Tag Archives: Circumstances

Faith

What Faith Feels Like


2014-09-20 11.58.28…and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.  John 17:23b

The Question

A co-worker asked me how I know what faith feels like.  I got crickets…well, at first, I did.  I wasn’t sure what to tell him.  It dawned on me that having faith, and being able to explain the joy of it, are two different things.  I could wax rhapsodic about the glorious feeling I get inside when I consider what happened at the great exchange on the cross.  I could explain to him the famous verse about faith:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

But that would be using the word I am trying to define in the definition.  That kind of circular reasoning will not give a real answer.    This guy has a very high IQ, and is more often looking for an argument in which to showcase his intelligence.  I do not want to get into that kind of thing.  It would be pointless and frustrating.

I was left with the proverbial problem of trying to describe the color orange to a blind man.  Then I remembered I was once blind to faith, too.  I was blinded to the things of God, and wanted to understand them, just like this guy does.  Like him, I had God in a box, I new more than anyone else, and had very little patience with the cretins around me who had no idea about anything.  How do I explain faith to someone who is like this?

The Root of the Matter

I told my coworker I will only answer in the context of what the Bible has to say about faith, but needed time to frame an answer.    His immediate reaction was to tell me he doesn’t want to hear my religious point of view, but only wants a philosophical discussion.

I recognize an evasive maneuver when I see one.  I used to use this very argument when I was under conviction, and was afraid the answer would get too real for me to handle.  Fear drives that sort of thinking.

I needed God to show me how to get past the wall of fear this guy has constructed so I can show him what faith looks like.  I knew that the only thing to do was give this to God and wait for Him to show me how to explain faith.

I asked God to open my eyes, and the eyes of my coworker, so we could both see what God wants to show us both about faith.

IN THE MEAN TIME

The company I work for sent me to Richmond, Virginia for training.  At the end of the week would be a final exam.  The brochure made it clear that the exam period is 8 hours.  The company booked my flight to leave right in the middle of the testing time.  This was really bad timing.  I would have to walk out during the middle of the test just to make my flight.

I called the home office and explained my situation.  Their answer was that it would cost too much to reschedule my flight, and, besides, one of my peers claimed to have taken the test in one hour, so I shouldn’t have a problem doing the same thing.

I checked with the instructor about the testing times.  He explained that no one in the history of this test has ever completed it in less than 2 hours and 30 minutes.  I called the home office back and told them what the instructor said.  The answer was a very firm “no”.  It was made very clear to to me that there was no way the flight would be changed.  I would just have to work it out to be done with the test in time to leave for the airport.

The Old David (Me before the Holy Spirit) would have thrown a very loud fit and gone totally nuts.  I was tempted to be angry and frustrated.  For once in my life, though, I obeyed God and took this to Him.  I called Sandy and we prayed about it ( Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. – Jesus – Matt. 18:19)

Within two hours of our praying, I got an e-mail from the home office telling me that my flight was rescheduled from Friday to Saturday.  The solid and resounding “NO!!!” had been turned into a “But of course we can!” after Sandy and I prayed.

When I got the e-mail, I nearly cried.  God had moved the hearts of the people on my behalf.  Once again, God had come through in a situation where the world had said it was not possible.

I felt complete in Him through this.  I felt assurance of His love for me that His promise is true:  Philippians 4:6-7 – Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Even in the little things, God shows His love and care.  For the first time in my existence, I felt what it is like to know the love of a caring father.  This is why it is so easy to trust Him.  He cares.  He loves.  He demonstrates that love in the most remarkable ways.  It is when things are really frustrating that God is able to reveal something that I would have otherwise missed.  All I have to do is remember to trust him with my circumstances.

It is easy to have faith in one whose love is complete and unconditional.

THERE WAS MY ANSWER

It dawned on me that God had opened my eyes.  Again, He revealed Himself.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  It is easy to have faith in one who loves you completely and demonstrates that love so freely.  God’s perfect love casts out all my fears.  When the world says no, God says, yes.

WHAT DOES FAITH FEEL LIKE?

Faith feels like love.

This Love fills me with reckless abandon toward the things of God.

Faith feels fearless, Charles.

That is what faith feels like.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

I love you in the name of Jesus,

Now, Let’s Be About It!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

Whom God Chooses – Part 2b – Our Desperate Hour


A Psalm of David.

I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD. How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. (Psa 40:1-4)

 The Choice

A defining moment comes to all who are called. A circumstance will arise that will ask you to decide if what you say you believe is what you really believe. The road behind you will be blocked, and the road in front of you will be crammed with choices. Compromise will surround you, and “common sense” will dictate terms to you. The world is watching.

