‎"Study diligently on this one...because we can't afford to be wrong on this issue.

‎"Study diligently on this one...because we can't afford to be wrong on this issue." Powerful words spoken by Francis Chan in his preview video for his upcoming book on Erasing Hell, as he discusses the importance of the doctrine of hell, and why at this crucial moment of ecclesiastical history Christianity can't afford to get it wrong.

The essential message of this video captivated my heart, spoke to my spirit. The Word of Truth is too important to ignore. We hold in our hands the very Word of God and many of us go days without even bothering to pick it up. It's not just the doctrine of hell that carries this importance. Our relationship with God is of primary important, we cannot afford to treat it lightly. God is full of mercy but we cannot afford to ignore our fellowship with Him.

As I study the scripture to discover how to "live redeemed" every day of my life, my spirit tunes in the call of God for fellowship. The story of Enoch caught my attention. His story is short and to the point. The only thing other than his lineage - who he was the son of and who his children were - the only thing we know about this man is that he had such a walk with God that God enjoyed Enoch so much He took Enoch home without the experience of death.

The only thing God chose to reveal to us about Enoch is that He (God) enjoyed fellowship with this man.

By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:5-6 NKV

The scripture says this of Enoch ..."before he was taken he had this as his testimony, that he pleased God." and then the author of Hebrews explains only faith qualifies one to please God. Further this faith consists in believing that God is - he exists - and that He (God) is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. True faith is active. In Genesis 5:24 when it says that Enoch walked with God, commentators say that this is a common phrase in Eastern countries denoting constant and familiar intercourse. God took pleasure in Enoch because Enoch was diligent about seeking Him (God). Enoch had constant and familiar intercourse with God.

The whole purpose of the Gospel - the power of the Gospel - is the message of how God went to great lengths to restore our fellowship with Him. Not only is our fellowship restored in salvation by the Blood of Jesus Christ, but we are invited to come boldly before God's Throne.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 NKJ

We are invited to come in our time of need - not when we "have it all together."

Someone once gave me a brochure that was something about spending "Seven minutes a day with God". I think the point of the author was to encourage the reader to spend time with God - even if it is "only seven minutes a day" with God.

Seriously? That's all we can give is seven minutes a day to share fellowship with the answer and provision to our every need?

If we understood the revelation of who God is and how passionately He desires fellowship with us - those who have been created in his image - we would order our entire day around spending time in His presence.

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:11 NKV

What are we waiting for?

Praying always with all prayer...in the Spirit - Engaging in Spiritual Warfare

To most effectively rise as one who may learn to penetrate the darkness in prayer or ministry, let "Christ in you" infuse you with the Holy Spirit of one who being born into the bloodline of the Lamb of God, chooses to learn and live as one of His flock. It is these who are invited to "reign in life" now.

That is what we were "born again" to receive, to inherit and to live in. It is exciting and laden with blessing and joy....(this) requires a life that is based in "the basics" of prayer, the Word, and a growing faith. (page 30)

I pulled a package out of the mailbox, more substantial than the rest, it has to be a book. Ah, I love books. What did you bring me today, Father?

As I pulled the book from it's wrapping, my eyes focused on the title, "Penetrating the Darkness: Discovering the Power of the Cross Against Unseen Evil" by Jack Hayford with Rebecca Hayford Bauer.

The opening lines of this blog post come from this book. I respect Pastor Jack Hayford as a man of prayer, not given to sensational ministry, just a presenter of the good solid Word of God. I knew this book would be good.

As I write this post, I am only a few chapters into this book - the text already "glowing" with my fluorescent highlighter and notes written in the margins of nearly every page. There is no mistake that this book is in my hands. Reading it the message comes through as though it were a battle assignment from the King of King Himself.

This book a training manual on effective prayer for the believer who seeks to make a difference in their own life and in the lives of the people they love. The scripture says that "the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). One person CAN defeat the darkness - our prayers loose God's power - the same power that raised Christ from the dead, which dwells in us (Romans 8:11) - loosed into our own lives, the life of our spouse, our children, our pastor, youth pastor, our community, our world...Not only are we called to do this as believers, scripture equips us for effective battle.

Scripture tells us we are in a battle, lays out our armor as well as the rules for engagement. Ephesians 6:17-18 details our armor and calls us to "pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit". This directive does not sound like a last resort. "Well, all we can do is pray." Prayer is where effective warfare begins.

