Everyday Choices for Living Faith
Do you ever feel like faith is a dry, nebulous concept? Like cotton candy, faith can seem to be something fluffed up of with imaginings and held together by a web of sugar coated wishes. Just have enough faith and you can conger up whatever you want, our misconceptions whisper.
We chide ourselves that we must try harder to have more faith. In our confusion we function as if we must act better and perform the right spiritual tricks–as if God is only moved to work in a life if the faith is good enough.
That skewed thinking puts it all on us, doesn’t it?
Living faith one moment at a time.
But faith is real and is one simple thing for living right now in this very moment. How do we choose faith in the moment and enter into what God is doing?
Choosing faith begins with God, not on our ability to harness belief and make it go our way. Faith begins and ends in the rightness of God–His way of doing and being right. Faith is inseparably tied to the power of God.
Grace for saving and faith for believing, the gospel is good news for every moment and every life.
The foundation of faith is the gospel that demonstrates the power of God. In the Greek, power is translated Dynamis, which is God’s power for creating life, performing miracles and righting the crooked soul.
Everyday choices.
We make thousands of choices every day. Little things, big things fill up the decisions and choices that make the measure of a moment. From faith to faith, God’s righteousness is uncovered to our eyes, opened to our understanding with a progressive light.
In a moment, we respond with faith and we discover more of God. He reveals truth and faith grows. God graciously stirs up more faith when we embrace and live out the faith we currently hold in our hearts. It is the choice of a moment: to believe or not. To trust or not. Step by step and choice by choice we are walking into greater faith.
But the righteous will live by faith. In that small three letter word, but, is the choice of the moment. We can choose the wholeness of believing God, faith for every moment. Or the buts can become excuses and questions that turn our eyes away from Gods power and ability. When the excuses of our souls barge in, we take our eyes off God and we focus on the problem. The buts begin to bury our souls and faith grows increasingly weak.
Living faith bridges the gap between our need and God’s supply.
But…
Choose faith.
Choose to believe in this moment.
The righteous–that’s you and that’s me–
will live.
See, it’s a living thing.
Faith is for living life out of the shadows in the vibrancy of God.
Faith is real life for whole living in every moment. It is God’s life, his zao, that brings joy and true life.
From faith to faith, we are learning that the word live means to enjoy real life, to know the vitality of God in our soul, to be active, powerful, and efficient, blessed eternally, to know true life and worth.
“For in him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28 NIV
There is significance and worth embedded in these words that sprouts from faith that goes far beyond what we think—it isn’t a head thing. It is an everything kind of thing. How gracious God is to reveal Himself in ways that initiate and nurture faith that blossoms forth in true life.
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:38
Yes, living faith is the life of God made available to us by believing, made real in us by choosing faith in the moment. Living faith for one simple thing– it makes all the difference.
What one simple thing can you do today to choose living faith? What difference will choosing faith in this moment make?
Love to have you share this post with others using the social media options! I’m super happy to share that this post has been chosen be be featured at Grace and Truth.
This post is part of a series. Each post stands alone, but they are part of a larger idea. You can find the other posts here:
One Simple Thing: Living Whole
The Opportunity of This Moment
Simple Grace to Overcome Worry
Now Faith for One Simple Thing
Choose Faith for One Simple Thing
Now faith.
Just as umbrellas shield us from the rain, faith covers us from the questions and fears that flood our souls. When storm clouds gather, rain can sprinkle in a mist or pelt in torrent and an umbrella is only as good as the using of it in the moment.
Umbrellas left in the closet or forgotten in the car offer no protection from the deluge. And faith left unused, growing rusty in the back of our hearts will not shield us from unbelief.
Enough for now.
We need now faith for every moment to choose the simple and the whole. Faith in the moment stretches us to believe God for what we cannot see. Faith for one simple thing is ours for the choosing.
Now faith is for this moment, not left over from yesterday’s issue or saved up for tomorrow’s trial. Now faith rests in the wholeness of choosing God in the moment before us, the one opening up right now.
Now emphasizes and points to the timeliness of faith. Raise the umbrella of faith over the banter of doubt that echoes in your ears and tugs at your insides. Rest in this moment standing under the power of one holy choice to trust God, to hang onto hope.
“…yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.“–Romans 4:20-21
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#faith”]Now faith has the power to hold on in this moment.[/tweetthis]
Gather for the day and rest in the moment, refusing to step off to the left or right. Set one foot in front of the other, now faith is a step by step journey right into the goodness of God.
Strong and steady, faith is one simple thing for the choosing. What moment is before you? What is your right now need for faith? A fear or frustation? A discouragement or decision?
