If you haven't noticed, I've been a bit absent from the blogging aspect of things. Between the holidays and the busyness of life, I got a bit off when it came to regularly updating my blog. So for the next 21 days I am challenging myself to blog something everyday. We'll see how it goes. :)

In the mean time, below are two photos from this weekend's snow storm. Definitely an intense amount of snow... especially because my back is quite mad at me today. Apparently the final count for total snow fall in Pittsburgh is 21 inches.

Here is our "driveway":

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from our back porch:

Testing some top-secret stuff.

Not really top-secret, but thanks for clicking the link. ;)

What comes to mind when you think "commitment"? Does a person come to mind? A philosophy? A belief?

How about with faith? What comes to mind when you think about one with committed faith?

In the book of James, James shares with us a couple of examples of people with committed/risk-taking faith. They have a faith that goes beyond just saying they believe in God (because the demons believe... and yet they tremble in fear - see James 2:19).

One of the stories James shares is about Abraham.

The man had committed faith. He was committed to his relationship with God.

As the story goes, the LORD asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, on the altar. We don't know if there was hesitation on Abraham's part, but all we do know is that he followed-through with what God asked him to do. And as he was about to kill his son on the altar, the LORD provided a lamb to be slain in the place of Isaac.

Check out the LORD's response to Abraham's committed faith:


Commitment isn't easy. In fact, commitment will cost us something. We live in a day where commitment does not remain because when it comes to paying the price we've been asked to pay, or we said we'd pay, we bail out.

You'd better believe that Abraham was hurting inside... maybe confused... maybe a bunch of "why's?" But regardless of the cost to him personally, he was willing to lay all of that down because of his commitment to his relationship with God.

In our lives, we can't point our fingers at those who are not followers of Christ and say "look at them, they're so uncommitted" when half the time true commitment is not lived out and does not remain in our own lives.

We, the Church, the Body of Christ must live commitment. We must have a commitment to our faith that remains. We must have a commitment to relationships that remains. We must have a committed love that remains.

Notice that all the nations of the world were blessed because of Abraham's committed faith. When we live out commitment, when we have faith and love that remains, it will affect those around us... even the nations!

So I turned 29 today.

I thought I'd share a few thoughts on things I've learned. Here's what I shared when I turned 28.

1. Loving Jesus is worth it all.
   
   I come to this conclusion more and more every day. There is nothing like loving Jesus because there's no one like Him. He's worth wasting my life on.
   
   
2. Faith costs something.
   
   Faith seems to have become a nice cliche word that we like to throw around and yet without it it is impossible to please God. It's serious business.
   
   If there's one thing I learned throughout the 28th year of my life (and years previous) is that faith costs something. It's more than a nice fluffy thought because true faith manifests itself through action. So when walking by faith, you actually have to walk.
   
   Faith is also a bit crazy because it's focus is not what is seen but what is unseen. So when stepping out in faith it will cost you your reputation or pride.
   
   
3. Opinions are a dime a dozen.
   
   It's one thing to seek Godly counsel, but it's a whole other thing to get ungodly opinions spoken over/into your life. Everyone has an opinion about what you should or shouldn't do with your life and how you should or shouldn't do it.
   
   The thing you have to remember is: they are not God. They don't necessarily know what is best for your life regardless of how long they've lived or how much they think they know.
   
   Always go back to what the LORD is speaking directly to you. Also, listen to Godly counsel, but hold everyone else's opinion very lightly. God is the one you will have to answer to, not those who offer their opinion.
   

In Brief:
Pursue Jesus, no matter the cost and do what He's asking you to do, no matter the cost. :)

I've not written in while. Many thoughts to share, but unfortunately, I've not had much time to write them down. But just to ensure everyone out there on the interwebs that I'm still alive and kicking, I thought I'd share a few brief thoughts.

Ready. Set. Go.

• Christmas is 2 days away. Wow. We're flying to Arkansas on Christmas Day... to visit my family. Really looking forward to it. :)
• 140 characters is not enough some times when communicating a thought. As in what I posted here turned into a small discussion on Facebook... it's quite easy to be misunderstood and taken out of context. Makes ya wonder sometimes, what's the point?
• I also recently tweeted: an intimate relationship with Jesus entails more than a wink and a nod. So often it seems that's all He gets from us and we think that's all it's about. He wants and deserves so much more.
• Healing (physical, spiritual, and emotional) is a vital PART of the Gospel. If you don't believe me... read Isaiah 53:5. If you still don't believe me, read Acts 10:38.
  
• I'm ready for 2010 and what Jesus wants to do in and through my life.
• The Word of God will change your life if you allow it to... especially when you allow it to transform your mind. :)
• And don't forget to check out our family's online Christmas card at... http://merrychristmas.fromthedavisfamily.com
  

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Isaiah 30:18 says: "So the LORD must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God..."

In case you didn't get the point of Isaiah's message: the LORD is waiting for you to come to Him. He's waiting on you so that He can show you love and compassion.

I love how Bill Johnson says "God is in a good mood." And the fact of the matter is, He is.

He is for you, not against you.

So don't leave Him waiting. Turn to the LORD... don't leave Him hanging!

The Scripture found in Hebrews 11:6 which says "it is impossible to please God without faith" has always puzzled me.

I've often wondered about the faith that pleases God. Is it the faith we have when coming to Him to save us or is it the faith we have as we walk out our daily lives? Or am I making it too complicated... isn't faith, just faith?

Either way, it's simply impossible to please God without faith.

With this in mind I am reading through 1 Corinthians and came across chapter 10. Check out how it starts out:

 
But check out what happens next in verse 5:

Why was it that God was not please with most of them? Check out what we find in Hebrews 3:16-19:

God was not pleased with most of them because of their unbelief.

They saw the Red Sea part. They walked on dry ground. They saw the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. They heard the voice of God at the mount. Yet in the moment when they were stretched yet again, "they didn't combine what they heard with faith" (Hebrews 4:2).

If you haven't seen and know already, faith is vital. Our relationship with God can not be based on what is seen, or what we may perceive to be reality. It must always be based on faith and stepping out where we've never been. It must be based on God's reality and the desires of His heart.

Just released our online Christmas card. Check it out at:
http://merrychristmas.fromthedavisfamily.com

As previously mentioned, here is the new layout of DailyLife.ofChrisDavis.com. Seeing that my family's sites were all getting facelifts and since my site hadn't had one in about 8 months, I felt it was time.

Hope you like it. :)

Just for nostalgic purposes, here's a screen shot of the layout that was just retired...