Bank on It: Growing Your Faith

I got a book called “Dare to be Rare” by: Kathleen Whitten (for girls :) ) for Christmas. My sister had read it, and said it was good, so I asked for it, and got it! :) Anyways, I am on chapter 15 now. A couple days ago, I read a chapter, and thought I was really good, and I wanted to share it with you (all the chapters are good, but this one had stuck out to me.) Now, I can’t figure out which one it was (chapters 13 or 14). I should know, since it stuck out to me, but since they are both really good, I am just going to share both of them with you (one now and one a next time I come to blog). :)

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Bank on It: Growing Your Faith (Chapter 13)

Once there was a very young boy who had a few coins. He was so excited about his new treasure that he didn’t want to lose even one of them, so he decided to make a little bank to put them in.
Day after day he tried different ways to build a little bank around his coins. First, he tried molding clay around his coins, but that only made a mess. Next, he tried weaving reeds around his coin, but the reeds ended up in knots, and his coins ended up on the floor.
Finally, he put the coins on a small piece of plywood and built a miniature wooden bank around them. It was wonderful o have a little bank, and his coins fit perfectly.
But it wasn’t long before his grandparents gave him more coins, and the boy’s bank became to small. Being an industrious little boy, he opened his miniature bank, took out the coins, placed them on a bigger piece of plywood, then built a bigger bank. Afterward, he grinned proudly at his newer, bigger bank and thought to surely I was the perfect size.
But over the next several weeks, the boy found two coins on the sidewalk and won six coins playing marbles with his friends. Then his mom and dad gave him even more coins-and even some paper money-on his birthday. He bills, the boy soon discovered, wouldn’t fit through the small slot of his new wooden bank.
The boy was happy to have more coins and new crisp bills. But once again, his little treasure wouldn’t all fit in his bank, and he was tired of building new banks.
Being a wise little boy, he decided to ask his father for help. His father had just the answer. The father gave the boy a big, beautiful bank of his very own. The youngster then put all his money in the new big bank: one hundred coins of various sizes and shapes and ten whole dollars. And although he had lots of room left over, the boy knew the bank that his father gave to him could get fuller and fuller without running out of room.

A parable by me: “Don’t build your own bank to fit your coins.”

The little boy is us.

The father is God.

The coins are our faith.

The bank is the Word of God.
Don’t build your own bank to fit your coins.
Spiritual growth will be frustrating if you have to rebuild your bank-the way you understand God’s Word-every time your coins increase-your faith in God enlarges. Your Father has given you the greatest bank there is-the Bible. Put your faith-your coins-in it. Your few coins-your small faith-may swim around in that big bank at first, but if you’re seeking more coins-a bigger, stronger faith-they’ll increase with plenty of room for growth.

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Think about This:

That sounds great, you’re probably thinking. But how do you choose the Word of God as your bank?

1. Acknowledge that you don’t have to yet have faith in something for it to be true.
2. Believe your Heavenly Father.

You don’t have to have faith yet for everything in the Bible. Just read Scriptures with an open mind and heart. Each time you open your Bible to read the Word of God, say this to yourself: “The Bible says it, so it’s true whether I understand it or no, whether I’ve seen it or not, and whether I have complete faith in it now or not.”

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Once, a young woman confided in me that she had created a safe “box” for God to live. Whenever she read Scripture that she didn’t understand, or that didn’t fit in the box she created for God, she was upset and confused.
This was one of her situations. She understood that God was always loving and that He is love (1 John 4:16). So how could a loving God ever send someone to hell?
First of all, she had to let God live in His Word (the Bible) instead of her box. In doing so, He can be and do all that the Word says-even when she didn’t understand it all.
Then I explained to her that love is always a choice. God created people to love Him and have a relationship with Him. He would not be a truly loving God if He hadn’t given us the choice to love Him or not love Him. Love is love only if it is a choice.
God didn’t want robots forced to live Him. He wanted sons and daughters who would really love Him from their hearts only because they chose to do so. In allowing choices, God took a huge risk-after all, people were now free to reject Him.

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Think about This:

God is love and everything good is God-sunshine, friends, hugs, great times, special animals, the love between all people, and even our very existence. So separation from God, by our choice, would mean separation forever from all that is good and all that is love-everything that brings joy, peace, and happiness.

And because God honors our choices, if we reject Him and choose to be separated from Him on this earth, then God will honor that choice of separation for eternity. And that would be Hell.
There will always be things in the Bible that you’ll have to work through. There will even be things that you never fully grasp or understand on this earth.

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So put your few coins-he faith you have today in the Word of God-the best bank ever- and two great things will happen:

1. Your faith will increase. You can count on it.
2. You will find that the Word of God is true. You can bank on it.

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Pray:

Lord, I have acknowledged I don’t have to have faith ye in something for it to be true. I choose today to believe Your Word is true, even if I may not completely have faith in all of it yet. As I trust and seek You, I desire for my faith to grow so that I can experience all of Your blessings and have abundant life. Amen.

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Believe:

“Through Him [Jesus Christ] you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith [coins] and hope are in God [the bank]” ( Peter 1:21).

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For Journaling and Reflection:

1. Have you ever felt that something you read in he Bible didn’t match up with what you understood about God and Jesus at the time? Think about that experience. Has the way you understand the Bible changed since that time? In your journal, write about how your new way of understanding has helped you.
2. The story of the little boy’s bank is a kind of parable-a story that can give us a deeper perspective of our growing faith. What experience has God used in your life to grow your faith (for example, being nervous in a new setting, or resolving a conflict with a close friend)? Try using your experience to write a parable about how faith grows and how God reveals more and more to you as your faith increases.
3. Do you have to completely believe or understand something in order for it to be true? When was the last time you put your faith in something you didn’t completely understand (air travel, electricity, music downloads)?

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I finished my journal a couple days ago!! Yay, I get to start a fresh new one! I’m pretty excited about that!! I love going back and reading how I have matured, and grown in my relationship with Christ, and I can’t wait to see where this one takes me in my journey with my Saviour. I’m looking forward to writing in it… hopefully tonight! :) Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this, and it wasn’t too long!

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I.love.my.Jesus! <3

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Have a great night everyone!

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Resting in Him, Karissa : )

(The second one from the top is the journal I just finished. It has a picture of an Eagle in flight, and quotes Isaiah 40:31, which I'm sure you all know, but it says: "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.) :)

P.S. I am sad, cause picnik is going to be going away soon! That is what I use to edit my pictures! :'( (including the one above^) Oh well! I will just have to find another editing program! :) Until it goes away (in April) we get to use premium for free! So, that's the excited news! :)

One more thing before I go! (sorry guys!!) :P This is a song that my aunt sent me, and I liked it, and thought that I would share it with you all! I hope you enjoy it (and never underestimate me Jesus)! :)