Faith

A couple of days ago I prepared a Bible Discussion on the topic of faith. I was spurred on to do so after my faith in the Lord's power to heal (spiritually of course. . . but physically also!) was increased. I had a sweet time preparing and felt like things came together somewhat smoothly. Anne, my roommate, was my attender and after spending some time in prayer together we went into the cafe and patio to invite guests. This part can be a little nervewrecking because you just never know what their reaction will be to the invitation to join. Leading a Bible study at home is so different in this regard - I usually have the liberty to assume that at least one (usually many more - you girls are wonderful!) will show up. . .and that they are Christians. I can in no way make these assumptions here. Well on this particular night no one was interested which initially was disappointing but it ended up being really cool. I figured that since I had prepared Anne and I should go on with it and discuss the topic together. We talked about what faith is (Hebrews 11:1) and what the opposite of faith is (Romans 14:23). We also discussed the idea that faith is a gift from God and that He is the only one that can bring us into a saving relationship with Himself. This comes from Ephesians 2:1-5 and the understanding that God makes us spiritually alive - just like I could do nothing to bring myself back to life if I died, the same is with my spiritual being - when I was dead spiritually it was only God who could make me spiritually alive, He gets all the credit! We went over several other verses and just had a good time mulling over this topic together - we didn't necessarily see eye-to-eye on all things but that's what a "discussion" is all about. The unseen can be a challenge to wrap our minds around and I certainly don't have all of the answers but hey, that's why God is God - I will leave it up to Him to reveal more of Himself to me in due time or to keep things from my understanding according to His purpose. As we were wrapping up we heard Freek, a manager, playing the guitar and worshiping so we went out to join him. It was so cool - we were singing "Shout to the Lord" in Dutch, German, and English simultaneously. . .don't think I will be experiencing that at home anytime soon! Anyways, the blessings the Lord had in store for my Bible Discussion were different then what I thought they would be - and they continued today. A new guy on staff here, Christian (yet another German!), and I got to talking about faith and it was great! He pointed me to a verse I hadn't thought of - it's "powerful", as Ryan from Las Vegas always says. I'll end with it now, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (have faith!) that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24). Yep, that's powerful - that's Jesus for ya'!