Faith

I came across some definitions and other's thoughts on faith and it set me pondering and struck a few chords. So I thought I'd share:

"Faith is nothing more than receiving what God offers." (Ephesians 2: 8,9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.")

faith: (1) fidelity to one's promises (2) belief and trust in and loyalty to God (3) complete trust (webster's collegiate dictionary)

"Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something in your common-sense circumstances that flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him?....Every time my programme of belief is clear to my own mind, I come across something that contrdicts it. Let me say I believe God will supply all my need, and then let me run dry, with no outlook, and see whether I will go through the trial of faith, or whether I will sink back to something lower.

Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict....The final thing is confidence in Jesus. ...There is continual testing in the life of faith...may God keep us in fighting trim! Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us." (Oswald Chambers, aug. 29th)

I find myself in the beginnings of a new season for me, and I feel things shifting and changing and it is dissettling and yet also exciting. I find I come back to asking myself if I will trust Him, His goodness and what He has for me as I step out, or will I look at the obstacles in the way, the unknowns, and lose sight of Him who has shown Himself unutterably trustworthy, loving and for me. Let us not be consummed by the small story bumps in the road, the hows and whys. Let us be consummed with His Big Picture and the person of Jesus Christ.