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Showing posts with label thought. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thought. Show all posts

Monday, September 5, 2016

Increase Our Faith

Increase Our Faith????
                                       
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Romans 12:3
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.



As it states above, Faith is a gift of God and it is amazing how our faith does not need to be increased or "super-sized".  My strong mustard seed of faith is just fine.  Oh, over my years, at times I thought I wanted more faith, but I have learned that Trusting the faith God has measured out (given) to me was all I really needed to do.  A baseball size faith is of little consequence if  we do not fully and completely Trust Him.


The Romans 12:3* verse about how our faith is measured out to us from God has not bothered me for most of my years and always; as I studied this verse, it gave me abundant hope. But what has bothered me is when people, especially preachers, talk about us "growing our faith".  Simply stated, talk of "increasing"* our faith bothers me and goes against what Jesus taught (Luke 17:5,6*).  As people, how can we increase the faith God has given us.  In His perfection, our imperfection shines bright when we think we can improve on the blessings and gifts God gives us.  Today, I still see and feel we cannot grow, super-size, or "increase our faith" (Luke 17:5*) by ourselves  because
                      God measures out to us our faith.  And,
I am old enough and experienced enough to know and understand that--
     In His Perfection, what God gives us is sufficient for our needs! 


I have learned that
  in using our faith,
      in depending on our faith daily, and
            in holding on to our dependence on Him forever,
                     especially in our low times,
then
      in and by our Trusting God and Jesus
              we change not the size of our faith,
but rather,

      we  change 
because
      He leads us to be and to feel stronger in our Relationship with Him and
therefore,

      We trust God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and our faith even more.

 Mainly, we just have to be prepared
     to Trust His results and His answers to our faith, our Relationship with Him.

Faith- our Relationship with God is similar to a muscle in our body.  It is there and in the beginning it is weak, but with exercise the muscle gets stronger.  Similarly, when we exercise our faith, our God-desired Relationship with Him likewise gets stronger.  Then, if we cease to exercise, it shrinks, and can return to its earlier 
weakness. Now, I understand that a muscle gets bigger, but it is just as plants in "my" garden.  In my garden, after I have nourished the soil, planted the seed, and kept out the sin (weeds) in my garden, it is God that grows the plants and its fruit, and it is the same way our muscles may get bigger, but it is God who grows them.  If we withdraw the water and allow the weeds (sin) to flourish, the plants will die, and in the same way our muscles and faith will wither.  Stronger strengthened faith is a God activity in our lives due to our exercise, and a stronger Relationship with Him develops as long as we exercise the faith seed He gives us.  Just remember, it is Holy Scripture, Luke 17:5,6* that explains we do not need more faith and it is our exercising our faith that makes that seed of faith stronger.

Truly in our low times of trusting God,
      we feel renewed and strengthened
            in the faith God has measured out to us.  



Sometimes gifts of God come in unexpected ways.  Recently in some low troubling times of my heart, I found in some simple work at church involving small, unexpected challenges that surfaced, and some troubling thoughts were displaced for awhile and I was lead to write this Testimony.

    The Glory of life's low times is that in Faith- our Relationship with Him,
 we can look up and know the Good times are ahead and better understand the Glory in our Faith as it, our faith, is strengthened. .

The Glory of FAITH:
 In life we all face Trials.
      
In our Trials,

            they become just a Test or
            perhaps even a Temptation;

but
      In Trusting our God given Faith,
           the troubling temptation is silenced,
           the Test is conquered and
           the trial becomes a victorious Triumph,
     then

           in triumph we are driven to Testimony, and
              in Testimony we strive and thrive in sharing our Faith--
                  our Relationship with God, and

                     of 
His Glorious work in and through our lives.

 The more we daily Trust The Six T's in Faithful Living
   the stronger our faith becomes.

Thanks be to God.

blessings
lonnie

John 14:   Jesus talking to the Apostles:
  
1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled.
          Trust in God. Trust also in me."

Luke 17:5,6
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." 

6 So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 







© lonnie coggins


Please Join 'A Daily Thought Group' on Facebook.  
It is designed to be an uncluttered library of only ‘A Daily Thought’ postings.  

