Doses of Faith

      Growing up in the rural South taught me many valuable lessons.  One of those lessons is generosity.  We didn't have much, but my parents shared the little we had.  We weren't the only ones with a generous heart.  It was a way of life for many.  I've witnessed God's love in many homes as people opened their purses, freezers, gardens, and talents to help those less fortunate.  We never questioned my father's generosity, because it was a way of life for those who served God.      My father was the son of a share cropper.  For those who do not know, the share cropper lives in a run down old house on a farm of a land owner where they farm the land for a very small percentage of the profit.  My father's family had an extra burden with my grandfather's diseased kidneys.  The house they lived in was close to a hundred years old.  Since rural South Carolina had no electricity until after 1946, the large kitchen...

"Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God do drive them out from before you, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Understand therefore, that the Lord your God give you not this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people."  Deut. 9:4,5      As I'm reading Deuteronomy, I try to imagine God's disappointment with the children of Israel.  He loves them, and he is preparing to give them something which they do not deserve.  It reminds me of the role parents play in their children's life.  We train them to be respectful.  We teach them the importance of responsibility.  Then, there are days we wonder where did we go wrong.  The rebellious child runs against everything the parents have taught them.  Yet, we still love th...

      Living in a wilderness of uninhabited and uncultivated land will test and prove one's physical, mental, and spiritual strength.  With no shelter other than a tent in a dry and dusty land will wear on one's health and physical strength.  The task of searching and finding water and food will take over every mental thought.  This happened once to a nation of people.  After the children of Israel left Egypt, they were without water.  God provided.  They were without food.  God provided.  Still, they had no faith in God.  Due to their lack of faith, they did not make it to the Promised Land.  Instead, they wondered in the wilderness for forty years and many perished along the way.  They perished because they had no faith in God.  For others wondering in the wilderness, their faith grew.  The wilderness experience humbled and proved them to show what was in their hearts and whether they would keep God's comm...

     Reading through Leviticus is very difficult.  At least it was for me.  I'm reading through the Bible again.  I was tempted to skip reading Leviticus, but I read it.  At one point, I called Leviticus a bloody book.  Basically, Leviticus is a guide for the priest and Levites.  God gave them detail instructions on the creation of the tabernacle and every item.  Then, comes the book of Numbers.  And, more details are given.  God had every detail planned for their travels.  God set up a system for the travelers.  They camped in groups according to tribe.  A census of all men age twenty and older were counted in order to form an army.  In Numbers chapter ten, two silver trumpets were made 'for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.' (vs 1)  As I read the instructions for the silver trumpets, it occurred to me the detail of all the instructions, laws, and plans from God was to g...

      Leviticus is a hard book to read.  I'm reading through the Bible and just finished reading the book of Leviticus.  It is called the handbook for the priests and guide to holy living.  There are instructions from diet to personal hygiene to worship to holy living.  I found many chapters to be brutal and bloody with the instructions for the sacrifices.  Then, we are to help our neighbors, widows, children, poor, and strangers traveling through our land.  Land owners are instructed to not harvest all their crops but leave the grain or produce at the corners unharvested.  After all these instructions, chapter nineteen is about daily living showing love.  In the end, a holy life comes down to love. "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."  Lev. 19:18 "And if a stranger sojourn with you in your land, you shall not vex him....