In the first two chapters, Pastor Hayford lays out the rules of engagement in this spiritual warfare as well as present the concept that the war is being waged between to kingdoms. The message of the Cross bestows on each of us a believers, a kingdom (Luke 22:29). The power and the presence of this Kingdom is the entry of God's will and rule - penetrating the kingdom of darkness.

The message of The Faith Project, as I seek to define and expound the five statements of faith:

1. God is who He says He is
2. God can do what He says He can do
3. I am who God says I am
4. I can do all things through Christ
5. The Word of God is ALIVE and active in Me

These statements of faith describe kingdom living - I can expect all of this as a citizen of the Kingdom of His Dear Son.

Faith begins where the will of God is known. The Bible is the written will of God. Effective prayer employs faith in the Living Word of God and expects God to act according to His Word.

In chapter three, which I will devote another blog post to, Pastor Hayford explores four areas that can successfully shape daily devotional prayer, which should be basic to every believer's faith walk. This is an important foundation for every believer, especially one that desires to employ the power of the Living God in every are of their life.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. I Peter 3:12

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. I John 5:14-15 NIV

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Penetrating the Darkness: Discovering the Power of the Cross Against Unseen Evil By Jack Hayford Spiritual warfare is raging across the globe. How can we defeat the enemy? Encouraging you to stand firm in hope and light, Hayford lays out the strategies he's learned for overcoming evil. Discover how to develop powerful devotional habits, practice intercession, plead the blood of Christ, understand the correct use of binding and loosing, and more. 208 pages, softcover from Chosen.

A Place for Weakness: Preparing Yourself for Suffering

This topic fits sweetly in my pursuit to Walk by Faith. Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:33

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

I found an invitation in my email inbox from Elizabeth DeBarros, of Finding the Motherlode blog to join her and other readers in an online book discussion for Michael S. Horton's book, "A Place for Weakness: Preparing Yourself for Suffering". I love reading Elizabeth's blog posts. The title and the exercise in discussing this topic online intrigued me.

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A Place for Weakness: Preparing Yourself for Suffering By Michael Horton / Zondervan In a world of hype, where more and more Christians are buying into the idea that, through Jesus, they'll be healthier, wealthier, and wiser, where do they turn when they become ill, or depressed, or bankrupt? In A Place for Weakness, award-winning author, magazine editor, and radio talk-show host Michael Horton exposes the pop culture that sells Jesus like a product for health and happiness, reminding CHristians that their lives often lead to difficult routes they must follow by faith. As a child, Horton would run up the down escalator, trying to beat it to the top. Christians, he notes, sometimes seek God the same way, believing they can climb to him under their own steam. This book offers a series of powerful readings that demonstrate how, through every type of earthly difficulty, God keeps his promises from Scripture and works all things together for good. Formerly titled Too Good to Be True.

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Funny, I can relate to this description, as a grown woman I tried to run up a down escalator because there was a very long line of people on the up escalator - I nearly killed myself. Oh, I made it to the top and saw my vision start to go black just as the security guard put her hand up preventing me from stepping from the moving top step to solid ground, telling me never to do that again. Michael Horton is right, that story is a great analogy for how many Christians life life under their own steam rather than seek for the wisdom of God's Word.

I am just coming out of a very dark season of my life. In a manner of speaking I felt hunkered down in a war torn bunker with my Bible and a candle - not sure if the light from the Bible was brighter than the candle. On this side of things I still don't know how I made it except God, Himself, carried me. He sweetly reminds me how we (he and I) prepared for this season. He as the gentle instructor guiding me through lessons where I learned of His faithfulness, how and where to find strength in His Word.

In "A Place for Weakness: Preparing Yourself for Suffering" there is a quote in the first chapter, I'm reading it on my Kindle - so sorry I can't tell you what page - that speaks to this...speaks to the whole premise of The Faith Project:

Understanding who God is, who we are, and God's ways in creation, providence and redemption - at least as much as Scripture reveals to us - is to the trials of life what the preparing for the LSAT is to the practice of law. Theology is the most serious business. Preparing for this exam is not just a head game or a prerequisite for a temporal vocation, but it's a matter of life and death. It is about our heavenly vocation and its implications for each day here and now. It's about living, and dying, well.

I discovered in this recent time of trial that studying God's Word like my life depended on it was more than a metaphor - my life literally depends on knowing who God is, who I am and putting the living Word of God into action in my life.

