Is my faith simple, still, silent enough I can hear You, Abba?

Is my faith simple, still, silent enough I can hear You, Abba? 

Is my faith simple enough I can hear You, Lord? 

Is my faith still enough I can hear You, God? 

Is my faith silent enough I can hear You, Father?

Is my faith simple, still, silent enough I can hear You, my Rock? 

Cover Changes

Here is the new cover. 

It Just Isn't Working and I'm Missing Something

It Just Isn't Working and I'm Missing Something

What I'm doing isn't working regarding my spiritual life. I just feel like something is missing. that being said, I feel like I'm standing on the precipice of something big. Maybe it's a spiritual awakening in my life. I'm not sure. 

So, what isn't working?

I realize that no matter how much I try to deny it, I keep living a check-mark, checklist faith. Bible in a year. Check. Praying all day long. Check. Studying the Word. Check. Fellowship with believers. Check. Prayer journaling. Check. Helping others become and be disciples. Check. 

Blah, blah, blah. (Rolling eyes and shaking head.) How boring! No wonder why it isn't working. 

I know all of that is wrong, but I fell into it's trap and spell yet again. Ugh! I know better than this. I'm bored with myself, along with my faith. So, what am I missing? 

How am I missing the mark?  What am I not getting? Understanding? Grasping? I know I am not because I wouldn't feel this way and wouldn't be doing the things I do if I did.

What else do I do? I allow my mind to wander. I get side-tracked. I fall off the path. No. I don't fall. I jump off of it. I start to follow the pretty butterfly along the walk and forget where I am and where I am headed until it's too late. 

SPECIFIC PRAYER: Lord, how can I stop this? How can I find the path and stay on it? What am I missing? Please guide me and help me to hear You when You do. Also, help me to respond immediately when You do give me instruction.

Works and belief: Be still

Works and belief: Be still 

It isn't about what we do or don't do that matters most in our lives of faith. Now is it about what we want or need. Rather, it's about this pure and simple: Our belief is the only thing that really matters. It's believing in God, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Bible. That's it. 

It really is that simple. 

Read all of Romans 4, please, at this time to see what I mean. Then, read ahead to the next paragraph in this reading. 

Now, read Romans 4:4-6 in particular. 

Now, read Romans 4:18-25. 

What saves us? Answer: Belief does. 

Maybe we've put too much pressure on ourselves of what we think the 'shoulds' are in our lives regarding our faith. Maybe we've made ourselves too busy in our faith. Maybe we've missed the entire point. It isn't about doing. It's about being. Being in the most basic and is the most important thing we can do. 

After all, God could care less if we read our Bible 24 hours a day and if we pray for 24--if we are getting nothing out of it but are earning a check in a box of our TO DO LIST. He would rather us just curl up and hang out with Him. That's it. 

God and His Word are to be the center of our lives, but it's far better to focus on one verse the rest of our lives, if we get something deep out of it every day,apply it to our lives, and learn from the one verse every single day, all day long, than if we read the entire Bible cover to cover a thousand times and got nothing out of it except a check in a To Do List box. 

If you're feeling stressed, busyness is not the answer. If you're searching for answers, busyness will only make things worse. It's always best to stop, rest, reflect, be quiet, and listen to God first and foremost. If you are looking for answers, this approach also is best. If you're dealing with a life challenge, this approach is best. If you are living today, the best response is to stop, rest, be silent, and listen. This is always the case. And, isn't it usually the last one we do? 

So, let's stop.

Let's be still, be quiet, and listen--in solitude with the Lord and His Word. 

For, if we do this, we are acting a life of belief--not of works. This is where the sweetness of life, and our spiritual lives, begins, continues, and ends. This is the best of the spiritual life. It's not what we do, but what and who we believe. That's it. 

AN INTRODUCTION: A FRESH AND VIBRANT FAITH

AN INTRODUCTION: A FRESH AND VIBRANT FAITH

I’m I am desperate for a fresh faith.