The road that forks between self-interest and the call of God is standing in front of you. How you got to this circumstance no longer matters. What matters now is, will you chose to walk the path God will lead you down, or will you return to your life of compromise?

Life suddenly reached that point where you can no longer desire God and serve the world at the same time. Everything you used to rely on for success and contentment has either betrayed you, or has become a distraction pulling you away from the call you hear in your spirit. You are no longer able to serve two masters. It is time to choose one.

Deep calls to deep and the things that used to hold your interest suddenly appear shallow and meaningless. The pull of the Spirit of God beckons you toward a life you never thought you would live, and away from a life you that now seems alien to you.

While all the props and trappings that defined your comfort zone are being taken away, and you feel as if your life has crumbled down around you, and all the doors that used to be opened to you are firmly nailed shut, while all the reasons to fear are screaming at you to pay attention to them, a still small voice beckons you to “Take up your cross and follow Me.” (Matt 16:24)

The Circumstance

How you got here no longer matters. You are here. If you know what to ask, you will know what choice to make. If you know who to ask, you will see the plan God has for you. Your circumstance has arrived to strip away the remnant of your self-interest and deceit, and be replaced with the Love, Grace, Mercy, Wisdom and Spirit of God.

God, in His wisdom, has allowed this circumstance, which He could have easily dismissed through His power. He has allowed this circumstance so He can provide a revelation of Himself to you. This is one of the “all things” He works for your good. You are here because it is time to choose which way you will walk the rest of your life. God’s goal is to make you like His Son, Jesus.

The Questions

When you find yourself mired in the muck of your circumstance, and you need to know God’s plan, and be assured that there is one, take a Spiritual Appraisal. When you do, and listen for the answers, you will see the plan, and understand more of God, and accept the changes He is making in you.

Ask God:

  1. What does this circumstance mean?
  2. What is God releasing in you through this circumstance?
  3. What is God doing and what should you do?
  4. What is it God wants to do in your life, that He couldn’t do before?
  5. How do I stand before God…How does He see me in Heaven that He is trying to manifest here on earth?
  6. What does God want you praying and confessing?
  7. Tell God, “I want to see this circumstance the way you do.”

If all your thinking about this circumstance has brought you to a place you don’t like, change your thinking. Find out how God thinks about it. When you can see how He views this circumstance, you will see what growth He is affecting in you. His desire and plan for your life becomes clearer.

Because He is working into your soul the mind of Christ, the Spirit of God is working to change the way you think and believe about everything. You cannot get new life with your old thinking. The thoughts you had before you knew Jesus are no longer part of the new creation. This circumstance exists to align your heart and view and mind and beliefs in harmony with the way God runs things in Heaven.

Be patient with the questions. If God is not speaking initially, He will eventually reveal the answer. If you try avoiding this situation, you get to repeat it as long as you are telling God you want to be just like Jesus. You either mean it, or you don’t.

When He reveals the truth of your circumstances, you can walk through that situation WITH God. The goal in all this is to develop a relationship between you and God. That is what all of this is about. That is why we were created in the first place. That is why Jesus came here, to restore the broken relationship.

Your circumstances exist to reveal the part of your self-interest that needs to go away, and become like Jesus, so you can have a stronger, more loving relationship with the Living God. This is also so you will be able to show the power of God’s grace to the world.

The Result

When you have grown in your circumstance, the plan God has for your life will be manifest. When you have learned to trust God with all your circumstances, you will be able to run with reckless abandonment into all circumstances knowing that God is doing a work in your life, to His glory. This is where the called become the chosen; when we give our lives over, in every detail, with reckless abandonment to God.

Embrace the unknowable outcomes with abandonment toward God. He has all your good at heart, and desires to give you only good things. He plans on using you in His service. His desire for you is love, joy, fulfillment, happiness, completeness, heaven, and all that is holy. Let God manifest Himself in you, so that others can see that there is a God who cares.

Seeking Him first will mean that every real desire of your heart will be fulfilled.

Rest assured, you are in His plan when you do this.

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!” Since I am afflicted and needy, let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. (Psa 40:16-17)

Let’s be about it.

I love you,

David G. Perkins

Sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

POWERFUL GRACE


10513399_10152600234320628_3221227884745986876_nTHE BURNING QUESTION

 

Have you ever prayed fervently for something, and got what you prayed for? I did, and it caused problems. The problem it caused is that I discovered I cannot serve two masters. I cannot have it my way, AND God’s way…not when my way does not harmonize with what it is God is trying to accomplish in my life. I discovered that what I had asked for was a compromise position on what it is that God wants to accomplish in the life of my family.

