Living By Faith

Living by our faith is not always easy.  Life itself can be hard.

Hard to understand.

Why do good people die?

Why does evil triumph?

Why does my tv station always go out when I finally sit down to watch Dr. Phil?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why do we kick against the goad?

Why do we question God????

Why not?

In the story of Job, satan had to ask for permission to test him.

In fact, it was God who pointed Job out to satan.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.  And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”

So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

When I read this, my mind sees that not only was God proud of Job, but God TRUSTED Job.

He trusted Job's faith.

How awesome is that?

The Word says that God would never test us beyond what we can handle, and look at what Job handled.  And look at how God blessed him when the test was over.

" Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.

After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days."

So, if your life is in the middle of the story, full of ups and downs, just hold on.

That's living by faith.

Be blessed,

Debbi

YBC Book Review - Counter Culture by David Platt

I just finished reading "Counter Culture" by David Platt for Tyndale House Publishing, and I really like it.  It was kind of hard to get into at first, because it talks about difficult subjects, but I'm glad I finished it.  You will be too.

In this day and age, I think we can agree that things are not going well.  At all.  We have a society of people who are only concerned with themselves, and that selfishness has always been the downfall of civilization.  But it's not too late.  We can change ourselves, and we can, and must, change the world around us.  Here are a few of my favorite parts in this book.  Parts that really spoke to me, or made me question my own outlook.

Where rich and poor collide: the gospel and poverty...."Giving to those in need is not about sharing handouts; it's about sharing life.  Helping those in need doesn't consist of throwing our money at something; it involves investing our lives in someone, which is much, much harder to do."  In other words, while it may be easier to give someone a fish, it is better, and longer lasting, to teach someone to fish.  So instead of just donating canned goods to your local food bank, volunteer at the local shelter to teach job skills.

Modern Holocaust: the gospel and abortion....."Across the world, over 42,000,000 million abortions occur every year.  That's 115,000 abortions every day."  This is such a hot hot topic, with no real easy answer, BUT we much reach out, not only to end abortion, but to offer healing and understanding to those who felt there was no other option.

Christ in the public square; the gospel and religious liberty...."The denial of this freedom affects people of different faiths, yet followers of Christ are the most widely persecuted religious group in the world.  According to the US Department of State, Christians face persecution of some kink in more that sixty different countries today."

Here is a list of the subjects confronted in this book....

poverty

abortion

orphans and widows

sex slavery

marriage

sexual morality

ethnicity

religious liberty

the unreached

And I have to say my favorite parts are at the end of each chapter.  David gives us steps to help us counter the culture of each subject.

Now for a little background on the author David Platt.

Beginning in 2006, he served as the pastor of the Church at Brook Hill in Birmingham AL.  Today he is the president of the International Mission Board (imb.org) and the founder of Radical (radical.net), a rescource ministry serving the church to accomplish the mission of Christ.

Here is a cool video....

Be blessed,
Debbi