The experience of suffering itself does not make us experts on the subject. Golfing more will not correct one's bad swing; only training can do that. And so we need to learn from God's Word how to meet trials, apart from which more tough times will only tend to reinforce what we already believe, whether it's good or bad theology.

Without the trials that life in a fallen world presents, faith is not really roused to grab hold of the promises of God, or the God of his promises (paraphrase on a quote from Horton). I don't believe the trials come from God to teach us - we live in a fallen world - they will come, but because God knows they will come He lovingly seeks to prepare us to overcome.

I am enjoying the discussion of this book that continues over at Finding the Mother-lode. Grab your copy of the book and join us.

A Place for Weakness: Preparing Yourself for Suffering By Michael Horton / Zondervan

If you are a visitor from Elizabeth's blog, please contribute to the conversation as a comment here. If you have a blog post in the discussion I will do the same for you.

Who Am I? Who are You?

I just love this excerpt that I read over on Don Miller's Blog where he writes his thoughts which, I think, eventually go into his books. Please go read the full post to capture the full measure of the story.

Made in the image of God, able to speak something into nothing, able to create solutions to the worlds problems, we stammer about in disbelief, waiting for somebody else to take responsibility for our lives and for the lives we have been given to care for. We are all creators, but too many reject the God-given right to create and instead become consumers, hiding in the safety of some government, some corporation, some self-help philosophy to take care of us. And so why should we be surprised when we turn around and somebody is sitting in our chair, dictating how our marriage will go, how our career will go, whether or not we can have peace with our neighbors? We shouldn’t be surprised. We handed them our authority.

Until I did Beth Moore's Believing God Bible Study I didn't give much of a thought to seeking my own identity as God defines me. When Beth declared with confidence, "I am who God says I am!" At first I thought, "ME TOO!" and then I thought, "Who does God say I am?"

The Faith Project is about this journey to discover God and myself as God defines us both. The discovery is thrilling! Like a country girl in New York City my eyes are wide open and my jaw dropped at the amazing discoveries I never knew were here all along.

Discovery this good cannot be kept to myself. Join me in this Faith Project.

Do you know who you are?

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Believing God: Leader Kit DVD By Lifeway Based on Isaiah 43:10, Believing God: Experiencing a Fresh Explosion of Faith explores what it means to believe God. Through studying the lives of Abraham, Moses, and others from Hebrews 11 as examples of persons who believed in God, Beth encourages women to deepen their own trust in God and receive a fresh word from Him. Join Beth for 10 life-changing weeks and learn to believe God! This Leader Kit includes ten video sessions on six DVDs, a Leader Guide, and one Member book.

Who is God?

Thank you Hyde Park Methodist

Wow, that is too big of a question to even try to answer here or anywhere.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians at Rome wrote this:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33 ESV

God is not unsearchable as if to say we should not spend the rest of our lives trying to get to the depths of understanding. Paul was declaring that we would never run out of discovery in searching out and delighting in the wisdom and knowledge of God.

Inscrutable - now that's a funny word! I had to look it up because I wasn't quite sure what it meant. Here is what Dictionary.com had to say:

Inscrutable - Impossible to understand or interpret; impenetrable; mysterious.

This word is not meant to be a stop sign. God is impossible to understand - but this does not mean that we should not study to understand everything we can about God.

Paul's exclamation of the mysterious God is your invitation to jump in, there is NO bottom!

So, why should we plumb the depths of who God is? Why take the time to know him and understand him? Isn't the study of who God is the job of the pastor or Sunday school teacher?

No, in fact if you don't take the time to discover the mystery of God, you can't please him.

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. Hebrews 11:6 AMP

If you possess faith you please God and if you don't possess faith you do not please God. It's that simple. It is impossible to have faith in God without knowing about Him.

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that in Christ's hometown he could perform no mighty miracles because of the unbelief of the people in that community. Look at your own life? Is it characterized by miracles? I mean real miracles.

Look - see what Jesus himself said about the miraculous and believers:

And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;

They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. Mark 16:17-18 Amp

What signs follow you, what signs follow me? Do these signs, that Jesus spoke of as he ascended to heaven to be seated at the right hand of God, follow us?

Most of us battle with demons rather than drive them out, we speak of doubt, defeat and worry rather than speak in new languages. And while most of us wouldn't dream of picking up a serpent we do drink deadly drinks daily - and it destroys us. We do not seek to lay hands on the sick for their recovery - We ARE the sick!

So, who is God?

He is who he says he is. Whenever we experience less of God than everything he says is, and everything he says he can do, it is our faith walk that must come into question, not the faithfulness of God.

