I BELIEVE!!!!!!

"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

The desperate man cried out in Mark 9:24.....knowing that Jesus said, all things are possible to him that believeth.(Mark 9:23)

This morning's reading from Henry Blackaby's, Experiencing God p.171 had me with the first sentence. 

You can say prayers in your mind but doubt in your heart.

Is it possible to be a "person of prayer" and yet not have faith?

May it never be in my life!

As I align my will with His in prayer, I can wait expectantly to see how God will answer.

Today I am meeting with other prayer warriors at FEC to pray for revival. But....am I preparing for its coming? A reflective life of absolute trust?

I need to look for His hand at every turn. A God wink. A God sighting.

May I not miss His response to my requests..........or I'll miss the joy of praying faith!!

SCATTERED, SMOTHERED, COVERED & _______________!

Sometimes it seems so difficult to live a spirit-filled life in a "Waffle House World."

Waffle House defines its hashbrowns as scattered, smothered and covered.
Lately that describes my life. Scattered. Smothered. Covered.
Scattered thinking is putting it lightly for  my ADD--"Always Distracted Dotsy"!
Smothered with an unrelenting schedule. My calendar is a jumble with crossed out appointments, rescheduled doc visits and interrupted plans, think "shingles". "Tyranny of the urgent" seems to reign while I try so hard to get a handle on it.
Covered in doubts and fears and a lethargy that has a way of zapping my zeal. Yet, I believe. (Mark 9:24)
Sadly, I could add "out of focus or overwhelmed" to my blank. Yet, that's not the desire of my heart.

So....I pray---whether I feel like it or not.

A.W. Tozer quoted Dr. Moody Stuart, who said, "Pray until you pray."

That's my plan for the day---barring no interruptions.

NO DOUBT!!!

Out, out "doubt" spot! (With apologies to "The Bard")

Don't let "doubt" cover you. Stain you. Touch your heart in any way. 

Doubt can start with a tiny spot? A simple, "Why, God?" question. Then it can spread.

Doubt can be like rot---attempting to erode God's Word which you know is true! 

It must not enter your mind. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

As Geraldine Brooks so eloquently writes of doubt, "Excise it at the first speckling, the first stain, the first stench of decay." (TSC, p. 121)

Never doubt God's goodness in the midst of your ongoing struggle.

Believe---whether it feels like He's there or not. (Mark 9:24)

Even in the midst of pain, God is there.........

.......There is no doubt of that!

LANGUISHING

4/5/13 "Languishing in Leviticus"---pretty much sums up our recent struggles. As part of Allen Bible Church's spring reading plan hubby reads aloud the selected chapter each week night. Reading through Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy together as a church for their "Mobile with Moses" reading plan. Possibly prep for a study of the life of Moses. 

Languishing does seem an appropriate descriptor as the chapters often seem repetitive on blood and other bodily fluids, sacrifices, disease cleansing and rigorous food prep rituals. Those events seem to lack vitality for us in search "help" in our daily walk. But God.....has inspired all scripture so we keep trudging on. 

Languishing as one studies can occur, sometimes without warning---as can languishing in one's belief. But, as Pastor Cole reminded in Sunday's message, if such "belief" languishing starts, "Believe it until you believe it."

Understanding the procedure for the Israelites rituals is not as important to remember as is the truth that a Great Savior has died for all our sins!

As the father in Mark 9:24 called out, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

Don't languish in your belief, cry out to the Lord!

How do you dance?

