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Category Archives: Unshakeable Faith

Building a Rock-Solid Legacy of Faith

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Four generations of my family gathered this week at my parents’ home. My mom and dad longed to see their first great-grandchild, but cannot make the long highway drive to go to him. So, I traveled from Houston to Dallas, picked up my daughter Kelley and her one-year old Micah, and together we made the trip to Shreveport.

legacy of faith

My mom, daughter, father, and grandson

It’s a little weird being in the middle of the generational line. I am that proverbial “sandwich.” On one side, I’m pressed by the bittersweet journey of watching my aging parents and all that comes with the process. On the other, stands the joyful excitement of walking with my daughter and son-in-law as they parent my first grandchild.

Cord of Faith

As I contemplate this inevitable life role, I am thankfully aware of an invisible, but strong, cord running both directions. From my parents through me to my daughter and beyond, flows a current of faith in Christ our Savior. It binds our hearts and lives together now and into eternity.

My mother and father’s commitment before my birth to obey God’s call to parents initiated this faith flow. They took God’s Word seriously.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9, NIV

My parents’ obedience not only pointed me toward a saving relationship with Christ, it also fostered a desire to continue this legacy of faith as my husband and I raised our own children. And now Kelley and Jeremy embrace the same responsibility with precious Micah.

Leave a Spiritual Legacy

In honor of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, this post is the first in a series about building a legacy of faith in our families. For the rest of May, we will see what the Bible says on the topic and consider practical ways we can foster faith in Christ in the heart of our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and anyone else God has placed into our lives.  I’d love to have you along for the journey!

Did your parents work to pass down a legacy of faith to you? If so, what difference did it make in your life? Have you committed to passing along your faith to the next generation?

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I’ve Been Contemplating Evil

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Stories of incomprehensible evil saturate recent news. Savage murder, brutality, carnage, and violence roll through the headlines like a tsunami. Jodi Arias, the Boston Bombers, the Gosnell trial, and now Cleveland.

I am overwhelmed with the propensity for evil in the heart of mankind. My mind has been spinning with questions. How can a human being, an individual created in the image of God, snip the spinal cord of a living child and sleep at night? How can a man chain a teenage girl in a basement to use and abuse her for a decade? And where is God while it’s happening?

Yesterday, my daily Bible reading took me to Genesis 6. The text records that in the days of Noah, “man’s wickedness on the earth” was great and “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). The earth was “corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence… for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways” (Genesis 6:11-12). Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

evilThe condition of the world in Genesis 6 mirrors our world today. Evil multiples. Like yeast in dough, it feeds and breeds and grows. Expanding its reach, touching more places, infecting more lives, wreaking untold havoc.

Noah’s story initiated a search of Scripture to see what God says about evil. I did not get all my questions answered. However, God did ground me once again in His truth through the time in His Word.

Maybe you’ve been having similar thoughts and questions. I hope this small recounting of what God’s Word says about evil will encourage and strengthen you.

The Source and Result of Evil

  • God does not delight in evil. (1 Corinthians 13:6)
  • Evil originates in the heart of sinful man, not with God. (Genesis 6:12, James 1:13-14)
  • Without God, we are slaves to sin and evil, separated from God. (Colossians 1:21, Romans 6:6)
  • By our sinful nature, people turn away from God’s righteous light so their evil deeds are not exposed (John 3:19-20).
  • Rejection of God is a slippery slope that plunges sinful people deeper and deeper into evil and depravity. (Romans 1:21-32)

Rescue from Evil

  • Because God loves us, He sent Jesus to save us from evil and condemnation (John 3:16-17).
  • Jesus came to rescue us from slavery to evil (Galatians 1:4) and reconcile us to God (Colossians 1:22).

