F A I T H

Our Christian life is really all about faith. A large part of scripture is dedicated to faith. Faith described, faith analyzed, faith declared, faith commanded and faith illustrated.

         

We are shown the opposite of faith which is fear. But even with all the instruction and all the promises, we still know more about fear than faith. Fear robs us of our confidence and hope. Look at the scripture in I John 5:13-15. “I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have in Him; that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him.”

         

John tells us that everything starts with faith. If you believe in the name of the Son of God, then you know that you have eternal life. Then you have confidence in Him. Then you know that He hears our prayers. Then you know He will answer our prayers.

         

So, if our life is not one of confidence in Christ; if our prayer life is nothing to brag about; if we fear eternity; John tells us it is a faith problem.  When we put our confidence in our own goodness, or our ability to pray, or our ability to overcome temptation, the picture is dismal.

None of us are good enough. But He is. When we put our confidence in Jesus, we will not be disappointed. So, how is your prayer life? How are you doing in the hope department?

 

Dear Lord and Father, You can do anything. You have all knowledge. You made me and gave your Son for me. You know how weak and sinful I am. Please forgive me. I know I must believe in the name of your Son. I do believe in Jesus. And yet, I continually take my eyes off of Him. Like Peter in the sea, I start with Jesus and end with me. I am so sorry. This faithless fear robs me of my hope, confidence and even my forgivness. So, I’m here again, asking you to “Save Me, Lord”. I do believe. Help my unbelief. Thank you for my hope and forgiveness. Please stay with me.  In the Name of Jesus, I pray

Paul Shero

San Angelo, Texas

Prelude to the Feast

The dinner table has always been the center of our family.  The love of cooking has been passed from generations before me and now I carry the same love and appreciation.  It is a place of comfort and a continuous reminder to me of how blessed I am and how good God is.  Food nourishes our bodies and the togetherness nourishes our souls whether we are sharing hearts, grief, laughter, tears, a birth, marriage, death, disappointments or celebrations.  Memories and relationships thrive through the gathering at the table. It's also an opportunity to invite God's presence into our hearts.

In Genesis 1, food is God's first gift to humankind and animals alike.  God provided manna when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness.  Feasts were held for many occassions in the bible. Even after the resurrection, Christ cooked breakfast on the shore and ate with Disciples.

As much as we may love every aspect of food, physical food is not enough for us to live a healthy life.  There is spiritual food that is needed to live our lives in fulfillment of the purpose for which we were created.  Bread sustains but does not guarantee life, which is God's gift to those who trust in and live by his word. Deut. 8:3  We must rely on God for spiritual nourishment. Matt. 4:4  The father still gives the true bread from heaven, life through his son, Jesus Christ. John 6:33

Most of us diligently see to it that our bodies do not go without daily food.  Are we as diligent about the nourishment of our souls?  We cannot eat once a week to suffice our bodies for an entire week.  The same is true spiritually.  Daily communion with God is vital to our survival.  We must seek God's word for proper nourishment.

I love to cook because sharing food brings people together.  The gathering of friends and family to share a meal can help ease burdens during difficult times.  As hectic as family schedules can be, the family meal gets everyone together and provides a great setting for sharing family values centered around Christ.  Time around the table helps us teach our children how to behave, interact with others, give thanks to our Father, and pray for others.  Most important it acts as a prelude to the Feast, allowing us to serve others like Christ did.

Carla Henson

Identity Theft

If you have never been a victim of Identity Theft or had your personal information compromised in anyway then count yourself among the lucky and blessed. If you have gone through this awful experience then my sympathy goes out to you. Recently, I was a potential victim of this crime.  As you can imagine, the last month or so has been anything but enjoyable!  I had to close out all my personal bank accounts, I had to put alerts on my credit profiles, and I had to file numerous reports with the Social Security Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Motor Vehicles. The thing that makes this experience the most troubling is how it makes you feel. You feel violated and helpless.  And, it breaks down your willingness to give people the benefit of the doubt in regards to trust.

