'Cuz You Gotta Have Faith.

I was mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed, not really paying attention to much, until I came across a particular status that read "The good thing about science, is that even if you don't believe in it, it's true" any other day or any other quotes I would have brushed it off and resumed to mindless scrolling, instead it caught on and it made me think. Now I am a Christian but I am not a religious nut so I had no intentions of starting an argument nor was I even upset at the owner of the status, instead I opened my bible and began reading about faith. It's simple really and pretty basic being a Christian is solely based on faith, we all know that right?

I always like looking up the definitions of words we see often in the bible and came across this Faith is the belief that is not based on proof. In Hebrews 11:1 it says " Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" the verse later goes on to talk about all the different people of the bible who acted on faith like Moses and Sarah. I formed my own definition of what Faith means simply put, faith is not needing any proof, and believing that God is proof enough. I don't quite understand why it is people spend so much time and energy searching for answers when they have a God that eliminates the need for them because he is the answer to everything.

Now my response to that quote that has sparked so much in me is- The great thing about my God, is that even if you don't believe in him, he's still real. He will always be real patiently waiting for you to believe in him to have faith in him and accept him as the answer to all your questions.  

Do you know how "saved" you really are?

A few months back I was live streaming my church's Wednesday night service, and in that service they mentioned the word "Sozo" it's a Greek translation of "Saved" various definitions later I was left with this phrase "Nothing missing, nothing broken". Let's just say that it stuck to me. I delighted in the thought that I worshipped a God who made me whole and restored. The simplicity of the phrase was such an amazing explanation to what being a follower actually means. I did some research because I just couldn't take this off of my mind, and it turns out that we are so much more than simply "Saved".

The dictionary definition of saved is, to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction. To save a suffering one. Being made whole or well.
All throughout the bible we come across the word saved many, many times.
For the son of man has come to save that which was lost (Matthew 18:1).
But the one who endures to the end he will be saved (Matthew 24:13).
For God sent not his son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:17)

Now this is probably starting to sound exactly like what you have heard your entire life and you're probably thinking "Christ is our savior, yes we know that, this is nothing new" but do you know how saved you really are? As a believer God rescues us from the penalty and power of sin and into his provisions and that in itself is a feat worthy of the praise we give him. Apart from being saved we are  delivered, healed, preserved, protected, made prosperous and made whole. So what does that mean?  God delivers us out of danger and into safety, he alleviates our distress and anguish, he maintains our soul, he makes us wealthy and successful and ultimately makes us whole with nothing missing and nothing broken. I don't know about you but I don't know of anything or anyone on the earth that can do all those things for me. I can wake up everyday with reassurance that I am whole, nothing missing, nothing broken.

"In Which He Speaks"

I grew up knowing how good God was, my parents taught me how to pray every night and every morning and I understood that everything I had was a result of his blessings. I remember I would always say to myself that just because I didn't go to church, that didn't mean that I didn't have a relationship with Christ, and in some sense that can be true. The problem with that was that even though I knew the goodness of the lord, and I accepted him as my savior, I never put him where he truly belonged, at the center of my life. It wasn't until God made an attempt to get my attention, that I made this realization.

In my 18 years of living in Florida my family hadn't attended church regularly. Humans as we are make excuses and the many years of attending random services and not exactly liking it, had reached it's limit. There are points in your life where you show up somewhere where you have no idea how you got there but there we were, on a Sunday morning  "Welcome Home" said the signs and home is exactly where I was, we sat through the service and afterwards of one my mothers clients, who had previously suggested we go there, found us and surprised us with such a warm, tear filled embrace. In that exact moment, I knew that God had brought me to this church and that he wanted me there. I understood that there was so much more than just praying everyday, there was so much joy and happiness that I had never experienced and that I loved. In such a short amount of time my relationship with God had grown stronger and my ability to connect with him kept me wanting more and more of him. I've learned that coincidences don't exist, but God does exist. His grace, his direction has been so evident in my life in only a year and that's something that's impossible to ignore.

Now a couple of months after regular attendance at church, my family came across some unpredicted events and before I knew it I had been almost a month with out attending a service, let's just say that it was a good feeling. I felt disconnected, I realized that those little moments I dedicated to Jesus through out my day began to decrease. I wasn't as happy, and to be more dramatic, I felt myself slipping. Mind you, it had only been three weeks, but they were enough to have me running back to my "Home" I realized how flawed I really was it's too easy for me to get distracted, to forget. Church is a weekly refreshment. I also realize that in order to continue to be on the right path with God I must attend regularly and how much I depended on my church to keep my relationship with God intact. I don't see this as a weakness, instead It's a reminder of how minute I am compared to my God, I am a flawed vessel in which he utilizes and in fact Jesus brought me to church, so why would he ever want me to leave? With this said I relate it to this particular verse that i stumbled upon it rings clear and true

"The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence" Ephesians 1:23