Desiring a Fulfilling Faith, Not a Fast One

/ Joshua Thomas / Leave a comment

For the past two years I’ve been cooking meals consistently for our family. Not long after dear Danielle gave birth, I was able to take that on fully, and have loved it ever since. We had gotten to a place where fast food was our go-to meal option, and it really was starting to take a toll both on finances and our mental headspace. So, I started to utilize our cookbooks we had collected and easy family recipes, in order to build out a good rotation of quick to make options and then have fun trying out new ones.

I learned very quickly that fast food is great for a little while, but good food is much more fulfilling.

I think the same is true for our faith.

All too often we lean towards the quick option; checking the boxes and never actually living out the lifestyle that Christ exemplified during His ministry. I’m guilty of this coasting faith, checking the box of a Sunday service and a glance at the verse of the day.

But that’s a fast faith, something that might get me by for a moment, but in the long run will cause me to burn out.

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Every Day is a Fresh Page

/ Joshua Thomas / Leave a comment

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35 NIV

I recently got a new laptop. My last laptop I purchased was a refurbished MacBook I got for college, a little over ten years ago. It served me well for many papers, messages, and of course blogs I uploaded weekly here for many years. As I headed into this new year, I realized it was time to finally upgrade, as my trusty laptop needed to be tethered to power and wasn’t able to stay up to date.

I love getting something new, you have a moment to start over and reset to what you want things to be. For my laptop, I kept only a few files to transfer and the rest archived on a hard drive, because I didn’t need to keep it all the same, I get to restart and do something different.

I look at this in my day-to-day life as well, I look at each day as a fresh page, nothing written yet and my choices can determine the direction.

Each new day is an opportunity to live out the Gospel message and love others, no matter what.

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Words: What We Say to Others and Ourselves Forms our World

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“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 18:21 CSB

“No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.”

Ephesians 4:29 CSB

“If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself.”

James 1:26 CSB

I love playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. We get together and play every week, and while we love playing, we really love being able to spend time together. Part of the game involves magic, and there is a spell that I think is really cool. There’s a spell called “Wither and Bloom” that allows you to attack an enemy and at the same time heal an ally. It’s a lot of fun in flavor with your character, but it stands out to me as a good visual representation of the power we hold with our words.

I’m sure over the course of your life, there have been moments that have stuck with you over time. Some may be words of encouragement or empowerment, where someone saw something in you that you never fully realized yourself. Some may ben words that have hurt you, cut to your heart, and as much as you try to forget, they have stuck with you. Words have power, and what we speak over one another can either heal or harm. The same is true with your own internal voice.

In a world where words are used far more frequently to harm others, use your words to heal those around you.

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Life is Beautiful

/ Joshua Thomas / Leave a comment

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.”

Romans 8:11 CSB

I’ve been thinking recently of how beautiful life truly is. Maybe it’s due to the fact that the sun came out and I felt early signs of Spring, but I think it’s mainly due to reflecting on the beauty of the world around me.

When we first moved into our house, we noticed a tree in the back that looked dead, only to find out that a new tree was growing out of it. It is a crazy thing to see, this husk of the old and dead having new life burst from it. I’m encouraged by this, because it reminds me of how God never gives up on us, on how new life can always be breathed into us.

Life is beautiful because we have a beautiful creator, one who loves us and each day breathes new life into us and gives us a chance to start again.  

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You Can Control Who You Choose To Be

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“If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

Daniel 3:17-18 CSB

There are a lot of things out of our control in this world, but the one thing we can control is ourselves. I think this especially true in this cultural moment where a lot of what is happening in the world seems crazy, and it is, but rather than give up hope, we can control who we want to be in this moment. Do we want to make a difference where God has placed us? Then we must be active in how we love those in our circles.

I was thinking about this concept after reading through some of the icons in the old testament; from Joseph who chose to focus on God during temptations, David who chooses to remain humble under a tyrant king, and Shadrach Meshach, and Abednego who choose to remain faithful despite the threat of death if they didn’t worship false gods. These are strong examples for us now, to remain faithful to a loving God and choose to control our actions despite of what may be happening in our own lives and world.

You can’t control the world around you, but you can control who you choose to be in the world.  

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Made – Reflections in our Current Time

/ Joshua Thomas / Leave a comment

“He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”

James 1:18 NLT

Current events have been heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because there is a continuing snowball effect of how people are being treated. Lines are being deepened and words continue to be used to vilify whole people groups to the point where people are taken, beaten and murdered.

