Today I Have a Longing for- Outlandish Faith

This post is for you. That loneliness you sometimes feel for being different. 

That stand your family has made. That illness, or hurt you are experiencing. It separates you in someway from being "normal", looking "normal", feeling "normal". 

I don't know your struggles. But I know this.

Faithful trusting and obeying, no matter the cost, brings great joy. 

You wait.

You will see.

"...And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat."

Jericho was defeated, HOW?!?

  

Faith calls us to strange places.
 Beyond the reaches of our comfort zone. Beyond the reaches of our understanding. Faith pulls us away to solid ground, providing us with a firm base on which to stand. No storm can shake this faith!

 Yet at the same time it pulls us away from the world around us. This world does not comprehend the sinking nature of the sand they are standing on. Faith guards us from the "normal" way of being, looking and feeling. 

Faith brings mortification.

Why? because it is NOT natural. The selfishness and pride of our hearts rejects all thought of needing direction. Especially directions WE can't comprehend. It is mortifying, it breaks us.                            

Faith has incredible power.

 Scripture tells us it can move mountains. But faith is not about the one who does the believing, it is about the one who gives the power to believe. 

Faith is not something we can do on our own. We not only need His strength to overcome the predicaments we place ourselves in, but we also need His strength to help us believe that He can overcome those predicaments. 

For true belief is brought about by a realization of the feebleness of our own devices, schemes, and power.

A self-confident and haughty man can never know what it is to trust himself to the guiding of the Lord. Who needs a guide when you are already familiar with everything?

I can only imagine how stupid and silly the Israelites must have felt as they marched around the wall of Jericho screaming. I can picture it. That family from Jericho sitting down to dinner, cackling over the  farcical actions of the Israelites. "Wonder where they learned their army tactics from?" Then BOOM! BANG! BOOM! The walls of Jericho come crashing down own their heads. 

As children of God our obedience to His commands will usually be answered by others with laughter, or disregard. This should not be our concern. God WILL condemn the wicked!

 The person who feels God's pleasure, does not fret or worry about the opinion of others. The men who give their allegiance to King Jesus will be mocked as He was. The ways of God will seem as foolish to men, but they will triumph!

Obedience and faith to God's ways yield victory!

Throughout scripture we see time and time again examples of men called to do outlandish things, trusting in faith that God would control the outcome. 

Noah building the ark. The scorn. What a mockery! 

Rain was something in their day that had never been experienced. It was crazy!

Gideon and his three hundred men. What a scandal! Smashing jars and blowing trumpets. That could never defeat the army of Midian.

Blood placed over the door. Really? The angel of death sounded kind of like a fairy tale. A splotch of blood isn't going to do any good. 

Water from a rock. Since when did rocks bring about springs of fresh water? That silly idea really isn't going to help the situation with thirst.

The ark, the smashing jars and blowing trumpets, the blood, the rock. It wasn't magic. It was faith. 

None of those things would do them any good without a stepping out in blind trust.

It took courage. It took bravery.

Others will sneer but what glorious things come from men and women walking by faith and not by sight!

Okay!
So faith calls us to do outlandish things. How does this apply to me?

You've been called to stand alone, to be "abnormal", and to do crazy things, so that not only you, but the entire world can see the mighty acts of God. 

Every suffering and trial we experience, when taken in faith, will bring about a bountiful harvest. We may not see for ourselves all the fruits of our labors, but they will reap. 

So when trials come into our lives, we must step out in faith and give thanks for each affliction. (And remember murmuring is NOT an act of faith!!!) When we complain we are telling God that we don't like the way He is providing for us and that we are not willing to humble ourselves before Him and trust His perfect plan.

C.S. Lewis said-

"When we complain of our suffering we are not asking God to love us more, we are asking Him to love us less." 

Are we clinging in faith to His promises or are we asking him to love us less? 

Remember, faith is the victory!

Lord, make us men and women of courage.

Supply us with outlandish faith.

Do We Really Believe in The Sovereignty of God?

Do we really believe in the sovereignty of God?

 Today many people stand in mourning and in fear. The future has nothing in store but disaster. The world appears  to be at an end.
So I ask you... what is your response today? Do you stand in fear of God or man? Do you know with all of your being that HE owns the future?
Our family had the honor of being able to hear Dr. Morecraft preach an election day sermon this past Lord's day. Dr. Morecraft preached on Isaiah 40 and I strongly challenge each of you to take the time and listen to this sermon. He did a phenomenal job of putting in perspective the authority that the government has in comparison to God and His infinite power. Here is the link-
      www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=114121050123

Today I Have a Longing for- Renewed Victory

Pictured above is a shot I snapped of The Coliseum while in Rome. It's still impressive but in ruins none the less. It always tickles me when I read of someone in history who chooses to set themselves up as invincible, or everlasting. It may seem like it in their day but just because that is what appears to be happening doesn't mean it is. The only empire that is everlasting, invincible, unconquerable, and impregnable is Christ's Kingdom. There were many empires that thought themselves eternal-  Babylon, Rome, Persia, Greece etc. but in the end it was the motley group of Christians that prevailed.

The only thing that is left of those "eternal" empires today, are great history lessons, fascinating history tours and impressive ruins. Okay, so we get the point Meghan, they all collapsed and are no longer existing… so what are you really trying to say? What I am trying to get at is this. Christ's Kingdom is victorious and one day, here on this earth, the majority of the people will be worshipping with us, awe struck at the one true and living God. As I've studied eschatology, I have been shocked and saddened by the predominance of pessimism seen among Christians in our generation. Christ Kingdom will not expand like it should, until Christians wake up to the fact that the victory is ours, that we can take dominion and that Christ's followers will become as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands on the seashore. Our misunderstanding of God's word shows a lack of faith. So even if at times it may be hard to see, that doesn't mean He can't do it. Just because we don't have the faith to believe it, doesn't mean that He doesn't have the power to fulfill it. 

"May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May desert tribes bow down before him and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!" -Pslams 72:8-11

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." - 2 Corinthians 2:14

I want to challenge each of you to study God's word, to learn from those greater than us, who have gone before. How you view the end will effect the way you run the race and your courage as you run it. I would STRONGLY recommend that each of you read An Eschatology of Victory by J. Marcellus Kik! He is very clear and uses scripture to back up all his views, so please get it and read it, not because I recommended it but because I want each of my friends to know what they believe and to base it off of God's word.

Blessings,

Meghan Murphy