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“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

I heard this story several years ago. Our pastor at the time called on a woman who had attended our church; she and her husband were residents of a nursing home.

She shared with the pastor her desire to give the church an offering. She promised to have a dollar when he came the next time. The pastor thanked her; they visited awhile longer.

On his next visit, she presented him with two dollars for the church. When I heard this, I felt overcome with emotion. Here this woman gave out of her need-just like the widow in the Bible who gave her last two pennies.

As I thought about this woman, I realized she had exercised her faith. She wanted to do this but she might not have seen how she could. God allowed her to save this amount of money that to us seems small. I’m sure she prayed about this offering; and God honored it.

This story came to mind recently at a Bible study. It happened in the late 1990’s; I believe I will remember it forever.

“As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him.

Rooted and built up in him, and stablishing in the faith, as ye have been taught,

abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)

When we ask Jesus into our heart, we do so humbly; we seek His forgiveness for our sins.

As we travel with Him along the path He chooses for us, Paul advises us to continue to be humble, knowing we have this privilege because of His grace.

Have you seen an uprooted tree? We recently had some very strong winds go through our area. Over by the university, we saw a tall pine tree lying on its side. The wind took that tree out of the ground and laid it across the yard and possibly into the street. By the time we saw it, someone had sawed it into sections. The roots looked well-developed but the tree was very old.

When we are in Christ, He wants us to learn about Him every day. Jesus allows us to grow stronger as we become deeply rooted in Him and grow in our faith. We can do this only through prayer, Bible study and fellowship with other Christians.

Paul further instructs us to apply the principles we learn from our Bible study times to our hearts. He also admonishes us to give thanks for all Jesus has done for us. He uses the word ‘abound’, the word abound means ‘to increase greatly.’ I receive a mental picture of a drinking fountain constantly overflowing with cool, clear, and refreshing water.

We should be like that overflowing fountain. Our hearts should find things for which to be thankful. We should let our thanks be made known through our verbal praises and our prayers.

Last year, I made myself a journal-file of 1,000 ways God blessed me. Several days the entries were repetitive. It took me six and a half months to compose that list. This spring, I ordered a book called 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I thought I ordered her first book. What I ordered was the devotional book by the same name. When I realized my ‘error’ I scolded myself for not being more observant. When I saw the table of contents where every devotion was about some form of grace—my word for 2013—I knew this was not a mistake but a gift from God.

As a result of how I came to have this book, I started a list of gifts God gives me each day. Mrs. Voskamp says we learn to be intentionally more thankful when we recognize the gifts God bestows on us. Her devotional book is about the many different ways grace manifests itself. She also tells us that recording just three gifts a day will give us 1,000 in just under a year, actually in about eleven months.

It is my plan to list my gifts the rest of this year. When New Year’s comes, I will start in earnest to do this gift-listing exercise for 2014. I believe I will do this as long as I am on this earth and shall continue it in heaven.

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Washed by the Water of the Word