See, Sandy and I have been praying fervently that God grow us up, make real believers of us, and remake us to be the image of Christ.

I also asked God for something that I have been asking Him even before I came to know Him in a very real way, last August. Strangely enough, I got what I asked for. EXACTLY the way I asked for it.

At the time I did this, I didn’t know there was a big difference between what I want and what God wants for me.

It turns out that, God will place at your feet anything you ask, if you ask believing it will be done. The problem is that, you have to make sure that what you ask is what GOD wants to see happen in your life.

If what you get does not harmonize with the will of God for your life, then what you experience is going to end up being a painful experience. You will discover that you have to do things God’s way, your way, or someone else’s way.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. God called Abram of UR, out of UR to go to another land. Abram didn’t go right away. He was supposed to go when he was called. He was supposed to go alone, too. He waited, and then took his uncle, relatives and his half-sister, whom he married. He didn’t go to where God told him to go, either. Where he ended up quickly became a barren land and had a famine. God told Abram to go NORTH. Abram went SOUTH, to Egypt. THEN Abram lied to everyone and said the hot babe on his arm wasn’t his wife, but his sister. Eventually the truth would come out, and people would kick Abram out of the place, but offer him peace offerings for nearly committing adultery with his wife.

Foreigners had to tell Abram he was sinning against his own God. By this time, Abram is old, and has not seen the promise of a great multitude occupying the land. You know the rest of the story.

The point is, God called Abram, told him what needs to be done, and Abram did it his way. The Bible describes it this way: Pro 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. (e-SWORD).

Abraham did what he thought was the right thing to do based on his understanding of the circumstances. What he did, however, slowed down the progress that God had in mind. But, through it all, Abraham became a man of great faith, because he got to see what God can do INSPITE of Abraham’s interference.

Abraham got the promise, but it took a long time. None-the-less, God was directing Abraham’s steps out of the path Abraham chose, and led him back into the promise.

When we take matters in our own hands, we slow the promise of God down. Then we end up in a situation. If we are smart, we will stop and ask relevant questions of God.

“What are you trying to reveal to me, God?” “Where are you in this situation?” “What are you trying to show me now that I am listening, that you couldn’t show me because I was asking for my own way?” God could have, by his power, prevented what He allowed to happen by His wisdom. The reason is because God needs to reveal Himself in every aspect of your life.

TRUST IN THE LORD

 

When you can finally quiet your heart, you have to ask these questions, then be still and listen for His answers. He WILL answer. If you ask God to rescue you from the consequences of you having your own way, He may do that, too. However, He will see to it that the lesson is repeated until you finally catch on to what it is that God is trying to show you.

The Bible puts it this way: Pro 3:5 & 6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

I asked for what I wanted, and God let me have my way. I discovered that, having my way exposed several weaknesses in my character, and that I have a lot of growing up to do. God turned my selfishness into a blessing. Sandy and I pray constantly to be made like our Savior, Jesus Christ. If I ask for anything from God that contradicts His character, His will for us, or His vision of who we are in Heaven, then I have to be prepared to deal with the outcomes. Even then, God is not judging me. God has already fulfilled all his judgment in Christ Jesus.

God is going to use even my selfishness to teach me and upgrade me so that I can be better at understanding what it is that God wants us to do.

It is the way of the flesh to call someone out on their failings, and judge them and condemn them. It is God’s way to take your failings and call you up to a higher standard.

Through the power of God’s Grace, He will show you what it is you need to do. Through the power of His Grace, God will empower you to do that very thing.

THE OUTCOME

 

Sandy and I have not yet understood all the lessons we need to learn through our circumstances. But one thing we do know, He made a promise to us, and, one way or another, He will see to it that His promise in us is fulfilled in us.

We are called to serve God because of Jesus Christ. We feel the urgency of this call, and we have a burning fire in our hearts to obey. Now we wait quietly to see what God wants us to do next.

Your outcome is secure if you have genuinely given your life to God through Jesus Christ. God is calling all of Humanity to come home to a relationship with Him. We have had several millennia to see what life is like apart from God. Jesus Christ did for all of humanity what we are not able to do for ourselves. He became all sin, all failure, all disease, all things that formed a barrier between us and God, and, for our sakes He died of them. He became the judged. He was the sin eater. He went to hell on our behalf. And he rose again to prove he has the right to be called the Son of God.

Sandy and I want to be part of the team of messengers He will be sending out to reap the final harvest.

The outcome of even my failings is, I will grow to be just like Jesus Christ. This is God’s promise to you, too.