In this moment, choose to trust in the rightness of God who gives faith by the sweet gift of grace.
Ask Him. Trust Him for…
… the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith”–Romans 1:17
Now faith takes us all the way…
From faith.
To faith.
Here is the power of this moment.
Faith for this moment has power to protect because it is God’s hand that covers. It is His righteousness and steadfastness that enfolds our souls. How many times have I thought that faith is dependent on my strength?
“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God… ” Hebrews 6:18-19 MSG
Faith is the power that anchors hope to our souls. Hold fast with confidence when the waters rise. Now faith is for the rainy moments–the showers, the drizzles, and the downpours. Open your umbrella and choose wholeness that is your solid ground when dreams grow soggy at your feet.
Don’t wait for the rain to stop.
Umbrellas are for the rain and faith is for saving.
Choose now faith for one simple thing.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@GingHarrington” hidden_hashtags=”#faith”]Choose God’s best for you one moment at a time.[/tweetthis]
Choose holiness in the simple things. Choose life that brings joy despite the rain and grace in the moment. Rest your goals in His hand and seek God with all your heart. Love your family and do your work–but each day choose grace in the simple things and let the moments add up to God’s best in you.
God’s best for you.
One moment at a time.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@GingHarrington” hidden_hashtags=”#faith”]Now faith rests in the wholeness of choosing God in the moment.[/tweetthis]
What challenges have caused you to struggle in faith? Which scripture passage most inspires you to choose the wholeness of now faith?
One Simple Antidote to Worry
We’ve been wrapping our hearts around the holiness that we find in the simple things that create faith and wholeness. We are choosing to rest in the simplicity of faith, right now in this very moment. Last week I posted at 5 Minutes for Faith, and it fits right in.
“Do not let your heart be troubled;
believe in God, believe also in Me
–John 14:1.
How many times have I read this verse? Quite a few, yet because I am prone to worry, I come back to it again and again.
Isn’t it easy to grab hold of a verse and try to stick it onto our souls like a bandaid? As if one quick fix and the bleeding of our hearts will stop.
No more worries and no more struggles.
Yet bandaids will not cure the troubles of our souls, any more than pulling a single verse out of context will fix our brokenness. Do not let…oh, how many times I let worry creep in and then I open the door wide. When trouble gets a foot in the door, it’s time to shut the door.
The biblical word for trouble is tarasso, meaning to agitate, to cause inward commotion, to take away calmness of mind. As if that’s not enough, the meaning extends deeper to strike one’s spirit with fear and dread, to render anxious and distressed. Like a bully, trouble, threatens and darkens our thoughts, and it is oh-so-easy to cave, giving into the temptation to let our thoughts spin with an increasing, frantic energy that can drive you right into full on fear.
Believe in God, believe also in Me.
Jesus simply states the antidote to fear and worry. Verses will never be bandaids, but believing opens our hearts for the power of God to strengthen and calm. Peace of mind and rest for the soul are the blessed by-products of believing Jesus as we learn to cast all our cares on Him.
Overused and diluted, the word believe has become more of an opinion rather than strength for the soul that changes a life. To rely on, trust in, cling to and place confidence in–this is the lifeline for our souls and the conduit to receive the strength and peace of God.
Join me for the remainder of this article.
Tweetable:
Believing opens our hearts for the power of God to strengthen and calm.
What verse have you been tempted to use as a bandaid?
Simple Grace to Overcome Worry
Holiness moves through the small things, grace for the moments, simple and short. Added together, holy moments change lives and steer destinies in God’s direction. But it all comes down to attitudes and choices made…one moment at a time. If I reach for the grace of holiness in this moment, what difference could it make? (From One Simple Thing).
[tweetthis]If we choose to breathe grace for the simple things each day, what will happen? [/tweetthis]
Can we learn to take life one step at a time, trusting God in the midst of the moment, no matter what that moment looks like? Or feels like?
The strength of simplicity begins internally with thoughts, attitudes, and choices as we remember that God is good in every moment. Not every moment is good, but God does not change in the face of our circumstances.
Oh yes, it is the goodness of God that gives grace for the moment, empowering “us to do what we could never do on our own.” (Richard Foster) This is His goodness at work, giving wholeness right in the middle of our brokenness. This is the practical power of holiness.
We are beginning to see it.
Grace to overcome worry.
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life (Philippians 4:6-7, MSG).
Real simplicity comes through faith. It is the faith of a child that doesn’t demand explanations but knows that everything will be okay, simply because Daddy is there.
