After I finished writing part 1, I read an article on twitter that provided some insight to “faith.”  The article features Tullian Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, he shares his thoughts regarding his new book, “One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World.”   The article offered a different way of defining faith to me.  I previously stated that faith for me is an action word; with the focus being “my” actions…I believe that I was somewhat slanted in my view.  While it is true, faith in God requires my affirmation (action) in God displayed in my daily life and interactions, the real action of faith is the power, majesty and grace of God.  Faith is the foundation of Christian life and assurance of a future in Heaven with God.  A quote from the article that really spoke to me was “Only undeserved grace can truly melt and transform the heart. The route by which the New Testament exhorts sacrificial love and obedience is not by tempering grace but by driving it home. Charles Spurgeon nailed it when he said, “When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I beat my breast to think I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so and sought my good.”   We are incapable of saving ourselves; faith enables us to spend eternity with God.  Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And, Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) states, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Romans 10:17 (NIV) “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Scripture explains that the source of faith is God:  Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”  Another quote (paraphrased) that hit me like a brick wall was, “The focus of Christian faith should not be our love for God but to realize God’s love for us.”   And, “Christianity is not about good people getting better. If anything, it is good news for bad people coping with their failure to be good.” 

I did say this is a journey and my first task is to identify and name it, the thing or things that keeps me from fully living my faith and developing a deeper relationship with God.

•   Self-Confidence
•   Trust

Now, my work begins.  Funny, that statement immediately took me to one of my favorite places, my church.  At the end of every service the congregation says, “Our worship has ended. Now our Service begins!”  I approach this task with fears, humility and hope.  Below are a few of sites I have looked at and they offer simple and creative ways to build self-confidence and trust.  Our pasts will be different during this portion of the trekking but our futures can and will be what we choose them to be and mine is to grow and develop an interacting relationship with my Creator and Savior. 

~Blessings and Peace~ 

References and resources:

http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2013/10/02/tullian-tchividjian/

http://www.biblegateway.com

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-Self-Confidence

http://www.wikihow.com/Trust-Your-Own-Abilities

Faith, what visual picture does this word bring to you or what does it mean to you.  I proudly profess to be a Christian and believe in the Trinity of God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.  Faith is the belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof. I found myself this past week questioning my faith in people I care very deeply for, what does that say about me and my faith in God?  I believe in a God, whom I have never seen and I doubt people I see and interact with on a regular basis.  This revelation has caused great concern to me and I started trying to understand this double standard I am living.  I started as basic as I possibly could asking is faith, trust and belief the same thing?  They are synonyms for each other and are defined very closely, but I am more interested in the words as “action” words rather than simple nouns. Faith is an “action” word for me, it’s living out my faith on a daily basis and is what others see in me.  It was a devastating feeling when I realized my faith seemed to be weak.  As I was considering  these things the word “trust” kept creeping into my thoughts, and after thinking about it and having a conversation with someone close to me I began to see with perfect clarity that it is myself that I do not trust and that my belief/faith in myself is weak.  As with most things in life, it is expected that one should be able to understand and do things before they expect to receive it from others.  The foundation of my faith and belief in God is that He loved me before I was created, He knew me before I was conceived, these truths are found in the Bible.  I have been holding onto fear for as long as I can remember and although I have experienced periods of strength and confidence somehow I recoil back into a place where I have retreated over and over again throughout my life.  What am I so afraid of? Criticism, not being pretty enough, smart enough overall not feeling loved, liked or accepted.  The problem is I try to be accepted based upon everyone else’s moral and value code of ethics…see my problem?  The rules will never be the same; therefore, I will never meet any of them!  I must define my own values and morals to live by and the only acceptance and approval I should be seeking is God’s.  Please bear with me, I realize I might be making this sound easy and in many instances it can be; however, if you are reading this and have ever experienced doubts about yourself, life and even the eternal know that you are not alone.  I am starting a journey and I am inviting you to join me, the first thing is to identify and name it (fear, confidence, inferiority..) whatever is enabling; second thing is honesty with ourselves and most especially with God, He already knows what’s in our hearts.  The third thing is a plan, knowing where we are and where we want to go/be.  I think three steps are more than enough to begin this journey.  I will be updating and sharing my trek of living my faith and I would welcome dialogue.

~Blessings and Peace~