 Thanks and God Bless.



EMAIL?  If you would like to receive an email notification when add a new post to Facebook, about twice a week, send me your email to adailythought@yahoo.com and I will add you to the list in a blind copy.  It will only be used to send you the links to what I publish.




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Sharing these messages



Trusting Faith is a great resource to living a faithful life.  But, do you really need a "super-sized" faith?  Here are some thoughts.

 You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or you can print the message and share it with your friends.


You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You MUST copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins        source- Facebook "A Daily Thought Group"
ldcoggins@gmail.com              www.adailythought.NET

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.


lonnie

Publication  0219


intro

 Our Faith, our "Divine Persuasion" of a Loving God gives us Hope regardless of our troubled times.  We have faith in many things, but have you allowed "Divine persuasion" to fill your life in a Relationship with God. Or, do you just want your faith "supersized"?  Here are some thoughts.
 Please share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications.  For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2016/09/increase-our-faith.html


Monday, August 8, 2016

Amazing Pits

The Amazing Pits in our Lives
                                       
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We all wish for the ups and suffer the downs of living life we call "living in the pits in our lives".  Here are some thoughts.


Let me begin with this observation-  Many places in the Gospels, it says the audience observing what Jesus did or said was "amazed".  As Christians we are often amazed at what God does for us.


I have often thought about my being amazed at God's behavior in the blessings of my life.


Consider this-   In a word study of the Greek that is translated "amazed" in the Gospels, it is found to mean "being astonished at an action that had never been seen or heard before."  Jesus' audience had never seen what we have, the opportunity to read and know all the recorded "amazing" words and deeds of Jesus.  And I wonder.

I wonder how 'amazed' we should feel in God answering our prayers and doing for us in our lives.  We know He loves us dearly and just as we are with our children, He wants to satisfy our needs and when in His will, He even give us some of our desires.  As our children are humble and polite to us, we want to help them in every way we can.  Sometimes that is giving them what they need and want, but sometimes, it is also withholding something to teach them patience, and that often leads to giving them more at a later time.  As with dealing with our children, in God dealing with us God wants only the best for us, but His Timing is important too.

Sometimes I think that if I am greatly amazed at what God does for me, maybe my expectations were just far to low, and question if I should I really feel "amazed"?.  Quite often, it is not what we ask for that controls what we receive from God, but rather, it is how we ask for it.

In Humility, I try not to ask for specifics but rather, very often, I just pray for peace and patience to get to where I need to be, and for the results to be through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  In patience, that peace comes in abundance, even out of my lowest pits; even when the current circumstances remain the same.  God's answers to my prayers always seem to fit, maybe not always immediately, but His answers are most perfect even in the time I consider delayed.  In waiting patiently, His answers eventually come, and most perfectly fits my pits. 

However, there are at times the need is very specific and not a want.  This is so very important to consider.  We cannot allow ourselves to feel slighted by God when we pray for a want and get little to nothing of our wants.  Pray for your needs, in humility pray big for your needs, you may get exactly what you pray for.  However, again, pray in humility.

In humility, when we ask for something beyond what we need, he supplies what we really need in a most generous manner that truly is at first amazing, but then, as we realize, He is God and He wants to bring us Joy in fellowship with Him.  Through His Loving action, His initiation, our relationship with Him is our faith in Him.

In humility, we should too remember to pray as Jesus did.  In the worst of His circumstances, in the most pressing moment of His life, at a time things seemed their worst, remember to finish your humble prayers, "not my will, but thine be done."

This is just a thought and not meant to be critical of your expressions of "amazement".  Just a thought to give you some alternative thoughts.   Because....

I am often amazed at what God does for me, but I use it to realize and seek a greater relationship with Him in the faith He gives me; and to understand He has so much more in store for me in the life I live in that Relationship.

The best gift He gives besides life itself, is the "measure" of faith for a loving relationship with Him (Romans 12:3).  Even in my pits, I do not need my faith supersized, I just need to trust Him more as He helps me to crawl out of any pit I come to.  (John 14:1*)  Faith, our Relationship with God, often does not change our circumstances but Trusting God though the Faith He gives us, changes us.