What’s even worse, is we see this as a cycle, one that continues over and over, each time growing worse and worse.

As followers of Christ, we should not fall into this trap of treating others that contradicts the truth of Scripture.

The truth of Scripture is that we are God’s most prized possession, made in His image, loved so much that He made a way to restore a relationship with Him. Called to lead others into that same grace by how we love others.

What we are seeing, is the effects of sin, distorting the original image of God to our own making. My heart breaks and I have righteous anger especially when those who claim to be a disciple of Jesus, twist Scripture and truth in order to justify looking at others as if they are not made in the image of God.

This is wrong and I have to make the distinction that I do not align in any way with those who use God’s love as a weapon and not a free gift for all.

So, I am choosing to use my words, especially for those that desire to follow Christ, that we are all made in God’s image, worthy of love and called to love others no matter what.

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Preparing in the Waiting

/ Joshua Thomas / Leave a comment

“The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend, then Moses would return to the camp. His assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent.”

Exodus 33:11 CSB

I love the season of winter, which I know, is not exactly true for everyone. I love this season because it is a time to prepare for the warmer days to come. Both in the natural world, and in our own lives. We set ambitions and goals, waiting for the time to be right.

That’s the hard part; waiting for the time to be right.

We don’t know what the future holds, and often in our own desires we want to have the full plan laid out and know exactly what is coming. But this just isn’t possible.

We might not know what the future will bring, but each of us can prepare in the season of waiting by growing in the presence of the Lord.

God has designed each of us with purpose to do good works that reflect His heart, the timing might just not be what you thought it would. And that’s okay.

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The Cost of Community

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“They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

Acts 2:45-47

The cost of community is inconvenience. I heard this statement from a while back and it really stuck with me, as I love the power that this communicates. Everyone desires community, because people want to be authentically known and loved, to have someone that will be there when life is good and when life presents challenges. The hard part is actually finding good, authentic community, because it comes at a price.

In order to be a part of a village, you have to be a villager.

What this means is that you have to play the role, and not just be a consumer. Which is exactly what we find when reading on how the first church operated. They came together and met the needs of those around them, and when they found themselves in need, they had cultivated relationships with those who had their back.

This is the type of community I desire, and one that I need to actively participate in, so that means that inconvenience is the price I must pay in order to foster deep community.

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Looking Back to Move Ahead

/ Joshua Thomas / 1 Comment

“…In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”

Joshua 4:6-7 CSB

For the last few years, I decided that I would keep a commonplace notebook, and as part of that, recap every month. I jot down major events that happened in my life as well as what I’m currently enjoying and what is filling my emotional tank. I have loved doing this, because it is a capsule of each month and where I’ve been. I always then, at the end of the year, look back through these notebooks and am reminded of what happened and how God moved in my life over the course of the year.

I use Field Notes pocket journals, and I have loved documenting the joys and little things in life so that I can be empowered to move forward. I believe it is so vital to look back and see how much you have grown in order to move ahead with a deeper passion. As a writer, I love journaling, but I believe everyone can benefit by taking time to mark down your reflections in order to have a history that you can look back and be grateful for.

When we look back, we see how God moved in our life, which gives us a greater ambition to move ahead in confidence that He will move again.

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Embracing the New Year

/ Joshua Thomas / 1 Comment

“Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:7-8 CSB

You did it! You made it through another year and are facing the start of the new chapter. I think it is always so important to celebrate the fact that you made it through another year, with all the good and the hard that came alongside it. You can be proud, because you are a wiser and better person because of this growth.

I love this time of post celebration and looking at the new year ahead of us, because it offers us a chance to continue a path of growth in our wisdom and love. Something I’ve done every year, is choose a word to be my focus for the year, not as a goal, but as a mindset or character trait that I wish to grow and center myself on. You may think this is a cliché, but I believe it is wise to set an intention for your year, not a goal that can feel shameful if you miss, but something that you can cultivate in your spirit so that you become a clearer version of who God has designed you to be.

My word that I chose for this year is, “embrace.”

To embrace something, is to hold close to your heart, to welcome in with deep love and affection, to step into the new season with open arms ready for whatever may greet you.

In a world where Jesus’ name is taken in vain by grifters, I want my life to be an example of love and light that the life of Jesus proclaimed, a life that Jesus called us to walk into and embrace.

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