THE BIG QUESTION: Q: Did you ever have a crisis of faith?

by CYNTHIA L. SIMMONS| WWW.CLSIMMONS.COM in Leading Hearts Magazine

Q: Did you ever have a crisis of faith? How did you resolve it?

YES, AND I GREW UP IN A CHRISTIAN HOME. We attended church regularly, including special services several times a year with visiting ministers. At six, I realized my sin and confessed faith in Christ. When I entered ninth grade, my parents enrolled me in church school where I learned creationism.

However, during my teen years, misgivings clouded my mind. Guest pastors told the exact illustration as if it happened to them, and I labeled them dishonest. Plus, church leaders didn’t live up to their own standards.

Well-versed in Genesis, I longed to hear from evolutionists so I could compare the reasoning. While these thoughts churned, my cousin shared his own doubts.

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A Powerful Provider

by Pam Farrel in Leading Hearts magazine

“He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever” (Psalm 111:5).

One of the prayers I (Pam) often pray is Lord we look to You for your power, protection, and provision. I know we can ask this because God offers his character to back up His promises. 

In Brave New Woman, I reflect upon God as provider: “My favorite name of God is Jehovah Jireh, meaning ‘the one who provides.’ Jireh is the Hebrew verb for ‘to see.’ And if God sees, He also foresees. 

Author Nathan Stone, in Names of God, writes: ‘As the One who possesses eternal wisdom and knowledge, He knows the end from the beginning. As Elohim, He is all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful. From eternity to eternity He foresees everything. But another word for seeing is vision, from the Latin word video—to see.’ So it’s like God has the video for your life! Not only does he have the video; He is the director!” 

Your opportunities in life directly reflect how you view God. If you know Him, you will trust Him. If you trust Him, you will step out in faith and gain that big wonderful life He promises,” A.W. Tozer says in, The Knowledge of the Holy. “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” 

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Is God Waiting On You?

by Amber Weigand-Buckley @barefacedgirl, editor of Leading Hearts Magazine

The funny thing about leadership is that it takes far less faith to TALK about your CALL than it does to WALK OUT your CALL. Why?

Because you have to put feet to your faith before you can allow God to SHOW UP and perform the MIRACULOUS.

Joshua and the Israelite priests leading their people into the Promise Land knew that if they followed God’s direction, they were going to hit the Jordan River (Joshua 1:1-9). It didn’t take a genius to realize that when they hit the water, they didn’t have the necessary provisions — no boats or life jackets.

All they had was the faith that when they got there, God would show up — and He did.

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