Leap of Faith

Luke 17:5-6 And the apostles said unto the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be up rooted, and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you.’

The African Impala (an African antelope) are amazing creatures that can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance greater than 30 feet. Yet Impalas can be kept in a zoo inside an enclosure with a simple 3 foot wall. Why? Impalas will not jump if they can’t see where their feet will land. Do we have something in common with these antelopes? Able to take great leaps of faith, but refusing to do it unless we can see where we’ll land?

I learned long ago that God would only give me Step B once my feet were off the ground from leaving Step A. For a lifelong planner, that was a scary proposition when I was a baby Christian. Now, I know it to be His way and my faith/trust has grown. I don’t need to actually see Step B anymore. I still like to but I do not tremble in fear when I cannot. He has proven faithful to carry me beyond Step B when I flounder, and on to the goal.

George Mueller said of faith, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.”

In Biblical terms: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

True faith cannot see how the landing will occur…it simply leaps under the conviction that it will occur. Remember, Biblical faith begins where our power ends.

Good Soil, Good God, Good Growth

We are in the fifth day of the new year and my Christmas vacation is over. New year, new hope, new inspirations, new insights and new beginnings.

As a backyard gardener, each new year brings all the creative ideas bubbling to the surface, however unrealistic they may be. These fall under the category of new garden fantasies. If you have followed my writings for any length of time you have read about my veggie garden. I am neither the most prolific gardener nor the most knowledgeable but I sure enjoy it and it brings a great sense of worth and value to harvest something fresh from my garden and serve it for dinner. Yesterday found my Honey and I working in the garden, doing necessary tasks required before any new planting can be done.

We made progress against the weeds that took over after the bloom of harvest waned. I still have some Swiss chard and mustard greens growing that were left in place in hopes they rally as warmer weather draws near. A few multiplying onions were accidentally dug up and quickly replanted. The herb garden planted in a row boat is looking forlorn and abandoned. Chives still wave gallantly from the stern of the boat. Something nasty has attacked the rosemary and I shall be forced to prune with a hard hand if I am to salvage it. Since it can not live long term in the row boat, this is an excellent time to relocate it to a more suitable spot.

In my head, I plotted out new raised beds. My Honey and I balance each other out, so when I mentioned building twenty four beds across the front hillside to utilize the area that really isn’t usable my Honey reined the garden fantasies back in and suggested three more in the back where the current bed lives. Twenty four raised beds like the one we have now would cost a pretty penny to build, garden soil would have to be trucked in and, let’s face it, I am not physically in the best shape to maintain twenty four beds no matter how thrilling it sounds to my gardener’s ears. My vision of feeding all seven households, ours and the six grown children’s, may come from a place of love and good intentions but in our family, as in the Bible, the laborers are few!!

As I’ve mentioned before, we start the new year out by a specified length of time focused on seeking Gods Will for us in the coming year. This is also a time of planning for our ministry work as well as our family. I’m always excited to see what God has in store for us. Is He is filled with joy to see His people grow spiritually like I am when my bedding plants take off and become productive members of the garden? I think so!

So, Friends, I hope you take so time, too, to ask God to show you how and where to serve Him best in the coming year. I hope, also, that you continue to stay plugged in to your church home or diligently work to find one where you can grow and be spiritually fed. Churches are not like chicken fast food joints, you don’t go to the closet one just because it’s handy; you go where you are free to grow spiritually, fed a steady diet of the Word of God and where you can grow in Christ where you are planted. You can not take those things for granted. There are an amazingly sad number of dead and dying churches out there that put on a pretty face but have nothing nurturing and edifying to offer. All that glitters is not gold. Use wisdom and seek God.

I’m looking forward to seeing where God takes this blog ministry in the coming year as well. I hope you will continue to read Truth in the Morning as part of your daily routines. If you find it insightful and enlightening, Bible based lessons from everyday life, please share with others you know. Something simple and ordinary in a post may be just what someone needs to hear at any given time. That’s my prayer and I’m sticking to it!!

Recipe for Success

I love learning and finding new things that make me think, take me through a new concept I had not considered or perhaps not contemplated in depth. In my reading this morning I ran across a passage about building steps to become a person of persistence in all that we hope to achieve.

The first thing that caught my eye was that we are to set goals under God’s leadership; goals that are challenging and demand our best AND require His help. That may sound like a ‘no brainer’ but DO we really purposely set goals with those requirements?

As Christians, we often set the goals we want to accomplish and then ask in prayer that God bless our efforts in obtaining those goals. I had not considered creating my goals up front with the mandate that they include God’s leadership. Maybe it’s just me but I have to say, I bet I’m not he only one putting the cart before the horse.

The second concept was to then develop a passion for the goal to drive us toward our desired outcome. Most any book you pick up on goals will tell you to determine what it is you are passionate about, make the goals; then the work toward it.

In the world, perhaps that is the key. In God’s economy, we are to go about it from this other perspective. We make a goal that requires God’s leadership and challenges us to be the best we can be. Then we strive for the passion to continue on when we run into obstacles; an attitude of persistence.

Additionally, we should refuse to listen to criticism; surrounding ourselves with people who will encourage us. Certain steps may fail, but we should look for a personal lesson in every defeat.

Finally, we are to believe that we can reach the goal, and then must rely on God to enable us. The circle is complete.

When we start out with God in the goal making decision process, relying on Him throughout the process and end believing He will enable us to reach the goal, we have come full circle. The focus is not about what we can accomplish but what God can accomplish through us.

A recipe for success if ever there was one!