Flordia…the sunshine state? and a serious brain moment

We had the wonderful privilege this past week to visit the beautiful state of Florida.  I had never been to Florida, but I had always heard of how amazing the weather stays there…when there isn’t a hurricane to deal with.  Well, we left Oklahoma last Friday, and it was chilly and windy….we got to Florida….and it was chilly and windy.  You talk about either one of the most elaborate practical jokes of all time, or just a coincidence that we happen to be in Florida the only 3 days that it was cold and windy.  The locals assurred us that it is normally warmer and calm.  Nevertheless, being from Oklahoma…ya know…notorious for red dirt, wind, drastic climate changes, plains, and weird accents, we had to go to the beach…no matter how cold and windy it was.   Drew and Ben decidec to stay behind and catch up on some sleep, so Joey and I drove to Pensacola Beach.  Man, what a beautiful place.  White Sand!  I had never seen white sand before.  The ocean reminded me and Joey of just how big our God is.  To think, He actually knows how many grains of sand there are in the world.  Both Joey and I felt a little guilty being at the beach without our wives, so we wrote how much we loved each of them in the sand and then took pictures of it with our phones to send to them.  So, maybe we scored points there. 

Dogwood Baptist Church in Molino was such a blessing to us.  We love those people and their pastor.  Other groups can attest to this — we know that we are going to have a long-standing relationships with both of these churches.  So, to all of you, we love you and can’t wait to worship with you again.  Ray’s Chapel, on Sunday night just about sang us to death.  We weren’t at our best as all of us were fighting sickness, but they really came expecting God to move, and He did.  It is sad when were are still stunned when God keeps His word. 

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A SERIOUS BRAIN MOMENT

I have heard several people over the years, including myself, ask for more faith.  “God, give me more faith,” or “if I they only had more faith.”   Don’t get me wrong, having much faith is a good thing.  Let me submit that it would be virtually impossible to live a victorious Christian life without having much faith in our Maker; however it is not the amount of faith that makes a difference.  It is the object of our faith.  You see, if we have a little bit of faith (a mustard seed’s worth), we can move mountains.  Why?  Because the little faith we do have is in the right thing.  What God is telling us is that even the smallest faith in Jesus, is all you will ever need. 

It is important to point out that Jesus did rebuke his disciples for having little faith.  When they were at sea, the disciples were feared for their lives.  That lets us know how serious of a storm it was to scare men who made their living on the sea; so, when they awoke Jesus (asleep), asking him “Master’, carest not that we perish?”  Jesus rebuked them saying “Oh ye of little faith.”  He wanted them to have more faith than that, so yes, more faith is important to have a victorious life;  HOWEVER — we see that their little faith, because it was in Him, was enough for Jesus to calm the storm. 

In a time we are living in, when we have two extremes — one side saying that you need to have faith in your faith, and the other side saying that God cannot deliver anymore.   Let us remember that the very one who breathed life into us, has the ability to still the raging waters in our lives, and it isn’t because we are great in faith, it is because the One in whom we have our faith is Great. 

Also, remember that the Bible teaches us that faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the word of God, so if you want to increase your faith, get into the word, and get around good Godly preaching.  Afterall, we are also taught it is impossible to please God…without faith.   Isn’t that all of our lifelong ambition?…..to please our Redeemer? !!

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