I know. This makes me uncomfortable too.

What can be done about this huge discrepancy between what the Word of God and our experience?

Is "Hospitality" a fruit of the Spirit?

Awesome Contest at the Reluctant Entertainer

The fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 doesn't list hospitality as one of the fruits - but I can imagine that one who is hospitable may have the fruit of the Spirit.

For me - I am at best an anxious host. I squirm when people say, "Can I just stop by your house?" I could tell you a story about how having people to my home makes me pull out my "I am not good enough, and neither is my house" badge. However, the Holy Spirit has been gently "provoking me to love and good works" to grow in the area of hospitality.

One of the blogs I have been reading to prepare me for the big step of moving out of my comfort zone to be obedient to the Holy Spirit is Reluctant Entertainer, written by Sandy Coughlin. I want to introduce you to the beautiful blog written with grace and wisdom for the most reluctant entertainer among us (ME!).

Sandy and a couple other partners, who I know you will LOVE, are having a fabulous contest going and I want you to be a part of it. If you win I want to celebrate with you!

The Holy Spirit is teaching me that being hospitable has everything to do with my Faith Project. Some of Jesus greatest ministry happened as he sat down to break bread or share a meal. Hospitality is a significant way to touch people with the heart and hands of Christ our redeemer.

Princess Diaries - Walk by Faith

I just love watching the movie "Princess Diaries". Last night it was aired on the Hallmark Channel and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to watch it. Today in church I heard the Lord talking to me about the movie.

The transformation of Mia Thermopolis, played by Anne Hathaway, as she becomes who she is by heritage is stunning. She doesn't know it yet but she is the granddaughter of Queen Clarisse Renaldi and next heir in line to the throne of Genovia. As far as she knows, Mia is just an awkward teenager growing up in San Francisco. When her grandmother comes to America to retrieve her so that she can take her rightful place as princess, Mia's response is "Shut up!"

Watch this short clip as Mia's true identity is revealed to her by her grandmother.

About half way through this clip is the "Shut up!" scene. "...You got the wrong girl. I never lead anybody. Not at Brownies, Not at Campfire Girls. Um...Queen Clarisse, my expectation in life is to be invisible, and I'm good at it." The queen encourages her that she can indeed teach Mia to be a proper princess.

It's not a perfect analogy but I see Queen Clarisse as the Holy Spirit who is the one sent to remain with us after Christ ascended after his resurrection to teach us and remind us of all things. The Holy Spirit's job is to teach us to be a Royal Priesthood.

If you doubt your heritage just keep reading. In Ephesians 2:1-10 we are told that we are raised up with Christ and seated with him in heavenly realms.

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephsians 2:1-10

This clip ends with a powerful statement that the Lord has replayed in my mind over and over.

Queen Clarisse Renaldi: Helen, if Amelia refuses to accept the throne, then Genovia will cease to exist as we know it.
Helen Thermopolis: So the future of your country is in the hands my 15-year-old?

Some would argue that since God is sovereign He doesn't need us to accomplish His purposes on this earth, but I believe that it is because He is sovereign that somehow he has chosen mankind to accomplish His purposes on this earth. We are called to be "ministers of reconciliation".

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 NIV

He has committed to us, to you, to me the message of reconciliation, as though God were making his appeal through us.

It's not enough to "click on the 'I Agree' button" to salvation and not take the time to understand what we are entitled to in our covenant, our inheritance, by faith. We need to know this not only for ourselves but as ambassadors of our heavenly kingdom.

In the movie, Princess Diaries, Mia is completely made over from head to toe, educated in matters of diplomacy, royal table manners, how to walk, talk, even how to royal wave! She was a princess by birth but she needed to be educated on how to carry herself in every circumstance as a princess.

We are royal priesthood. The Bible is our manual for royalty training, it is also the royal document to all that we have inherited by new birth. We are living far beneath our heritage...I am living below my heritage.

In the statement of faith that is the premise for this blog the third and fourth statement is "I am who God says I am" and "I can do all things through Christ." Can I just challenge you to join me to discover what God's Word says about this?

Mia, the princess of Genovia, went from life as an awkward teenager to abundant life as the royal Princess of Genovia - which she had been all along. The difference was revelation. When Grandma Queen Clarisse Renaldi revealed who she was -- the news changed everything.

