My First Favorite Book I may or may not have just spent half the morning on an unsuccessful hunt around the house for this old friend. The stories within sustained me during an awkward and lonely childhood. They continue to captivate! Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, Toads and Diamonds, Snow White and Rose Red...and of course, Cinderella... classic stories of good vs. evil, written before the lines between the two were blurred. Our beloved heroes/heroines face wicked witches, evil dwarves, curses and cruel stepsisters. Good always prevails in the end.
If the shoe fits... We LOVE these stories! They feed our souls, appealing to our God-given hunger for justice and righteousness. We are, after all, created in His image. Justice and Righteousness are the foundations of His throne! (Psalm 89:14) There is HOPE that one day all will be made right. Faith and righteousness will be rewarded. We await the arrival of our handsome prince...a not-so-subtle picture of Christ's return for His Bride.
The Wedding of Cinderella We MUST have hope!
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick..." (Proverbs 13:12)
That said, the Lord reminded me of something VITAL this morning as I was reading in Hebrews Chapter 11:
"By faith...some conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the sword, were made strong in weakness, became mighty in war and put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection."
WOW!!! I want some of THAT faith!
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick..." (Proverbs 13:12)
That said, the Lord reminded me of something VITAL this morning as I was reading in Hebrews Chapter 11:
"By faith...some conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the sword, were made strong in weakness, became mighty in war and put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection."
WOW!!! I want some of THAT faith!
This is where 'Fairy Tale' faith gives way to faith of an altogether different sort:
Hebrews 11 continues:
"By faith...some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted , mistreated..."
"By faith...some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted , mistreated..."
ALL THESE WERE COMMENDED FOR THEIR FAITH!
I hate to admit that I have failed miserably these past nine months. My incomplete understanding of faith, slanted toward the 'Fairy Tale' sort, has left me all too vulnerable to disillusionment and doubt. The enemy is quick to jump in with his vile insinuations:
"Did God really say...??? Does He even exist??? Does He really care about you???"
At times I have shaken my fist at God (forgive me, Jesus), having falsely believed that faithful obedience always results in a happy ending here in time and space.
"Did God really say...??? Does He even exist??? Does He really care about you???"
At times I have shaken my fist at God (forgive me, Jesus), having falsely believed that faithful obedience always results in a happy ending here in time and space.
Henry Blackaby's Comment on Hebrews 11 struck me this morning:
"A faithful life
does not always bring the same results
in human terms..."
"A faithful life
does not always bring the same results
in human terms..."
It is time to prepare our hearts for the battle that is coming,
and is already raging.
'Fairy Tale' faith alone will not carry us. Faith is the substance of things hoped for!
and is already raging.
'Fairy Tale' faith alone will not carry us. Faith is the substance of things hoped for!
"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."
(Hebrews 10:39)
"Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
(Hebrews 12:3)
but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."
(Hebrews 10:39)
"Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
(Hebrews 12:3)
"Hope does not disappoint!" "It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil, love against hate, order against chaos, in a great struggle where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side because appearances are endlessly deceptive. Yet for all its confusion and wildness, it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name...That is the Fairy Tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that IT IS TRUE, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still." (Frederick Buechner)
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