Living by Faith

This morning I listened to a podcast from Mike Errie at Rock Harbor church. It hit a chord with me, especially after this week.

He spoke about God being our only option. Christ always gives us a choice - he never begs, he never bribes us into his presence. When we have other options he lets us go. He spoke about the cleanliness and tidiness of the churches in the states and how we are missing the desperation for Christ. In the States we so often rely on doctors and finances instead of God. We rely on ourselves, on our government, on the makeup we wear, and so forth. Appearance becomes more important than our faith.

This week the team had the opportunity to visit two homes in an area of El Salvador called Santa Ana. Both of the homes were the size of an average bedroom. One of the houses held ten children plus the parents, and the other, which was smaller, also held the animals. The floors were mud and the water they drank came from the sky and was held in a barrel. There are two seasons in El Salvador, the dry season and the wet season. I can promise you the rain comes right into both of these homes. This is how many people live in these rural communities of El Salvador. We met one woman who had hurt her shoulders and couldn't work. She told my friends that she survived by faith. Day by day God provided for her. They prayed for her and she told us she would be praying for us. I met an old woman and just sat by her and talked to her. She had pain through her body and she lived alone. I prayed for her. She lived by the Faith of God and the goodness of the church. The pastor in that area had a home similar to the ones described above. I can tell you that God provides. I don't believe that God wants anyone of his people to suffer. We might not be rich in the world eyes, but we can be rich in HIM! God will provide.

For those of us in the States - some of us may be hurting financially right now, others of us maybe weathering the financial crisis just fine. Let us Trust in God, to depend on him first and foremost. For those of us who can Let us give with joyful hearts and open hands. For those of us who think we can't, let think of ways we can give or trust God to provide in our sacrifice of giving. Give a hand to your brother and sister in need - whether that person is in California, Missouri, Washington, New York, Nigeria, Kenya, Costa Rica, El Salvador and so forth. Rejoice in God, worship him freely for the blessings he has given you. Let me worship God for the ways he has blessed my life, I thank God for each one of you and your prayers and support, I thank him that no one got sick or hurt on the team this week, I thank him for going with us, before us and behind us!

If you have a chance I encourage you to listen to Rock Harbors pod cast on 6/28/09, "The End of Your Rope" by Mike Errie - I believe it is a challenge to the churches of the United States. To remember to worship God freely and fully. To live lifes full of God - remembering he is our only option - our only God - our savior and our grace!