Hey Friends –
Welcome! If this is your first visit — hello, friend! You can start from the beginning here. Glad you are here!
Can you believe we are over halfway finished? Wow! Please know you can jump in at anytime, or just do what you can. Our goal is progress, not perfection.
One Texas friend recently shared, “I’m enjoying the 31 days of RHF on your blog. So far I’ve written two entries in my journal, which is good progress for me.” Hey, two is better than none! We are so celebrating your progress, sweet sister!
Before we dig into Day 16, let’s do a quick halfway point review —
Exodus 32-34
Key #1 — Presence
If we want God to fire up our faith, we must spend time “up the mountain” in His Presence.
Chair view from a friend in Canada
I’ve loved receiving emails near and far about your “chair time.” Keep the pictures coming, friends. So fun!
And if you haven’t watched the Bill Hybels video yet, I would highly recommend it. I’ve received notes from all over the world — literally — as to how this video is igniting fresh faith. You can watch it here.
Key # 2 – Promises
If we want God to Fire Up our Faith, we must cling to His powerful promises — memorizing, meditating, studying, sharing, praying God’s promises, and letting the Word of God dwell richly in us.
I love Romans 10:17 — “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.”
Want more faith? Spend time reading God’s promises, dear friend!
Key # 3 – Purpose
Aren’t you grateful the Bible reminds us our lives have purpose!
Our purpose includes to know Him, believe Him, glorify Him, and to be His witness
…even in the midst of our mundane, ordinary, everyday lives.
Here’s a story of how God used my family to “be His witness” in the midst of our everyday life. I share “Marla’s” story in Red Hot Faith Session 3.
My friend’s real name is Margo, and I share our journey with her full and complete permission. (If you’ve seen the video, you may enjoy seeing pictures of our adventures.)
“Marla” — Margo’s Story
A few years ago, our family decided we’d have lunch at Wendy’s every Sunday after church.
After a few weeks, we noticed the same woman worked the drive thru every Sunday.
It wasn’t hard for us to pick up on this. This woman – Margo – had a deep voice, glasses that she wore down her nose, and a front gold tooth. Not to mention she was a little bit grumpy.
OK, so maybe a lot grumpy.
In fact, some of my family members (I won’t name names) started to call her Grumpy. As we’d pull up to the drive thru, they’d say, “Oh no – look who’s working today.”
So I said, “What if we started to pray for her?” The family’s response was something like, “Ugghhh” – but we all agreed to pray for Margo, and pray that God would use us to show her what He is like.
Soon we started dining inside of Wendy’s each Sunday. Margo started coming over to our booth to visit with us.
Sure enough, the next Sunday – Mother’s Day – we went to Wendy’s for lunch so we could visit with Margo and show her our pictures.
Somehow, in one of our conversations, we mentioned the gym we belong to. She said, “Oh man, that one with all the pools and that huge water slide. I’ve dreamed about going swimming there.”
The next week, we brought in a week’s membership pass for Margo, and invited her to spend the day at the pool with us.
What a blast that was – listening to Margo on the phone calling her sister saying, “Girlfriend, you’ll never guess where I am” – and watching her go down the water slide – screaming like a school girl – enjoying every bit of it – not a grumpy bone in sight.
Our friends started coming to Wendy’s with us after church – and they would love on Margo too.
My guess is that she probably started receiving more hugs at Wendy’s than she’s ever had in her whole life.
We learned of some of Margo’s financial needs and asked our community of friends if they would like to bless her. Anonymously Margo started receiving gas gift cards, and grocery gift cards to help fill in that financial gap. When Margo’s car broke down and she needed a ride home – she called us – we were her new family.
One night I was having a home party, and I sensed God say, “invite Margo.”
I’ll be honest – I wrestled with that one. “God, it’s one thing to go visit her or give her a ride, but to invite her into my home, with all my friends…”
I was soon convicted of my pride – and that night, at my home, one of my dear friends led Margo to the Lord and she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
Margo at Bible Club
It was so fun to watch God work in Margo’s life. She began attending church with us. I was asked to lead a children’s Bible club each Tuesday morning. I knew I was supposed to take the job – and someone else was to join me.
You know who, right?
Margo!
Each Tuesday morning , my girls and I would pick up Margo, and she would go help at the Bible Club with us. Margo was making $10 an hour to learn basic Bible Truths and sing fun Bible songs.
Isn’t God awesome?!
I’ll never forget one of our crafts. On a sheet of paper I typed “God Loves Me” at the bottom, and then I took a photo of each of the kids, had them glue it on, and then decorate it.
Margo, of course, as one of the helpers, had to make one too. She was so proud of her craft – and for the next few months – every time I went to Margo’s – there it hung proudly on her refrigerator.
God loves Margo.
Margo & Cindy — Oct 2014
I just had lunch with Margo a few weeks ago. What a blessing to be the arms and mouthpiece of God – to give her a big hug – and remind her of that simple truth that God loves her so very much, and we do too.
Today’s Challenge: Day 16 of our 31 Days.
1. Grab your Fire Up My Faith notebook. Jot down today’s date and reflect on what God has been teaching you on this 31 Day journey.
2. Do you ever wonder what your purpose is? Do the mundane circumstances of life cause you to question your purpose? How is God using you to reflect Him in the midst of your everyday life?
3. Do you know someone who has a fired up faith? What are some of his/her character qualities? Habits? Disciplines? What can you learn from that person’s example. Share with us please!
Thanks so much for stopping by 31 Days to Fire Up Your Faith! May God open your eyes to ways you have PURPOSE in the midst of your everyday, ordinary lives!
Sweet blessings
P.S. In case you don’t want to miss a day, you can like my FB page, connect with me on Twitter, or subscribe to my blog via the sidebar. There’s 15 more days of ideas, resources, and encouragement to Fire Up Your Faith to come!
We recently heard Margo’s story in week three of RHF! Reading about it again, just touches my heart! What a beautiful woman! I love how God can work in all circumstances!
There are a number of women at my church who have a faith I’ve craved. These women who just seem so at peace. I am not a calm person and I’ve been working on my quick temper, but there’s just something about these quiet peaceful women that I look up to. Now that I’m finally finding my own way to be in relationship with the Savior I think I’m finally seeing that I don’t have to be calm to be a “good Christian”. I can be loud and outgoing. I can still be ME and shine God’s light. (Still going to work on the temper thing though.)