Saturday, 23 July 2011

• Get Rebellious To Become Lifegiving

  By Bonnie at Faith Barista
  
  Once I realized I had nothing left but my faith, something very peculiar happened.
  

  I started started becoming a little bit rebellious. To become lifegiving.

  I had reached an important crossroad in my journey.

  I wasn’t seeing anything visible that was pointing me where to go next. I also wasn’t picking up hints as to why God allowed so many disappointing turns in my life either.

  Was I going to keep resurrecting new plans to get to where I wanted to go? Or would I dare to believe God was already at work, creating something out of my nothing, as the Scripture says?

  What if I put all my bets on the wild truth that my faith in Jesus — my relationship with Him — was all I really needed to make a difference in this life?

  How would the equation of my life change?
  

  How would I change?

  I had filled half a journal up, recording dreams disrupted and plans blown to pieces.  I started brainstorming another different set of pages.   I couldn’t stop writing.

  I wanted to live as a lifegiving woman.

  Lifegiving Beauty

  During my time in whitespace that one weekend I poured out my heart to Jesus, I came across a book — “Lifegiving: Discovering the Secrets to a Beautiful Life” by Tammy Maltby.

  It appeared unassuming.  Not too thick.

  Perfect. That’s all the energy I had anyway.

  I needed a distraction from all the heavy questions I was asking God.  The title caught my eye — because I felt anything but lifegiving.

  Weary.
  

  That described me better. 

  Was I of worth?  Was I going to amount to anything?

  Tammy offered a beautiful picture that reflected a life of faith –

  “We are not lifegivers because we have mastered the art of servanthood or because we have outgoing personalities.  Simply put, we are lifegivers by design.

  God Himself fashioned us to be lifegivers.It is a great urge within each one of us to nourish and nurture life around us.

  This powerful potential in every woman is unleashed in Christ, the Ultimate Lifegiver.”

  Lifegiving.

  Eventhough I didn’t know how long the journey to my tomorrow would take, I knew God had beauty in mind.

  After all, isn’t that what God offers to those who put their faith in Him?

  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

  Aren’t these all ingredients for a truly beautiful life?

  I wanted to experience these beautiful fruits of the Spirit in increasing measure.

  Nurture and Invest

  I started to make a list of ways I could nurture faith in my inner life and make changes to express that faith in my outer life — to invest in God’s lifegiving design in me.

  The world has its system of values:  significance, worth and success.

  Sometimes, we (our self will) can be our worst enemy, the part of us that forgets about God’s grace.

  Both systems can crowd in, sending us messages that attack our sense of worth as lifegiving people of God.

  Let’s get rebellious.

  Let’s swap ideas to nourish and nurture faith in the daily grind.

  It will look different for you and for me.

  Maybe sharing them will spark off a new adventure.  Add some beauty, hope and joy.

  The lifegiving journey of faith I embarked on brought me all this and more.

  Let’s get rebellious.

  Let’s move out in faith. In Everyday Life.

  ~~~~~

  What are ways you nurture your faith?

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