On the wings of a dove
by Dianna Brown

How do people live without faith? This question was posed to me and the followin are my thoughts on faith.

What is faith?
My working definition of faith is that spark which allows me to put one foot in front of the other and walk the path Jesus has laid before me. If I possessed no belief in Him who saved me, If I possessed no hope in His promises, If I possessed no promise of His return, I would have no reason for living.

Another aspect of faith is a "rubber meets the road" type of thing. Faith is most evident when the things we have learned in our faith walk are put to the test. Like the martyrs, the girl at columbine and you when someone does or says something that you know is wrong. Do you stand for your beliefs or do you keep quiet.? If your faith is where it should be, then you stand. No question. Daily applications of your faith are the true test of whether you have it or not.

Which is more important, the faith one holds, or the object of the faith one holds:
Faith is more important. It is the motivator that causes me to get up every day. One must remember though, if your faith is misdirected and placed on an unworthy object..Then it is moot. Even those who profess to be atheist have faith--not in God--but in other things like the sun rising in the morning, the love of their family and friends, the TV weather man's prediction. . We of the Christian faith have just realized that faith needs to be correctly directed.

Is Faith blind?
Blind to what? Justice is blind. Faith by virtue of the hope placed in it cannot be blind. I know I see the struggles of people of high intellect to come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Their faith is not blind, but it has 20/20 vision. It sees things clearly and completely. Faith knows what is going on and stills stands strong. Part of faith is loyalty. Without loyalty, faith is just a little hope.

What is my personal faith like?
To me my faith is a lot like that of a child. You know the type. The child is standing on the edge of a pool and Daddy tells them to jump that he will catch them. The child jumps into the unknown because the child has faith that Daddy will catch them. That is how I treat everything--God will catch me, he is my Daddy.

How God speaks
God communicates in a multitude of ways:

1. He speaks - sometimes audibly sometimes in that small still voice you sorta feel in your gut
2. He uses others to tell us what He would have us to know
3. Situations - He sets things up where we can do only one thing
4. And His word the Bible

I have experienced all of these but the audible voice of God.

FAVORITE BIBLE VERSE:
Philippians 4:13--I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I first learned this verse as a young Christian. I was a basket case. On the verge of a mental breakdown, didn't care what I looked like, believed myself to be stupid and uneducated. My family had spoken horrible things into my life. Called me w**re, thief, bad mother, fat & ugly, unwanted by my biological mother (I was adopted). My then pastor showed me this verse. Told me to say it every time I felt any of the bad things that had been spoken to me. I did it. I figured, what did I have to loose? Since that time, I have lost over 100 pounds, and now work as a manager of a group home for mentally ill adults. That which my family deemed for bad, GOD made good with this one verse. I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Yes, I memorize scripture. Two reasons for it. 1) the day will come when all I will have is the scripture I have memorized. 2) I will hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Yes, I believe in God.

I see God every day. In grand daughter's smile, the sunrise, the sunset, the wind, the flowers. He is all around us. You just have to look. I can define Him as easily as you can define sound to a deaf person. He just is. When you believe you know it. That is why it is called faith.

I have heard Him many times. Never the audible voice, but no doubt it was God. Just one quick example. About ten years ago I was driving down the road. There was a fairly large cardboard box in the middle of the road. Now I like a little sport and I admit I have lead in my shoes, so I thought," Gonna bust that box wide open." I distinctly heard a voice say ,"NO!" so I swerved to miss it. I looked in my rear view mirror and watched a toddler crawl out of the box. I locked my car up and pulled over. Walked him into the fenced yard he came from, locked the gate. I was trembling. Couldn't thank God enough.