You are His Masterpiece, His Workmanship, created for good works in Christ Jesus. Will you accept the challenge and live like royalty and act as ambassador for Christ? It might be better then you've ever imagined. Join me as we discuss & discover what God's Word has to say about your calling in to Royalty.

Lyndsay & Sarah - The Blog Guidebook

What do you get when you put a student of journalism and education together with a graphic designer?

The Blog Guidebook is the vision of two friends who want to see the blogging community grow in friendship, creativity and beauty. Creating a blog whose format is pretty, attractive and a little bit girly. The phrase that came to mind when I clicked over to The Blog Guidebook - was "this is where the blogging girl friends gather."

Sarah Bradford, originally studying journalism and education, has now settled down to searching the web for bloggers in need!

Her partner, Lyndsay Johnson, enjoys all things creative, and has been a graphic designer for over 10 years.

Sarah & Lyndsay want to make it easy for you to find answers to those basic blogging questions, when you just need that little bit of extra help.(sounds like an educator...) Blogging is a new form of journalism (okay this has to be a "Sarahism" - she's the student of journalism.) It is a way to self-publish your dreams, hopes and stories of your world. The Guidebook offers a way for others to find you, in a friendly, happy, easy to navigate, safe environment (this kinda sounds like Lyndsay, the graphic designer drawing everybody roadmaps from the "blogs in the neighborhood".

When God gives a girl a message and says, "Now is the time to speak what I say..." then a girl's gotta find the place where the blogging girlfriends gather and learn how to get found.

When Jesus Can Perform No Miracle

photo: Thank you Midway Baptist Church

Mark 6:1-6 NIV

1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Faith, or lack of faith, caused Jesus to be amazed, or marvel. (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10).

If I have faith, where are the miracles?

The one and only time that Jesus could not (see in verse 5 where it says He could not do any miracles) is in the passage above. The only condition described for this phenomenon was the lack of faith among his own towns people.

Hebrews 11: 6 tell us that "Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God." I argue, but YES, I do have faith. Okay then, where is the evidence of the greater things that Jesus promised to believers?

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Almost with out fail whenever I talk with someone about supernatural, miraculous healing such as the healing activity that characterized the ministry of Jesus, I am told that, "It's not always God's will to heal?" Really? When, in scripture, was it not God's will to heal?

When true faith is present, supernatural things happen...every time. And without this kind of faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

I love this quote that I saw when I was researching for today's blog post:

Faith isn’t about size. Jesus said if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move mountains. Jesus was saying that faith doesn’t come in small, medium, or large sizes. Faith is either present or absent. If it’s absent, your life is full of limitations, and you are stuck in Nowhere Land. If it’s present, you can move mountains. Real Power Maxing Out on God's Love

I'm just saying that I'm looking at my own life and saying that I know I have a form of godliness - but there is no "faith evidence". Not according to scripture. Not according to Jesus.

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:22-25 NIV

I cannot think of a time when I have done any thing that even resembles the moving a mountain. Don't get me wrong - I am blessed beyond measure. God is so good to me and I truly have seen God work in my life - but I am operating way below my potential for what God has for me. I know it! I believe that God knows it and is calling me to know and walk in this truth.

The above verse is in the context of Jesus cursing the fig tree. Jesus response to Peter, when Peter noticed the tree was dried up and dead 24 hours later, seems to indicate that Peter and the other disciples should be able to do this too.

As I wrestle with this thought, testing my own faith, I ask, "Do I have the kind of faith that pleases God?" "Do I have the kind of faith that makes Jesus marvel as the centurion of Matthew 8:5-13, or the Syrophoenician woman of Matthew 15:21-28?

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Again - whenever the miraculous was not present God's will was never in question it was the faith of the disciples. I know, that makes me uncomfortable too.

It only takes faith as tiny as that of a mustard seed to move an entire mountain. In fact, with faith that tiny "nothing will be impossible" to us. Nothing.

This has become a burning desire to have and build the faith that pleases God. The faith that preaches and teaches the good news of the Gospel - the power of God unto salvation. A faith that compels my family, my friends and neighbors to say, "Tell me about this God that you serve. I want to know him too."

The kind of faith that Jesus speaks of when he says I can do what he did while he as on this earth, and greater things.

In an effort to distance ourselves as not being a "seeker of signs & wonders" we have distanced ourselves from the signature of our Savior. When Jesus preached the Gospel, people were healed and set free...and their sins were forgiven them.

Stop by the blog tomorrow and discover what does the Princess Diaries movie have to do with walking by Faith.