Faith

By Peter Lundell –

God chooses to connect with us. Great! Who wouldn’t want to connect with God? But there’s a catch: He is the Supreme Creator and Master of the Universe.

God is loving and forgiving. But if we fully connect with Him, He wants it on His terms. That may seem like a bummer at first, but it’s like when we were kids and mom or dad made us brush our teeth. Those of us who still have teeth are thankful we brushed. In the same way, we eventually find that God has good reasons for why and how He does things.

He gives us tons of evidence to verify His existence. Sift through ancient documents or dig in Israel’s dirt or look through a telescope or a microscope and you’ll find good reasons for faith. That’s good, but agreeing with doctrines or being nice to the Supreme Being won’t make Him say, “Hey, let’s spend eternity together.”

I’ve noticed that God refuses to relate to anyone except on the basis of faith. He’s adamant about this, and no one’s ever been able to change His mind. In the past I tried to relate to God as one intellectual to another—debate our ideas, see what I could get away with. Guess how far that got? As far as the thick line of faith that God demanded I cross.

Faith, by definition, steps beyond rationality. Whether we call that step a “leap of faith” or a logical progression beyond reason into relationship, faith steps past the mind and into childlike trust. God insists and will have it no other way.

If you think about it, it makes sense. God is not negotiating business deals or debating in academic symposiums. He wants our lives. And in return, He gives us His.

PRAYER: Lord, Master of the Universe, You have given me countless reasons to believe, and I thank You for all You’ve shown me. I also affirm my pure and simple faith that goes beyond all the good reasons and into trusting you for who you are and how you love me.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).

How Our Brains Know God

By Peter Lundell –

If you ever want a scientific basis for connecting with God, here’s one:
Andrew Newberg, a neuropsychological researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, studies two kinds of reality: One is physical or “baseline” reality—the brain’s perception of material objects (a chair, a table) and sensations (warm, cold). In contrast, he attempts to scientifically verify the brain’s perception of spiritual reality, which he calls “Absolute Unitary Being.”

Some argue that what we think is spiritual reality—for example, God—is nothing more than neurological blips or chemistry changes. In fact that’s what happens in our brains when we experience spiritual phenomena.

The problem with this argument is that the brain experiences physical reality in exactly the same way—through neurological blips and chemistry changes. So even the most hardened atheist or scientist must either take the possibility of spiritual reality seriously or discount all perceptions of reality and conclude that we all live in a dream state.

Isn’t this fun?

Persons who engaged in Newberg’s research consistently testified that the experience of spiritual reality was more “fundamentally real” than that of physical reality. Wow.

Newberg theorizes that spiritual and physical reality are two versions of reality that may be complimentary. That makes biblical sense.

I’m not concerned that Newberg doesn’t take a Christian point of view. A person can perceive God’s existence, just as we perceive his physical creation, without knowing or submitting to Him.

The significant point is that Newberg is doing breakthrough scientific research on the ways in which God created the human mind to perceive Him, as well as His creation. He is giving us a solid scientific basis to say that faith and perceptions of God are as real as the physical world around us. That’s worth getting excited about!

PRAYER: Lord, you have made me with an amazing brain. As others learn how it works, I dedicate mine to you that I would truly have ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16 NIV).

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14 NIV).

If We Are the Body, Why?

By Donna McCrary-

“But if we are the body, why aren’t His arms reaching? Why aren’t His hands healing? Why aren’t His words’ teaching…why is His love not showing there is a way?”

These lyrics by Casting Crowns blasted straight to my heart. I glanced around at the 6,000 plus women packed in the coliseum. Six thousand mothers, daughters, wives, and BFF’s praising God in our own unique way. We are the body of Christ!

The drum beat of my heart suddenly seemed louder than the pounding state-of-the-art sound system. The powerful lyrics cut straight to my soul. Why? In that moment it was the Holy Spirit asking me, little unimportant me, “Why don’t you see me?” I glanced around the coliseum as the tears started streaming from my eyes and the burning why question pieced my thoughts. God softly asking, “Why don’t you see my hands healing? Why aren’t my feet moving? Why?”