Isn’t it the worries and discontents, the complaints and the self-desires that drive us to complicated? Isn’t it the suspicion that God isn’t really trustworthy, that compels us to create our own solutions and lament our losses?
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies (Philippians 4:8-10, MSG).
These are the simple things—the good and holy within reach of our needy hands. Choosing the true and the best, trusting God to put it all together, we can do this.
Take hold of it and don’t let go.
Fill your thoughts with simple goodness–
One true thing.
One beautiful thing.
One praiseworthy thing.
One excellent thing.
Break the back of worry with something that makes you smile and reminds you to trust God. Let these choices become simple graces to overcome worry today.
One simple solution for every need. When the worries and the whimpers of our souls learn to rest in the simple strength of God, peace that surpasses every contrived fix of this world is ours.
Have we really believed this?
In this moment, we can live settled and whole. We can choose wholeness in the response of the moment, quieting the strife that spins in our heads. Let’s walk this path together into the moments of this day, step into the real now that is both a moment in time and endless space in eternity.
Tweetable:
If we choose to breathe grace for the simple things each day, what will happen?
Choosing the true and the best, trusting God to put it all together, we can do this!
What simple grace can help you overcome worry today?
I am sharing community with other bloggers at Testimony Tuesday , Intentional Tuesday, #RaRaLinkup, Coffee For Your Heart, and Three Word Wednesday.
The Opportunity of This Moment
Holiness moves through the small things, grace for the moments, simple and short. Added together, holy moments change lives and steer destinies in God’s direction. But it all comes down to attitudes and choices made…one moment at a time. If we reach for the grace of holiness in this moment, what difference could it make? (from previous post).
The opportunity of a moment.
Days are made up of hours; hours are made up of moments. Change the moment; change the hours that create our days. In the moment, change the attitude and trust God to transform the heart. Grace to live well in little choices is the blessing I crave. Added together, holy moments change lives from the inside out.
But how?
How do we choose the simplicity of resting in faith…right now?
Our best moments.
Heart, mind, soul, and strength—these are the gifts in our hands for loving both God and others. God and Truth and Spirit, God comes alongside and we are no longer alone in the struggle. Life with God opens the door of possibility as we learn to embrace the togetherness available in every moment.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
–John 14:16
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
–John 15:5
This is the simplicity of doing the one thing, the best thing, that God asks of us. This is His way for the whole and the holy. For doesn’t the secret of living whole in this life have everything to do with discovering the joy and freedom of God’s grace filling up all our moments? We are learning the practical art of abiding.
Forgiven, accepted, re-made with love, we are learning to live large and free. All comes down to the life we live each moment. Trust or fear? Shame or forgiveness, strife or peace, what will we choose?
How many moments have we made difficult through giving into selfishness, frustration, or fear? How many times have we complicated life trying to control outcomes and hoard that which cannot be kept?
One simple thing.
What is one simple thing we need to do?
To learn?
To give away?
To let go of?
To hold on to?
With this in mind, the daily steps that walk through the week, let’s focus on the small things.
The simple things.
The moment things.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
What simple thing can you do to remember that God is in this moment with you? What moment could have been different if you had remembered that God is in it with you?
Join me for a new series. If you missed the first post, you can find it here.
Leave a comment and let’s encourage one another in the simplicity of this With-God life of wholeness.
,
One Simple Thing: Living Whole
Holiness moves through the small things, grace for the moments, simple and short. Added together, holy moments change lives and steer destinies in God’s direction. But it all comes down to attitudes and choices made…one moment at a time. If we reach for the grace of holiness in this moment, what difference could it make?
How do we live life whole?
How do we fold our hearts around joy each day? Desires, questions, aspirations and inspirations spin willy-nilly in our heads. Time slips like sand through our fingers. How do we make the best use of the time given, each day wrapped in the gift of twenty-four hours?
What’s the secret to a life well lived?
My mind meanders to one aspect, one word: holiness. Though this word sometimes reeks of stale religion bound tight with pious do’s and don’ts, holiness is a refreshingly simple concept.
Holiness has to do with being set apart, made whole, consecrated, sacred, dedicated, pure, and devoted and it is accessible to us all through grace. Holiness enables us to live full of God and full with God, in spite what the moment may look like. There is something clean and simple about living life whole, dedicated with purpose and meaning.
Wrapped up tight in our insides is a frenetic tendency to make life complicated. My soul is hard wired with a desire for significance, and I think yours is too. Feeling less, we take on more, and try harder, be better, do more is the rant of our souls that have swallowed the compelling lies of this chaotic, bent world.
