~ WHERE Is Our Faith ? ! ~

'He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples' (LUKE 8: 24-25a).

Where is our faith when the things we want most in life seem always to elude us? Where is our faith when a loved one is snatched away, when sorrow comes and tears fill our eyes?

Where is our faith when our world seems to be tumbling in? Where is our faith when others look to us for strength, and we are weak? Where is our faith when we cannot see beyond our trials to know the whys and wherefores?

Where is our faith when doubts come, and we feel that God has forsaken us? Where is our faith when our hearts break with the realization that our dreams are not coming true? Where is our faith when we have prayed and our answers seem so long in coming?

Is it in the One who holds the future in His hands, the One who can calm the mighty winds? Do we trust Him when we cannot see or do we walk blindly as others do? Help us, Lord, when our faith is weak. Take our hands and lead us gently.

When trying days come our way, let us cling to the only thing in life that is steadfast and sure. He will dry the tears from our eyes, set our hearts aglow and fill us with His joy.

JUDY FREELAND

~ JANUARY ~

LORD God, my faith in You is not based in my senses or my intellect but in Your never-failing love, which saved my soul and promises me unspeakable joy. In Jesus name. Amen.

**** ~ A Crutch ?? !! ~ ****

HAVE you ever heard skeptics say that the Christian faith is nothing more than a crutch - that the only reason people claim to trust Jesus is that they are weaklings who have to make up "religion" to get by?

Apparently those skeptics haven't heard about the doctor in one Far Eastern country who spent 2-1/2 years in jail being "re-educated" because he professed faith in Christ. THEN, after his release, he was arrested again - this time for his efforts at his church.

And perhaps those skeptics haven't heard about Paul. AFTER trusting Christ, he was arrested, flogged, mocked, and shipwrecked (2 Cor. 11: 16-29).

These believers were not looking for a crutch. No, they had something deep and essential in their hearts. They had a personal relationship with God - a relationship born of faith in the work of Jesus on the cross. As a result, they became children of the King - eager to sacrifice everything for the privilege of proclaiming Him. They were not limping along looking for something to hold them up.

A crutch? Hardly. Faith in Christ is not about safety and caution. It's about believing Jesus and trusting Him no matter what. (It's about taking up a daily cross (Luke 9:23) and living for the Savior.) - Dave Brannon.

"Take up your cross," the Savior said,
"If you would My disciple be;
Take up your cross with willing heart
And humbly follow after Me." - Everest.

"We are hard-pressed
on every side, yet not
crushed." - 2 Corinthians 4:8

(*READ: 2 Corinthians 4: 8-15)

Because Jesus bore the cross for us, we willingly (*have/been given the desire to) take it up for Him!

*** SEE associated posting dated 27/11/2010 titled 'Eternity'.kim.