Doses of Faith

  So the Lord said, “If you have faith              as a mustard seed,  you can say to this mulberry tree,         ‘Be pulled up by the roots       and be planted in the sea,’         and it would obey you."               Luke 17:6 Every Autumn, my grandchildren love raking leaves into a pile to fly into from the top of the little sliding board. After an hour of raking leaves into a large high pile, they are confident it is safe to make the jump into the leaves. I said "confident." They have faith that they will not break an arm or smash their face into the ground. Oh! the joy to land onto the fluffy leaves. Oh! to have the faith of a child. As I'm reading the gospels, I see the word "faith" in many verses. When Jesus healed the blind or lame, he told them that they were healed because of their faith. The disciples probably heard those words ma...

  When I took this picture, I didn't see that expression - that expression of realizing someone is watching. I wonder if that blue bird was wondering: "just what is that human doing?"                                                                                                      Sometimes, we all wonder why people react as they do. Over the centuries the question has been asked, "What has man done to man?" In Luke 7:31, we find Jesus asking a similar question: "Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And, what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, 'We have piped unto you, and you have not danced; we have mourned to you, and you have not w...

  As I was praying last night, I stopped. I was naming all my grandchildren by name with special requests for each as I usually do. Is this a repetition? I questioned if I was praying from the heart or repetition. This isn't how I want to pray. As Paul told the church in his letter to the Ephesians 6:18, "praying always with all prayer and supplication  in the Spirit , being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Was my prayer a habit? Actually, I think I fell asleep considering my prayers. One thing that came to mind is one of my pet peeves - repeating "Lord, I pray for .... and Lord, I pray for .... Believe me, I know a lady whose prayers start with Lord, I pray for and every request is headed with "Lord, I pray for..." Honestly, I have caught myself doing the same. You know, we have that list in front of us. Does God hear that prayer and does He answer those prayers? Yes, if it is sincerely from the heart. We a...