I could write down goals and stamp them onto the tender flesh of my heart. I probably will, but I often overwhelm myself with goals and intentions, never seeming to fully accomplish the entire task. Do you do this? I leave a trail of the undone that calls out condemnations and validates my fears that I’m not enough.
Where is wholeness in this? But now, I am choosing something different as I explore wholeness that can brighten each day. Will you join me?
Tweetables:
If we reach for the grace of holiness in this moment, what difference could it make?
Live life whole, dedicated with purpose and meaning.
Truth to Hang on to When Life is Busy
Ever feel like you stepped into a time warp and “whoosh” an entire month is gone? That would be me today. I’ve had my nose to the grindstone, well… my fingers on the keyboard and eyes on a computer screen a good share of this month. I’m coming up for air today to catch up on email and social media and feeling a bit shocked that it is almost the end of January.
To tell the truth, I’m also feeling like I’m behind before the year has really begun. Anyone else feeling that pinch? True confession here–I just sent off the last of my Christmas cards today. No judging, friends…
I could re-frame that thought and spin it as getting ahead this year. After all, Christmas is happening earlier and earlier each year, right? But with a dose of honesty and humility, I’ll just call it what it is. My Christmas cards are late. Quite late.
At the moment I am juggling multiple significant opportunities, and I’ve never been much of an acrobat. I did manage to multi-task…once. I believe that was back in 1997. Just kidding, but I do find it a challenge to keep up with many things and do it all to the level that I’d like. Maybe this is a struggle for you as well. If so, let’s encourage each other!
The temptation is to look ahead and want to panic. Or maybe just hyperventilate a bit.
That’s the temptation but not the truth.
The truth is that God will complete what He has begun, and my role is to live faithfully each day as we tackle each task together.
God will complete the work of growing character as well as the work of fulfilling calling in each one of us. Isn’t that a encouraging truth to hang on to!
On the ministry front: Planting Roots: Strength to Thrive in Military Life is well under way and I am filled with awe as I watch God continue to build this ministry of encouragement and equipping for military women. I can’t give you all the details, but God is doing some very big things as this non-profit gets set up and the framework to be able to simulcast conferences and create live recordings is built! Praise-praise-praise!!
And the writing: As for the house, half of the Christmas decorations are still up and it’s a bit of a mess… I am leaving my tree up on purpose. It stands right next to my desk and I’m hoping the twinkle of the lights will continue to inspire me as I work on completing a draft of a Christmas book. This tree is not coming down until the draft is finished…which will be soon (Lord willing).
For the short term, the blog has taken a bit of a backseat, but that’s only temporary. I’m looking forward to several other speaking engagements this spring as well. So you can see why I feel like I am juggling.
I’m super excited about all of these things! When I stop to think about it, I can feel a little overwhelmed. My inner wimp pipes up with thoughts like, “What make you think you have something to say?” She has other barbs of self-doubt, but I’m not listening to that voice.
There are moments when it feels like a house of cards that could easily come flittering down. But my word for this year is stand. So I will pray like crazy and stand in faith and trust that God will enable me to go far beyond merely keeping up.
I am choosing to trust that God will fulfill His purpose in every plan and each opportunity He has sent my way. I am choosing to be grateful and available. I am choosing to believe that He will give me every word, whether spoken or written.
And that, Sister, you can take to the bank, no matter what you’re working on!
So I sit at my desk, a wide open field, and watch to see what God will say and do. I lay my heart in His hands with a humility that understands that I must learn and receive, surrender and trust, respond and rejoice. I ‘m clinging to the vine and letting God bring forth the fruit of results and growth.
Isn’t this the true work before us all?
Blessings sweet friends, as you come to the end of this first month of the year. I hope in some what that I have encouraged you to stay focused on Christ and let Him bring forth the fruit that is pleasing to Him.
To God be the glory.
Tweetable: Pray like crazy and stand in faith!
How can we stand together in faith? Leave a comment and let me know how I can pray for you.
Carrie Daws and The Warrior’s Bride
Today I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Carrie Daws. Carrie and I both attend the Bible study for military gals at our local base chapel.
Today I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Carrie Daws. Carrie and I both attend the Bible study for military gals at our local base chapel.Over the years, God rewrote Carrie’s dreams to include being a stay-at-home mom and a writer. She started by writing weekly devotions online before a mentor at the Christian Writer’s Guild encouraged her to try fiction.
After almost ten years in the military, Carrie’s husband medically retired and they now live in Virginia with their three children. Besides writing novels, she stays busy home schooling, keeping up with her extended family and friends, and volunteering within military ministries.
