Faulty Faith is a Matter of Mental Proximity

I awakened to my alarm blaring at 4am this morning after a mere two hours of sleep. I find myself in a fluster as I rush to ready for the exciting day ahead. Despite the excitement, a wandering thought pierced the darkness & it was this:

“I cannot wait for normalcy to return, for consistency in my family, finances & future to settle...”

As I pondered what WASN’t, what WAS began to wain...my joy, peace & faith began to falter. This is what happens when our thoughts wander from the place the Lord has planted our feet. A disconnect between faith & feelings unfolds & suddenly we feel left in a mental scramble.

Psalm 92 was written to be read on the Sabbath day of rest & is a reminder that the godly will flourish like palm trees (regardless of season) for they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house! It promises that even in old age, they will produce fruit & remain vital & green!

It leads me to conclude that a lack of faith is simply a matter of mental proximity. Our feet are firmly fixed in the house of God, but He will not make our thoughts remain in that place of secure peace. 

The word “proximity” means immediate nearness in place, blood or alliance.

If we know Jesus as our Lord & Savior, then all 3 of these are true!

• PLACE | God transplants us to His courts 

• BLOOD | the blood of Jesus covers our sins so we can be in relationship with our holy God 

• ALLIANCE | Jesus’ Lordship is an outward expression of our covenant alliance with Him!

When we remember that we’ve been transplanted to the courts of our God, we can approach every day like a Sabbath day! We are in Him & He is in us...we have all that we need to produce fruit & remain flourishing even into our old age regardless of the seasons that surface.

Father, remind us this morning that faltering faith is simply a matter of mental proximity. Holy Spirit help us to return our thoughts to Your Word that says we are firmly fixed in Your Presence where we will remain vital & green until the day we get to meet You face to face!

#OneYearBible

October 23rd One Year Bible Readings

💡JEREMIAH 42:1-44:23

💡2 TIMOTHY 2:1-21

💡PSALM 92:1-93:5

💡PROVERBS 26:3-5

Tomorrow is not Promised

Some of my friends call me an efficiency expert🤓 I love “saving time” by removing obstacles & aligning tasks for increased productivity. As I read Psalm 90:12 this morning, however, I had some pretty big revelations about time.

Moses prays, “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Another version says to number our days.

Time is not a limitless currency at our disposal so we need be careful how we spend it.

⏰ We can’t make or borrow time, but we can be wise how we use it.

⏰ We can’t give or save time, but we can be intentional how we allocate it.

⏰ We can’t make up or go back in time, but we can gain wisdom by reviewing our mistakes.

⏰ We can’t speed up time, but we can raise our gaze to realize the brevity of life.

Humility settles when we settle our gaze on the grave ahead & passions cool in the presence of mortality.

If we could see the end of our life & knew the exact date of death, how might it change the trajectory of our day, week, month & year ahead (if we had that much time left 😬)

God in His limitless wisdom has hidden the end SO THAT we might grow in wisdom!

We grow in wisdom when we 

👉🏽learn from the past

👉🏽while sustaining an eternal perspective

👉🏽as we diligently procure the present

Life this side of heaven is a whole lot less about time management & a whole lot more about perspective-driven priorities. Time keeps on tickin’ regardless of how we spend it. The question that rises is this: Will we waste or invest the time we have left?

Father, we understand that we are not promised tomorrow. Thank you for hiding it from us so we learn to lean on Your wisdom & Your ways. Forgive us for being more concerned about counting money or likes or followers than our days.

Thank you for the reminder that we cannot make, borrow, save or multiply time & that it is high time that we consider how we spend the time we have left. Lead us to a simplicity of life that intentionally allocates time to what matters most-things that carry an eternal impact!

#OneYearBible

October 22nd One Year Bible Readings

💡JEREMIAH 39:1-41:18

💡2 TIMOTHY 1:1-18

💡PSALM 90:1-91:16

💡PROVERBS 26:1-2

Discontent: To Be in Want of Content

We live in what my son, Isaiah, calls, “A Fun Size House.” The first time he called it that I belly-laughed out loud as it is indeed tiny compared to our previous home.

I wouldn’t have chosen this home had I gotten what I wanted. When we bought it, we had emerged from a prolonged sifting season of hardships. The Lord allowed a series of unfortunate events that led us to the place where we didn’t have a choice but to sell our big home.

We were in such a slim pickins moment that I wasn’t even sure we could buy another house, so I began looking at apartments. When we visited this home, Markel said, “This is it!” I wasn’t quite as confident, but I followed his lead.

The move required a WHOLE bunch more sifting of stuff as we prepared to squeeze into a home 1/3 the size😬

I wouldn’t wish the process upon anyone, but it led me to a place of simple security where my family, food & shelter were enough.

Before we sold our home, while our big-daddy one was still on the market, I read this verse:

Godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.

I can’t say that I felt content in that moment. I trusted God to work all things out, but I felt like a pauper who was lacking lots.

As I prayed for the Lord to shift my perspective to gratitude for what we DID have, I suddenly had a thought:

To be discontent is to be in want of content.

I needed nothing more than God. I could trust Him to care for my family & to provide food & shelter. All else was icing on the cake of life.

When we begin to trust in money for security, our entire world is shaken if it becomes scarce

But if we really trust in the Creator of all things, then we need not feel discontent because His Word promises to, “RICHLY provide all we need FOR our enjoyment!”

Sifting seasons don’t feel awesome, but they do provide ample opportunity to prove how awesome our Good God is! I love that He continues to use our fun size house to remind me of His faithfulness. What felt like a physical downgrade was actually a holy upgrade!

Father, when we begin to crave anything more than You, do whatever is necessary to keep us from wandering from the faith into a fat cat land that can pierce us with many sorrows. Remind us that You are all the “content” we will ever need!💝

#OneYearBible

October 21st One Year Bible Readings

💡JEREMIAH 37:1-38:28

💡1 TIMOTHY 6:1-21

💡PSALM 89:38-52

💡PROVERBS 25:28