By Robert

These are scary times. Many are facing financial challenges. It is certainly a time for me to exercise faith as someone working in full time ministry. So what does exercising faith look like anyway?

 In 2 Peter 1:5, the Bible says to “employ every effort in exercising your faith” (AMP). If I am not careful, I can easily find myself worrying about finances and other challenges I may be facing, maybe even complaining, and not taking any action of faith. God has challenged me lately to try expressing my faith, to step out.

 James 2:14-”What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” Vs.18-”You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

 These scriptures have something to say to us, we cannot just dismiss them. Faith, when it is real, has fruit. What effort of faith am I making in my situation? Am I standing on God’s promises daily? Am I giving out of what I have? Maybe it is a time to add fasting to my prayer.

 In the early 90′s I had a sales job that came to an end. I had to take on two jobs, working 70 hours a week to try and make ends meet and even then we were falling behind on our bills. At one point we were behind on our mortgage and almost lost our home, yet we never stopped tithing and giving offerings. Our giving had decreased because our income had decreased, but we gave what we could and God honored it. At the end of a year God started blessing us in multiple ways we could have never foreseen. We got caught up on our bills and our income increased greatly!

 As we remain in this season of financial challenges while living in this Christmas season of giving, may we put our faith to work, continuing to give what we can (even if it is just our time or talent), and exercise in word and deed our hope in the Lord.

By Cyndi

Have you ever put up a shed? If you have, you know that the first thing you have to do is lay a foundation for it. We took this Saturday to help out Robert’s mom and step dad put in the stones needed to begin the process of building a shed. We had no idea how long and involved this could be to us amateurs.

We did know that the foundation was the most important part of building the shed; the whole thing would rest upon it and we needed to do it right! So we dug up dirt, did some measuring, and laid the stones in their places. Then we used the level to make sure they were all even with each other. Boy, did this take some patience!  First it was too high, so take some dirt away; then it was too low, put some more dirt back. Over and over again-what a process! Watching that little bubble on the level go left, then right…how frustrating! We would never have guessed it would have taken the time and effort that it did just to lay out and level a bunch of stones!

Laying a foundation is the same way in the spiritual realm. It takes time and effort but it is so vitally important; the rest of our lives are resting upon it. 1 Cor. 3:10, 11 says that we should be careful how we build and make sure that Jesus Christ is the foundation of all that we do.  Reflecting upon Luke 6:48, the story of the wise man building his house upon a rock, I happened to notice that little word “when”. Ever see that word? In this verse it doesn’t say “if” the flood comes-those challenges, trials, tragedies that we all find ourselves in sometimes-but WHEN the flood comes. These things are going to come upon us but if we are firmly built upon Jesus, our Rock, we will not be shaken. We will stand and not fall.

So all the digging, leveling, moving dirt back and forth and laying down the stones in our lives is worth it. Taking the time to read the Word, to pray, to worship, all these are “stones” that make up our foundation. As we live in the midst of these challenging times, even a “flood” to some of us, let us go back and check our foundation, the roots of our faith.