God Will Judge Evil

  • God will judge evil. His Word is clear. (Malachi 4:1, 2 Peter 3:3-13, Romans 2:9-10, Matthew 25:41-46)
  • He delays because He is patient and merciful, wanting people to repent. (2 Peter 3:8-9)

What Believers Should Do in the Meantime

  • Do not repay evil with evil (1 Peter 3:9).
  • Do not conform to the world’s evil or give in to our own evil desires (1 Peter 1:14).
  • Turn from evil and do good (1 Peter 3:11).
  • Live holy lives “to speed Christ’s coming” (2 Peter 3:11)

Believers are Protected

  • Evil cannot spiritually harm believers (Matthew 10:28, 1 John 5:18-19).
  • Evil’s actions may impact us physically, but we are spiritually and eternally protected by the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:5, Ephesians 1:13-14).

Today’s world is full of examples of what happens when evil is left unchecked, when fleshly, sinful desires are given free reign. The topic of evil raises many questions. But there is only one answer. And His name is Jesus.

Did God’s Word encourage you today? What truth impacted you most and why?

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Left Hanging

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The day was clear and crisp, just perfect for spring skiing. When we arrived at the slope, we purchased our lift tickets, quickly donned our skis, and got in line for the lift. So excited to have a full day of skiing ahead of us.

Four of our group sat together on the quad chair – me, Wayne, our oldest daughter, Kelley, and our friend Connie. About a quarter of the way up the hill the chair lift came to an abrupt halt. That happens fairly often – usually to wait for someone who has fallen getting on or off – so we weren’t concerned. But then minutes ticked by and we remained stopped.

God is workingFor the next two hours we alternated between long stretches of stillness and brief forward movement. The first time the chair began to move we cheered, but after just a few feet we stopped again. After that, each time we moved we held our collective breaths. But alas, we only moved a short distance.

It was a warm day for April in the Canadian Rockies, but when you’re hanging off the ground in the wind with the weight of your skis and boots pulling on your dangling legs, a chill can set in quickly. The four of us huddled close for warmth and told stories to pass the time.

After about two hours I started eyeing the ground. If I dropped my skis would it be close enough to jump? Then I checked to see how far it was to the closest support tower. Is it possible to shimmy across the cable?

But just before I made rash decision to act dangerously, someone shouted at us over a bullhorn. “We’ve been working to get the motor going, but it won’t stay running. We’ll try one more time. If that doesn’t work we will get you down another way.”

Another way? Seriously?! What does that mean? Fork lift? Helicopter? Giant eagle?

Just as I was taking another look at the ground, we started moving. All four of us were praying. Fifty feet to the end. Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Ten. Now, stand up and put your skis on the ground!

After more than two hours, no feeling remained in our legs but we managed to get out of the chair and move away from the lift. Petite little Kelley was chilled to the bone so Wayne took her to a warming shack to thaw. Connie and I made our way gingerly down the slope to the lodge.

As it turned out, the resort paid for our lunch and refunded our lift passes. After eating and warming up in the lodge, we spent the afternoon skiing for free. (Well, I guess it wasn’t really “free.”)

For the majority of those two hours we felt like the ski resort had simply left us hanging. We didn’t see any activity on our behalf. We saw very little forward progress. But as we learned later, an entire team of mechanics was working frantically to get us down to safety.

Sometimes life feels like that. Sometimes we may feel like God has “left us hanging.” Sometimes we might think He’s not doing anything while we struggle. But Scripture teaches us the truth:

  • God is never inactive; He is always working (John 5:17).
  • God knows and cares about every aspect of our lives (Matthew 6:25-34).
  • God is all-powerful and in control of every situation (Jeremiah 32:17).
  • God is with us in our trials (Isaiah 43:2).
  • God is good, loving, and faithful (Psalm 145:17).

When you doubt God is working, when you wonder if He cares about you and your situation, remind yourself of the truth. Even if you can’t see it, He is working. Even if you don’t feel it, He loves you.

Let’s Share: Has there ever been a time you felt like God “left you hanging?” In retrospect, how was He working?

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But Even If He Does Not…

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Has your faith in God ever been shaken because He didn’t answer your prayers in a specific way? Have you ever doubted His love for you because you had to endure a painful trial? Many believers have.

