{Miracles | Personal}

"We have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them... If we get sick, we go to a doctor. If we need food, we go to the store and buy it. We've eliminated the need for miracles." {Shane Claiborne}

"We say things like, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'... and then we live and plan like we don't believe God even exists. We try to set up our lives so everything will be fine even if God doesn't come through." {Francis Chan}

"But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God's fidelity to His promises." {Chan}

 I have to ask myself, what in my life would turn out to be a disaster if God didn't come through? Is there anything in my life that is requiring me to put my total trust in Him, and just jump?

I say I trust Him, but do my actions and my plans and my dreams show that I do?

 

{our secret place}

I'm in our secret place // alone in Your embrace // where all my wrongs have been erased 

You have forgiven...

All the promises and lies // All the times I've compromised // All the times You were denied 

You have forgiven...

{Forgiven, by Skillet} 

Like a Mustard Seed

I need more faith. Not because more faith would make more things happen in my life, mainly because more faith would make life easier.

I tend to worry, and wonder and complain, instead of resting, and trusting while being content. It’s funny how faith is more for us, and not for God. The strength of our faith doesn’t affect the outcome, remember all we have to have is a mustard seed, and that’s not much at all. I remember one time at church Mr. Gillson said, “The outcome of a situation doesn’t rest in how much faith you have, but it rests in how reliable the source of your faith is.”

If I decide to step onto a thin sheet of ice, despite how much I believe that the ice will hold me… it probably won’t. But if I choose to step out, trusting in God, He will always hold me.

Our God never fails us, no matter how much faith we have.

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. {Luke 17:6}

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{Originally written for the Red Ink Challenge over at Paper and Ink Spots}

Saturday Sharing: Your Story

So I know this is supposed to be Saturday Sharing.. but I've been a little absent from this blog.. and I decided to share some of my heart today [so it's technically "Saturday Sharing" right?]

Anyway, it's been an interesting month. In both good ways and bad. I wanted to share something that I wrote in my journal last night that God told me. I decided to go out skating late last night after working and we had a good talk.

Every good story has conflict. We learned this in Photoj, they teach it in writing classes, it's what makes the story. No conflict, no plot, no excitement. 

I wanted an adventure, but in reality I didn't want the conflict. I wanted excitement, but I really didn't want the hard stuff. 

Sometimes... I feel like I'm swimming against the current. Like one step forward, two steps back. My Zenfolio account balance tells the story... up $20, down to -6... up again... down again. It's what I feel like the rest of my business is doing.. and sometimes the rest of my life.

When I pictured an adventure, I see in my mind overcoming the world, climbing mountains, warring against LIFE. But when the world looks me in th eye, and when real life comes tearing around the corner I don't get it. I thought it was supposed to be easy climbing the mountain!?!? [ok, maybe it's a lot of tough work.. but not too hard]

Do you really think that in the movies, when the hero is staring down the barrel of a gun, the think... "Oh, it'll be ok.. I'm the hero, everything has to turn out right." ? [ok, yeah, it's just a movie.. but bear with me... these things do happen in real life.] When we watch a movie, or read a story we're fine in the action parts, because hey! they're the hero! 

My point is, as Christians, we are the hero of our story. We have even more security than being the lead role in a movie when the conflict comes, because we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. [Romans 8:28] And with Jesus we are more than conquerors. [verse 37]

See, we might have a mountain to climb, a river to swim or a gun in our face, but we're not going to die because we're the hero in God's story. 

I wanted a story, and that's what I'm getting. 

Fishers of Men

"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you Fishers of Men. They immediately left their nets and followed Him." 

[Matthew 4: 18-20]

Jesus called the 12 to be Fishers of Men. He directly told them, "follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." But it wasn't until three years later that Jesus told them....

"He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." [Mark 16:15]

They didn't actually become Fishers of Men until then. Three years later. And these three years weren't like any other years... these were years where they talked, walked, fellowshipped and lived with the Savior. These were some intimate times with their Lord, the ultimate Fisherman. 

I've got some dreams floating in my head. I've got some talents at my fingertips. I see some needs. And I've felt Gods voice saying that He's got something for me.

But lately I've tried to rush Him.... "Well Lord, you called me to be this... AND????" And.. you haven't finished your "three years". You're not prepared for this calling yet. You may not have learned enough patience, you may not know how to love like I do, you may not be strong enough for this, you may not be knowledgeable in this. In short.... you've got some preparation left to do, some time with ME. 

When I think about it this way, and compare myself to the disciples, I feel like I've got a lot more than three years left! Although sometimes it's hard to wait when you know where you are going [in their case.. to preach the gospel to all men], it's also really awesome to know that the Lord of all wants to spend more time with you right now. ["And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard His word.... And Jesus answered her and said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her." ~ Luke 10: 39-41]

Jesus did use the disciples during this time, it's not like they sat around. For goodness sake, they healed people and feed people and did other things for Christ, but their real calling didn't come until later.

So for right now, I'm taking the steps He's showed me. Learning to trust Him in the little things. And spending time with Him, preparing :-)  [Oh and also getting excited for everything else!]

Life is More

Trust.

Essentially that's what quitting my job a few weeks ago was all about. {I felt the Lord was telling me that I needed to really move in my photography business, so it was a step of faith that the Lord would provide. :)} But now is when I'm feeling the lack of it the most. I've been worrying the past few days.


Worry.

Essentially the opposite of trust. Stressing about our problems is saying that God's not big enough to handle them. But..... that's what I've been doing.

So I'm going to stop. Easier said than done, right? But I'm going to try!

Stop worry about getting a job this summer; Stop stressing about whether or not I have that shoot; Stop thinking about how much money I still owe; Stop worrying about how long my camera is going to last, and just wait and see.

Just wait and see. That's it. That's what God want's us to do. Wait and see what the Lord will do!

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" ~Matthew 6:25

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

I have life! And I have a well body! What more can I ask for. Really, how selfish is it to be worrying, when I have these things. Wake up call for Kelley! Enjoy the things you have, and put the things you don't have in God's hands. Because we all know that the grass is always greener..... over the septic system! :-) lol

Life is Good, because I have it! :D

A Mustard Seed?

"The power of faith rests in the reliability of the object of your faith, not in the amount of faith you have." [Part of Mr. Gillson's sermon on Sunday]

"And He said to me, 'Son of man, can these live [in reference to a valley of dry bones]?' So I answered, 'O Lord God, You know.' Again He said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, "O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you , and you shall live'...... [Ezekiel 37:3-5]

"So I prophesied as I was commanded." [verse 6]

And it happened. The bones came to life, and breath entered them. 

But I don't see any bold faith statement here, he doesn't say "Yes!" when the Lord asks him if these bones can live. He said what he was commanded to say and it happened.

These things don't rely on the amount or the strength of our faith. All we need is faith like a mustard seed! I always looked at that story and thought, wow, I don't even have the faith of a mustard seed. But Jesus is saying that we don't have any use for any more! All we need is that little seed of faith, and He'll do the rest. It's a freeing thought.

For me it's easy, so easy to get focused on myself; "if only I had a little more faith, maybe if I believed a little harder", and completely miss the fact that it's all about Him. He's bigger than us! "Hello guys, don't you think *I* can work with a dot of faith, or over-ride a bit of unbelief????" It's almost as if by thinking that we need more faith, we're exhibiting less faith in God by mistakenly thinking that the outcome rides on us. 

We still need to step out in obedience and put actions to our faith, but let's try to stop focusing on the amount of our faith. All we need is a mustard seed, pretty much the size of this period. And, after that, it's all Him! :-)