As it is with anything, when something bad happens to you, you tend to rely on Jesus a little more than normal. Through this I have found myself praying, pleading and asking Jesus to solve this problem for me. Not only have I had the problem of dealing with “Identity Theft,” but through this experience I have found another problem and that is not relying on Jesus 100% of the time. I find myself racing through life trying to conquer things on my own. The majority of the time I do not encounter major problems like the one I just described. But, once something beyond my control happens, I automatically turn to the One Who has the power to fix everything.

But, why is that? That is not fair to Jesus. Why don’t I rely on him totally even when I’m not having “problems” of one kind or another? These questions are far more important than my Identity issue and constantly make me think of just how far I get out of line with my Christian journey.

Jesus wants our identity and personal information. After all he went to the cross for us. When you take a step back and ponder the fact of losing your identity, it is a horrifying thing. But, losing your identity to Jesus is brings much comfort. James 4: 7-10 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Holy Father, thank you for loving us. Your love and forgiveness are rejuvenating. Dear God, forgive us for not relying on you 100% of the time. When this happens, we are always reminded that you are in control and deserve that control. Dear God, thank you for loving us and we love you. Amen.

Landon Kribbs
Springtown, Texas

Heal Our Brokenness

I am a Registered Nurse and I work at a Wound Care Center. We take care of chronic wounds.  You might ask, what is a chronic wound?  It is a wound that has not shown the ability to heal over a two week period or longer. Some people come to us who have had a wound present for months, or even years. The longer the wound has been present the longer it takes to heal. Usually the body has accepted the wound as normal and the healing process has shut down. These wounds may not be very large, but they cause daily discomfort and disrupt the patient’s life.

The first thing the doctor will do to stimulate healing is to debride the wound, removing the dead tissue. The patient’s body realizes something has changed and that signals the release of an entire cascade of healing properties. Many people ask, “Can’t you just sew it up?” The answer is no. The tissues in a chronic wound will not “knit” together as they do when the wound is only hours old.  When a wound has been open for days, weeks or months it must heal from the inside out. The body will generate new tissue in the base and once that tissue has built up to skin level, the top layer of skin will grow across and close the wound. This process will only occur with adequate blood flow, absence of infection and the proper bandage.

“O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.” – Psalm 30:2

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” – Psalm 147:3

Spiritually, many of us walk around with chronic wounds. We have hurts and disappointments that plague us daily.  Although well intentioned, our “home remedies” can’t provide the desired healing.  For example, we may decide to ignore the wound and assume it will go away.  The spiritual wound becomes deeper and disrupts our daily walk with God and others.

Obedience to the scripture, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26), is much like going to the ER and getting stitches right away for quick healing.  When we don’t obey the scriptures, we allow our hearts to become infected with bitterness, envy, anger or jealousy.  Our hearts become similar to a chronic wound.  The only way we will heal is to ask for God’s help. We must allow God to cut away all the bitterness and resentment that has become attached to our heart. God will heal us from the inside out.  Just as a wound must have good blood flow to have a chance to heal, we must give ourselves to prayer to overcome sin’s deceitfulness. We do not expect a chronic wound to heal when it is simply left open to air. Likewise, we can’t expect our heart to heal if we leave it unprotected and open to Satan’s attacks. God’s holy word is the best protective bandage to be applied to our heart.

Is it time to heal a chronic wound in your heart? Make an appointment with the “Great Physician”.

Dear Father, come into our hearts and heal our brokenness.  We surrender ourselves to you and we place our hearts before you to cut away all those things that do not reflect your Spirit. We want to experience being alive in Christ and know the fullness of your love.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Terry Smith

Stephenville, Texas

Bright Monday

Some religious traditions celebrate the day after Easter Sunday. It is considered the second day of bright week and is called Bright Monday or Renewal Monday. This day is celebrated in some way in Australia, Egypt, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, England, the Netherlands, and the United States. Though not all of these countries celebrate the day as a religious holiday, they obviously still see reason to celebrate the day after the day that we celebrate as the resurrection of Jesus.