As a matter of fact, I need it desperately.

I feel like I keep spinning my wheels and like I'm stuck in the mud and muck and can't get out of the mess. I am content, sure. I am quite content actually. I can be no matter where I am, for the most part. But, I know I am missing something and Someone being stuck here where I am.

I know I am missing a vibrant faith.

I am well aware there is far more to the Christian faith than this. I am missing the mark.

How about you?

I am going through the motions, and am doing a great job thereof, but it isn’t enough. My prayer life and Bible reading and study is lackluster at best. I might be doing them, but am producing fruit? Some. Not as much as I could, I am sure. I know it’s God who grows the fruit and produces my fruit, but I also know I am to cooperate with Him in the process. Have I? I doubt it.

I doubt it because I keep jumping around all over the place with my writing. I need to commit to writing one way. Period. No other way. This ambivalence shows how I am missing the mark and do not have the fresh and vibrant faith I could.

Am I bringing God as much glory as I could or should? No. I know I am not.

I’m also not getting as much out of my prayer life as I could, nor my devotional Bible study… My faith isn’t fresh and it’s dull rather than vibrant.

So, what’s the answer?

I think I need to listen to God more and spend more intentional one-on-one time with Him where He has my UNDIVIDED attention. I think this is the answer. I need to practice the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence.

Hence, I am writing this new blog post series and book.

PRAYER JOURNALING AND CONTEMPLATION QUESTIONS

What are your thoughts so far?

So, how about you? Have you ever been here in this place? 

Silence Quote

Forever Changed, Always Remembered

There are dates, remembrances, experiences, and memories that are permanently stamped in my life. I do not know about you. Friday, 14 December 2012 is another one in my life. This was the day of Sandy Hook.

There are also times when you know your life is forever changed because of that moment--and it will always be remembered. 

The Sandy Hook Elementary school Shooting and Massacre is another one of this times. 

The children, and adults who died, are forever stamped in my heart. I will not forget them. Ever. 

This week will be a week spent in mourning of them--and remembering them. I refuse to go around or be happy-go-lucky, joy-joy-joy because it's the week before Christmas. Celebration of the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ, is next week. Not this week. 

There are parents who will never see their children again. Spouses who no longer have their loved one by their side. Families and friends are experiencing loss. This makes my heart ache. 

I want the loved ones of those lost on Friday--and of those who experienced the shootings--to know that I refuse to let them walk this alone. I may not know them, but they are souls. They are my fellow Americans--and that makes them family. 

How can we celebrate and pretend like nothing happened? Is it just because it didn't happen to us, if we do? If so, we are far worse than I knew as a nation. 

Again, it amazes me how few blogs have stopped and mourned what happened. How can this be? When did we become some cold and calloused? When did we become so uncaring? 

I refuse to be glued to the TV. I will mourn in my own way. 

I refuse to live in denial and carry on like nothing has happened. It has. 

My blog posts this week will focus on dealing with loss, mourning/grieving, and how it changes us (or at least it should). 

This week will be a heavy week. But, it will make us appreciate even more why Jesus Christ was born and what He did for us--next week. 

On Friday, I heard a wise quote that I am going to live by from now on:

Silence is the enemy of healing. 

That is why this week will be a week of journaling about loss and how loss shapes and transforms our lives. 

Silence is the enemy of healing. 

How profound. 

That quote stopped my in my tracks, so to speak. 

I refuse to be silent. I want to heal. I want to help others heal as well.

Is this our problem in the USA? Have we been silent for too long? Have we been so silent, we haven't healed? 

Let's not be silent. Let us do more journaling than we ever have in our lives this week. Let us stop our silence--and do so on the page. 

Sandy Hook, you are remembered. We have been forever changed because of what happened to you. We want to support you and we mourn your loss. While we cannot imagine what you are going through, we are here for you. We refuse to go on like nothing happened. We will remember. We will not allow any of this to be in vain. We will mourn with you and remember every 14 December from now on. God bless you. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. 2012.)