Faith – Page 3 – M E L C H E E

Keep the Faith

June 5, 2015June 3, 20153 Comments

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17 KJV)

Here we are in another new start, in a brand new month. We have a new set of days, God willing, to welcome and embrace. Summer season is just ahead with its promises of fun and excitement.

But with all that we often have to look forward to, we can’t help but see what’s going on in the world. Images of violence, poverty, destruction, and death fill our news feeds seemingly 24/7. It’s hard to focus on fun and the good things of summer when there’s so much suffering.

I shared in a guest blog last week (read the full entry here) an experience in which I came face to face with, well, life. My husband and I saw a man digging through a trash can searching for food. Yes, we helped him, but it was just a shock to me to actually see that. I hadn’t before. The meaning of grateful? Oh yeh, it changed for me that day.

Despite what I saw, and despite what we continue to see on the news and even in our own communities, we must keep the faith. We must believe God, walk by faith and not by sight, and know He’s in control. But there’s another part to it: not only must we have faith, but we must act on it. And I will add, as the Lord directs. I don’t think it’s possible to claim to be a person of faith and not practice it. Faith without action, states the Word, is dead. It has no worth. It does not prosper.

So, we put faith into action by giving, helping, sowing, encouraging, becoming, loving. I have a saying: you can’t have and then not give. It’s easy to get caught up in our own little worlds and the things that make us happy, like summer fun I mentioned above, and things, and stuff. But there’s a need you’ve been called to fill. When God brings you to it, act. When God brings you to it, not you trying to show everybody just how full of goodness you are. But that’s another post…

It didn’t take long for my husband and me to feel that stirring within us to help the man searching for food. We didn’t need to boast about it, we just did what needed to be done. Think of what this world would be like, how we’d all be changed, if we let our faith live and not die.

Amen.

Grateful Friday

May 22, 2015May 21, 20154 Comments

This week I’m just plain thankful! I’m thankful to be a woman living out this journey of faith. I’m thankful to my God for calling me to be His!

Psalm 139 KJV

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

14I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Share in the comments something YOU’RE thankful for!

Part of New Day’s “Girlfriends in May” series.

Faith of a Woman

May 15, 2015May 30, 2016Leave a comment

For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. (Mark 5:28 KJV)

It is the belief that God is there, with her always. It is what keeps a smile on her face when times are hard. It’s the joy in her spirit when the world says she should worry. It is seeing it happen when no one else can or will. It is the size of a mustard seed, because that’s all it takes.

It is the faith of a woman – strong, hard, daring. Perfectly centered on her perfect God. Believing, seeing, knowing. How is faith achieved? How does one have faith? Have you ever met one of those women of God and witnessed the faith she has?

I believe faith is a gift. It is given of the same God to which it is aimed. He bestows it in a willing vessel for His glory and for others to behold. If received and used by the vessel, it is a powerful force, capable of moving mountains, opening and closing doors, making ways out of no ways.

The woman in Mark 5:28 had faith. She had no other choice. She was at the end of her rope; Jesus was her only option. Had been all along. Her faith brings her to Him. Or, to hem.

If I could only touch Him, she said. That will do it. That’s all I need. Just one touch. Her faith moved through Jesus so powerfully that He felt virtue leave Him. Where did it go? He had to know. He turned and saw a poor face. That’s where it went – to her.

I want to be that kind of woman, with that kind of faith. The faith that causes Jesus to stop in His tracks and look for me, to look at me, through me. To see it all. I want His love to heal me, save me, cover me, fill me. What a blessed way to live.

Nothing’s more beautiful than a woman with faith in her God – arms stretched out to hem, her first love.

Part of New Day’s “Girlfriends in May” series. iPhone photo of art; “The Touch” by Alan Hicks, http://www.twinhicks.com/index.htm.