a new year, a new word

Last year my word was "adventure". Everytime I came upon an unexpected turn in the road, a challenge, I would label it an adventure. It seemed to help attitude, gave me a shift in perspective. I've decided to choose a new word for the new year. Faith.

The minister mentioned "fueled faith" in Sunday morning's sermon. I liked that concept but needed to look up the definition before I confirmed it as my new word(s). Fueled: heated, driven, to support or stimulate. Well, that sounds okay - "driven faith". I figured I knew the definition of faith, but decided to check that one out as well. At which point I came across an amazing article by Martin Luther which says "Faith is not what some people think it is. Faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives us new birth from God. It kills the Old Adam and makes us completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith." The article goes on to talk about how faith and works are completely intertwined; one cannot exist independently of the other. He closes with the following: "Ask God to work faith in you, or you will remain forever without faith, no matter what you wish, say or can do."

I realized then, that the concept of "fueled faith" in which I put my own efforts into fueling my faith is completely preposterous. Instead, I found myself gravitating towards the concept of "sovereign faith".

I spoke at a retreat last spring and we were taught the signing for the newer version of the song "amazing grace". The phrase "His mercy reigns" was signed using the same symbolism as a horse's reigns. We are controlled and directed by God's mercy in the same way that a bridle and reigns control a horse. I absolutely loved this word picture. Sovereign faith gives me that same image - being controlled by a faith that is so much bigger than me. I wish I could take a photograph of my life right now - especially the "inside" - and be able to look back on December 31, 2008 and see what God has done with this.

I encourage you to read the rest of the article. It's short - only 3 paragraphs - but worth pondering.

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/luther-faith.txt

My Christmas Wish...

May you know the wisdom of the Wonderful Counselor, find strength in the Mighty God, experience the unconditional love and grace of the Everlasting Father, and be enveloped by the Prince of Peace.

something to think about...

some amazing statistics were shared in church this morning:
The National Retail Federation is forecasting that Americans will spend $475 billion dollars this Christmas.
The United Nations estimates that just $10 billion dollars would provide clean water for the entire planet and $15 billion dollars would feed everyone.
Makes me think twice about some of the things I thought maybe I "needed" this year...

Gifts

We had church "at home" this morning and in doing so, we began to talk about how we can better worship God in our daily life. This evolved into a discussion about the gifts we've been given. So often we tend to be uncomfortable with our talents - afraid of coming across to others as conceited or "full or ourselves". Yet our gifts really have nothing to do with us and everything to do with the Giver. Last night I gave my mom a gift - it was a new piece for her Christmas village. It was such a pleasure to give it to her and watch her enjoyment. I would have felt terrible if she had stuck it away in a closet somewhere, would have been hurt if she had been too self-conscious to display it. Instead, what a treat to it was to watch her set it out where it could be seen. I'm sure that when others compliment her on it, she'll proudly say, "it was a gift from my daughter!" Which is exactly what we should do with our gifts from God - display them prominently and when complimented on them, proudly say "thank you - it was a gift from my Father!" What better way to worship?