 

MY PRAYER FOR US ALL

 

Father God, I come to you in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. I pray you give us all a vision of what needs doing, and the power of your Grace to get it done. Grow us all up to be just like Jesus Christ. Teach us to put aside all our vain imaginings, and selfish desire. Teach us daily how to be your Child. Make us into the image of Your Son, Jesus. Time is running out. The enemy is afoot, and we are too busy being religious and selfish to care what goes on around is, in front of us, and even because of us. Grant us mercy. Show us all your love and your will.

AMEN

Let’s Be About It!

I Love You

David G. Perkins

Sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

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Growing In Christ – Is Your Water Safe?


Rivers-of-Living-WaterWatch over your heart with all diligence, 
For from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:23 NASB

NOTE TO READER:  Sometimes I ask myself why I blog so many personal things?  My answer to myself is, there just might be someone else out there going through this, too.  If exposing myself, and showing what God is doing through my circumstances helps someone else, then I am glad to be laid bare so that God will be glorified.  God is doing a great work in all of us.

My mom wrote me, recently, and asked me if I have any good news to report.  I don’t want to lie to my mom, but I don’t want to go into a litany of how hard things are either.  

So, I thought about it for a few minutes.

I can say with great joy that a sink hole has NOT sprouted underneath our house.  THAT is very good news.  I actually feel like I dodged a bullet there.

What else is good news?  Let’s see… … OH!  Here is another bit of good news.  So far, the Bubonic Plague has avoided our neighborhood.  I can’t tell you what a relief THAT is.   Nothing like a flood of rats invading your neighborhood, and starting a plague, to put you in a foul mood.  I find it difficult to look on the bright side as I cough up a lung.  Call me a buzz kill, but there’s the truth at last.

Even more good news….my kittens have discovered the joys of attacking  rolls of toilet paper.  It looks as if teenagers sneaked into my home and rolled the interior of my house.  I am not sure I want to know how two very tiny kittens got toilet paper draped all over my ceiling fan.    But there it is.

Before I could burst into flames and get mad, I had to do a gut check.  These are, after-all, mere kittens.  Serving them up for dinner might be an overreaction on my behalf.  So, I wanted to look on the bright side.  I looked, and looked…and looked.

This is all I could come up with:  If we are ever invaded by hordes of ravaging rolls of toilet paper, our home is safe.  Our kittens would be heroes of epic proportions.

See… that is good news, right?

Aside from not having a sink-hole filled with plague, and toilet paper, in my neighborhood, I have been having a difficult time looking for excuses to do the happy dance.

There is this pesky thing called circumstances.  Some circumstances loom large enough to make you look forward to rampaging rolls of toilet paper.

What do I do with the circumstances in my life when all they want to do is bring me bad news?  Not bad news like, “Hey, Dude, you have a flat.”, but the bad news that the continued onset of unemployment brings?  What do I do when life gets real?

Do I embrace the fear and let it tear me apart?  Do I wallow in the immobility of that fear, like a deer in the headlights?  When life gets real, what do I do?

Here, again, is where we have had to learn that the Warriors of God do battle best when they are on their knees.  When the world is taking your home away, when your friends have given up on you for being a constant failure.  When no one will hire you for what ever the reason of the day is…what do you do?

Do I let the overwhelming doubt and fear I feel consume me?  Do I paint my world in the colors of fear and panic and doubt?  I have learned that, when I paint like that, I have put an ugly filter on every thing I see, do and believe.  It is in this fear that I can really mess up my head.  You can believe you are a failure.  You can believe this is the end.  You can believe there are no answers.  And that becomes your reality.

Some realities you may have to endure.  Looming homelessness is not one I want to experience, but if it does, what will flow through my heart?  I will I curse God and die?  Will I abandon this faith I have been writing about?  There are some circumstances that no amount of “Positive Affirmation” will overcome.

But when I am blocked by raw panic and fear, there is one thing I can do.  I can trust God that, no matter what my circumstances are, He is aware of them.  I know that God is my Father.  God has no evil intent for me.  He has only good and loving kindness for me.

I rest assured in His love for me.  Losing everything I have might be the very best thing that could happen to me.  I know that, when I come through this, I will be a better Child of God for it.  Sometimes God has to purify us so that all idolatry is burned away from our hearts.  What I will gain from this trial is far better than anything I will lose.

The blessings do not begin until I learn that I can trust God with all confidence and unconditionally.  In my poverty, I can assure you, dear reader, that God is love.  In my need, I have learned to pray blessings on you.  In my salvation, I pray for your salvation.  I have been given a gift of Love that was never there before.  And I can tell you, my brother, that I love you without condition, just as God loves me.