5/11/11 How does one dance when decisions loom and clear direction is anything but clear? Today is "Weeping Wednesday" thus a time of confession. My confession was uppermost in my mind when I started my computer----confession of uncertainty, fear and a lack of trust. All of that spells u-n-b-e-l-i-e-f. I believe God, help thou my unbelief. (Mark 9:24) I had to ask the Lord to supply His strength and wisdom in these defects in my faith. A 12:45 am wake-up started the fears festering and relief seemed to be beyond my grasp. Relief must not have been the answer. Trust is the answer, but in the wee hours it was in short supply even as I tossed verses about in my head.
Part of the answer came when my computer opened up to GOOGLE. Today's animation showed dancers moving across the screen and that's when my anxiety cleared up. I just needed to once again get up and stretch out for the Lord & allow Him to lead me in this "new" dance. A dance that requires me to let go of a loved one not long for this world and hold on to His hand. The rest of the answer came when I talked to hubby and he told me he was coming home today.

L ……is for LOVE!

12/28/09 LOVE.....................

One of the hardest of all the attributes of God for me to wrap my brain around is love---unconditional love. I know of His sacrifice and I know scripture tells of the breadth and depth of His love but it’s still hard to comprehend, on a personal level, because I know me. I know that the one who writes this---a blog that sometimes inspire others---spent the day asking forgiveness for impure thoughts arising from impatience, unfulfilled expectations and anger. I wore myself out but I kept at it. Believe me, it was work! I thanked the Lord that He loved me, through the grace of His Son, but…….I didn’t “feel” that “love belief” in my core---it felt more like a mantra. I did repeat it over and over but did I believe it? I had to confess my unbelief. “ …I believe, Lord; help thou my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)

The good news is that this unconditional love, which He offers, does not change whether I “feel” worthy of it or not. Even on days like today when my esteem is dragging, His love is constant.
No power on earth or heaven can separate us (even Me) from God's love. Not our (my) sin, not any authority, not any spiritual force. God's love is unshakable and can always be relied upon. That’s Romans 8:38-39 in a nutshell but………….the first 4 words say, “For I am convinced”-----

To convince myself of His love I plan to linger on this passage today----Romans 8:38-39

38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

His love is there whether I “feel” worthy of it or not.alpha

Mis-steps in the Dance of Faith

9/16/09 You might have noticed that in the last few days I’m becoming verbose again in my blogging. Believe it or not, as Larry suggested, I’ve been trying to simplify---separate and simplify, emphasize nuggets only or get to the meat of the matter. Oh well! You might have also noted that I am up early, even early for me. For a gal that needs eight hours, I’m going to have to start going to bed before 7 o’clock.

As I stated yesterday, though not very succinctly, God has been getting my attention and answering some of my prayers from my daily devotional readings---which obviously are best done early in the day. God Calling (a book that inspired our Jesus Calling author) was the other one on 9/14 to remind me………”this cry of the human heart ………expresses the soul's progress.” I was feeling as if my faith was slipping and right away the title, “When Faith Fails” hooked me.

• “As a soul realizes Me and My Power, and knows Me as Helper and Savior, that soul believes in Me more and more. At the same time it is more conscious than before of its falling short of absolute trust in Me.”

Believing more and more and yet at the same time feeling my utter lack of faith---such tension I was feeling!

Mark 9:24 "Lord, I believe. Help Thou mine unbelief" is often the cry of my heart.

Simply put in God Calling:

• “The soul's progress - an increased belief - then a cry for more faith - a plea to conquer all unbelief, all lack of trust.

• That cry heard. That prayer answered. More faith, and at the same time more power to see where trust is lacking.”

I felt like I was trying to do my faith dance with 2 left feet but God………..heard the cry of my heart and spoke to me through His Word and a morning devotional.

If I should say, "My foot has slipped," Your lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up. Psalm 94:18

God’s Word doesn’t say there won’t be mis-steps throughout our lives, only that He’ll be there to keep us from fallin’ headlong.

The dance/steps (translation mine) of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)

It’s also good to have a fellow believer to encourage you as you execute your dance of faith day after day, year in and year out.

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Eccles. 4:10

So, I’m going to put my dancing shoes on and “boogie” on out the door and down the road to work.

Jude 1:24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling…..and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,…. To Him be the glory! A-men and A-men!