For the remainder of the conference, I found myself searching for the answer to the simple question. Each speaker shared their own struggles and heartaches.  Then each shared the redemptive power of God’s perfect plan. This only stirred in me a deep hunger to answer the question of ‘why’ burning in my soul. I found myself crying out prayers between breaks, “God, show me! Show me how I can know you intimately. Show me how I can see you moving daily in my life. Show me how I can speak boldly like Peter and John. Show me how I can experience water walking faith! Show me how my life can be a living testimony of Your indescribable love, your unexplainable grace and mercy. Show me! Please, God. I am willing and wanting to experience You like never before!”

Determined to answer the why question, I searched the scriptures to glean wisdom from those who were part of the body that experienced the grace, love, and miracles of Jesus first hand. There it was, a simple answer spelled out in red letters, “put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Easy to read, hard to live! But if we are the body, why aren’t His hands healing?

Perhaps you should also ask yourself why?

PRAYER: “God, show me where I am living out my own selfish ambitions. Show me the sacrifices I have been unwilling to make for You. Help me today to follow You!”

“Then He called His disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. ‘If any of you wants to be my follower,’ He told them, ‘you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me’” (Mark 8:34 NLT).

Delighted

By Cheri Cowell –

There are times I really miss my Dad. It has been many years since he went to heaven, and yet there are times it seems like last year. Usually those are the times I really need my Dad to do what only a father can do for his child; I need my Dad to tell me how proud he is of me. I need him to beam from ear to ear at what I have accomplished. I need him to say that no matter what others may think, he believes that I have no competition.

If you are a father, this is the gift you give your children. Scripture calls this “delight,” and if you think about it, who does not want to be ‘delighted’ in? Our earthly father’s relationship is supposed to be a small taste of what our relationship with our heavenly Father is to be like.

I hope your father delighted in you, as mine did in me. If you did not have that kind of relationship, I know it is harder for you to understand how much your heavenly Father adores, cherishes, and delights in you. He is proud of you; beams from ear to ear when He thinks of you, and believes that you have no competition.

In the scripture below, Paul’s prayer for us is that we deeply know the reality of God’s transforming love that surpasses knowledge. How can we come to understand such love? Through our earthly relationships. It is only through loving and being loved that we learn God’s love is real. And only then can we be truly filled with Him.

PRAYER I thank You, Lord, for my earthly father, regardless of how imperfect that love was, and for the relationships through which You show me Your love today. Help me more fully understand the depth of Your love and to experience what it means to be delighted in. Help me show this kind of love to my children and those You put in my path this week.

“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14–19 MSG).

From Despair to Peace

By Janet Morris Grimes –

Have you ever noticed the difference between 22 and 23? In the book of Psalms, I mean. As many times as I’ve read through those passages, I never considered putting the two of them together. What a sharp contrast they bring to each other.

The twenty-second Psalm begins like this: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?”

And then there is the twenty-third Psalm, perhaps the most well-known Psalm of all. The Psalm that calms the soul. “The LORD is my Shepherd. I lack nothing.”

Both are psalms, or devotional songs, written by David. Both exposed the depths of his heart in the truest of ways. And both demonstrate one of the key traits of a deepening relationship with God–the ongoing conversation.

I don’t know what transpired between the 22nd or 23rd Psalm. How much time passed between them? Were they written one after another, chronologically? Or were they just placed in that order by happenstance?

It really does not matter. What matters is that they represent two extremes of the bond between David and his God.

David doubted. He begged. He pleaded. He laid his fears and longings on the altar, releasing his anger along with them. He wondered what was taking so long, or if God was even listening at all.

These are feelings each of us can relate to; at times, we all feel that God is more distant than ever.

So, how did David get from the depths of his despair to the place of peace, beside the still waters mentioned in Psalm 23?

In order to reach that same destination, we must follow the path left by the rest of Psalm 22. David first reminds himself of who God is, and who He has always been. In verse 10, he says “from my mother’s womb, you have been my God.” In verse 11, David recognizes that no one else can help him; “trouble is near, and there is no one to help.”

He then begins to cross over the bridge that leads to the place of peace—the place we most desire. David claims the victory God was already providing, even before he saw the evidence. In verse 31, David rejoices, “they will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn, ‘he has done it!’”
PRAYER: Dear God, help us find your path to peace. Thank you for allowing us to ask the tough questions, and thank you even more for answering them. Lead us beside the still waters; to the place where we fully understand that we truly lack nothing.

“He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3 NIV).

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