I have peace in the midst of this storm.   That is the benefit of knowing God.  I cannot imagine going through this trial without the strength of God in me.    I have been stricken in my body, I have been stricken in my wealth, I have been stricken in all the things I hold dear and valuable, but I am willing to lose all I am and have if it will draw me closer to God.

WATCHING MY HEART

Here is why I am writing you, my friend.  Jesus said this:  “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:38 NASB

Left to my own devices, raw sewage would flow from my heart.  But Christ has changed, and is changing me.  I just have to be careful to guard what I let into my heart.  It doesn’t take much plutonium to poison an entire river.

Because Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, I have something I never had before this.  I have hope.  I have faith.  I have love.  These things live in my heart.

HOPE:  I have hope that God will take away everything that gets in between He and I, and I will be made into the image of Christ.  I have the hope of eternal life in me.  I am saved.  Nothing the world can do can take that from me.

FAITH: I have faith that, no matter what my circumstances are… “…I know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  And I am definitely called according to His purpose.  It doesn’t matter why I am in the circumstances I am, whether my foolishness brought this on, or it is by design, or any other reason you can think of.  I know that GOd turns even our worst mistakes and trials and troubles into blessings.

I have faith that this is exactly what God is accomplishing in me, today.

LOVE:  I have Love in my heart where, just a few months ago, I had a heart of stone. I receive this love from the Father, and I gladly give this love to you, and anyone else that needs to see that; in this cold and callous world filled with darkness, fear and hatred, there is one who loves you more than anything else in all of creation.  God loves you.  God IS love.  Nothing can separate us from the Love of God when we belong to Him through Christ Jesus, our savior and lord.

BREAKING THE DAM

My fears can block that flow.  My doubts can turn this flowing river into a stagnant lake full of unclean things.  When I take the reins from God’s Hand, and tell God, “I got this, God”,I have just blocked the flow of faith, love, hope and joy.  I have turned the living waters into a cup of sweet poison.

Faith, Hope, Love, Joy…these are all gifts from the Loving and ever giving God.  They are our possession because of Jesus Christ.  They belong to us in abundance only in as much as we are willing to give it away.

I can look at my circumstances, or I can look at what I DO have.  I do not have wealth.  I do not have a home.  I do not have many possessions, but what I do have, I give freely.  I give because God gave freely to me through Jesus Christ.

It isn’t when we have things from God that we become wealthy, it is when we, in our poverty, approach God, our Loving Father, in Heaven, and trust Him that we have all our provision.  And what he gives in abundance, we give likewise.

Today, all I have to offer is this Hope:  You can have eternal life if you accept the sacrifice that Jesus made, on the cross, on your behalf.

Today, all I have to offer is Faith:  Faith in God, faith in the atonement for my sin, faith that all things will work out for my good.  How will I know what being poor is like unless I comprehend it?  How will I understand giving until I am in need?  How will I see God’s provision unless I have been driven to the place where that is all I have left?  I pray you never ask to be made into the image of Christ unless and until you understand this; God will do whatever it takes to humble you, and make you aware of what is important to him.

Today, all I have to offer you is this Love:    That God loves you enough that he, in the form of Jesus Christ, came to this earth in the flesh, a perfect man, and for our sake, took on the responsibility for all our sin, and died on the cross for that sin.  His love for us held Him to that cross until the entire debt was paid.

When Jesus said. “It is finished”, he announced the begging of your life, if you accept it.  You are already dead in your sin, if you chose to be.  You will have eternal life in Him, if you accept this free gift.

This is what I have to share with you.  Maybe in time, God will bless me in ways that I will have the heart and means to seek out the poor, the lost, the starving, the prisoner, the naked, the sick and bring them to the living waters I have found.

My Prayer:  Dear God, My Heavenly Father, I praise you that you love me enough to discipline me.  I am joyful, deep in my soul, that you are making me into the image of your Son.  I pray, Lord, in Jesus Name, that you get me out of the way so that your son, Jesus Christ will be all people see when they meet me.  I pray abundant blessings on everyone who reads this  poor tome.  I pray you fill them with your love, just like you have filled me with your love.  I pray that you are their provision.  I pray that, where this ill-health, you heal it, where there is discord, you make holy harmony.  I pray where there is lack in you, you become the abundance they need.   Teach us to not inhibit the flow of your love and calling.  Make us all fountains of YOUR living water.

 In Christ here is life, love, healing, hope, faith, and most of all, there is LOVE.

Let’s be about it.

I love you

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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