We rejoice...because by stepping out and risking our pride to obey what we believe God is speaking to us in our hearts and stirring in our spirits...by stepping out, we please God. And when we step out again and again, accepting with humility when others don't understand or we make mistakes, that's when our Papa throws back His head and laughs with great joy.


Because the enemy couldn't stop us. Couldn't stop us from throwing ourselves--our lives, our finances, our hopes, our dreams, our fears, and our relationships--in with God. And being radically committed to Jesus is, after all, the entire purpose of a Christian life.

~~Speak, Daddy. I'm listening. And I'm all in.~~