Recently, God has been teaching me the same truth in several different ways. He must want to make sure I learn it. Here it is:

My faith must be in God and not in what I hope He will do for me.

Where is your faith?Where is your faith?

Since January, I’ve been leading a group of ladies through a study called “Live a Praying Life” by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. It is transforming our prayer lives and our understanding of God. In Week Ten, Jennifer explains that many believers become discouraged with prayer because they have a misguided understanding of faith.

Many of us mistakenly think that faith is “believing real hard.” If we believe hard enough then God will do what we want Him to do. Heal our spouse. Save our friend. Provide a job. Then when things don’t turn out like we want our assumption is that God doesn’t care or that God doesn’t answer prayer.

The problem with this thinking is that we’ve put our “faith” in an outcome instead of in our all-knowing, all-powerful God. Jennifer clarifies the issue:

Faith is not knowing how God will bring His will into being; faith is knowing that God will bring His will into being.

 Into a fiery furnace

Those three faithful friends – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – demonstrate what it looks like to have faith in God and not an outcome. When the Babylonian authorities ordered these Israelite captives to bow down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue or be thrown in the fiery furnace, they put their faith firmly in God.

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will no serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:17-18, NIV

These words grab my heart. They are one of the boldest declarations in all of Scripture. “Our God is able! But even if He does not…”

We place our faith in God and worship Him because He is God and He is able. Not because He will see fit to handle things the way we, in our limited understanding, think they should be handled.

Living by Faith

The “Hall of Faith” in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, further demonstrates this truth. We learn that some “escaped the edge of the sword” while others were “put to death by the sword.” Some “conquered kingdoms” and others faced “jeers and flogging.” Some “routed foreign enemies” and others were “chained and put in prison.”

The common denominator in every life described in Hebrews eleven was not the physical outcome of their situation. No, rather each life memorialized in this well-loved chapter placed unshakeable faith in God. However He chose to use their life to further His kingdom, their faith remained solid and safe in the Person of God.

What does this mean for you and me? We can stand firmly on the truth that God will carry out His purposes. They will not be thwarted. The temporary physical circumstances may not be what we would choose, but we can know that God is working. We can peacefully rest in His loving, protective arms and trust His outcome.

Have you ever found yourself putting your faith in an outcome rather than God? Share a time that you were discouraged because your prayers were not answered in the way you thought they should have been.

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Are You at the End of Your Hope?

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Hopeless, end of ropeHave you ever lost all hope? Perhaps you had a big stack of bills, but not a dime in your bank account. Maybe he walked out the door and refused to even talk about a future. Or the doctor made a grim diagnosis with no viable treatment.

Just this morning I read about a hopeless situation in the life of the Apostle Paul. A prisoner of the Roman government, he was sailing to Italy under guard so Caesar could hear his case. During the journey, the ship encountered a storm with hurricane force winds. Paul’s traveling companion, Luke, described the scene for us.

We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. Acts 27:18-20, NIV

The men on the ship battled the storm for two weeks. They went without food. They sacrificed all the cargo and tackle. They did everything within their power to save themselves. Then, when they saw no way out, when they could do nothing more, they gave up.

But God had other plans and while the storm raged, He shared them with Paul in a dream (Acts 27:21-26). He wanted Paul to testify about Christ before Caesar in Rome. In His sovereign will and in His goodness to His child, God’s grace spilled over to everyone on the ship. The vessel ran aground off the island of Malta and everyone on board got to shore safely. Just as God had said, “not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.”

The men had no control over their dire situation. But God did. When they reached the end of their hope, God stepped in. And He turned hopelessness into an occasion for praise and thanksgiving.

Are you at the end of your hope right now? It’s really a good place to be. When we stop hoping in an outcome, then we can begin to depend on God. When we stop depending on our own ability to fix things, then we will see the things that only God can do.

What have you seen God do in “totally hopeless” situations?

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