Far too often, in our pits we cry too much in our despair demanding an answer to  "why me?".  Have you ever considered that to get out of the many pits where we find ourselves (especially our self made pits), very often all He needs to give us is a shovel to dig on the wall next to us allowing us to just to make steps to climb out of the pit.  Amazing :).   We simply must trust Him and His Timing.

Finally, In our Pits, we just need to Trust Him, and to trust God more, we need to have the Holy Spirit in our lives.  "To have the Holy Spirit in our lives we need to pray.... and pray.... and pray..... often.... each and every day. *" As you Trust Him more, watch how you change; and do not be too amazed, it is God's everyday work to help you find the Joy in your life you so richly desire.


Thanks be to God
lonnie

An after thought:
 Most amazing perhaps is God's delayed answers to prayer, and 
     sometimes the answer to my prayers is "no" and I am most thankful.
TB2G
* Holy Spirit quote, Rev. Brenda Newman, January, 2009.

© lonnie coggins

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; Trust also in me.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.


Please Join 'A Daily Thought Group' on Facebook.  
It is designed to be an uncluttered library of only ‘A Daily Thought’ postings.  

 Thanks and God Bless.



EMAIL?  If you would like to receive an email notification when add a new post to Facebook, about twice a week, send me your email to adailythought@yahoo.com and I will add you to the list in a blind copy.  It will only be used to send you the links to what I publish.


==============================

Sharing these messages

You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or you can print the message and share it with your friends.

You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You MUST copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins        source- Facebook "A Daily Thought Group"
ldcoggins@gmail.com              www.adailythought.NET

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.


lonnie

Publication  0218


intro

Some thoughts on "Amazing Pits" in our lives.   Please share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications.  For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2016/08/amazing-pits.html


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Random Thoughts for January 2012 week 4 TueWedThu

Random Thoughts for January 2012   week 4
                                                                     Return to Main Menu

Exodus 14: 13 But Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again."


In our lives, we must do as Moses did when he and God's people stood at the "Red Sea" and the Egyptian chariots were stirring up dust coming to them, and they were coming hard and fast.  Moses obediently stood up to the grumbling people and said, "Stand firm, and watch what the Lord will accomplish for you today."  Our God truly supplies our needs.  

As God continues to be faithful to the descendants of Abraham, so too will He be faithful to us.


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Thanks to Dee Minter Kaiser for reminding us of this:




Jeremiah 17:7-8


Are you like a tree on a river bank or as one on a hill.


"Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months if drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit."


Growing up, in our secular society, we teach our children to have Self-Confidence. In the beginning this is not a bad thing.  The problem, and the children mature, they also need to be taught that it is Confidence in the Lord that is most important.   When we fail, we often lose our self-confidence.  When we have confidence in the Lord to meet our needs, we know our needs will be met.  So, in failure, we get up, use the failure as a stepping stone to future success.... because we know the the Lord will supply our needs.   Thanks be to God.




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John I 1:5-7 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Light is a major theme in the Bible.
Out of Darkness the first element of our nature was Light, Genesis 1:3.

There is an interesting fact of nature about this.  In the early part of the 20th Century physicist Richard Feynman was asking hard questions about small things in nature, more specifically what makes up a proton the very center of our atoms.  Dr. Feynman was a thinker and mathematician.  Through his math models he determined that our protons were made up bits of matter that just seemed to stay together.  So the next question was what holds them together.  What he and two others in the same year determined, was that it was Light that held the bits of matter together in the protons.  In 1937, all three were awarded the Nobel prize.  So, before anything else that was made there had to be light to hold everything together in our protons at the very center of every atom of the universe.  It took mankind 3500 years to discover what had already been written down in the Torah (first five books of the OT).  "Papaw, God is a Genius" - my grandson Rainer.    Now, read the story behind my grandson's discovery.  Click here




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Thursday


Wet in the water with Jesus.... Doubting your doubts..... great Wisdom of the Holy Spirit...... Thanks Nancy Whetstone



I would rather be at the feet of Jesus drowning than
trying to live without Him.




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From:
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