By Faith...

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

By faith...we understand
By faith...Abel offered to God
By faith...he was commended
By faith...he still speaks
By faith...Enoch was taken
By faith...Noah, when warned, built
By faith...he condemned the world
By faith...Abraham when called, went
By faith...Abraham was enabled to conceive
By faith...when tested, obeyed
By faith...Isaac blessed
By faith...Jacob blessed
By faith...Joseph spoke about the exodus
By faith...Moses' parents hid him
By faith...Moses refused to be known as son of Pharaoh's daughter
By faith...he left Egypt
By faith...he kept the Passover
By faith...the people passed through the Red Sea
By faith...the walls of Jericho fell
By faith...Rahab welcomed the spies
By faith...conquored kingdoms
administered justice and gained what was promised
shut the mouths of lions
quenched the fury of the flames
escaped the edge of the sword
weakness turned to strength
became powerful in battle and routed enemies
dead raised to life again
tortured refused to be released in hope of resurrection
faced jeers and flogging
chained and in prison
stoned
sawed in two
put to death by the sword
destitute, persecuted and mistreated

Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11

Oh To See His Face

Yesterday morning Dave shared two verses back to back that brought to me a new anticipation for that glorious day when we are with Christ.
In Exodus 33 Moses boldly asks God to show him His glory. God responds by telling Moses, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But, you can not see my face, for no one can see my face and live."
In contrast, in Revelation 22 it says that the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their forheads.
"O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me.
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me."

2010

1. Psalm 27:13-14
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord,
be strong and take heart,
Yes, wait for the Lord.

2. James 1:19
...be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger

3. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
...pray always...

Facing the Facts

Abraham was not afraid to fact the facts. He fully recognized that his and Sarah's bodies were "as good as dead" when it came to being able to produce new life. Romans 4:18 says that there was no hope, yet "against ALL hope, Abraham in hope believed." He did not allow facing the facts to weaken his faith. How could this happen? V. 21 says that hewas "fully persuaded that God had power to do what He has promised." Think about that persuasion as evidenced as he took his son Isaac up to the mountain as God had commanded for a burnt offering and he proclaims to Isaac that "God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering." Abraham in hope believed. It was this persuasion that was credited to him as righteousness. Oh, may I be so fully persuaded that God has to the power to do what He says He will do.

Homelessness

Homelessness…I met her last night
She’s probably in her late 20’s
She has no family here
Dad’s back east
Mom’s in prison, should be out in 2011
They’ll get a place together then
Until then…there’s no place to call home
She stayed bundled in her sweatshirt, hood up, and coat
from the time she came till she left
Slept all night on a foam camping pad on the floor at the shelter
The shelter…
A warm place but only if it’s below freezing outside
A dry place but only if there’s more than an inch of precipitation
If it’s just above freezing or a little less than one inch…then where?
Then morning came…out by 7
It’s cold out there…
It’s Saturday…where do you go?
Nothings open…walk the streets…try to stay warm…
She came back in …do you have a sleeping bag?
Yes…do you need gloves?
Would you like a scarf?
Yes…but how do you put it on?
Oh, my dear…
have you never had the nurture of a mother to tenderly tie a warm scarf about you?

Homelessness…I met him last night
Didn’t expect hard times
Lost his job
Was staying in a transitional home, rent paid up… looking for work
Someone stole his money while he was sleeping
He raised a fuss…he got kicked out
The Veteran’s Home is full
Now he’s on the streets
Wanted to stay in this area to be near his kids
But, “it’s hard to find a job when you have no stable place”
Going to give it two more weeks
If nothing comes up, will head east
It’s morning now…out by 7
It’s cold out there…
It’s Saturday…where do you go?
Library doesn’t open till 1…walk the streets…try to stay warm

Homelessness…I met him last night
Where is your southern accent from?
Mississippi
How’d you get here?
The Navy
Thought things would be good when I got out
What was I thinking
Didn’t sleep to well last night…
Snoring…that guy talking in his sleep…
It’s morning now…out by 7
It’s cold out there…
It’s Saturday…where do you go?
Nothings open…walk the streets…try to stay warm

Homelessness…I met her last night
She is so young…early 20’s?
Brought here by a caring taxi cab driver who wanted her to be safe
She cam in late…left early…don’t know her story
But she carefully put on her makeup before she left…getting ready for the day
What kind of day?
It’s cold out there…
It’s Saturday…where do you go?
Nothings open…ride around in a tax?...walk the streets…try to stay warm

Homelessness…I met him last night
He’s been here before
When he came in he greeted me by name
Light blue eyes and a pleasant smile
But as folks settled in something went askew…something snapped
He accused, he blamed, he insisted, he threatened
He threatened to kill…he left no choice
The police had to come…he had to go
He left confused…he had no clue
He truly had no recollection of what had transpired…
Where did he go?
I do not know?
It’s cold out there…nothings open…walk the streets…try to stay warm

It’s morning now…out by 7
Yes, it’s cold out there…but I’ve somewhere to go
For down the road a piece is a house that is warm
And as I crawl between my flannel sheets
My mind wanders to…a woman waiting for 2011
a man who hit hard times
a man who served our country in the Navy
a woman who took time to look nice
a man who is tormented
All are out there…with nothing open…walking the streets…trying to stay warm.

Holiness

I've been reading...and wrestling...with...goodness and holiness. These thoughts were primed in the introduction chapter to "Holiness" by J.C. Ryle. How often have I heard, "She is a good person," or do I think. "I'm not so bad?" I always struggle with this when someone dies who was a good person...they helped destitute people, gave sacrifically, loved unbelievably, etc. I know from scripture that only those redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb will enter into eternal life in glory, but when I see people "so good", I, humanly, struggle with that person missing out when they gave so much.
I believe, now, it is because I not only focus on goodness, but that goodness is one that is rated so on human terms. God's expectation of goodness is on a much different level and is it not an outgrowth of holiness? As we pursue holiness, then will we not also truly be good as God see's good? I believe that God's chief concern is holiness. "Without holiness no one will see the Lord."(Heb. 12:14) "Be holy, because I am holy."(Lev. 20:7, 1Pet. 1:16) "God saved us and called us to a holy life."(2Tim. 1:9)
The greatest application here is to the depth of my own heart. When I approach God's merciful throne and I have a proud heart that thinks that I've really been doing pretty well...how do I measure up against God's standard: HOLINESS! Now I see how wretched my heart is, how far I fall short. Oh for a humble and contrite heart. Oh to be holy as He is holy. May I never be tripped up by goodness when holiness is the standard.

At God's Mercy

As in typical fashion, just as things are going well for King David and Israel, Satan in his conniving "rises up against Israel and incited David to sin." (I Chronicles 21) It's one of those sins that in and of itself really seems harmless. In fact it seems like it could be kind of helpful. David counts the people of Israel. The problem? It promotes confidence in human resources rather than confidence in God alone. Keep in mind that David is a commanding warrior and numbers are a crucial bit of information. So, the people were counted and then David realized his grave sin. David has a tendency to act rashly, but David has a tender heart toward God and he is quick to repent and seek restoration when he comes to his senses. This time, God gave David three options to choose from as consequences: three years of famine, three months of being swept away by the enemy in battle or three days of the sword of the Lord. How does one choose? David, the one whose heart was after God, whose heart rested in God's character that he had experienced time and again, exclaims, "Let me fall in to the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is very great..." David proclaims God's mercy over and over in the Psalms. David knew God's mercy.
True to God's character, as the angel was destroying Jerusalem by plague, "the Lord saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, 'Enough! Withdraw your hand.'"
"God in his rich mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions." Ephesians 2:4
"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever..."