Where is your faith?

I got an email from a good friend whom I haven’t heard from in a while.  Through a series of emails I learned that his dad was diagnosed with cancer and passed away within a few months of his diagnosis.  But right there in the middle of the email was this phrase:

 

“…God is truly amazing.  My father accepted Jesus and was baptized just a week prior.  The Cancer was very advanced and he went down hill very fast.  He is in a much better place now.”

 

His email went on to talk about what’s really important in life.  This is a recurring theme of late.  It seems that God is trying to get my attention (yet again.)  So what is important?  In the midst of global conflict and war, what is important?  In the middle of a financial crisis, what do we cling to?  As we watch the mud-slinging by politicians who seemingly have hijacked the 2008 election process, where do we find our purpose?

 

God tells us in Psalm 46:1-5:

 

  1 God is our refuge and strength,
       an ever-present help in trouble.

 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
       and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

 3 though its waters roar and foam
       and the mountains quake with their surging.
       Selah

 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
       the holy place where the Most High dwells.

 5 God is within her, she will not fall;
       God will help her at break of day.

In a recent sermon I heard what I already knew.  The peace we can know comes from real faith.  Not faith in any government or in your bank account.  Not faith in a process or procedure or bailout, but faith in the Most High God!  We need to believe and know that the very maker of the Heavens and Earth-the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End is in control.  This doesn’t mean that God is going to fix everything by our standards, but it means you can have peace in all things.  The same peace reflected in my friend’s statement that his dad “is in a much better place.” 

 

Frequently this peace eludes us all.  So, if you are a believer in the salvation of Jesus Christ, then I encourage to move beyond just putting in your time.  Take your faith to a new level…take your relationship with Him to a new level.  If you haven’t given your life to him and are curious as to what that’s all about, you can go here to learn more. 

 

So where is your faith?

 

God…an ‘ever present help’… ‘your refuge’…’your strength’

 

or

 

Man… well, you know how that’s working out.

 

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us – Stuart Townend

How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure.
That He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away.
As wounds which mar the chosen One, bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything—no gifts, no power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?  I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:  His wounds have paid my ransom.

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, I will have the privilege of singing this song during our worship service. 

After reading the lyrics and singing through it a few times, I was amazed at its simplicity and tremendous depth.  This hymn was written in 1995 by Stuart Townend.  I wanted to know more about the author so I went first to iTunes and then to the web.  I found his blog and these comments from him regarding this song: 

            ….I’d been meditating on the cross, and in particular what it cost the Father to give up his beloved Son to a torturous death on a cross. And what was my part in it? Not only was it my sin that put him there, but if I’d lived at that time, it would probably have been me in that crowd, shouting with everyone else ‘crucify him’. It just makes his sacrifice all the more personal, all the more amazing, and all the more humbling.

 Have you spent time meditating on the cross?  Have you really pondered the torturous death—the price paid by Jesus to make you his treasure?    His treasure!   Somehow we have to get past the emotion of it all and really get it into our heads.  Your walk with Jesus can not be purely emotional.  Your faith cannot be rooted in the sentiment of the His love, nor the ‘feeling’ of it all.  It has to be rooted IN HIS LOVE.  The emotion can be part of it, but you have to get it into you heart, and into your head.  Somehow we all have to get to a point where it is an all-consuming relationship. 

 If you found my blog by accident, I hope you will take time to read the lyrics and really get them into your heart.  For it was “his dying breath that brought us life,” and “his wounds that paid our ransom.”  This is one of the ways that God will get a hold of you.  This is one of the ways he will keep you.  If you stop by regularly, please feel free to link to this post, or get the lyrics out there somehow.  If you want to hear the song, I found several artists who have recorded How Deep the Father’s Love for Us. I would recommend the version done by Phillips, Craig, & Dean or the one by Nicole Nordeman. 

 God Bless. 

 

He’s Gone

Sharon and the kids shrieked in horror as their beloved feathered friend smacked the window with a thud.  I was a little upset since I had washed those windows only a week earlier and now they had the imprint of a greasy little bird on them.

 

Piney fell to the bricks in a heap.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he stood up on his wobbly legs and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. He began pecking at the ground again in a vain attempt to cover up his little miscalculation in direction of flight. 

In her haste to make sure Piney was OK, Cassidy rushed to his aid, nearly stepping on the little bugger.  Imagine surviving a crash into a huge piece of glass only to be stepped on by a giant shoe. 

 

We left Piney to his own meandering.  He flew into the window a time or two and finally moved into the neighbor’s yard where he had some room to maneuver.  He liked the shade under the neighbor’s car, but, given his poor luck with the flying thing we figured we should move him out from under there.  Piney took flight in a more upward direction this time, and headed toward the crab-apple tree next door.  We spent much of the day outside.  Occasionally we would hear his distinctive chirp, or see him sitting perched on one of the outer limbs.  He hasn’t been back.  The irony is that we bought a feeder for Piney, but sparrows are the only ones who seem to like it. 

 

Jacob cried when Piney left.  Cassidy was ticked that Piney didn’t want to sit on her shoulder too.  Both of the kids ask me daily if I think he’s still alive.  I have to tell them that I really don’t know, but that I think so.   I figure if he can hit a window and shake it off, he must be a pretty tough bird. 

Farewell, Piney.