Friday, October 26, 2012

What Does Faith Look Like - A Web Series

For a long time, I've know how I live out my faith, my calling if you will, to be both interpretative and applicable.  What I mean by interpretative is that God has given me gifts to understand what He says in His Word and the experiences He directs in my life.  I have been given eyes to see Him at work.  I seek the deep knowledge and wisdom that comes from walking with Him - as C.S. Lewis called it, "the deep magic of this world."

In terms of my applicable-ness (not a word, I realize, just go with me), just understanding what God is doing in and around me is not enough.  It is meant to be injected into my every day actions, like a vaccine that gets me healed from the disease of my flesh.  I think that is one of the reasons He prompted me (someone with absolutely zero literary training or experience) to start writing.  I am to actively move - to be moved and to work at moving - towards more of Christ in me.

I long for the things of God - I long to see those things made real.  I found myself at a standstill  a few years ago during Bible Studies because I would think, "Hey - this is great!  But how do I make it work?  How do I live this truth I've received?"  More often than not, I would come back to this basic question:

What is this truth supposed to look like in my life?

I don't think I'm alone.  I think there are a lot of people who go to church on Sundays, leave feeling empowered but don't know what to do with it.  Yes, we serve - we get involved in missions and ministries and studies.  But when you are at home and dealing with everyday things, but still seeking to walk closer to God, we long for something tangible to visualize.  We long for a real-life example that drives home 1. the possibility and 2. the ability. 

Those two issues are where most people get stuck.  They see marvelous things happening, or they see triumph in struggle and think, "Wow, that's great for that person, but I'm just not sure God will do that for me."  Or they think, "That person sure does have a lot of faith, I don't have that much so I can't do/have that in my life."  We forget that just because something maybe hard, it is still worth doing because the rewards are much greater than the struggle

I won't lie, holding onto faith can be a struggle.  But it is a struggle that gets easier to manage the more you actively seek God.  He makes Himself more available the more we look to Him.

The purpose of this little web series I'm putting together is to take examples from my life, the Bible and the lives of my family and friends, and use them to demonstrate faith applied in the everyday.  That will strengthen us in the struggle and show others what freedom looks like.  I want you to come away knowing that all things are possible through faith in Christ.  I've witnessed so many big miracles and so many more small ones that leave me feeling like I can't keep this in anymore.

So, I hope you will join me on this journey.  I'm going to start with these topics:
Prayer
Turning the Other Cheek
Peace
Chastening/Discipline
Protection
Provision
Faithfulness
Security
Righteousness
Giving
Forgiveness
Suffering

I can't say that will be the order or if they will come with any regular "schedule."  I hope to get 1-2 in a week, but I'm going to follow as the Lord prompts because this is too important to do without Him.  I want faith in Christ to be something tangible for you, as it is for me.  It is not only a discipline to practice (like exercise) but also a path to find greater reward than you have now.  I need a constant reminder of that.  I want you to want that access and availability, in a new and fresh way.  I want you to be able to see Him at work and have a desire to apply it in your relationships and experiences. 

In short, I want us both to grow in the Lord.  I'll leave you with another quote from C.S. Lewis (obviously one of my favorites):
Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth thrown in.  Aim at Earth and you will get neither.
My prayer is that we will aim for the things of God to be made real.  When we do, we will get infinitely more than we ever asked or bargained for!

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