Taking That Leap of Faith in Uncertain Times

This morning, I checked my inbox and was treated to a guest devotional by Jon Walker, Please see Daily Hope and then click back to this blog.


Like millions of Christians, I subscribe to Rick Warren’s Daily Hope blog. As usual, today’s message was inspirational and caused me to take a step back and focus on my faith in God's divine power.

In today's devotional, the author uses Peter's lack of trust as an example. I, too, found myself thinking of Peter's dilemma when Jesus beckoned him to walk on the water. As you will recall, Peter was cautious about leaving the safety of the boat. The challenge to leave a safe situation and leap into something unknown gave Peter great cause for concern. I sometimes struggle with making faith based decisions as well. Do you?

The following, from Jon Walker’s inspirational message, really pinpoints the predicament that many of us may experience when faced with a crisis or near crisis.

“It's a paradox of faith: Our first step of faith places us in a position where faith becomes possible. By our obedience, we learn to be faithful. If we refuse to follow, we never learn how to believe. We stay stuck in the shallow end of faith, trusting in ourselves, living by sight and not by faith.”

Today, while reading the news about Rick Warren, I felt inspired to write a blog entry about the struggle of trust that we all, from time to time, experience. As you may know, Rick Warren was recently temporarily blinded due to an unfortunate gardening accident. Please see OC Register for details. How did Rick react to being temporarily blinded by a toxic milky poisonous sap? He became humble and prayed, and he asked others to pray for him as well. Rick placed his trust in God; he knew that God would not forsake him. He was modeling how a Christian should react in a time crisis. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (New International Version)

7We live by faith, not by sight. See Biblegatewaycom

It’s sometimes difficult in the unchartered waters of our life to step out and make a faith based decision to trust God. However, when we do take that leap of faith and trust Him, we feel truly blessed when He, in turn, reaches out and steers us to safety.

Stop and reflect about events in the past when you did reach out and felt that God was walking right there beside you. Surely, as a Christian, you can think of more than one time when you made that leap of faith and could feel His blessings.

Last Sunday, Charles Stanley presented a sermon about the 23rd Psalm and reminded the congregation of God's faithfulness to David and to us. David experienced many blessings and challenges throughout his life, as he walked with God. During many pivotal moments, David called out to God for help, and God responded and blessed him. David wrote the 23rd Psalm to affirm his awareness of God's love and protection. Likewise, when we have asked God for help, He has reached out to us. When we were weary, we could feel that he was carrying the burden for us. We could feel His love and help. With that knowledge in mind, why would we ever doubt that He will be with us now and in the future?

To help the teens and children in your life learn more about the power of faith, please type in Some Biblical Expressions of Faith, Fall Forward in Faith, Object Lessons in Faith, and Holding on with Faith When You are Approaching the Edge in the search box of this bog. You will receive commentary and links to free faith based lesson plans.

May God bless richly bless you.

Summertime - Sowing Seeds for Christ

Today, like many families, we celebrated the 4th of July. Having the 4th fall on a Sunday, this year, was such a blessing. In many worship services, pastors reminded us of how fortunate we are to live in a country that allows us to pray to God without fear of retribution. Like many others, I believe, I found myself thinking about how God entrusts us to sow seeds of faith in the lives of others. Throughout the day, I found myself taking stock of how I could best use the spiritual gifts that God has entrusted me with to reach others.

The summer months seem to fly by, as we are sometimes pulled in many directions and wear many hats. Even though work, vacations, entertaining house guests and other distractions can easily us pull us away from our time with God, we know that it's essential to always include Bible study and devotional time in our daily lives.

Continue to be observant and obedient to service assignments that Christ provides for you. Don't overlook opportunities to help other children learn more about Christ. Perhaps, you will be tutoring or involved in VBS. Sometimes, unexpectedly, God may place a child or children in your path, and you see the possibilities for sowing seeds. Use the free resources in this blog, to plan lessons which may serve to foster an interest in Jesus.


See First Things First

Summer Solstice - A Time for Pruning

The Metamorphosis of the Butterfly

Object Lessons in Faith

The Prodigal Son - Lessons Learned

Fall Forward in Faith

Some Biblical Expressions of Faith



Recently, I spoke with a parent about using a collection of Bible stories, written for second through fourth grade students, as part of the reading comprehension curriculum. This parent was delighted that her daughter would be learning more about Jesus, David and other principal figures and stories found within the Bible.

Encourage all children to memorize scripture, as well. Please see Teachers' Tips, Tools, & Topics for some excellent Bible scripture memorization tips.

Have a blessed summer!!