I’m so excited to have Carrie share with you about her newest book, The Warrior’s Bride: Biblical Strategies to Help the Military Spouse Thrive.
I got a chance to chat with Carrie about her latest book just as we were getting ready to launch a new ministry for military women, Planting Roots: Strength to Thrive in Military Life. You can see why I was interested in this book! Isn’t is amazing how God puts things together?
I asked Carrie what prompted her to write this book.
“One of the greatest frustrations about being married to a military man is knowing that you cannot plan your own life. Your husband, and thus your marriage, is owned by the United States Government, and you are forced to accept the plans for the greater good over your own.”
This short passage comes from the Introduction to The Warrior’s Bride: Biblical Strategies to Help the Military Spouse Thrive, and it summarizes the biggest frustration of many military spouses. And yet this commitment to the greater good is also the source of one of the military spouse’s greatest prides too.
It’s a delicate balance, one Kathy and I struggled with for years before understanding it. One we still struggle with from time-to-time. And it’s one we watch every military marriage fight through: who is really in control?
And that’s why we wrote Warrior’s Bride. Because we learned too many lessons the hard way, and we want to save some marriages the grief we had to work through because our hearts and minds were stubborn. Because we learned too many lessons too slowly, and we want military brides to learn from our mistakes and emulate our wise choices.
We’ve sacrificed our husband’s presence at birthdays and anniversaries. We’ve done our best to photograph and video tape our children’s performances that he missed due to training, odd work hours, and deployments. We’ve dealt with broken plumbing, missing debit cards, and moves alone.
And we’ve sat at home wondering if he wanted to come home at all.
Much about the military world isn’t talked about openly, but Kathy and I confront it head-on in Warrior’s Bride. Things like open pornography in the workplace, infidelity within the marriage, fears of him dying on the battlefield, and the reality of when he comes home different.
If this describes your world then know you are not alone. In fact, more than that, the truth is that God wants you to find hope and joy in your marriage. He wants you to do more than survive your husband’s enlistment; He wants you to thrive in your calling as that man’s wife.
Kathy and I do not want you to think that we have all the answers, but we have discovered secrets to finding joy in our trials. We have learned to not only love our own men, but to love the calling of those men. And we have learned to love our calling as military wives.
Join us within the pages of The Warrior’s Bride and let us encourage you.
About the Book:
The Warrior’s Bride: Biblical Strategies to Help the Military Spouse Thrive
The call came down from Command, and your warrior husband is out the door, leaving you behind to handle whatever he has left undone. Whether it’s the day-to-day monotony, the inevitable appliance that breaks, or the months without his presence beside you, being a military spouse brings challenges few appreciate. Yet God sees you and longs for you to boldly step into His plan. He purposely chose you for this moment—for your man. He wants to give you abundantly more than what you have right now and desires you to thrive as your warrior’s bride.
Warrior’s Bride is a must read! While Carrie and Kathy have not sugar-coated the many challenges of military life, they have generously shared the hope they have found and the road map for thriving! ~Kathleen Dees, wife of Major General (Army Retired) Robert F. Dees
I found your life stories and growth in your understanding and commitment to God’s purpose in marriage to be inspiring and insightful! Your testimonies will encourage many military spouses! ~Paula Van Antwerp, wife of Lieutenant General (Army Retired) R.L. Van Antwerp
In addition to The Warrior’s Bride, Carrie has also published several novels. You can find out more about her books here.
Join me in saying a big thank you to Carrie for sharing with us today!
How Do You Make Goals for this Year?
If only…
I’m not sure what’s on your list of goals for this year, but believe me, we’ve all got a list of what we think we should be, what we should have done, and we could go on and on until tomorrow has run out of minutes. Too often I have made New Year’s Resolutions and goals from this place of wanting to make myself better. My lists have been full of if only’s, should’s, and ought to be’s. Too often, my goals have been a little over zealous. Do you have goals like these?
Every single year I make a goal to be more organized. And although I have made progress in this area, it still makes it onto my personal hit-list…I mean goal list. Too often my goals center around wanting to “fix” whatever I think is wrong with me, whatever I don’t like about myself, or whatever seems to continually cause trouble for me. How about you, do you make goals this way?
Although there is nothing wrong with striving for more and for better, I am beginning to realize that most of these aspirations come from my agenda to perfect myself.
What if we pay attention to what God has been doing in our lives and form our goals in response?
What if we make our goal list our growth list? How freeing could that be?
What’s on your growth list this year?