Monthly Archives: March 2022

March 3, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Faith’s Eyes

As Christians, one of the hardest things for any of us to do is to walk by faith and not by sight. I’ve read that 90% of all information we send to the brain is visual. So it’s only natural for our brain to trust what we see instead of what we don’t. I loved the scene from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where he has to take a leap of faith off the cliff. He looks down and sees a huge drop that will kill him, but he steps off anyway. He drops about a foot and a hidden ledge catches him. More often than not, that’s how God Call’s us to live.

Abraham in the Bible is a person who believed what God said. His eyes were sending information to his brain that was contrary to what God was telling him. No one could get pregnant at Sarah’s age. In fact, Sarah laughed when she heard that she was going to conceive. It was impossible from their perspective, but they didn’t let that keep them from acting in faith. Less than a year later, Isaac was born. He was a constant reminder to them that God is able to do what He promises no matter what our eyes tell us.

Romans 4:18 says, “Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it” (TPT). Abraham was human just like us, but he chose which information to believe. I don’t know what impossibility hopeless odds you’re looking at today, but if God promised something other than what you see, choose to believe His Word. You may have to be like the man who told Jesus in Mark 9, “Lord I believe, but help my unbelief.” Learning To look through faith’s eyes is never easy, but it is the only way for believers. Trust God more than what you see.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

Making A Trade

I’ve watched a few videos over the last couple of years where someone starts with a bobby-pin and makes a series of trades until they get a house. I think that’s both cool and interesting. There are websites and pages that are dedicated to trades. Ive heard of people going to swap meets as well to make trades. I’ve never been, but it sounds interesting. The idea that there’s someone out there who values something I have enough that they’re willing to trade something they own with me is intriguing. I’m always afraid I’m going to get the short end of the stick though. Fear keeps me from doing trades.

In Genesis 25, we read the story of Jacob and Esau. Esau was the first of the twins to be born, which was very important in those days. The first born received a double portion of their family’s inheritance because they were to become the new patriarch and would need to care for the wives and property of their father. The Bible tells us that Esau had been hunting and came home starving. His brother Jacob had made a stew. When his brother asked for some, Jacob proposed a trade. He offered a bowl of soup for Esau’s birthright. Esau accepted. He traded away his future, his monetary blessings, his material goods and spiritual blessings for a simple bowl of soup. What a terrible trade!

In Luke 14:33, Jesus proposed a trade to you and me. He said, “Likewise, unless you surrender all to me, giving up all you possess, you cannot be one of my disciples” (TPT). The trade He offers requires us to give up everything in exchange for being a disciple. Think about that. Have you traded everything to Him or have you held some things back? Each of us probably have some things we try to hold onto, but we must surrender everything and trade it to Him. Our future, our time, our money, our talents, our family, everything is what He requires for this trade. If we want to experience what being a true disciple of His is, we have to make that trade. The good news is that when we do make the trade, we get so much more in return, but it starts with an act of faith.

Surrendering Your Yoke

One of my favorite deficit learning activities to do with managers is to put them into two lines facing each other. I give them some simple instructions and ask them to work together to put a pool noodle on the floor. The instructions are easy to understand and follow and the objective is clear. However, when you get a group of people who like to give direction rather than take it, the noodle goes in the opposite direction. The more it does that, the more they get worked up. They blame each other, yell at each other and bicker. I’ve let it go on for up to twenty minutes before. To get the job done, they simply have to let one person lead and talk while they follow directions. Simple, but difficult.

Following Jesus Can feel the same way. The Bible is pretty clear and has great instructions for how we’re to live. However, we don’t like to be told what to do. We’d rather tell Jesus what to do than to listen to Him. We end up arguing with other believers, become mad at God and get burned out. It can be frustrating trying to follow what He says on,y to find ourselves going the opposite direction that we’re supposed to. We end up not only fighting our flesh, but God as well. It quickly gets frustrating and we become tired trying to perform a bunch of rituals or formulas that we think will help. The solution is simple, yet difficult for us to do. Submit ourselves to Him and His authority over our life.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light” (GNT). The life and rest we’re looking for starts with coming to Jesus admitting you can’t do it on your own. Then you must surrender to His yoke, bending your will to His so you’re working together. After that we follow in His footsteps learning from Him rather than trying to teach Him about our life. When we do that, we find His burden is easy, His yoke is light and we move in the right direction.

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