I like that it is called “Renewal” Monday or “Bright” Monday. If any of you were worshiping with the church at Graham Street yesterday, you heard Randy's message about the nature of the gospel story. It isn’t good news without the resurrection part of the narrative. Without this component, the story is futile. If the story ended with Jesus’ burial in a tomb and the disciples waiting in that upper room, wondering and anticipating, the story would mean nothing for us.

Of course people feel the need to celebrate the day after Easter Sunday. It is the day after the greatest narrative of all time came to fruition. It is the day after Jesus defined our future as children of God. It is the day after he extended the invitation to us to become the “walking risen.” Jesus’ resurrection defines our baptism. We are buried beneath the water, then raised up as new creations. We die to ourselves and put on a new life in Christ. Our newness is in the power of His rising.

Imagine waking up as one of the disciples, the day after a post-grave Jesus entered that upper room and showed the scars in his hands. That would probably be one of my better mornings. Certainly one of the “Brightest.” Bright Monday is a reminder that we are free to walk in the power of Jesus’ resurrection everyday, as those who are resurrected into a newness of life.

“...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

God,
Thank you for the promise of life through the resurrection of Jesus. Thank you for his willingness in life and death. Give us strength as we pick up our crosses and follow you as the Walking Risen. We love you. Jesus, we thank you.
Amen.

Erin Daugherty

Abilene Christian University

Happy Easter

Where in the world are Christians during this Easter Weekend?  I decided to research news agencies and find out what is happening to Christians throughout the world.  My intent is somewhat to broaden our scope on the significance of Easter Sunday and Christ’s continuing presence on earth. The impact of the empty tomb has universally transformed the church to share with the world God’s reconciliatory act of restoring creation into a newness that reflects Christ.  Here are a couple stories where maybe God’s “resurrection/Easter” action is in the world today: 

Pakistani Christians (1%) of the country’s population are being persecuted because militants blame them for the U.S. drone attacks.  I cannot imagine the pain that these brothers and sisters are going through.  I cannot even imagine what Easter means for the persecuted.  I’m thinking it has little to do with Easter egg hunts and baskets. May God give them peace and I pray that they continue to show Christ, even to their violent neighbors (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/23/pakistani-deprived-christian-community-say-theyre-persecuted/?test=latestnews)

Tens of Thousands of Christians pilgrimage to Jerusalem during this weekend and celebrate and worship Christ the risen.  This is a significant event in the town of Jerusalem, a place often depicted as oppressive between the three Abrahamic traditions (Jews, Muslims, and Christians).   It would be formative to walk the streets of Jerusalem and to somewhat re-imagine Christ’s sacred works.  (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/23/thousands-pilgrims-attending-holy-ritual/?test=latestnews). 

I realize that most of those reading this blog will not understand the practice of monasticism (being “monk-like”).  In a famous monastery in Greece, on Mount Athos, a media crew finally got an exclusive interview with monks that have excluded themselves from the outside world for over a thousand years.  These groups of monks primary purpose is to eat, work, and pray.  Their entire lives are dedicated to spiritual disciplines where they believe they can encounter God.  While I do not understand all of this, I find it comforting that people have dedicated their lives to prayer (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/22/inside-an-ancient-monastery/?hpt=C2)

Speaking of Prayer.  Say what you want about Governor Perry (TX), but on Thursday he made national headlines as he asked God for rain for the state of Texas.  While I’m sure one could find concerns in his statement, I at least find assurance when government officials openly ask for God to act. (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/22/praying-for-rain-in-texas/)

There are more headlines and stories that are happening on Easter Sunday.  For me, the story of Jesus Christ and his resurrection is one that should always be remembered.  Maybe as important as its historical significance is how it presently shapes faith across the globe.  Happy Easter. 

Mic Biesboer

Stephenville, Texas